Page 79 of Dangerous Love

Jesus Christ.Panic grew in my gut, my limbs weakening as everything suddenly made sense. My head grew dizzy, and I forced a deep breath through my lungs. These weren’t collectables. These were branding irons.He’s gonna brand me like cattle.

“Dad. I’ll take him to Vinnie’s tomorrow. I fucking swear. He’ll have his club crest on his fucking forehead if that’s what you want, but please don’t do this.” Flickers of spit flew from my brother’s mouth as he begged.

“It’s okay, Trey,” I rasped. I jutted my chin towards Sienna. “Look after her.” Then I smiled at her and mouthed, “I love you,” before clenching my teeth and spitting at Hal’s feet. “You can brand me all you want; you’ll never be a father to me.”

He laughed, his fist connecting with my jaw. “We’ll see.”

My head bounced back, and I shook out my neck until the cloudiness faded, my eyes narrowing to slits. Sienna leapt to her feet and made it halfway across the room before Alexandro gripped her by the hair and pulled her back. She screamed, my blood rushing through my ears at the sound of her voice.

“Trey!” I yelled, and as soon as I did, his knuckles connected with the enforcer’s nose.

Sienna crumbled into my brother’s arms. He picked her up and cradled her on his lap as he pushed her face away from me. I nodded, quiet gratitude flowing between us. It killed me to see her in his arms instead of mine, but the thought of her having these images stuck in her brain forever made me want to drill a hole through my frontal lobe. I never wanted her to see me like this. Weak. Vulnerable.Terrified.

I gritted my teeth, my fingers opening and shutting against the arm of the chair holding me in place with invisible chains. “Get on with it,” I hissed. “So we can all finally get out of here.”

In front of me, Trey’s eyes glistened as he locked Sienna’s face into the crook of his neck and inhaled. “Hey, little brother,” he said. “Do you remember the first time I took you ice-skating?”

I nodded, my jaw clenched as I ignored Hal brandishing the red-hot iron between us.

Trey continued. “You split your head open. You needed eight stitches, but you didn’t shed one tear.”

I smiled, ignoring my clamping muscles as the heat drew closer.

“I asked you how you were so brave. You laughed and said that when you sang in your heart, you didn’t feel anything. Remember that, little brother?” His voice broke as he finished.

“Yep,” I grunted as Hal pinned my wrist to the wooden armrest.

My lungs ached with every breath, my heart pounding through my rib cage like the life was being choked out of it. I squeezed my eyelids, picturing Sienna’s head across my lap as I sang to her, her eyes staring into mine before she kissed my stomach and let her fingers run underneath my shirt.

“Argh,” I screamed as my father pressed the hot metal into my skin. Pain drilled through to my bones. The smell of burning flesh riled my stomach, the stench assaulting my senses while the wave of nausea grew unbearable. I lurched forward, my free arm holding me upright against the chair as I dry retched.

I ignored Sienna’s sobbing in the background, Jarryd’s voice in my mind telling me to take deep breaths.Let the adrenaline kick in…

Hal pressed his palms over me, pinning his latest masterpiece by the wrist and elbow. He hummed, as if appraising his work, pride shining in his goddamn pupils. “Well, look at that. My son, finally a Cooper.”

I leaned back against my seat, shame, despair, and hopelessness mocking me as I caught a glimpse of the psychopath’s burnt crest forever carved into my arm. I fought the tears welling in my eyes, humiliation drowning me as Sienna’s gaze met mine. Her face was blotched with red patches, her chest heaving and her breathing as erratic as my own.

As soon as Hal relaxed and Alexandro placed his gun back into its holster, Sienna launched herself forward, her knees slapping the hard concrete as she lowered them in front of me, her forehead resting on my thigh. “Oh god…” she cried. “I’m sorry.”

I leaned down until my mouth pressed into the back of her head. “Shhh…” I murmured, my throat aching. All I cared about was getting her the hell out of here.

“Are you happy?” I bit. “You have my loyalty. Now keep to your word and get the fuck out of our lives.”

Across from me, Trey pulled the woman in medical scrubs to her feet before he raced to my side. He helped me up, his eyes throwing daggers through the room as we stepped forward. “I’m taking him to put something on this before it gets infected. Hope you’re happy.”

The air grew heavy as Hal smirked and raised his hand. “Not yet.”

My whole body shrunk, my mind begging for a way out of this nightmare.

What the fuck. I had nothing else to give. I’d come to buy Sienna’s and my freedom, and now that I’d earnt it, I wanted nothing but a fresh start with her by my side. Cooper could rot in hell as far as I was concerned. He was dead to me.

“There’s one more thing,” he snarled. Like they worked in sync, Hal yanked Sienna back by the collar while his enforcer pulled his gun out and pressed it straight against Trey’s forehead. Sienna gasped. The other woman scurried to the corner of the room. And I froze, my eyes switching between Sienna being shoved on that chair, and Trey being rammed against the wall, a barrel lodged between my brother’s eyes.

God, make this end…“Hal, please,” I exhaled. “If there’s any humanity left in you, let them go.”

“Good thing there isn’t,” he snarled and tossed the iron back into the flames.

I begged the universe to guide me while I watched the remnants of my flesh melt. There was no way I was letting this lowlife get his hands on her, the thought of Sienna feeling this pain unconceivable in my brain. But if I moved the wrong way, Trey would die, and the rest of us wouldn’t be far behind.

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