Page 48

Chapter 47

“ T essa,” Hunt repeats, his voice full of disbelief as his eyes rake over me. “Tessa Sparks?

I curl my lips in disdain. “The one and only.”

“I don't understand. Your parents said you moved away. They haven’t heard from you in years.”

“All of that is accurate.”

His eyes dart over to Eli. “Who are you?”

“The man who loves the woman you stole innocence from,” Eli snarls.

“I don't know what she told you, but that’s a damn lie.”

“You want to try that again, asshole?” Eli grabs William by the throat, squeezing tightly until his face turns purple before releasing him.

“I’m innocent!” he stammers, his gaze dropping to the ground. Poor William is a terrible liar.

“Tsk tsk, come on, William, you know that’s not true. You may as well admit what you’ve done. It isn’t going to change the outcome here. It just determines how much pain I choose to put you in before you die. And honestly, what you say doesn’t matter because I was there. I’ve had to live with those nightmares ever since,” I add coldly.

I glance down at my fingernails, admiring the glossy red polish, before meeting his gaze once more. “But you know what makes them go away?” I taunt. “Ridding the world of vermin like you.”

“I’m not a bad man. I help children.” His voice trembles and he looks as though he’s on the verge of tears.

“Help them?” I sneer. “Or help yourself to them?”

He looks away.

“So, it’s like this: tell us everything you know, and I’ll make your death less painful.”

“Why would I tell you anything if you’re going to kill me anyway?”

“Because isn’t it time you redeem yourself?” I ask, my tone laced with contempt. “And this isn’t just about you. It’s about saving children before they’re placed in the hands of pedophiles like you. It’s for girls like Paisley.”

He looks at me blankly. “Paisley?”

“My fucking sister, asshole!” Eli’s patience is wearing thin. Before I can say another word, he’s holding a drill, screwing William’s left pinky finger into the cross.

Hunt screams in agony. “I don’t know a Paisley,” he insists.

I grin, savoring every moment of this. Few girls can say their man would torture someone else for them. Kill for them. And at this moment, I know Eli would do anything for me. He’s only holding back now because he knows I need to finish this.

As Hunt continues to scream, disgust rolls off me in waves .

“Tick tock. This would be a good time to come clean. How many children have you hurt, just like you hurt me?” I pull out my phone and open the pictures of the evidence we found at Dalton’s. Maybe he needs a reminder of what brought him here. I hold the phone in front of his face and scroll through each photo, watching his color drain away.

“How did you get those documents?” he forces out between ragged breaths.

“I have my ways. Did you think your minions wouldn’t protect themselves?” I raise an eyebrow. “I guess you should have paid them more.”

“Fuck!” he shouts.

“It’s quite interesting, this trafficking scheme you seem to be involved in. At first, we thought it was just two girls a year taken from Lake Lucia. But based on the information we’ve collected, it goes much further than that. It turns out there are two girls in multiple areas of the south that go missing every year, never to be heard from again. Nearly 200 girls in the southeast of the United States, spanning from Miami to Richmond.”

“Blondes, brunettes, redheads... I guess everyone has a preference for their own depraved desires,” Eli cuts in, his voice sharp and cold, a hint of bitterness lacing his tone.

“Unsurprisingly, it seems to be the blondes that you seek out. What happens to these girls once you’re finished playing with them?” I ask, with disgust dripping from every syllable.

Hunt stays silent, just staring at me. The drill churns to life as Eli screws the pinky finger of William’s right hand to the cross, and another round of screams fill the air.

“You really should stop fucking around, William. ”

“You don’t want to get involved in this, Tessa,” he pants, and I nod at Eli to give him a short reprieve. “There are many important people in play—people far more dangerous than I am. You should quit and walk away now. If you let me go, I can protect you, and it will be like this never happened.”

“Walk away?” I snort. “Do you think I can walk away now?”

“You need to. If you mess with the top of this organization, they’ll take you and everyone you love down.” He nods at Eli.

“Let me worry about that. Now, spill it.”

“No, they’ll kill my family.”

“ I will kill your family. Or have you forgotten what you came here for? The antidote. So quit dicking around if you want to be sure they live a long life.” I press a knife to his throat. He gulps.

“We sell them to the highest bidder when we’re finished with them,” he spits out, his voice cracking with desperation. “To men and women all over the country—billionaires, cartel leaders, and whoever has the money. They fund my campaign.”

I pull the knife away, keeping my fingers firmly gripped the handle.

“Who all is involved?”

He levels me with a stare. “Maybe the question you should ask is who’s not involved?” “I’m getting a little tired of all this back and forth, aren’t you, Eli?”

“Yeah, it seems we’re getting nowhere.”

