Page 5 of Victorious: Part 3
Instead, I burst into full-blown, eye-watering laughter. “Oh my God, did you guys rehearse this? Because this is like every bad action movie ever made. Are you going to tell me I have something you want next? Maybe threaten to kill my goldfish? Make me beg for my life like apa-the-ticlittle man. Notice I said man and not woman? Because women areneverpathetic. Only men are when they’re trying to be tough because they haveteeny weenylittle dicks.”
I shift my eyes to Scar Face, a giggle erupting from me that I can’t control, and almost instantly, Scar Face’s hand connects with my cheek in a slap that snaps my head to the side. My ears ring with the brute force. My eyes are rolling with the pain, which is sharp and immediate, but even as tears spring to my eyes from the impact, I can’t stop this crazy laughter.
“Holy shit… thatactuallyhurt,” I gasp between giggles. “But you guys are still ridiculous. Like,seriously,who taught you how to be intimidating? A DVD box set? Or wait? Do you guys sit around watching YouTube tutorials? It’s not a bad thing… I learned how to give really good head from there. At least Phoenix said it was, so it’s not—”
Fuck me!His slap becomes a backhand, harder this time, splitting my lip. Blood seeps into my mouth, but the metallic flavor just makes me think about how weird it is that blood tastes like pennies, and that sets off another round of goddamnlaughter.
“Mierda,”the third guard swears. “There’s something wrong with this bitch.”
“The serum is making her giddy,” Javier explains patiently. “It’s a common side effect. The loss of inhibitions affects emotional regulation as well as honesty.”
“Well, it’s fucking annoying,” Scar Face snarls, grabbing my chin roughly, so I smirk back at him. “Tell us about their security measures. How many men they have? What weapons?”
I try to focus, try to think of anything that might be useful information, but all I can come up with is, “Phoenix has really nice abs. Like, seriously impressive. And Alpha… he’s their president… he’s got this whole brooding mysterious thing going that would probably work really well on dating apps. But he’s totally got this whole violent relationship happening with Haven. It’s so fucking hot watching them. It’s the entire reason I wanted Phoenix to choke me during sex, because we’ve all heard Haven and Alpha going at it in the Chapel, and when I say those two are violent, I mean in thesexiestway possible. And let me tell you, when Phoenix didactuallychoke me during sex, it waseverythingI was hoping it woul—”
Another slap. This time, it is hard enough to make my vision blur for a second.
“I’m telling you the truth, dammit!” I protest through my laughter. “That’sliterallyall I know about their security measures. The guys are all hot, so I don’t pay attention to that shit. I do social media and ogle the hot men. They don’t exactly hold strategy meetings during movie night with the women and family members of the club, you idiots.”
But Scar Face isn’t listening. He reaches for something on the table. It’s a knife with a serrated edge that gleams under the warehouse lights. “Maybe if we give her some extra motivation,” he suggests, testing the blade against his thumb.
The sight of the knife should sober me up, should snap me back to the reality of my situation. But for the life of me, I can’t stop fucking laughing at every dangerous situation, and this seems to be the funniest thing yet. “Oh,come on!” I wheeze, barely able to catch my breath. “A knife?Really?What is this,Crocodile Dundee? Are you gonna challenge me?‘That’s not a knife. That’s a kni—’”
The blade slides across my forearm, a shallow cut but deep enough to draw blood. The pain is immediate and incredibly real, but my brain processes it as just another part of this surreal comedy show.
“Ow, ow, ow!” I giggle. “Okay, that legit stings. But I’mstillnot going to magically develop knowledge I don’t have. That’snothow this works, genius.”
The big guard leans down, his stinky garlic breath in my face, his eyes all fierce and red as he stares at me. “Tell us about their safe houses,” he demands. “Their escape routes.”
If I could throw my hands into the air in frustration, I would, but instead, I snort out another laugh. “I don’t know about any safe houses!” I snicker. “The only escape route I know is how to get from the main clubhouse to the kitchen when I want ice cream at three in the morning.”
Scar Face moves the knife to my thigh this time, another shallow cut that makes me hiss through my teeth. But even as the blood trickles down my leg, even as the pain shoots through my nervous system, the absurdity of the situation keeps me giggling.
“This is so stupid!” I gasp. “You’re torturing someone wholiterallyknows nothing. It’s like interrogating a golden retriever about nuclear physics.”
“Enough!” Javier’s voice cuts through my laughter. On the laptop screen, I see his jaw ticking with frustration. “She’s telling the truth. She doesn’t know anything useful.”
“So… what do we do with her?” Mustache Guy asks.
There’s a pause, and for the first time since I woke up, something cold moves through my chest. Not fear exactly—the serum won’t let me feel proper fear—but a dim recognition that something important is happening.
“Well…” Javier says slowly, “… if she’s of no use to us for information, then perhaps she can serve another purpose.”
My brows raise in curiosity, a smirk crossing my face at this news.
“What kind of purpose?” Scar Face asks.
Javier’s smile on the screen turns predatory. “The men who love her will do anything to get her back. And when they inevitably fail…” He shrugs. “Grief makes people careless. Angry. Prone to making mistakes.”
The implications of his words should terrify me.
They should have me begging, pleading, and trying to bargain for my life.
Instead, I snort with laughter.
“Oh, you’re going to use me as bait? That’s actually not a terrible strategy. I mean, Phoenix will definitely lose his shit when he realizes I’m gone. And Maverick…” Another giggle. “Both Maverick and Phoenix are going to burn the entire world down to find me.”
“Yes…” Javier agrees. “And while they’re burning the world down for you, they’ll leave themselves vulnerable. Exposed.”
