Page 4 of The Reaper
Right on cue, my phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see a message from Colton.
Colton: You’re needed. Private room three. Now
I didn’t react. I kept my face expressionless as I closed the message and slid my phone back into my pocket to keep the details away from Gaz’s prying eyes. He was a good security guard, an even better clean-up guy when we needed him, but he wasn’t a soldier, he never would be, and from the prickle I felt on my skin in anticipation of what I’d find in that room, I knew this would be soldier business. Maybe I’d get to expend some of my pent-up aggression after all?
“Everything okay, mate?” Gaz asked, the desperation to be included burning in his eyes.
“It’s fine.” I patted him on the shoulder as I started to climb the stairs. “Just a bit of business I need to take care of. Nothing for you to worry about.”
He frowned and turned as I made my ascent. His instinct to follow me was strong, and from the confusion on his face and the way his body suddenly became twitchy, I could tell he was about to climb the stairs after me. He was itching to be in on whatever was happening.
“Stay put,” I stated, pre-empting his intentions and gesturing to the crowds below. “We need your eyes and ears here.” He nodded, but he didn’t look convinced; he looked defeated. “You’re the best security we’ve got here,” I added, feathering his ego. “If you’re not out here keeping this place in check, it could all go to shit.”
He smiled then and rolled back his shoulders to show how right he thought that statement was. That was why he’d never be a soldier. He was too easy to manipulate.
“You’re right, Devon, mate. I’ll stay here. Keep this club running for you. You can trust me.” He folded his arms and gave me a confident nod and a grin. I didn’t bother to respond. I’d done my job and I was all out of compliments. He was lucky he’d got one out of me at all.
I reached the second floor, where the corridor was quieter. Doors leading off the hallway led to experiences that were tailored to our more exclusive guests. A few people were milling about, making their way to whatever adventure the night held, but I kept my focus ahead, not making eye contact, and strode with purpose towards private room number three.
The private rooms were hired out by our guests, usually for couples or small groups. From memory, I could recall that three of the four rooms had been booked for tonight. One for a regular’s twenty-first birthday party. One for a couple who came here every weekend and often used the communal room, but occasionally they liked to retire to a private room. And then there was the third booking. A new guest. A guy who came with impeccable references and one we’d checked out thoroughly, or so we thought. It looked like someone needed to be taught a lesson. A reminder that trying to pull the wool over our eyes only led to us gouging out theirs.
Before pushing the door open, I glanced over my shoulder to make sure no one was behind me. I didn’t want anyone else witnessing what I was about to see in this room. Then, when I opened it, I stepped over the threshold and closed the door swiftly behind me.
Inside was a blonde girl who looked to be in her early twenties. She was sprawled on the bed and completely out of it. Her eyes were open, but she wasn’t focusing on anything, her pupils were fixed and dilated, staring at a spot on the wall opposite. She was breathing in regular, shallow gasps, and her arms were limp, laid haphazardly next to her head. Her legs were closed, and the skirt of her dress pulled down, but from the look of what was happening across the room, and the pure venom on Colton and Will’s faces, I guessed she hadn’t been like that when they’d got here.
Colton had a man pinned to the floor. He was sitting on his back and had twisted his hands back to hold him steady. The guy lay with his face to the side, spitting out his raspy breaths and glaring at me. Will was kneeling beside them, probably giving his unique form of interrogation before I walked in. Both were fully charged and prepared to strike hard. It made me smile, knowing this guy had no fucking clue what he was about to endure. We were the hunters, the lions, and he’d just strayed into our den.
The door behind me opened, and Tyler slid through the gap, shutting it as quickly as I did so no one outside could get a glimpse into this room.
“So, is someone going to tell me what the fuck is going on?” Tyler hissed, coming to stand beside me and crossing his arms over his chest. I knew he felt the same way I did. He couldn’t wait to show the prey how we ranked as predators in this jungle. He was waiting for the excuse to stir up hell in this room.
“We got a tip off from another guest,” Colton said, baring his teeth as he stared down at the piece of shit underneath him. “Said they saw the girl slurring her words and falling all over the place. Apparently, Romeo here thought he’d make it look like he was doing the decent thing and bring her in here. But decency was the furthest thing from this fucker’s mind, wasn’t it,mate? You had some pretty fucked up plans for what you wanted to do, didn’t you? And it doesn’t take a genius to guess who fucking drugged her, either. Bastard.”
Colton used one hand to hold the guy’s wrists, and then with his other he grabbed a fistful of the guy’s hair. He yanked his head up and then banged it back down hard on the wooden floor. I knew we should’ve put concrete down. Wood made him howl and curse, but concrete would’ve knocked the fucker out cold.
“He’ll pay. Tonight, we’ll make sure he gets what he deserves,” I stated. I didn’t need to know anymore. The fact that he’d come in here and shit all over our rules was reason enough to fuck him up. But hurt a woman? A guest of the sanctuary? That’d just got him an extra dose of payback, soldier style.
“We got here just in time, not that that changes anything,” Will said, keeping his eyes fixed on the restrained guy. “She was lucky. Any later and he’d have raped her. Isn’t that right, you dirty little shit?” Will leant near his face and then spat at him. The guy squeezed his eyes shut but didn’t answer.
“You spiked her fucking drink, didn’t you?” I snapped, feeling the demons inside me stir. I already knew what the answer was, but I carried on regardless. “You drugged her and brought her in here, thinking you could do whatever the fuck you wanted. Did you really think you could come into our club and piss all over our rules? Hurt a woman and get away with it?” I knelt next to Will and shook my head, tutting, but the guy didn’t look at me. He obviously thought silence would benefit him in this situation, but his silence only pissed me off even more. “I suggest you speak, because right now, I’m making up all kinds of sick fucking scenarios in my head, and all of them involve ways in which I’m going to make you pay for what you’ve done. I bet you’ve done this before.”
Colton flared his nostrils and took over the reins.
“Do you know who we are? Or do you have a fucking death wish?” Colton, our joker, wasn’t a clown anymore. He was drowning in his dark side, vengeance oozing from his pores as he panted and gripped the guy like he was ready to tear him apart.
“I don’t think he cares,” Will piped up, stoking the fire. “I think he thinks he’s untouchable. That’s why he isn’t talking, he’s thinking of a way to get out of this.”
Colton tutted in the guy’s ear, and then he gave a sadistic chuckle as he twisted his wrists and made the guy whimper a stifled, painful moan.
“You should care,” Colton whispered to him. “You should be fucking shitting yourself, because we’re about to show you what we do to men who don’t follow our rules. Men who think they can fuck us over. Men who hurt innocent people.”
Tyler came over and Colton stood up. With Will’s help, Colton grabbed the guy under his arms and yanked him off the floor to stand up. Then, Colton secured the guy’s arms, grabbing his elbows and pulling them behind him, holding him in place. When he was fully restrained, Tyler reached into the guy’s pockets and took out his wallet and keys, pocketing them before retrieving a mobile phone that he tapped to unlock and started to scroll through.
“Take him down to the chapel,” I told them, knowing we needed to move this away from the business to a place where our revenge could be carried out exactly the way we wanted it to.
I stood up and then moved to the bed where the girl lay, totally oblivious to what was going on around her. Gently, I reached forward and brushed the long blonde hair out of her face. She’d had a lucky escape tonight, thank God. And I prayed she’d wake up with no memory of what’d happened here in this room, or what could’ve happened.
“Shall I get Gaz to move her out of here?” Will asked, but I shook my head.
