Page 57 of Savage

Prez slaps my face. “Open your fuckin’ eyes.” He points to Lauren, whose face is twisted with anguish and pain. “This is what your betrayal costs.”

My heart splits in two.

That fucker explodes inside her, thrusting his cock in and out of her body one last time, and pulls out, shaking the last drops of cum and blood from the end of his dick. Then he tucks himself inside his pants and stands. Lauren sags against the floor, weeping behind her gag. I struggle against Prez’s grasp. He slams the flat of the gun against my temple, knocking my head to the side.

“Uh, uh, uh,” Prez says, and Tag automatically lifts his gun and aims it directly at Lauren’s head. He doesn’t even bother to turn it on me because that fucker knows. He knows I have no concern for my own self-preservation, I only care about hers.

“We’re gonna play a little game. It’s called Which Loved One Do You Want To See Die First? Now, seeing as you only have one parent left, Daddy dearest had to make an appearance. Can you believe he actually fuckin’ said no to me? Told me about you beating the shit outta him in the middle of the road, and he still refused to be the one to come and get you. To be honest, I probably woulda killed him already, but then we wouldn’t get to play this little game. So what’s it gonna be, Kick? Your daddy, or your girlfriend?”

I take a deep breath. There’s no question here in my mind who I’d save. My father was nothing but a sperm donor, a worthless piece of shit so full of hatred and cunning and bitterness. And I’m exactly like him, because despite all that blood-is-thicker-than-water bullshit, I choose the option that I can live with.

“Juke. Kill Juke,” I say. My dad steps back and into Rue’s arms. I can tell by the look on his face that he’s not surprised by my decision. His eyes meet mine across the room and for perhaps the first time ever I see acceptance in them. I stare at his face until I hear the shot ring out … only he doesn’t fall.

Lauren does.

“Oops,” Tag says, smiling at me.

No. No. No. No. No!

My heart stops.

I can’t breathe.

I lurch forward. Prez lets me go, and I clamber across the bed and fall down onto the floor. Her eyes are wide open, but she’s not breathing, she’s not gasping for breath or fighting to hold on because there’s a huge hole blown out of the side of her head. Fragments of bone litter the carpet, and her blood and brain tissue paint the ceiling.

My chest squeezes and a howl rips from my gut as I gather her lifeless body in my arms. I cradle her head in my lap, my fingers slip into the gaping mess of her skull, and a little more bone chips away.

I want to die. I want to die more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my entire life. Right now, all I want is to check out, but I know when I move, it’ll end the last time I ever touch her. Tears stream down my cheeks, and cries of anguish rip from my body until I’m choking on the sound of my own heart breaking. I’m sinking in blood and sweat and betrayal, and yet it’s as though I’ve learned how to breathe underwater, because, for all the pain I feel, I still haven’t drowned yet.

I don’t know how long I stay like that, cradling her in my arms. But eventually, Prez comes over and claps a hand on my back. “It’s for the best, son. Can you imagine the two of you working after all you’ve done to her, after all she’s been through?”

I explode, pushing Lauren from my lap and slamming Prez’s body against the carpet. I wrap my hands around his throat and attempt to choke the life out of him. I’m knocked back with a kick to the side of the head. I don’t even feel it; not really, not the way I felt the bullet that took her life as if it were my own body that’d been hit. Tag lunges and pins me beneath him. I struggle, and then I realise there’s nothing left to fight for.

“Help him up, Tag,” Prez says, rubbing his hands over his throat. “Nice try, but we’re not going to kill you, Daniel. You’re way too valuable. You’re going to lead us to Ethan, because I know you know where he is, and we’re gonna keep Daddy dearest here until you come through.”

“Then you’re gonna be waiting a fuckin’ long time,” I seethe. “Shoot the fucker; shoot me. I don’t give a fuck.”

“I think you will,” Prez says, leaning over and tapping my cheek with the side of his hand. “I can be pretty persuasive. Rue, get Juke out to the van.” Rue nods and starts walking forward.

“Tag, clean up your fuckin’ mess. And bring the body. We’ve got a delivery for Slayer.”

“Don’t fuckin’ touch her!” I bellow, as I climb to my feet and charge Tag, but I’m knocked back down again by another blow to my head, and then the nothingness I’d longed for so badly finally swallows me up.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

KICK

Islam the door and stalk away from the gym. I only make it to the kitchen before I lose my shit entirely.

“FUCK!” I roar and swipe the empty pizza boxes off the counter. I’m full to fucking bursting with violence. I need to punch, and hit, and feel bone crunch under my fists. I need to choke the life out of something. I need to fuck, to smash into a woman’s body over and over again. I need …I need her.

I didn’t want to fucking need her. I don’t want to need her. I never wanted to feel this shit, this helplessness again. I already gave one bitch the power to break my heart and she tore it all to fuckin’ bits when she died, and now Indie’s in there, trying to tape that shit together, trying to see something more inside me than I deserve. And I can’t fucking do it. I won’t.

I stomp toward the front door and gather up my keys from the bowl in the foyer. I need to get the fuck out of here. I need a real motherfucking drink, and I need a bitch that hasn’t been all jacked up by some psychotic priest to ride my cock.

Jesus Christ.I wasn’t fucking lying when I said I was attracted to the fucked-up ones. I’d thought Ivy was bad, but there ain’t no hope for that bitch in the house.

Country’s sitting on the front step when I walk outside, shotgun in his lap and whistling some fucking old-timey tune, no doubt. I ignore him as I walk over to my bike.

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