A look of surprise flashes across Hunt’s face. “Wait. Paisley...Elijah... you’re a Huntington?”

Eli tilts his head slightly, his expression hardening. “Yes.”

William laughs maniacally.

“What the fuck is so funny?” Eli hisses, venom in his tone.

“You’re interrogating the wrong person. You should look closer to home, young man.”

Eli narrows his eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I have said all I’m saying.” He spits on the ground. “Let’s get on with this.”

“Well, okay then.” It’s time to take this to the next level. Shrugging, I reach into my duffel and pull out another syringe, one with the largest gauge needle I have. Slipping on a pair of gloves, I prepare for what comes next. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed this little gadget I have here. It’s quite interesting.”

Hunt’s eyes go wide as he takes in the contraption positioned around his penis. He struggles to escape, but he knows there’s nowhere to go. He’s visibly shaking as I walk toward him.

Wasting no time, I reach for his microscopic penis, and I insert the needle directly into the shaft.

“Motherfucker! What did you do?” he hisses, sweat running down his face as his dick shrinks even further.

“Have you ever used the little blue pill, William? I mean, I’m sure you have to these days if you’re going to get it up for the wife. Since I imagine that you can only get a hard-on from little girls.”

“The medication I just administered is nearly three times as potent as that little pill, and it works quickly,” I inform him nonchalantly. “I gave you far more than the recommended dose, old man.”

“What?” he screams as a look of horror spreads across his face. “No!”

“Tape, love?” I ask Eli. He pulls off two strips and hands them to me .

I attach each piece to his right upper and lower eyelids, and Eli matches my movements with William’s left eyelid.

“We can’t have you missing out on anything, Governor Hunt. Enjoy the show.”

Backing away, I curve my body into Eli’s. He grabs my chin, and I see the flash of hunger in his eyes before he slams his lips down onto mine. There are no slow or languid movements; his tongue possesses mine. He kisses down my cheek, his hands slowly moving to my lower back to cup my rear, pulling me against his hardening shaft. The kiss goes on for several seconds. Breathlessly, we pull apart, and his eyes lock onto mine intently.

“Are you watching this, William?” Eli drawls, never breaking eye contact with me. “Notice how responsive she is to me. Do you see how she wants me to put my hands on her? This is what it looks like when a woman wants you.” Jesus. It’s all I can do not to jump him right here. My panties are soaked.

A painful grunt sounds out, pulling my eyes in Hunt’s direction.

Eli smiles sinisterly. “You’re pitching a tent over there, I see.”

As William’s erection grows, spikes of the torture device begin to dig into his shaft, and a slow stream of blood splatters onto the ground.

Drip. Drip. I’m transfixed. Eli turns me to face William, and I lean my head back against his chest as one hand finds a pebbled nipple. A moan escapes me as he pinches it. His other hand slides down my belly and into my jeans. He slides a finger into my wet folds as his thumb rubs circles around my clit. I clasp my arm around his neck and arch into him, shamelessly grinding my cunt against his fingers .

“Oh, oh yes.” My knees weaken as I feel the orgasm rapidly building, much faster than I expected given the situation, but that’s what Eli does to me. Even in the presence of the man I despise the most, a mere touch from Eli has my body humming in response.

Hunt is unable to avert his gaze from the show we’re giving him.

Eli bites down on my earlobe. “Are you going to come on my fingers, Tess?”

“Yes, yes... I’m coming, I’m coming, Eli,” I shout as waves of pleasure shoot through my body. He allows me to come back down from the high before he slows his movements, and I feel him smiling against my neck.

“Such a good fucking girl.” He pulls his fingers out of me and rubs my juices across my lower lip before sucking them into his mouth.

With a popping sound, he pulls his fingers back out.

“No! Please no!” William stares down in horror as his fully erect penis is shredded, blood squirting down his groin and legs. He lets out a series of bone-chilling screams.

“For fuck’s sake, will you man up already?” Eli shoves a ball gag into William’s mouth.

“Damn, that was hot, E.”

“If that was impressive, you should see what I have in mind next.” He winks.

He pulls out a container of clear liquid.

I let him take over, intrigued to see what my man has planned next. He uses a plunger to draw up the liquid before dropping several ounces of fluid over William’s shredded and bleeding shaft. His body convulses violently as tears stream down his face .

I walk over for a closer inspection.

“Sulfuric acid?” I ask. “Nice.”

“This is for putting your filthy hands where they never belonged.” Eli lifts the container and pours the acid over each of William’s arms strapped to the cross. He then uses the plunger to squirt the acid into his eyes. William’s body shudders violently, any screams he might have uttered are restricted by the gag in his mouth. “And that was for looking at what’s mine to begin with.”