Page 31 of Mistress Mayhem

“This sin happened ten years ago—“

“The girls.” Howard cuts me off with a nod. “That makes sense. That was one of the worst of my sins, wasn’t it?”

I nod slowly, practically glowering at him. “It was. And of those girls, you had a favorite, didn’t you?”

Howard’s eyes are wide as he nods at me. I glance at Austin, finding his brows drawn in confusion. Since Howard is so willing to allow this to happen, I know I don’t need to drug him. Instead, I want him to know that this is the man who abused Charlotte over and over again. To allow him a moment of vengeance for him.

“Charlotte. I’d had my eye on her for years, and when Cary became obsessed with another girl, we decided that was the year we’d have our sweet girls. And have them we did.”

Austin lets out a roar seconds before his fist flies through the air. He knocks Howard backward, his hand jerking from mine as his head bounces off the wall. He looks dazed as he stares up at Austin. “You are the punisher. I deserve this.”

“You sure fucking do,” Austin growls, rearing back to punch the other man in the face once more. This knocks him out completely, so when Austin looks like he’s going to hit him again, I lay my hand on his arm.

Austin freezes, glancing at me over his shoulder. “Little one?”

“You’ve knocked him out. If you hit him again, you’re likely to kill him. I can’t hunt him if he’s dead.”

Austin opens his mouth to argue, but it snaps closed just as quickly. “Where’s the stupid door? I couldn’t find it.”

Stepping past him, I head for the back wall, feeling along the seam where the two walls meet to find the right spot before pushing on it until I hear the panel click open. I slide it into the recess in the wall that’s not noticeable until it’s loose. I look back at Austin, and he just shakes his head. “I tried that.”

“I’m sure you did, but I know where it is, and you don’t. The spot is made to be at the waist of someone my size. You probably didn’t reach down far enough.” I push open the door that leads into the basement, and Austin grabs ahold of Howard by his collar and drags him across the floor. He glances down the stairs, then back at Howard before dropping his hold and letting Howard’s head bounce off the floor.

“Oops,” he says with zero remorse before grabbing the other man’s ankle, turning him before dragging him down the stairs. He’s a little rougher with Howard than he was with William, but I expected that when Howard revealed his sin. This had been much easier than I expected, but something tells me that grabbing Cary won’t be nearly this easy.

When Austin appears at the top of the stairs once more, his eyes are wild. He’s raging with unleashed anger and needs a way to release it. That’s something I can help him with.

“Come with me, Austin.” I offer him my hand, and he stares down at it. “Do you trust me?”

His response is immediate. “With my life.”

I fight against a smile, my stomach fluttering once more. These men turn me into a mushy mess, but I’d be lying if I said I hated it. “Then come with me.”

This time, Austin doesn’t hesitate to place his hand in mine, and I lead him down the hallway.

Chapter Sixteen

Sage

Becausewe’refurtherfromthe ballroom, the music and bass are extremely muted as I head toward one of the rooms on this floor that I know is unoccupied. I push open the door, dragging Austin into the room behind me. I lead him over to the bed before pushing him down onto it. He crashes down onto it before sitting up, confusion on his face.

“Are you okay?” I ask, moving to stand between his legs.

Austin scoffs. “I don’t know. The things he said. I wanted to do nothing more than kill him right then and there. You’re the only reason I didn’t. I didn’t want to take away your chance at vengeance.”

That makes me smile as I take his hand in mine. “That’s probably the sexiest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

His head jerks up, eyes wide as his pupils dilate. His lips turn up at the corner as hunger fills his eyes. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” I lift my other hand to cup his cheek. “But you’ve got a lot of rage inside you right now, and it’s obvious you need a way to release it.”

“I really do.” He scoffs. “But it’s not like I can go work out right now or anything.”

“That’s true, but there’s more than one way to work it out,” I say with a hum, a smirk sliding across my lips at the look on his face.

“You can’t mean... You and...” Austin shakes his head. “I’m going to need you to spell it out for me so there’s zero confusion.”

I laugh, loving how flustered I’ve made him. “Okay, big guy. I can do that. It’s very simple—I want you to fuck me. It can be hard and fast if that’s what you need, or tender and loving. Whatever will help you to not allow the rage to eat you up inside.”

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