Page 24

Chapter

Twenty-Three

TARA

I don’t know if it’s just human nature or if humans are sometimes so stupid that we forget how dangerous the world can be.

I always knew that there were evil people in this world.

I mean, how could I turn a blind eye when I grew up with an abusive mother?

I’m ashamed to admit that after I escaped her cruelty, I thought nothing bad would touch me.

I had already had my fair share of bad stuff, so surely I would be set for the rest of my life.

But then Dean and Ned stumbled into my life.

Because of these two cockroaches, I’ve had my eyes opened to just how depraved some people are.

They hide in plain sight, blending into society and tricking everyone they meet.

The pain and destruction they leave behind is never a thought on their mind.

Not until someone like me comes along and forces them to face the consequences of their actions.

I excuse myself and walk Christina upstairs.

She is eerily quiet, but that’s okay with me.

I’m not going to ask any questions, nor am I going to force her to talk about what she went through.

If she wants to talk, I will be here for her.

Whether she realizes it or not, she is now a member of my growing family, and I’m going to take care of her and her son as well.

I steer her toward the guest bathroom and open the door.

Like the master bathroom, there is also an oversized clawfoot tub in here.

“I want you to run yourself a nice hot bath. I’m going to go grab you some bubbles and a bath bomb. In that cabinet,” I point to the floor-to-ceiling cabinet beside the tub.

“There are clean towels, extra soap, shampoo and conditioner. I want you to spend at least the next hour here. When the water gets cold, refill the tub. Turn on some music or maybe an audiobook, and just turn your brain off.”

“But Henry?—”

“I’ll watch him,” Jessie says from the hallway.

Christina and I turn to look at him, both of us gasping in shock.

This man should not be able to sneak up on anyone with how big he fucking is, but that’s a talent of his.

Christina’s eyes bounce between me and Jessie.

I lay my hand on her shoulder and put her at ease.

“Henry will be safe with Jessie. I promise you that I trust him and all the men downstairs with my life.” She looks at Jessie for only a second before she drops her gaze to the floor and nods.

I turn her back toward the tub and give her a little push.

Stepping out into the hallway, I nod at Jessie and head to grab the stuff I told Christina I would.

After setting her up in the bath, I head back downstairs.

I pass all the guys still sitting at the table and head straight for the door to the basement.

I hear their chairs scraping the floor as they all scramble to follow me.

I don’t need anyone to guide me because I’ve been down here before.

It’s the same layout as Reed’s.

The basement is a simple square shape with two rooms on each side of a small hallway.

Three rooms are designed to hold people, while the first room on the left is where Gabe keeps all his knives, guns, and anything else he might need to get information out of someone.

Each room is equipped with cameras; the only way into the rooms are through a fingerprint scanner.

One that is programmed to recognize my thumb.

The lock to the weapons room beeps after a second, and I push it open.

The lights come on automatically, and I walk to the middle of the room to glance around.

My go-to weapon of choice is my trusted butterfly knife, but I have been known to use a gun once or twice when I wasn’t in the mood to fuck around.

I pay no mind to the men standing around the door watching me.

I focus on picking the right tool to get the desired results.

Fuck it. I stride forward and grab a random serrated knife off one wall.

I snatch up a handgun and check the clip before reinserting it.

I look around to find an extra clip and see one right beside where the gun was resting.

The last thing I take before leaving the room is a blowtorch.

“Excuse me, gentlemen,” I say, but my eyes are glued to Gabe.

The sea of men part, allowing me to exit the room.

“Which?—”

“This one, Princess,” Gabe says, striding forward and laying his thumb against the scanner on the door to the last room on the right wall.

These rooms, hell, the whole basement, are soundproof.

So we don’t hear the sobbing until the door opens, and my lips lift in a wild grin.

I hold up the blowtorch and ask, “Would one of you possibly have a light?”

“I’ve got you,” Gabe says, taking the torch from me.

The hiss of the gas being turned on fills the space surrounding us, and then the whoosh as Gabe lights it.

Finally, I step inside and get my first look at the man who started all of this.

Why do all these men break down and act like children when they get caught?

I’ve always found it interesting that the hardest men crumble the easiest. In my humble opinion, that means that they were never men, just pretending to be.

“Well, Ned, this is a serious situation you are in. Don’t you think so?” I ask.

Gabe must have turned the torch down because the sound lessens.

Ned finally looks up, and time has not been good for him.

His brown eyes are sunken in, his reddish-brown hair is longer and knotted, and he has clearly lost weight.

“Fuck you.”

While I laugh at his pitiful attempt to be a badass, a growl rips from Gabe’s throat.

Gabe is across the room and has thrown a punch before I can form the words ‘No, don’t.

’ I shrug; oh well, it’s not like he doesn’t deserve to get a couple of blows in.

“Don’t you speak to her like that,” Gabe snarls and backs up.

His shoulders are heaving, and he keeps clenching and unclenching his hands.

He’s holding back, and I love him even more for that.

“Hold him,” I demand, and everyone moves, including Ned, who tries to scramble away.

