Page 17

Asher

After what happened in the shower, I needed space. I let Axel take the reins with Charlee so I could plan out what’s going down tonight with a clear head. The fact that I was stuck at my desk and my attention would drift to her door every few minutes is irrelevant. Or at least that’s the bullshit I tell myself. The past two days, I’ve been as jumpy as a fucking squirrel. My hands bounced on my leg with the need to fight or fuck, which is why we’re here hunting at Viper’s Den.

Sweat and cigarettes taint the air. It’s almost overshadowed by the number of half-naked bodies that are writhing around. Lights flicker as “Wasp”

by Motionless in White blares through the shitty sound system.

Naked women are everywhere. It’s a buffet of tits and ass. Some are serving drinks to nearby tables in nothing but G-strings and pasties to cover their oversized tits. Another few are giving lap dances to what appear to be drunken frat boys. On the stage are a couple of naked dancers working the pole in nothing but black fuck-me heels.

“Hello, ladies.”

Axel’s attention is glued to the pairs of fake tits up on stage. He’s lost in the jiggling flesh like a horny pup that just learned how to use his dick for the first time.

“Focus, Dickhead.”

Zane smacks him on the back of the head, saving me the trouble.

“I was.”

Axel rubs the spot where he was just hit but doesn’t take his eyes off the stage.

I scan the room and head to the first empty table I find. It’s off to the corner but gives me a full view of the room.

A waitress wastes no time coming over to take our orders. “What can I get for y’all?”

She adjusts the tray in her arms to the side and leans in. The musky stench of her perfume is enough to choke me. It’s bitter and stale, nothing like the citrusy scent of Charlee. My fists clench as I do my damnedest not to lose focus thinking about her and those fuckable lips.

“Your number.”

Axel flashes her the same smile that used to work on our parents and get him out of shit as a kid.

“Ain’t you funny.”

She laughs and shakes her head. At least she’s smart enough not to fall for his bullshit. I’ll give her that.

Axel orders a shot of whiskey for each of us and she walks off to service the next table. He pulls out his phone and stares at it a good minute before setting it on the table. He’s quiet, but I don’t miss the way his fingers are twitching against the table.

“What’s crawled up your ass tonight, Ax? You’ve been more of a prick than normal.”

I eye my brother and watch him squirm.

“Nothing.”

He shakes his head, but can’t look me in the eye. Lying little shit.

“Bullshit.”

Zane voices my thoughts and calls his ass out. “You can’t sit still. It’s like your dick got hard for the first time or some shit.”

“That’s not it.”

He runs a hand over his face and shrugs.

“Well, we ain’t got all day. Spit it the fuck out because we’re not going ahead with our plans if you can’t get your shit together.”

I need him to be on his game if tonight is to go as planned. The sooner we can hash his shit out, the sooner we can move forward.

“It’s Kelsey, alright.”

He sags against his elbows and goes quiet as the waitress drops off our shots and takes my cue to keep them coming.

“I thought you broke that shit off?”

My eyebrows pull together. “You know her dad’s the fucking governor. If you’re still fucking around, they can use her to find us.”

“I did. It’s just…”

He downs his shot and slams the glass back down against the table. His whole body is wound up tight and I know what’s coming before Zane even says it.

I lean closer so he can hear me over the music. “Right now, we’re knee deep in shit. Wait until we’ve finished and then you can bury your dick wherever you want. Got it?”

“That’s just it.”

Axel toys with his empty glass as he glances in my direction. “What are we going to do with her when we are done?”

My fists clench as I sit up straighter in my chair. I want to tell him that I’m going to bury her ass six feet under with her father. I open my mouth to do it, but the words won’t come out. Flashes of that fucking kiss from yesterday flood my mind. Not to mention a certain morning shower session is still fucking with my head. She may have started out as a vendetta, but now I have no fucking idea. Things are spiraling and changing too fast. It’s throwing me for a fucking loop.

“I don’t know.”

I shake my head clear, but Axel isn’t done.

“She’s been behaving. Maybe you should let her have some freedom or something?”

“You been spending time with her and now you’re an expert on what she needs?”

My hands clench into fists. I’m not sure why the thought of them spending time together has me ready to break shit.

“No. I just mean sitting in a room all day with nothing to do would be boring as fuck. If anyone would understand that I’d think it would be you, big brother.”

Axel shifts in his chair, but it doesn’t stop him from meeting my gaze head on.

“He has a point, Ash.”

Zane throws his two cents in.

“I’ll think about it.”

As much as I hate to admit it, they might be right. I need to do something for her. What, I have no fucking clue, but it’s something I’ll need to worry about later. I have more pressing things that demand my full attention.

“Fair enough.”

