Page 153 of Stabby Little

“You had sex with your friends in Room B when I wasn't looking. Sometimes even Room A. Don't deny it."

"Your guards made me." Anger floods my being.

"You were on track to be Jack's second-in-command. You knew how we operated, understood how our clients ticked. You could've overseen a bevy of boys and taught them to service their clients. You fucked everything up by murdering Jack."

I stare dead into Michael's eyes. "And Matt. Don't forget I killed him, too."

"Quit running that fucking mouth when I'm speaking." Michael brings his hand down hard on my cheek.Smack. "That's your one downfall. You can't shut the fuck up and listen to authority when your life depends on it. If you'd cultivated that skill, we wouldn't be here today."

Pain ricochets across my skull. Tears threaten in my eyes, but I blink hard to draw them back. I refuse to give Michael the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

This motherfucker hurt me for far too long. He planted the seeds of the monster that I became in my soul.

He doesn't deserve to see me break down, doesn't have the fucking right.

Linda steps forward. "Will this take care of Miles's debt?"

Michael lets out a roar and brings his palm down hard on her temple.

Smack.

She falls back unconscious and slams onto the floor.

"Shut up, bitch." Michael spits on her body. "This isn't about Miles."

Miles whimpers in the corner. "I'm sorry, Mr. Diavolo. She won't do it again."

Michael whips back around to me. "How did you escape?"

"You'd like to know, wouldn't you."

Michael produces a knife and presses it to my throat. "I'll slice your fucking head off if you don't tell me."

"Do it." I jut my chin out. "I'm not telling you shit."

"Where did you stash Jack's body? We found Matt in the alley after you shoved him out of the manhole with Callum. But not Jack."

"Keep looking."

"Is Jack's corpse in his secret storage closet?" Michael moves forward. "Did you chop him into pieces and hide him with the HIV preventatives we forced you to take?"

"You mean the sex trafficking drugs?”

"It doesn't matter what they were."

I spit in Michael's face, not giving a fuck that this could be my death sentence. "I put Jack's decapitated body in the passage underneath the manhole. It's covered in detritus I found on the ground. It should still be there."

Michael thrusts his fist forward to hit me again.

Before he can, a second figure slips through the door.

Long hair.

Sharp eyes.

I recognize her at once.

Crystal Diavolo