Page 45 of Redeemed (Redeemed #1)

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Kennedy

I regain consciousness to find my arms tied behind my back and my legs bound to the world’s most uncomfortable chair.

My head has a pounding ache that makes opening my eyes feel impossible.

I’m sure I can thank the concoction of drugs the fucking maintenance man gave me currently coursing through my system.

The need to figure out where I’m being held overtakes the want to simply sit here and await my fate. I painstakingly open my eyes, instantly intensifying my level of pain. My vision fights to focus, competing against the light, causing piercing agony to radiate through my skull.

Eventually, my vision becomes clear, allowing me to take in my surroundings.

To my left there are cots lining the wall with threadbare linen.

I know if I look to the right there will be card tables set up.

The location is familiar because it hasn’t changed in the last twenty years.

He had me brought back to the property where he ruined my childhood and essentially my life—the Rose Compound in Texas.

This is the property that my great-grandfather purchased after gaining the largest drug territory of his time.

The land has been passed down through generations, just as the role of Kingpin, but that stops with Ashton Rose.

This legacy is no longer my responsibility to shoulder, and that brings a certain lightness to this situation.

Unfortunately, that lightness is short-lived when the sliding wood doors open to reveal Ashton Rose and his guards.

I know what this warehouse is used for, and I only wish I had more time to mentally prepare myself for what is to come.

There were many situations where I was handing out punishments in this room.

Hell, there were even times that I received punishments with Nathan at my side.

“Kennedy, so nice of you to finally wake up and face your problems head-on.” The croon of Ashton Rose triggers a conditioned response from being in his presence.

My palms become slick with sweat as I think about the last conversation I had with him.

My body flinches and my wrists flex against the rope that’s binding them.

I know if I move too much, I will rub the skin raw.

Ashton Rose walks to stand in front of me, hands in his pockets and a smirk on his face. “Look where your emotions have landed you.” Leaning forward, he gets directly in my space. “Exactly where I want you.”

He wants to feed on my fear, but I know if I let that happen, I’m dead, or worse, working for him again.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. This man doesn’t own me, but he needs me and my help to expand his business.

Yes, I’m the one tied to the chair, but I hold the future success of this Empire.

I stare him down as a sincere smile lifts my lips. “Would you like a round of applause?”

His lip snarls in disgust. How ironic considering this is the killer he created in this very room.

“You’d do good to watch your words with me. If you play nice, I might offer you the opportunity to live.”

“I’d rather die than work another day for you. You’re dead to me. My only regret in this life is that I won’t be there to watch the light leave your eyes.”

His hand comes up to deliver a backhand across my face. I laugh through the pain because he’s trained me for moments like this. I know I can withstand just about anything he might throw at me.

He’s breathing deep through barely-controlled anger. “You will respect me, or I will make your final days hell.”

I look him in his eyes with a bloody smile. “Now I see why you sent me to do your dirty work.” I laugh again, knowing it’s getting under his skin. “You can’t kill me, you need me. When your enemies find out you can’t even control those within your rank, the sharks will begin to circle.”

He steps in closer, jaw clenched and seething. He opens his mouth, I’m sure with the intention of saying something he’s convinced will hurt me, but I don’t give him the opportunity.

“My mother was right to fuck around on you. Even she knew she deserved better.”

I watch as his last ounce of control dissolves.

He straightens himself and stares at me for a moment before his fist connects with my jaw.

My head snaps with the force, but I don’t give him the satisfaction of making a sound.

I smile as our eyes connect again and blood trickles from the corner of my mouth.

He lands two more punches to my abdomen in quick succession.

As soon as I catch my breath, the laughter starts, and I know I’ve officially lost it.

The last thing I see is Ashton’s fist coming straight at my face, and that hit knocks me out cold.

The next time consciousness decides to greet me, the situation has progressed from bad to worse.

I’m no longer bound to the chair, but I’ve been placed on the concrete floor.

My wrists are still bound, but instead of behind me, they’re stretched above my head.

I look up as discreetly as I can to find the rope binding my arms together is attached to a meat hook in the center of the room.

The bravado I held before being beaten unconscious is beginning to waver. My only redeeming thought is that everything I said was correct because why am I still alive? Ashton Rose promised to wipe me off this earth, and now he has the prime opportunity.

But I’m still breathing.

I have no idea how long I’ve been captive, but Alexander would’ve known something was wrong when I didn’t come back from Nathan’s.

My heart pangs when I think about the way I left his house, chasing vendettas.

Alex knew I shouldn’t go alone to exact a revenge I wasn’t even certain I could follow through with.

