Page 57 of Absolution

“I think you need to tell me what the fuck is going on here.”

Ricci glanced over at me as he loaded bulletins into a magazine and shoved it inside the weapon. “Gina is a… friend.”

My brain swirled with this information, and it hit me out of nowhere. No wonder he recognized my name.

“You’re Jacob.” It wasn’t a question.

“So she told you about me.”

“Yeah. Some ‘friend’ you are. You’re the one who was supplying her with that fucking poison.”

He had the decency to appear guilty at the accusation, but it quickly cleared. “For the record, if it wasn’t me she was getting that ‘poison’ from, it would have been someone else. At least I knew what and how much she was using. I made sure she didn’t get slipped something else, something more deadly. I looked out for her the best way I could.”

I scoffed. “Did that include fucking her?”

Ricci’s voice boomed through the air as he slammed his palms on a table in the middle of the room. “You don’t know a goddamn thing about my relationship with Gina. You weren’t around. She did the best she fucking could to survive.”

“I know you killed a man for her.”

“You’re god damn right I did, and I’d do it again without even a thought.”

There was passion in his voice, along with something else that made me pause.

“You love her.”

“People like me?” He shook his head sadly. “We don’t get to love.”

With that, he turned his back to me and began pocketing more magazines. Since it was clear the conversation was over, I surveyed the weapons and grabbed a double shoulder holster. I slid into it and adjusted the fit to make sure I had easy access to both guns. Then I grabbed a semi-automatic and several magazines. My eyes landed on a sheathed blade, and after I finished sticking it down my boot I stood to find Ricci staring intently at me.

“Gideon Townsend is a dead man. He just doesn’t know it yet.”

Chapter 36

Gina

This timeit was my jaw that ached when I came to. I was now bound hands and feet to a chair, and I’d been completely stripped of all my clothes. Immediately the panic rose, and I quickly assessed my body mentally, trying to notice if I felt different. To see if I could tell whether Gideon had touched me or done anything else to me while I’d been out. Other than my jaw and my appendages where the rope cut into me, no other parts of my body hurt. I sighed in relief that all seemed as it was before.

Regardless of the pain, I was fighting back. For two years, I’d been a terrified girl who’d been lost and alone. I could break down and cry and accept my fate, but I was more than that. Now, I was a powerful woman. Regardless of what Gideon did to me, I’d survive, because Leo had shown me how strong I was, how strong I’d always been, even when I hadn’t believed it of myself. I was a fighter, and I had no intention of letting this man beat me.

“Are you awake, whore?”

Slowly, I opened my eyes to glare at Gideon who sat opposite me in a similar chair. I smiled when I saw his swollen tongue peeking out from between his lips.

“I’m awake, asshole.”

I straightened my spine when his fist clenched, but I refused to flinch or look away. I was done being mentally beaten down by this man. He’d done too much damage already. No more.

“You think you’re something special, don’t you? You and Leo. The two of you had no idea what it was like to feel helpless. To be at someone’s mercy. But you learned real quick, didn’t you, little Gina? Man, the way you begged me to stop. Your tears were so perfect.”

I shuddered in remembrance.

“You aren’t so special now are you? How does it feel to be helpless again? To know that you’re at my mercy?”

My jaw tightened as I bit back a reply.

“Ah, I saw that little flicker in your eye. That flash of terror. I love seeing that. I saw it a lot when I was in prison,” he said, absently. “Grown men would tremble when they saw me coming. Me. The almighty and powerful Gideon Townsend. They quaked in fear when my name was spoken. Especially when I whispered it in their ear right before I shoved a knife in their gut.”

Dear god, he was crazy. He blinked and his gaze shifted back to me.

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