Page 83 of The King of Hearts (The Raven Group #1)

Savina lifts her head and regards her brother, her expression giving nothing away, but she answers, “Yes.”

“Fuck, Sav,” he grunts. He swipes his hand through his hair. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

“Because it was my little secret.”

“Why?” This from Cassio.

“Those men didn’t deserve to breathe air for what they’ve done. I took care of it for them.”

“You could have come to us,” he replies.

She lifts her hand and uses the back of it to swipe hair out of her face, leaving a streak of red behind on her forehead.

“I know, but I wanted to do it on my own. I needed to.”

She looks from one brother to the next, something silent passing between them. I know it’s shared memories of her time when she was kidnapped and kept in Henry’s basement.

Neither says anything else after that. Alexander keeps quiet too, having heard the conversation and adding nothing to it. He almost looks like he’s not surprised at the news of Savina being the infamous Butcher. Maybe he’s not, and he’s known this whole time.

I keep my eyes on Savina. The top half of her body is covered in blood and other bodily fluids. Streaks of it run down her arms, her hands are solid red, and there are splotches of it dotting her face and neck. I’m sure the lower half of her body that I can’t see looks much the same.

As messy and gory as she is, if we were alone, I’d bend her over the table with a half dead Aiden and fuck her so hard she’d feel me for days afterward. I’m tempted to kick everyone out and do it anyway, but I restrain the impulse.

Savina cranks the pulley again, and there’s a loud crack that goes along with the mechanical click.

The scream that comes out of Aiden’s mouth is piercing, and more blood oozes from the fully broken skin around his ankles.

You can see the insides of him now; bones, sinew, meaty tissue, tendons.

It’s enough to make a grown man gag, but each person in the room watches with blank expressions. Not a disgusted look in sight.

This goes on for another forty-five minutes. None of us speaks, the only sound in the room is Aiden’s cries that slowly move to whimpers because he’s losing blood faster now, and his body is giving up. The last shot of adrenaline Savina gave him an hour ago has already worn off.

Blood puddles on the floor and completely covers the slab of metal beneath Aiden’s body. He’s no longer moving, but his chest still rises up and down, albeit slowly and labored.

Savina drops the filet knife she was using to carve off chunks of Aiden’s flesh and goes to the table of tools.

I smile at the new tool she grabs. With her hips sashaying back and forth, looking more beautiful than I’ve ever seen her, even covered in blood and gore, she comes to me.

She holds up the bone saw, handle first.

“You know what I want,” she says, voice loud and clear.

I take the tool and drop my head to kiss her blood-smeared lips. “Whatever my Vicious wants.”

I don’t spare the two men a glance as I walk around the table to the same spot Savina was occupying. She takes my place against the wall between her father and brother. I look over Aiden’s body and meet my sister’s eyes.

We haven’t gotten the chance to get to know each other yet.

Mostly that’s because of Lili. Understandably, she’s extremely reserved, and I don’t want to push her.

The only brother she had that she knew of until recently put her through hell and back.

Theo obviously knew of the abuse, and through Aiden’s tortured confessions, we discovered that his wife, Sandra, knew as well.

Apparently, Theo’s new wife, whom he’s been married to for a year, is just as revolting as he and Aiden.

It was her idea to allow Savina to carry our child to term and then keep the baby for themselves.

That bitch will get what’s coming to her soon.

“You mind if I wrap this up?” I ask Lili.

She takes a step back and flips her hand in the air. “By all means.”

I set the bone saw across Aiden’s thighs and grab the filet knife Savina discarded.

My brother also informed us that he and Theo hired Shane Ballot to kidnap Savina several weeks ago.

Just for that alone, I press the tip of the knife in the hollow of his throat and push it down slowly, making it as painful as possible.

Although the man is ninety percent dead, he still finds the energy and will to let out a final scream.

It’s cut short when I hit his trachea. Soon after that, he goes deathly still.

His heart is probably still pumping sluggishly, but it’s the last few beats of a dying man.

“I’m going to hazard a guess,” I hear Alexander say, “that the missing people from the island and mainland are Ryker’s doing.”

I’m not sure where he got that idea from since I haven’t started removing this maggot’s heart yet, but I’ve always felt that Alexander was exceptionally intuitive. He’s probably suspected for a while that I’ve been behind the disappearances and has kept quiet about it.

It wasn’t posed as a question, but Savina still answers. “Yes.”

Bishop mutters a curse.

“Did they deserve it?”

I pause in my ministrations and lift my head. “Yes.”

Alexander regards me for a moment and tips his chin in a nod. “Where are the bodies?”

“Same place as Theo.”

He doesn’t reply, and I go back to what I was doing. It’s not long before I pluck Aiden’s heart from his chest and hold it out to Savina. She’s already grabbed a bag from somewhere and holds it open. I drop the useless thing inside, and she cinches it shut.

“Thank you,” she says, rolling to her toes and pressing a kiss against my lips before I get the chance to do it.

“Anything for you, baby. I’d carve out a thousand hearts if it made you happy.”

She smiles, and her eyes light up. When she licks her lips, tasting the blood on them, the curve of her mouth goes straight, and her brows wrinkle instead.

“What would make me happy now is a hot shower to get this disgusting stuff off me.”

“Then let’s get that taken care of.”

I wrap my arm around her back and pick her up with an arm under her knees. She lets out a laugh that warms the center of my chest.

“Ryker, Savina,” Alexander calls, and I turn us both. “Come by the house tomorrow. There are things we need to discuss,” he says pointedly.

It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him to fuck off. I know what he wants to discuss. The news that I’m behind the missing people and Savina’s role as The Butcher. He wants details, and I’m not inclined to give them since they’re really none of his business.

But I hold my tongue, leaving the decision up to Savina. I know what she’s going to say before she opens her mouth. “We’ll be there.”

She kept her actions a secret for a reason; if she wants them to know now, it’s up to her.

As far as my actions, I don’t give two shits if they know what I’ve done.

It’s not like they can throw stones with all the murders they’ve committed over the years.

My kill count isn’t a fraction of the amount of The Raven Group’s.

I turn on my heel and leave the room, impatience lengthening my strides.

The salty air that greets us once we’re out of The Reef is refreshing, and Savina pulls in a deep breath.

My body vibrates with pent-up lust, and I’m seconds away from pinning Savina against the car and fucking her within an inch of her life.

But my Vicious demanded a shower, and she’ll get one. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t care that she’s covered with another man’s blood, but I understand her need to cleanse herself. It’s more than removing the offending substance from her body. It’s to shed away the last link of what she went through.

I have her settled into my car with the seat belt strapped across her torso, and I’m about to close the door when she grabs the front of my shirt.

She yanks me down and smashes her lips against mine.

My cock goes solid, not that it wasn’t before she kissed me, but it turns more rigid.

Our tongues swirl, and I taste a hint of blood.

Her eyes are fiery and filled with lust when she releases my shirt.

“Take me home, Ryker, and fuck me good.”