Our conversation stills as I lean back against my chair and scan the room. It doesn’t take me long to find my target. He’s got a beer in one hand and a handful of ass in the other as a tall blond leads him through the VIP section. It takes everything I have not to jump over the table and haul ass in that direction.

I down both my shots of whiskey and relish the burn it leaves in its wake as I stand to make my way to the back of the club with my brothers following behind me. I don’t have to look to know they’re there. They just are. I can feel it.

When we reach the door, we’re stopped by one of the bouncers. He’s a big fucker, but I’m bigger. Still, knocking him out wouldn’t get me what I’m after. So, I pull out a wad of cash between two of my fingers and extend it out to him. He stares at it a minute before he takes it and moves out of the way.

We walk down a dimly lit hall that has nothing but doors on either side.

“How the hell are we going to know which one he’s in?”

Axel’s head whips from one door to the next.

“Pick one.” I shrug.

“Are you fucking serious right now?”

Axel stares at me like I’ve lost my mind, and he’s not wrong. I’ve lost more than that and we’re here to make up for it.

Axel opens the first door on the left and is met with a girl on her knees sucking off some middle-aged bald fuck. She drops the dick out of her mouth and shouts at him.

“Sorry. Wrong room.”

He shuts the door like it’s on fire and jumps back.

Zane and I lose our shit laughing at his dumb ass. The muscles in my face are stiff at the unexpected movement. It’s a simple emotion and yet it feels foreign at the same time. I haven’t laughed like that in years, but it feels damn good to be able to do something so normal again. Even if it is at my brother’s expense.

“Assholes,”

Axel mutters under his breath just loud enough for us to hear and that only makes us laugh harder.

We move down to the next door and strike out just the same. It takes a couple more attempts, but we eventually find the one we’re looking for. I open the door so fast that the girl riding him doesn’t have time to cover herself.

“Get the fuck out of here, man.”

Luis doesn’t even take his eyes off of her pussy long enough to spare me a glance, and what a dumb as fuck move that is on his part.

“Take a walk, sweetheart.”

I ignore the piece of shit and flash her a wad of cash. She eyes me for a minute then glances at the green in my hand. Money talks. She slides off him, grabs her G-string off the floor and strolls out without a backward glance.

My brothers and I make our way into the room and shut the door behind us. He doesn’t even get up from his chair. The dumb fuck.

Zane and Axel make their way behind him while I distract him and keep his attention on me. We need to do this as quickly as possible so we don’t attract any witnesses. Messy or not, it makes no difference to me.

“What the fuck you want, Savage?”

He pulls out a blunt and lights it up like he doesn’t have any fucks to give. The scar under his eye glares at me as an ugly reminder of the loss I felt that night.

“You to put your tiny dick away for starters.”

My chin juts out toward the limp piece of flesh between his legs.

He grins as he zips his shit up. The cocky bastard is setting me on edge. My fingers itch with anticipation, with the need to wrap around this bastard’s throat and squeeze. I suck in a few long, deep breaths to keep my cool.

“We need to talk.”

Luis laughs as he takes another hit of his blunt and blows smoke in my direction. “Fuck off, pig.”

Zane doesn’t waste another second putting him in a chokehold from behind as Axel and I force him to stay seated. His face turns a deep shade of purple as he gasps for air and eventually passes out.

I hold the door, while Axel and Zane put an arm around Luis’ limp form and walk him out the back door like he’s passed out drunk.

From the time we stuff him into the van until we’re dragging his ass out and setting him on the ground, Luis doesn’t move. Not even when we strip him of his clothes. He’s going to die tonight the same way he came into this world—naked and covered in blood.

Zane turns on the van’s headlights so Axel can climb the tree and set up the pulley system he rigged, but covers his eyes. “Ah, fuck. That’s in my eyes, Z,”

he whines like a little bitch.

“You’ll live.”

Zane rolls his eyes and jogs back to where we’re standing.

“You know what—”

“Just climb the fucking tree, Ax, or I’ll tie your ass up instead.”

We pulled deep into the forest a good ways off the road and parked in a spot next to the river that I mapped out earlier, so I’m not worried about any noise. Good thing or I’d be wringing my brothers’ necks.

“Fine.”

He sighs and begins to climb to one of the thicker branches to throw the rope over.

Zane and I drag Luis over by his ankles, not giving one shit if dirt scrapes against him. We tie up his feet and nod for Axel to pull the rope. Luis is suspended by his feet until he’s about six feet off the ground and at my eye level. Perfect. Now, it’s time to wake his ass up.

“Here. It’s river water and cold as fuck. Should wake him up pretty quick.”

Zane hands me a small metal bucket.

