Page 52 of Brutal Queen

“Did you tell Nico?”

“Yes, and that’s the reason our driver friend is going to wake up missing a few fingers,” Benny replies in a tone so devoid of emotion it’s a little unnerving. Justified, but still unnerving. Benny rarely goes full rage bunny… that’s Nico’s bit. He’s lost in thought, looking down into the car, his eyes so dark they’ve clouded over to the darkest of greys, not a trace of his usual green hue to be found.

I wave Nico over and he jogs over to us. “I need you to head off in the truck and take Benny with you. Stefano will be at least twenty minutes and I don’t want to draw attention to our car or this one. I’ll join you later.” Nico nods and then, seeing the look of anger on Benny’s face, angles him slowly away from the car and encourages him back to our truck. I shout after Nico, “Just make sure they’re both still alive when I get there. I want a piece of them.”

“Was gonna keep them alive for Aurora anyway, but I’ll make sure there’s enough left for you too.”

“There better be, Nico,” I call out, trying to suppress the rage burning in my veins threatening to run riot over me.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

MAX

My latest delivery is late. Pacing around the cattle shed of my recently acquired and mostly dilapidated farm, I check my phone again. Nothing. If this little prick is dicking me about, I’ll have him strung up and slaughtered like the last useless carcass he brought me.

Sometimes I think it was a mistake letting Enzo go so soon. He had endurance. While he never held a candle to Aurora, there was something about the way he could take a beating, the way he would bleed for me, that was so satisfying it nearly made me forget what I lost when I left her for dead. I’m fed up with watching these pathetic substitutes bend and break within a few days.

I can’t deny that releasing Enzo was the perfect distraction to keep my darling wife preoccupied. I’ve been making a small fortune off of The Knights and their various revenue streams. With my protection from the authorities, they’ve been able to ramp up supply, which has only increased demand. There’s no shortage of peoplelooking to trade in skin. Whether it’s for sexual or psychopathic requirements.

As much as I detest working with these frat boy fuckwits, they have been an invaluable addition to the fold. In addition to keeping a steady supply to The Knights, they also bring me the more robust ones for first refusal. An added benefit and part of The Knights protection deal I negotiated. They didn’t ask why when I added to my stipulations, mostly because they don’t give a fuck.

Maybe I should have played with Manny for a bit instead of wasting my time and resources protecting him. He was next to fucking useless anyway. Something tells me I would have got very little satisfaction from bringing him to my new playhouse.

I’m looking forward to the day when I can stop wasting my time on cheap imitations. One day I’ll have myprincipessaback under lock and key.

And this time I won’t let her get away.

I give up on waiting for vice president fuckboy and head to the back of the cattle shed. I wonder who’s ready to play today.

Opening the gate, I walk between the stalls, inspecting my livestock. Stopping at the second pen, I notice that ‘live’-stock is a gross misrepresentation of the corpse crumpled in a heap by the back wall.

The dead ones are far less fun to play with.

Probably better to dispose of it. I hate rats, and the dead ones always attract vermin. It’s the only problem with my new setup. Pest control.

Grabbing the large wheelbarrow by the door, I unlock it and heave the body into the deep tray. As I wheel her out, I look down at the tufts of black hair lying in a haphazard fashion. Of all the things I did to this one, it was shearing off her hair that finally broke her. After that, she stopped eating and drinking. I probably shouldn’t have cut it, but it was her own fault for trying to look like my wife.

When I get to the end of the barn, I push open the doors and carry on to the pigpens. This one is quite scrawny now,so it’s not like she’ll make them a decent meal, but there’s no denying how effective this method of disposal is. They’ll devour her in a few hours.

Stopping by the fence, I unfurl the body and lift it bridal style, before unceremoniously throwing it over. I don’t bother to watch the show. It stopped being entertaining after the first cadaver I tossed in there.

When I re-enter the barn, I’m greeted by the snivels and whines of the guests in stall one, three, and four. Number five is quiet though. I approach and look through the bars of the full height door.

A man stands with his head back against the wall, staring at me with determination. He’s chained by the wrists and ankles to the iron O-rings behind him. I’ve not made him scream yet. I have made him cry though. He doesn’t like the cattle prod.

Maybe it’s time to play with the barbed wire. Or the scalpels. Oo, or what about the bone saw? It’s not like I don’t have spares if I play too rough.

Decisions, decisions.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

AURORA

We’ve only just got to Inferno when my phone starts vibrating in my pocket. Not expecting to see Sinclair’s name, I hold a hand up to get everyone to pause their conversation.

I’m sitting in Dom Lombardi’s office with Enzo and Dante, reviewing the last month's financials. While boring as fuck, it’s a vital part of our business. We keep the clubs legitimate and they’re profitable for the most part, so we try to keep anything less than legal clear of them. The frat boys being caught in one of our clubs was less than helpful. The increased police presence after their little outburst hasn’t been good for business.

I answer the call and bring the phone to my ear. “Sinclair.” I nod along as he fills me in, but when he explains about the girl, I lose my temper. “Motherfuckers.”Sinclair lets me run my mouth with a few more loud and angry expletives until I’ve calmed down. “Is she alright?”

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