Page 84 of Savior

My brother shoves Luca aside and grabs Otis by the throat. “You piece of shit.” His arms bulge with his exerted grip. “I’ll fucking kill you.”

“Either control yourself or get out.” Cole shoves to his feet. “Now.”

The air in the tight space becomes frenzied, adrenaline and rage making it harder to breathe. Sebastian keeps choking Otis, the constriction of blood making the guard’s face swell.

“Let him go.” Luca claps my brother on the chest. “Let him go, Deck. Let me do my job.”

My brother doesn’t stop. He keeps squeezing, tighter and tighter.

“Let him go, Sebastian.” The instruction is mumbled from my numb lips. It’s too soon for this asshole to die. He hasn’t suffered enough.

My brother glances at me, his shame and sorrow bearing down on me again. I’ve never hated someone’s attention more. Not even predators. Or tormentors. The way my brother judges me makes my worthlessness unbearable. But he does as I ask, releasing his hold enough for Otis to gasp for breath, his coughs and splutters returning to raspy laughter.

“I’m done playing.” Luca speaks to Cole. “How ’bout you?”

“Feel free to speed it up.”

“No sweeter words were spoken,” Luca mutters as he snatches some kind of tool from the floor—a small set of curved pruning shears. “Where are the other women, asshole? Where did Luther keep them?”

Otis smirks, exposing claret-stained teeth. “You’ll never find them. Not alive.”

“Have it your way.” Luca walks around to the back of the chair and leans down.

I can’t see what he’s doing. It’s the crunch, the almighty roar, the mass of splattering blood, and the lone finger that eventually falls to the floor that announces the new level of interrogation.

“I’ll ask again.” Luca returns to his standing position before Otis. “Where are they?”

The guard pants, his chest rising and falling as his attention turns to me. “Did you know I fucked your friends? I fuckedallof them.” He glares at me. “Luther may not have let us touch you, but we made up for it with the other bitches. They paid for your protection.”

His words lash me like a whip, each injury deeper than the last.

I can’t stand it. I can’t sit here and take it anymore.

“Damn, Otis.” Luca clucks his tongue as he returns to the back of the chair. “You’re one slow motherfucker. I thought you would’ve learned not to mess with her by now.”

There’s another crunch. Another roar. Another drop of a finger to the ground.

It’s not enough.

Not the tears in Otis’s eyes. Not the drool blubbering from his mouth. He knows he’s going to die and it’s clear he won’t share information no matter what’s done to him. He will only continue to taunt me. To punish me.

“Chloe was the best,” he slurs. “She had the tightest ass I’ve ever fucked.”

I gasp as fury blinds me. I can’t think through the need to strike. It’s all I know as I push to my feet, snatch the shears from Luca’s hand, and squeeze the blades together to sink the sharp depths into Otis’s inner thigh.

“Burn in hell.” I push the shears deeper.

He bucks, his roar ringing in my ears. There’s so much noise. Shouts. Thoughts. Screams.

The past and present collide. Torture and freedom still battle in my mind.

I clutch those shears, staring Otis in the eye as strong hands wrap around my wrists and yank me backward. I can’t hold on. My fingers slide from the grip, making the blades creep open while still imbedded inside flesh.

Then I’m swirled around and forced to face a brother who’s ashamed of me. There’s no hiding it. It’s tattooed on his face.

“Let me go.” I thrash. “Let me go.”

“Fuck, Penny.” Luca becomes a comforting force at my back, ushering us to the door in shuffled steps. “You need to leave.”

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