Page 51 of Blood and Thorns (Twisted Ever After #1)

Sebastian

Arabella stiffened at my words, turning in the water until she faced me with those eyes that seemed empty. Numb. I didn’t fucking want her eyes to show nothing; I wanted that spirit that had burned me the first time we’d met.

I’ve never quite felt such rage at seeing Arabella on that bathroom floor, her blood smeared with her dress torn.

It was as if something had possessed me, and at first I’d stepped closer to the man that had hurt her, but then decided she was more important.

That my vengeance could wait until I could reassure myself that she was okay.

She made no sound as I lifted her from the water, carefully wrapping her in a towel despite me leaving a trail behind.

The fire in my bedroom was already alight, and settling her on the edge of the bed I got rid of my soaking trousers before placing her back on my lap facing the hearth.

The armchair squeaked beneath me, the towel separating our bodies.

At first, she was tense, her eyes fixed to the dancing flames.

“If you want to be alone, I’ll leave,” I said, fighting my own selfish need to use her to calm those voices that called for me to react. To kill.

She swallowed, still facing forward. “Stay,” she whispered, the word barely audible as she finally relaxed against me.

Her answer eased some of the weight on my chest, allowing me to breathe a little easier. I’d never found anything that would relieve this energy, and the thought that she’d been hurt…

Arabella turned, those eyes blinking up at me. “Promise me you won’t kill him.”

I knew she wasn’t talking about the man who had tried to rape her, because nothing would stop me from taking his last breath. Her dad deserved the same fate. “Why shouldn’t I?”

“Because if you do, I’ll never forgive you.”

“You think I care?”

Her eyes searched mine. “Please, I’ll do anything. Double the debt.”

I gently cupped her jaw, keeping her in place so I could press my lips to hers. “Belle, la paix que je trouve en ta présence vaut la peine d'être le méchant de ton histoire.”

Beautiful, the peace I find in your presence is worth being the villain of your story.

“Sebastian…” She was frustrated at the lack of translation, but she was too exhausted to fight me, her adrenaline waning.

So I simply pulled her tighter against my chest, letting the crackling of the flames lull her to sleep.

Only when I was confident she wouldn’t wake did I finally place her in my bed. Where I planned to keep her forever.

Each step towards the dungeon sent a bolt of lightning through my muscles, my knuckles aching from how hard they were tensed.

Regarde de l'autre c?té, bébé!

Look the other way, baby!

I couldn’t have looked away if I’d wanted, my head forced up so I had to watch the numerous men assault my mother violently.

It was part of the torture, that we all had to witness each family member be hurt, one after another.

My mother was first, then my brothers, then me, and then finally my father.

But while my mother was killed quickly, Margot had wanted my brothers and I alive just a little bit longer. All so we could witness my father sob, begging as we lay there broken.

The twins stood in their positions by the door, their expressions identically sober when they nodded in my direction. “Boss, they’re waiting for you.”

I took a deep breath, trying to calm the rage festering in my soul. “Nobody comes inside until I’m done.”

It was Micah who answered. “Understood.”

Stepping inside the concrete room, I glanced at Caden, who was leaning casually against the wall with a cigarette hanging out his mouth.

“His name’s Anton Hill,” he said in French, his own anger palpable as he straightened to his full height. “Where’s Lang?”

“Watching over Arabella,” I replied in the same language, noting how Anton and Morris’s eyes widened at my presence.

I’d made sure I presented myself in what they’d expect, including my mask.

My suit was fresh, and the rings I’d chosen the heaviest I own.

Specifically designed to leave a print when I likely lost my temper and resorted to fists.

Caden had tied Anton naked to a chair, the thick rope grazing the cunt’s bare skin. His cock could barely be seen between his slightly spread legs, shrivelled up and hiding in the purposely kept cold room.

Morris was beside him, his left eye already swelling shut and his shoulders hunched forward. He was clothed, but that would change depending on his explanation.

“How is she?” Caden asked, taking a drag from his cigarette before flicking it towards Anton. Anton screeched into the rag between his lips, the tip burning his side before falling to the floor.

