Page 47 of Blood and Penance
I squeeze the trigger.
His shin shatters—his leg lays limply on the floor as the bone protrudes through the fabric of his dress slacks. I ignore his screams and curses. All I want to hear is a location.
"Fuckkkk! Fuck!" he screams. "Please!"
“All this could have been avoided if you just answered my question. Last chance, where is she?”
With tears streaming down his face, and his body trembling from the amount of pain he’s experiencing, his shoulders deflate. “There’s an abandon structure in the woods at the back of the property. She’s there. I’ve told you, God, please don’t kill me.”
I don’t have time to respond before the sound of a gun goes off from behind me and the man's body goes limp as blood pools around his head. I look at my brother who shrugs.
“De Maio wants them all gone.”
All this death, but I know it’s necessary.
“I know where she is.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Phoenix
I groan, struggling to open my eyes as I try to gain my bearings. A searing pain pounds the inside my skull like a jackhammer, accompanied by a deafening, high-pitched whirring that feels like it’s drilling into my brain.
Fuck that hurts.
“There she is,” he says and for a moment my brain is not connecting with the voice I’m hearing.
“Lio? Bu…but you’re dead. I killed you.”
I try to grab my head when a wave of dizziness and nausea moves through me, but I can’t move my arm. I try to move the other one and I can’t move it either. My gaze rises to the ceiling, where thick, stiff black rope binds my wrists to an exposed beam above.
What the hell?
“What’s happening?” I try to move again but not only can I not move my arms, but I can’t move my legs either.
My eyes travel down my naked body, landing on the floor where thick black rope encircled my ankles, anchored to the solid hardwood floor through metal anchors.
Where are my clothes?
“It’s the drugs,” he says. “They’ll wear off but not until I'm finished with you.”
My gaze drifts back to my husband. He smirks as he stands only inches in front of me.
“Yo…you drugged me?”
My words are thick and sluggish like my tongue is stuck to the roof of my mouth.
“You gave me no choice.” He brushes the barrel of a black handgun down my cheek, along my jaw, then over my breasts,and down my stomach, before running it up the slit of my pussy. “You almost clawed my fucking eyes out.”
I squirm trying to move his hands away from me, but he doesn’t do anything but chuckle. His other hand moves over his face causing me to squint at the angry, red welts that reach from his brow all the way down his jaw line.
“You…you fucking deserved it,” I mumble, my head lolling to the side.
He grips my chin bringing my face back to his. His blunt nails dig into my skin causing me to wince. “You should be showing some fucking gratitude, Phoenix. You’re lucky you’re still breathing. But I love you and as long as you apologize and take your punishment for what you’ve done like a good girl then we can get on with our lives like this never happened. How’s that sound?
I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. While this drug may have my head fucked up, I know I will never apologize to Lio. “Fuck…you.”
He can shove that apology he will never get from, me up his ass. I wish I had the strength to tell him.
