Page 49 of Stolen Matrimony

They all turned and filed out. Once it was only me, my wife, my siblings, and River, I turned back to Ted. Blood dripped from his mouth and snot leaked from his nose, mixing with his tears. He dry heaved and his body jerked every so often.

“Can you hurry this along?” Lucas yawned.

“Ple-please. I’m sor-rr-ry,” Ted stammered out. “I won’t d-d-d-do it again.”

I glanced down at Cashlynn. “Do you accept his apology?”

She was staring at him expressionless. She stepped forward and held her hand out next to Ezra. He looked at her confused.

“No one touches Wilma.”

Cashlynn turned toward me with cold eyes. “Let her see the damn hammer,” I commanded.

Ezra cut his eyes at me and grunted, then handed the hammer over. Cashlynn’s eyes locked on Ted again who was crying and begging for mercy. She lifted the hammer and brought it down on the hand closest to her.

The scream he released was enough to bring a child nightmares. Pride exploded in my chest. I loved seeing how fearless Cashlynn was. She didn’t even flinch when she sent the hammer down. It was clear she was perfect for me.

“You both are insane,” River mumbled.

“Did you bring it?” I asked, turning to Lucas.

He nodded and reached behind him on the table and picked up the machete. He walked over to me and handed it over.

The fear that filled Ted’s eyes heightened my senses. Blood pumped wildly inside me. My heart expanded and adrenaline rushed through my veins.

“And just in case you need an extra incentive not to put your hands on my wife.” I looked at River. He walked over and used a key to undo one of his arms then held it in place. Grinning, I stepped closer, tapping the flat side of the machete against my palm.

“No, no! Help!” He strained to get out.

Lifting my hand, I sent the machete against his wrist, slicing his hand off. It plopped down on the plastic. Blood splattered from the wound.

“Damn, he just pissed himself.” Ezra laughed.

I looked at Lucas. “Get him patched up, put the hand somewhere safe.” It would be used to remind others not to touch what was mine.

He stared at me blankly but picked his doctor bag up and came close to me.

“Do you accept the apology now?”

Cashlynn turned with a half grin. “Now I do.”

I’d never had the urge to punish someone for putting hands on a girl I was seeing. Cashlynn was different, however. Each day I spent with her, I found myself growing more fond of her. She was slowly making her way into my thoughts, even when I didn’t want her to be. Crawling and embedding herself under my skin. I was the only person meant to touch and play with her. Anyone else who dared to try it would suffer the same fate as Ted.

____

“You gon’ tell me what we’re doing here?” River asked from the driver’s seat of the car. It was one he used for off the grid jobs. There weren’t too many houses on the dark, dead end street.

I flipped through the file Emmet gave me concerning Maddox then looked up at the house listed.

“It’s simple, he did some shit he shouldn’t have. Now it’s time to make him pay.” I dropped my eyes back to the file. Maddox was next in line to inherit the drug business. He was his dad’s only kid. His mother passed away when he was young, the dad was rumored to have a hand in it. He still was working in rehab from Cashlynn stabbing him.

“And it just so happens that he’s Cashlynn’s ex-fiancé?”

“Even if he wasn’t, he still needs to be handled. Him being the man my wife was engaged to is just a bonus.”

Since Cashlynn told me what Maddox had done, I knew he couldn’t go unpunished.

“I could be wrong but it almost seems like your marriage to her is real.”