Page 71 of Loving the Tormentor

"You fucking bitch," he seethes.

"Now, let's not lose our temper," I mock. "Keep scrolling."

I know when he sees it. The picture of Val Brolik's soldier. The one who gives Chase orders. The one he pays Nyx's dad's debt to. Those are the people who make him feel important. He thinks that working for some pathetic low-level Russian mafia soldier makes him a big boy on the North Shore. Now, he's looking at a picture of what I did to that guy.

The slit throat, the slit wrists. He might or might not notice the circle I carved into his chest so that if the police discover thebody it would be linked to the Silent Circle, and I'd be protected. All he sees is a body hanging upside down in a warehouse on the North Shore and that it could possibly be linked to him since Chase is their contact in that town.

That's what I did all day while I was thinking of taking Nyx to dinner; paid her dad's debt, killed a man to terrify Chase. It's been a busy few hours, but it was worth it.

I huff dramatically. "I'm not going to lie, I'm not too worried about you, Chase. You and I don't play on the same level. So, beat me up, I won't fight back." No way I'd risk my precious hands on this fucker. "But then I'll find you, your family, and all your little friends around here. And one by one, you're going to end up like this guy in the picture."

He throws my phone to the ground, so red he might explode.

"You want the slut?" he sneers. "Have her." He spits on the ground at her feet, and it makes her press harder against me. "She's not the innocent little doll she pretends she is with her violin and her fear of every-fucking-thing. She's a jealous bitch who's going to make your life a living hell, asking you where you are and what you're doing, who you’re with. She's going to fight the women who hang out with you because she's insecure and knows they're better fucks."

Doesn't he realize that I’d do just about anything to have Nyx Mayer be jealous for me?

"And she's going to bleed you dry, just like she did with me."

Now I can't help but laugh. "I’d be surprised."

"She's a gold digger. Trust me on that one."

"How would you know?" I ask, truly curious. "Wouldn't you need gold for her to start digging?" I shrug. "I can handle her just fine. Don't you worry about my bank account."

"Fuck you," he spits one last time before turning away and getting in his car.

"Chase!" Nyx screams in my arms, and the second she steps away, I drag her back by the back of her neck. "Please, I'm sorry."

"Tsk, tsk," I scold her. "Don't you dare lower yourself to his level."

She shrugs me off, turning around and shoving me. "You said you wouldn't tell him anything!" she shouts. "I did everything you said. I played my part of the deal, and you…you didn't keep your word."

"I couldn't," I admit, but she can't hear regret in my tone because there is none. "I couldn't watch you with him for one more second. It was this, or him six feet under. I came to the conclusion that your empathetic little soul wouldn't want him dead. I can change that if you want."

"You told me if I did everything you said, you wouldn't tell him," she repeats in a weak voice. As if this situation can't be really happening.

"I lied."

Her lower lip trembles, but she doesn't give me the pleasure of seeing her cry. Instead, she takes off in a sprint, disappearing through the crowd. I reach for my pack of cigarettes in my jeans, putting one in my mouth by the time Ethan rips it away from me.

"It’s a fucking race. Fumes? Flammables? Did that girl eat at your common sense as well as your sanity?"

A low laugh gets my attention, and Elliot comes to stand next to me. "And I thoughtIdid some shady things to get my girl."

I nod, my eyes stuck on the spot in the crowd where I lost her.

"I think," I say peacefully. "I think there's absolutely nothing I wouldn't do to make her completely mine."

Chapter Seventeen

Nyx

Oklahoma Smokeshow - Zach Bryan

Ihitched a ride with Lena to get back home. Sunday nights are the only free time during the week that she has. She usually spends it with her baby sister and her younger brother. Instead, tonight, she had to pick me up from the abandoned development because I'm a fucking mess who got herself into more trouble than she can handle.

My stomach cramps painfully for the hundredth time. Anxiety eats me alive, and every few minutes, there's a new thought as to why I won't get out of this nightmare.