I grab it by the sides and chuck it in Luis’ face. He wakes up gasping and shakes his head. It takes a minute for him to get his bearings before he begins struggling to reach up and untie his feet. He never even gets close to reaching the rope. It’s a pathetic sight to watch.

“You can try all you want. You ain’t getting out of those. Axel can tie one hell of a knot.”

“Fuck you, Puto!”

A vein throbs on the side of his temple as the blood rushes to his face. It’s only a matter of time before the ache of pressure hits him.

“The Chattahoochee is pretty cold this time of year. Can you swim, Luis?”

“You’re fucking loco, asshole!”

His breath comes out in a small cloud of smoke. The mixture of cold water and freezing temperatures is probably getting to him, but I don’t give two shits.

“He looks like a damn pi?ata. Think if we hit him hard enough candy will fall out?”

Axel taunts as he drops the rope causing his head to sink closer to the ground. Just when he’s about to eat a face full of dirt, Axel stops and yanks him back. He does this a few more times to fuck with him, and I let him have a little fun at Luis’ expense.

“Enough, Ax.”

Zane puts a hand up to stop him from getting carried away.

“You sure? Because I could do this all day.”

Axel smiles as he pulls Luis back up by his ankles until he’s eye level once again.

I ignore Axel, pull my knife out of its holster and stare Luis down. A glint of gold hanging from his neck catches my attention. My fingers pinch the ends of the medallion as my eyes narrow. “Saint Christopher.”

The tip of my thumb runs over the small engraving a couple of times before I rip the chain off the bastard and clench it in my fist. “You know how we found you?”

He stays silent, so I give him some motivation to speak.

“Your boy, Benny, gave you up.”

I press the tip of the blade against his throat and he laughs.

“Fuck him.”

He hocks a loogie and spits near my feet. “He’s a pussy. You did us a favor getting rid of his ass.”

His piss poor attitude grates on my last nerve.

“Hold him,”

I tell Zane as I take the blade and carve into his chest in hard, slow strokes, each letter a stain on his fucked up soul.

It’s as if I’m a painter and his body is my canvas. I can see why Charlee enjoys drawing so much. Creating things by hand takes a special finesse. With every move of my wrist, I slice away into his flesh. Blood drips down his front, toward his neck, as his screams fill my ears, but I don’t stop. Not until every letter of Lauren’s name is engraved across his chest. He pulled the trigger and took her from me. This is his cross to bear and bear it he will.

“Scream all you want. Ain’t nobody gonna hear you this far out.”

I made sure of that.

When I’m finished carving him up like a turkey, I wipe the blood off my knife with my jeans and step back to admire my handiwork.

His body shivers as beads of sweat drip down the sides of his face. No doubt the cold is making the pain unbearable. Good. Every minute he suffers is one I feel alive.

“You’re a religious man, right, Luis?”

I toss his Saint Christopher medallion on the ground at my feet. “Welcome to your Garden of Eden.”

I tilt my head in Zane’s direction. He brings the grain sack out of the back of the van and sets it near the base of Luis’ head, but hesitates to open it for a second. I almost feel bad for him, but we all have to conquer our demons sooner or later.

“Just find your balls and open it, you pussy!”

Axel taunts from his spot in the tree.

“Fuck off, Ax.”

Zane extends his middle finger in the direction of the tree, but pulls the cloth apart. The second the opening widens we jump back a safe distance. The treats inside slither around, rippling against the fabric. They’re angry from being jostled and that’s perfect for what I want them to do.

Zane and I are far enough away to avoid getting bitten, but still close enough to enjoy the show. Axel braces against the tree, keeping a firm grip on the rope, and waits for me to give him the go ahead. “Copperheads normally don’t attack humans, but let’s see if we can prove them wrong.”

I flick my eyes to Axel, and he lowers Luis, head first, into the sack. Instead of staying still, the dip shit flays his arms out like a dying fish and draws attention to himself, only succeeding in antagonizing the pit of vipers.

“The more you hit at them the angrier they become, Luis. You might want to remember that.”

“Fuck you, Cabron!”

He ignores my warnings and continues to writhe around the inside of the sack.

Zane lights up a cigarette and stands off to the side watching Luis—who currently resembles a headless worm dangling from a hook—struggle.

“Your saint can’t protect you from me. I’ll see you in Hell.”

It’s a promise.

Minutes pass as we continue to watch him struggle, watch him fight to live. It isn’t much longer before we listen to him take his last breath, just like I listened to Lauren take hers.

Without a word, we cut him down and toss his naked, lifeless body into the river. It bobs from side to side as the current carries it away. I grab his Saint Christopher medallion off the ground and squeeze it in my fist. He won’t need it where he’s going.

I rub my fingers along the small piece of metal and glare at my brothers. “We have a stop to make on the way home.”