Page 36 of Property of Brute & Axl
Viking’s eyes search my face before confirming. “They will eliminate every threat to you or the baby. No questions asked, and very little care about the consequences.”
I figured as much. I don’t have to like it, but after all the things I’ve learned since waking up in that hospital bed, and now remembering my life before, I find myself feeling little to no remorse.
“Can you live with that?” Viking asks, leaning forward and holding my gaze.
“Yes.” There’s no other acceptable answer. “Some people need to die.”
He lifts his coffee in cheers, agreeing with me.
It’s not long after that Axl sneaks up behind me, kissing the top of my head and whispering his disgruntlement with me leaving bed, that the rest of the guys start emerging. Dick and Candy show up with their hands full of bags and beelines straight for where I sit in Axl’s lap, with Viking still across from us.
“I may or may not have bought out the baby section at the department store.” Candy smiles as she drops down at the table, stealing Viking’s cold coffee. He grumbles but goes to get another one and brings one for Candy, too.
Peeking into a bag, a stuffed motorbike catches my eye. I pick it out and raise a brow in question. She shrugs and says, “Listen, he or she will have one eventually; they can start safely.”
As we sift through the bags, Brute storms downstairs, glares at Axl, and slams out the back, causing anything on the walls close by to shake in his rage.
“That’s not good,” Viking groans and goes after him.
“Back in a bit, princess.” Axl kisses my cheek and rushes out with Easy and Priest on his heels.
“Something bad happened.” With Candy’s concerned voice, I nibble my lip for a tense second before getting to my feet and following after them.
The thought that whatever I’m about to witness might be traumatizing doesn’t enter my mind until I’m standing outside an old barn, hearing the sounds of flesh hitting flesh—the growls of anger and the moans of agony.
Opening the door in front of me might change my view of the two men I’ve fallen in love with, but I can’t remain in the dark. Not anymore.
Chapter 21
Axl
“What the fuck happened up there?” Rushing to catch up to Brute as he heads to The Grove, he waves me off and tosses his phone at me. Recognizing Finleigh’s terrified and bloody face on the screen, I hit the play button and dread pools in my gut.
“No, please stop,” she sobs as she’s held down in bed by one man, another between her legs, a knife in his hands as he slices across her pregnant belly while fucking her so brutally, I wince.
They laugh at her cries, her pain; they have no care in the world about what they’re doing to the sweetest woman on the planet.
“Don’t do this,” she whispers, her voice hoarse from crying and screaming. “Just leave. No one has to know.”
She begs for a few more minutes before the video cuts off. “Swipe,” Brute grunts, so I do and wish I hadn’t. The sound of gunfire on the dark screen startles me, followed by cackling and cursing as the person runs through the woods.
“They were chasing her.” A feminine scream erupts, followed by more laughter. “Jesus.” I swipe a hand down my face, following Brute into the building. My own rage explodes when my sight trains on the remaining two men, alive and breathing.
“Going to cut that baby right out of you!” A voice can be heard saying in the video, followed by the break of morning light, the sound of another shot, and Finleigh hitting the ground on her knees. A bullet hits her head, and she falls face down.
There’s much pleasure in the man behind the camera, recording her broken and bloody body lying in the grass with death in her eyes and barely a breath passing her lips. “Leave her. It’ll piss him off more that her perfect face is half eaten by wild animals.”
The laughter is what spins me out, not only from the screen but from Chuck as he recognizes what I’m watching.
“They sent me those videos, the pictures. Man, I wish I’d been there. Gotten a piece of that pussy.” He meets my glare then, and whatever he sees makes him pale.
“Untie him,” I order Viking.
Chuck’s eyes widen, but he smirks as he tries to taunt me. “What…you’re going to beat me to death now?” He stretches out his fingers, rolls his head around his shoulders, and gets to his feet. The stench of fear overpowers the attempted fake bravado.
His breathing deepens as my hand grasps a claw hammer tightly. I halt in my tracks when the door opens and the very woman he’s here because of, hesitantly walks in.
“Axl?” Our eyes meet, hers uncertain and concerned until she glances past me to see the two men surrounded by dead bodies.