Page 19 of Risk
Leaning in, I confirm, “Sure you don’t want to talk?”
He coughs and sputters before saying two syllables that have my ears ringing. “Fuck. You.”
“Nah, you’re not my type and that’s not my kink. But if that’s your thing, I’m sure I can find a volunteer. There’s all sorts of nutty fuckers online that I can offer you up to on a silver platter. Maybe I can bring the club a little income while I’m at it. How much do you think you’re worth?” I squeeze a little tighter and lean in so he can hear me. “What is my wife worth?”
“Your wife?” one of the other blockheads asks, sounding baffled. “Our ladies are single and available. We don’t offer up taken women; it’s why we get to them while they’re young.”
“How young are we talking?” Kodiak steps forward and asks. “Nineteen? Twenty?”
When the men stay silent, but the two fuckwads share a wide-eyed look, my brothers bristle. “Younger? Seriously? You’re fucking with us, right?” Regulator hisses out the myriad of questions, his face turning a molten shade of red. “Are you shitting me?”
“How old was McKenna?” I ask, placing myself front and center, making sure I’m all they see. “How. Old?”
“Don’t know,” one answers. “You’d have to ask Marshall.”
“Who’s Marshall?” Conan probes. “Is he your boss?”
The men clam up after that, and that’s when I know that I need to press this issue. I release the man’s throat that I never let go of and toss him to the ground, straddling him. “Who? The fuck. Is Marshall?” I ask, drawing out the question.
“Fuck. You,” the man repeats his earlier words. I draw back my fist and slam it into his jaw. I hear Rev ask if that counts toward their bet but I’m so out of it, anger riding me hard that I begin punching the piece of shit laid out beneath me in synchrony—one striking blow after another. I don’t relent, he’s a throwaway as far as I’m concerned. One less scumbag tainting the earth.
I don’t lose steam, I keep going until Kodiak places his hand on my shoulder, telling me, “You broke his neck, Risk. He’s not going to feel anything you’re doing to him. But we have two more victims waiting for you to dole out justice.”
“Now wait a minute!” the blond one interjects loudly, holding his hands up in front of him, trying to talk us down. “If we talk, will you let us live?”
“No,” I answer. “But if youdotalk, I’ll make it painless.” Maybe. Possibly. But I doubt it since I’m full of unadulterated rage.
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
Risk
“Then there’sno reason for us to tell you jack shit,” the brown-headed menace says, his shoulders set in determination.
Conan snorts, asking, “You want us to show you the golden brick road? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we don’t exactly follow the rainbow, dumbass. Ain’t gonna be no pot of luck on the road you’ll be traveling. You can either make it an easy death, or we get to test out some new instruments. Feel me?” You know when Conan has hit his limit because that’s when his sentences become fractured and the word ain’t slips past his lips.
“What my brother is not so subtly trying to tell you is that we can make your last moments breathing tolerable or we can torture the fuck out of you,” Kodiak sneers.
“Personally, I’m hoping you shut down and we get to use the second alternative,” Regulator says, putting his two cents in. “I have some new tools that need to be broken in.”
I have something to admit that I hope gets them off their high horse and speaking. As much as I want to pound more flesh to soothe my fury, I need their words more so I know what shit my old lady has stepped in. Clearing my throat, and popping my knuckles, I state, “As my brothers mentioned to me earlier, I need an outlet to release the anger built up inside of me since your friend motioned toward my wife’s window earlier.”
Conan smirks, jams his finger in my direction, and tacks on, “His grandpa’s tools of the trade have been shelved long enough. It’s time they see some freedom.”
“Y’all are crazy,” the blond babbles.
“Are you just now realizing that?” Midas asks. “You’re not the sharpest tool in the shed, are you?”
The brown-headed dickhead hangs his head, his eyes swelling with unshed tears as he explains, “I only took this position because I had no other choice.”
“Explain that,” I insist, aiming my finger at the pussy.
“You’re not the only one who’s had someone they love fall victim to this organization,” he confesses. “When I was in school, my girlfriend came up missing. I saw her the night before, watched her walk into her house but the next day, she was a no-show in class. When the last bell of the day went off, I rushed to her house to check on her and her dad told me she left for school around seven that morning and he hadn’t seen her since.”
“She just vanished?” Kodiak asks, his eyes squinting into narrowed slits like they do when he’s trying to solve a puzzle.
“She was just gone,” our guest whispers. “I looked everywhere for her and later that night, her dad and I went to the policeand filed a missing person’s report, but nothing was done. They classified her as a runaway, but I knew better. We were going to college in the next few months and we’d been making plans. She was excited, she wouldn’t have run.”