“She’s strong.” I cracked my neck, the two men flinching at the sound. Crossing the room, I knelt in front of Anton, purposely ignoring Morris for the moment. “Do you know who I am?” I asked in English, Anton’s eyes widening before he gave me a jerky nod.

Good.

“You’re going to die here today,” I said calmly, enjoying the panic rising at my words. “How quickly will be up to you.”

“Interesting torture technique,” Caden commented, returning to French. “You’re supposed to lull them into a false sense of security so they answer your questions, and then you kill them.”

“I want him to be terrified the entire time, until all he can feel is his heart beating as violently as I’m sure Arabella’s was,” I replied, yanking out the cloth from Anton’s mouth .

He coughed, almost retching as he tried to lean forward. Except the ropes kept him in place. “Please, I didn’t–”

My fist hit him in the jaw, all my anger and rage coming out in the force. Even his voice made me see red, my imagination conjuring up all the vile words he’d likely whispered to her as she’d laid there vulnerable. Unable to fight back.

The second hit knocked several teeth out, the third caused the entire chair to topple, blood spraying as his skin split from the impact.

“If you break his jaw, he won’t be able to tell us anything,” Caden said calmly, his presence anchoring as I tried to control the maelstrom inside me. It was a pressure, tightening my lungs and stiffening my muscles.

I swallowed past this black rage, nodding for him to lift Anton back up from the floor.

“Right, mate, shall we get this party started?” Caden said. “You’re going to tell us everything we want to know, otherwise it’s really going to hurt. Understood?”

As Anton opened his mouth to reply, Caden shoved in several blue pills. He gagged, but Cade kept his hand over his mouth, stroking down his throat until he swallowed.

“There you go, princess. Give them a minute to kick in, don’t be shy. Now, why don’t you start from the beginning for us?”

“I… I was paid to… hurt her.”

“Rape,” I added, my tone dangerously quiet. “You were paid to rape her.”

He licked along his bottom lip, tears and snot smearing across his face. “I was paid to rape her.”

“By who?” Caden asked.

“I don’t know… some older woman. She paid in cash and told me she’d call me with the time and day.”

“I’ll see if we can trace the call,” Caden said, nodding towards the pile of clothes on the metal table beside the wall. “But it’ll likely be a burner phone. You thinking Margot?”

“What the fuck is he saying?” Anton cried, eyes darting between us. “Please, I swear I don’t know anything else. I’ve never met her before, but she called and told me I had to be at The Thorn within the hour.”

He glanced at Morris, who was aggressively shaking his head and trying to escape his bonds.

“How did you get inside?” Caden asked. When Anton didn’t immediately answer, he grabbed a small hammer from the table and then brought it down on Anton’s left knee. “Don’t be a muppet, answer the fucking question.”

“The bouncer!” Anton screeched. “I was told to meet the bouncer, who let me in.”

“What about old Morris here?”

Anton let out a sob, his cock hardening despite the pain thanks to the extra strength Viagra. “Please…”

Caden brought down the hammer on his right knee, and Anton’s scream echoed around us like the greatest symphony. I was going to paint this later, this exact scene while remembering his pathetic wails.

And then I was going to carve it up because he didn’t deserve to be remembered.

“I don’t know him!” Anton’s eyes bulged, his chest rising with rapid breaths. “I’ve never seen him before!” he blubbered.

Caden clicked his tongue, stepping back with his bloodied hammer. I decided it was enough, reaching for the blade kept neatly on the table.

“Please… don’t,” Anton cried, but I’d already turned to Morris. I cut his ropes, pulling him up by his throat before thrusting the knife in his hand.

“Cut off his cock,” I growled, squeezing his fingers tightly around the handle.

“W…what?”

Caden laughed, even as the colour drained from Morris’s face, his movements jerky as I forced him over to where Anton was trying to pull himself free from the ropes. His legs were a mess of flesh and bone, and yet his pathetic cock stood proud between his thighs.

