Page 145 of Full Throttle

It was time.

Darkness swirled in Cain’s light eyes, a shadow coating his features as the thirst for vengeance took over.

He looked over to Kavi and then back to me. “Part of me doesn’t want you seeing this,” he muttered, brushing his knuckle across my cheek. “But the other part wants you to see what happens to anyone who hurts you or our family.”

My hand wrapped around his wrist as everything we’d been through and overcome flashed before me—memories of us as children, giggling and reading in my room at night, riding the bus, me sneaking him food from my kitchen in the middle of the night because he was so hungry, those memories shifted to us as teenagers, of me watching the quiet blonde boy grow into an angry young man, his beauty beyond words, then to the first time I realized I was in love with him, working on his Jeep in the backyard. He’d given me the biggest smile when he realized I was back from the short trip Dad and I had taken. I fell for him then, and I hadn’t stopped falling since.

“I love you,” I croaked, my thumb rubbing his wrist.

The last few months flashed through my mind, reminding me of all the pain I’d healed from, the precious moments he’d given me, the way he’d loved me and watched over me when I didn’t even watch him to. Earlier in his office should’ve scared me. Having a tiny tracker inside my neck should’ve scared me, but it didn’t.

I mattered to him.

He mattered to me.

There was nothing that could ever come between us again.

Cain didn’t respond, his eyes sharp and intense as he waited for my reassurance before I murmured, “Make it hurt.”

A slow, wicked smile spread across his face. Then, he was turning on his heel, walking to Kavi as the rest of us stayed back and watched. In the middle of Kavi’s agony, Mina stood beside me, holding my hand.

My eyes never left Cain.

This went on for over an hour and when Kavi was barely holding on, his life hanging by a thread, Collin appeared from the shadows, but he wasn’t alone.

James Garner was on his left, Dean Connors on his right.

The FBI agent was dressed in plain clothes, the ex-baseball player with a barbed-wire baseball bat leaning on his shoulder.

“Hope we aren’t too late for the finale,” Dean greeted Cain, who was covered in Kavi’s blood. His hair was wild, his eyes shining with madness as he grinned from ear to ear.

The sight of my street racer like that should’ve scared me, but it didn’t.

He pointed to the bat on Dean’s shoulder. “You bring me a present, Connors?”

Dean smirked then, saying nothing.

“Before we get to that,” James interrupted, looking over to us and curling his finger, beckoning us to join him. Once we were all in front of Kavi, standing in a semi-circle, James pulled out a file from the Bureau.

By some twisted fucking miracle, Kavi's eyes were on us as he panted. He still hadn’t given into the pain, still very aware of where he was—who he was.

“Before I let Mr. Donovan get away with murder, Mr. Kavi, I just wanted to go over a few things with you,” James began. “Firstly, your offshore bank accounts, including the ones in Russia, have been closed. Your assets, or what’s left of them, are considered evidence. As for the drugs and guns…those will be handed to a more…qualified party.”

The men around me and Mina as we shared a look.

Holy shit, Oasis was getting it.

“As for the remaining members of the Bratva, they will be spending the rest of their lives in a Russian prison,” James continued, slapping the folder closed and taking a step towards the broken man. “And as for the women and children you were trafficking…” He trailed off, dropping the file onto the floor. It landed in a pool of Kavi’s blood, and when I looked back up, I found James gripping Kavi by the throat. “They’re all safe.”

Kavi’s eyes widened as he struggled to breathe.

James grinned. “I love watching bastards like you lose,” he said, releasing Kavi’s neck.

Kavi gasped for air as Cain held out his hand to Dean. Once the bat was in Cain’s hands, he tested its weight for a moment. “I can see the appeal.”

“Certainly gets the job done,” Collin hummed, clearly enjoying every second of this.

“Quickly too,” Dean added.

---