But it’s useless. Reed and Gabe have his shoulders pinned to the wall, and Elio and Carlos have his legs pressed into the floor using their feet.

“Let me go. I’ll tell you?—”

I squat down right in between Ned’s spread legs.

I set the torch down and pull out the gun I placed in my waistband along with the knife.

“Oh, you’re going to tell me exactly what I want but letting you go.” I shake my head and make a tsking sound.

“That isn’t going to happen.” I pick up the torch and move it so the flame dances before us.

“Tara, go easy with that. We don’t want him to pass out too early,” Reed says, and I shoot him a look that clearly says I know what I’m doing.

“What group were you and Dean talking about the night you raped me and then left me for dead?”

“I don’t—” With a flick of my wrist, the flame briefly touches the exposed skin below his knee.

Ned starts to scream, but I slap my hand over his mouth just like he did mine that night.

“What. Group.” I move my hand away from his mouth, hoping he will stop playing games.

“Dean never told me the name,” Ned says through gritted teeth.

This time, I quickly drag the flame across his skin and let him scream.

“I don’t believe you. Someone hold this,” I say, holding up the torch.

Gabe takes it from my hands, and I grab the knife.

I grab Ned’s shirt and cut it from the bottom to the top.

Yeah, I might have grazed his skin a little with the blade.

Who cares?

“I swear I’m telling you the truth. The only thing Dean told me was that to become a member, we had to complete a set of tasks.” Tears stream down Ned’s face, mixing with the snot and drool.

“What was the task? Obviously, I know one of them was raping someone.”

“I never knew what the task was until Dean showed up. He would get a cryptic message, giving us a task and a time limit to complete said task. Sometimes, we had to film and upload it. Other’s the group would know when we completed them because we would have a number to contact.”

I look over my shoulder to make sure Demon is hearing every word.

He nods to let me know he is listening.

I look back at Ned and twist the knife in the air.

“What task had you completed. I want full details.”

“I only did the…” Ned’s words trail off, and his face turns an ashen color as if thinking about what he did to me turns his stomach, but I know different.

I lean forward, wrap my hand around his throat, and slide the sharp blade down the middle of his chest. “Don’t sit here and act like you suddenly feel bad about what you did to me. You enjoyed every second of it. I might not have been awake for Dean’s abuse, but I was fully conscious when you took from me. I heard every word that came from your mouth. How much you enjoyed it.” I bring the knife to a stop when it gets to the top of his shorts.

The air around us turns sour as the smell of piss fills it.

I let go of his throat and stand up, moving out from between his legs.

I turn my gaze to Gabe, who is staring at Ned, and I see the anger boiling under his skin.

“Gabe,” I say and wait until he looks at me.

“Yeah, Princess.” His voice is strained, just like the muscles are pulled taunt all across his body.

“I want him to be alive when I get back,” I say, then spin on my heels and walk away.

Gabe wastes no time in throwing a punch to the side of Ned’s head.

I leave him to get his revenge.

I’m sure Reed and Elio will also step in to get theirs.

Demon will make sure that no one goes too far and kills him.

I head up the stairs and don’t stop until I’m in the kitchen.

I open the freezer door and pull out the huge bucket that holds all the ice that is made.

I sit it down on the counter and head into the attached garage.

Gabe has a chest freezer in here where he keeps extra bags of ice in case the guys pop over unannounced, and we decide to cook out for everyone.

I grab the full bag and return inside.

Once I have everything I need, I head back downstairs.

Carlos stands in the hallway and rushes forward to help me carry everything.

“Perfect. This will help wake the fucker up,” he says.

“I figured he would pass out from the pain once I let the boys loose on him. They deserve to have a hand in this. It wasn’t just me who was hurt by his actions.” We walk side by side back to the room.

Ned is slumped against the floor, blood pouring from multiple places on his face and torso, and, by the look of it, his leg is broken.

But his chest still moves up and down.

“Let’s finish this.” I hand the bag of ice to Gabe.

He cuts it open and pours it on top of Ned.

When Carlos turns the bucket upside down, Ned is already waking up, but he still does it.

I don’t have anyone hold him because he isn’t going anywhere.

I walk closer and pull Ned up so he is sitting against the wall again.

Then I step back, not realizing my mistake.

“Last question. Answer this honestly, and I’ll make all of this stop.”

Ned coughs and groans as he wraps his arms around him.

“Please?—”

“Lilly Harris. Was she also a task?”

“Yes,” Ned says and slumps forward.

“What—” My words die as a gunshot rings through the small space.

Something heavy hits me from behind, and I fall forward but don’t hit the ground.

Gabe’s arms around me twist, so I land on him.

My face is buried in his heaving chest.

“Are you hit?” Gabe asks at the same time I ask, “Are you okay?”

“No, I’m okay,” I say quickly and start running my hands all over Gabe, looking for a bullet wound.

“The bastard shot himself,” Demon says, and I push off Gabe.

Turning around, I see Ned slumped to the side, missing half of his skull.

Blood and brain matter coats the wall behind him.

Clutched in his hand is the gun that we all left within his reach.