Still holding Morris, I guided his hand. He fought, but he was no match for me as I forced him to hold Anton’s straining cock and then slice it off. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a clean slice, so we had to repeat it a second time.

Morris wrenched himself to the side as Anton screamed, blood sprouting violently from between his legs. The sharp scent of puke erupted as Morris vomited on the concrete, and the sound of Anton’s shrieks ended suddenly when he finally passed out.

Shame I wasn’t finished. Holding the bloodied knife out to Caden, I reached into my inner jacket pocket and grabbed the smelling salts.

Cracking the capsule, I shoved it inside Anton’s nose. He came awake with a jerk.

“Tell me about the bouncer,” I demanded, holding his jaw in a bruising grip. I didn’t care that I was being coated with blood, the coppery tang mingling with ammonia and puke. “Was he named Miles?”

Caden’s gaze burned, but I refused to look away from Anton.

A frantic nod. “He helped me get inside and then told me he’d get her there. That’s it, man, I’ve never met him before tonight,” he swore, voice fraught with desperation.

I nodded, reaching down to grab the withering remains of his dick. “You really shouldn’t have touched what’s mine.” I shoved the cock down his throat, letting him choke.

Caden winced, shaking his head. “That means it’s our man Morris’s turn. ”

Morris was still on his hands and knees, his head hanging between his arms. On hearing his name he scrambled onto his arse, sliding back until he hit the wall.

“Please… don’t do this.” He held up his hands, as if that would stop Caden from yanking him up and holding the same knife that had just cut Anton’s cock off to his throat.

“Why did you give Arabella a drug-laced drink?” I asked, my muscles aching from how tight I held myself back.

“Because that’s all she’s good for,” he sneered, a drop of blood dripping down the column of his throat.

“You’re such a weird cunt,” Caden sneered. “Honestly, who the fuck would set up their own daughter?”

“People have been talking, saying you’ve been a little possessive.” Morris tried to swallow, but struggled. “I thought her being hurt might bring you closer, that’s all.”

“How much of this do you believe?” Caden asked, reverting back to French when he wanted the conversation to be private.

“I believe she would do anything to help her father.” The thought angered me.

“You think she knew of his plan?”

Her pain at the realisation of what Morris had done had been real. “No.”

Caden nodded, pressing the blade deeper.

“Wait, wait!” Morris cried. “If you do this, she’ll never forgive you.”

I’ll never forgive you.

Her threat meant little to me, and yet I stopped Caden.

“What the fuck, Bas?” He kicked at Morris, who collapsed back on his knees.

“Come near Arabella again,” I warned, reaching for the discarded hammer. “And I’ll make sure your screams will be remembered.” I brought it down on his right hand, the same hand that likely poured the drug into her drink.

Morris screamed, but I kept bringing it down until his hand was nothing. Each finger shattered beyond repair.

I left him there, needing to return home and make sure Arabella was safe. Caden chased me into the hall, the twins moving in to clean up behind. “Bas, stop!”

I turned, grabbing Caden and shoving him against the wall. “If you have something to say, say it.”

“You should’ve killed him. He publicly insulted you by hurting Ara.” Caden’s eyes darkened with frustration. “She really influences you this much?”

I pushed away from the wall before I did something volatile, like hit him.

“What the fuck are you doing with her, Bas? Is she really just your toy, or is she more?”

“More.” There was no hesitation. She’d been more to me since the first time I set my eyes on her. It just took me a while to realise.

Caden’s nostrils flared, the skin on his cheeks a little flushed. “Does she agree?”

“She will.” She wasn’t going to be given a choice. “She quiets the noise, Cade.”

“Jesus, you sound whipped. Lang isn’t going to believe it.” Caden pursed his lips, but there was still anger there. “What do you want to do about Miles?”

“Put out a price on his head. Alive.”

“He’s been with us a decade.” Caden dragged his palm down his face. “Fuck.”

“I don’t care.” Arabella was the first time I’d ever wanted to keep something, rather than destroy it. “I’ve decided. She’s mine.”