Did Nathan set me up? Even after all the betrayal, I still question if he could stoop this low.

I lower my eyes to take in my surroundings and land on Ashton Rose’s evil smirk. He’s in a new suit from the last time I saw him, hands in his pockets and leaning against a counter. I begin taking deep breaths to calm my nervous system.

You’re in control, Kennedy. He needs you.

Ashton interrupts my mantra. “Let’s get started. I have places to be.”

A button is pressed, causing the machine that controls the hook I’m attached to to whirl to life, lifting me from the ground.

My legs are bound together, but I quickly bend my knees to try to keep the weight off my arms. I do what I can to get a good grip on the rope using my upper body strength before my arms become any weaker.

When the machine stops, my body dangles from the hook, arms stretched as my feet scramble for purchase on the ground.

Ashton allows me to hang here, in a moment of suspense, as he smokes his cigar, smoke billowing from his lips. Behind him are four soldiers that I recognize from his personal guard, one being Ashton’s favorite torturer.

“You know how this works. I ask the questions, and you provide the information I want. Should you deviate from the plan, Blade here is going to have some fun.”

Blade throws me a cocky smile before cracking his knuckles, cementing his place as second to be killed behind Ashton Rose.

I move my eyes back to the man orchestrating this ordeal. “Be careful not to damage the merchandise. What good is a broken bargaining chip.”

He completely ignores my quip to get him riled up and jumps right into his line of questioning.

“How about you start with telling me where Michael Ellis is? It’s been brought to my attention that you’ve connected with your real father. It’s been a pleasure dangling his daughter in his face this entire time.” He lets that declaration hang in the air before continuing. “I want his whereabouts.”

I fight hard to keep the shock off my face. Ashton Rose is fucking with me. There’s no way this man has spent my life posing as my father and raising me to kill the man who actually is.

“How about you go fuck yourself?” I offer him a sweet smile with that suggestion.

His eyes narrow and I bet he wishes he could kill me right here, right now. Instead, he nods his head once, signaling Blade to deliver my punishment.

I know I only have one shot to get a kick in and I make it count. Blade moves in to deliver a punch, and I use the last of my core strength to drive my feet up into his chin. The sound of his teeth clashing produces a crunch. He hits the floor with a satisfying thump.

I unclench my muscles as I pull in shallow breaths. Ashton takes another pull from his cigar, eyes narrowed on me, assessing the situation.

“I’m not answering any questions. You’re gonna have to kill me, but you won’t do that, will you?”

He doesn’t rise to my taunting, just nods his head and puts the cigar back in his mouth. Another lacky moves into Blade’s place. He delivers a set of quick jabs to my body with the last one cracking a rib.

I narrow my eyes at Ashton Rose, still not daring to give in. I’ve been ruled by this man for too long.

“Stubborn and foolish. Knife,” he says, nonchalantly puffing on his cigar.

My favorite knife is twirling between lackey number two’s fingers with a taunting smile directed my way. Ashton gives the signal, and he moves in, cutting three lines across my stomach. I feel the blood pooling in my wounds, and I know this is gonna get much worse before it ends.

The torture continues, with each of Ashton’s guards alternating between their fists and my knife.

The questions keep coming and my unwillingness to answer brings on punishment after punishment.

Things go a few rounds before I allow myself to scream or show any sign of being affected outside of a grunt.

The one thing about Ashton Rose training me is he knows how much torture I can actually take.

The signal is given to lower me from the meat hook, and it’s done in a quick drop to the floor, making every wound ratchet to a new level of hurt.

My clothes stick to me from the amount of blood seeping from cuts that are everywhere from my arms to my shins.

My throat is raw from the screams I released, but I didn’t break.

I’m positive I have a dislocated shoulder and a few broken ribs, but no information was handed over and I’m still alive, which means I was right. Ashton Rose still needs me.

I roll over onto my back, eyes closed and grunting through the pain. I no longer care how filthy this floor is, I’m just happy to not be hanging. For once in my life, the thought of letting go and walking into death’s warm embrace seems like the best plan forward.

There’s a slap to my cheek, commanding my attention, and I open my eyes to find Ashton Rose staring down at me.

“You know I don’t give up that easily. I just need to make your submission to me matter to you.

Maybe I will visit your little boy toy and his sexy sister.

Maybe watching them being tortured will get me the answers I want. ”

I stare into his emotionless eyes in silence. He takes a pull from his cigar before snubbing it out on my skin.

The last thing I hear is the light being extinguished before the sliding door is slammed closed and locked. It’s then that I allow the darkness to take me.