Steven snarls, “Fuck you.”
I drive my fist into the good side of his face until blood explodes all over his features, splattering them with red, and then casually step back. “That wasn’t an answer. We’ll try again. Who put you up to it?”
“Listen, man.” Donovan trembles at the sight of his friend. “We really meant no harm.”
I punch him, harder than I did his friend, and he wails like a kicked puppy, grabbing his face and cursing.
My attention slides to Larry. “Will you tell me what I need to know, or should you meet your fate first?”
Steven tries to stand up, but Ilya shoves him back down and kicks Donovan, who comes to his aid.
Larry watches his useless friends and then studies my fist. “Fuck this.”
“No,” Steven shouts and wiggles under my guard’s clutches. “Don’t tell this motherfucker—”
His words end on an oomph when Ilya kicks him in the gut.
“It’s not worth it,” Larry says, then stares at me. “We were told by some guy at the club that if we did something for him, we’d get free drugs.”
My finger slides back and forth on my thigh. A guy at the club?
Jonah is in fucking London. What would he be doing at the club? Unless he dropped by for a visit?
But that’s not right either, considering I tagged him and I know precisely where that motherfucker is at all times.
Note to self: check with my guy on Jonah’s whereabouts last night.
I retrieve my phone, scroll to the pictures of the scum and show it to the three of them. “Is this him?”
“No,” Larry and Donovan say in unison.
I don’t even need to wait for Steven’s answer. No flash of recognition shone in their eyes when they saw the picture.
Unless they’re highly trained killers or psychopaths who are excellent at disguising their emotions, it’s impossible to hide that.
“What did he tell you to do?” I ask with a calm I don’t feel.
Larry swallows twice, then licks his lips three times before he speaks. “He pointed at two girls at the bar and told us to separate them. He didn’t care what we did to the blonde, but we had to make the silver-haired one uncomfortable. He told us to start respectively, though, or she would bolt, and if she bolted, we couldn’t have the good stuff. After we gained her trust us, we could grope her or do whatever we pleased.”
Blood boils in my veins, and destructive energy bubbles inside me with the need to purge.
“Whatever you pleased,” I repeat with a voice hanging on edge.
“We weren’t planning to do anything,” Donovan blurts. “I swear.”
My gaze strays to Steven. “How about you, motherfucker? Did you have any ideas after you got the ‘whatever you please’ green light?”
“No,” he says in a complete bullshitting tone.
“I think you’re lying. I think you planned to get under her skin and have free access to her. He told you that sentence, didn’t he? You’re too beautiful to be hidden away. Probably said you should use that to fuck with her head and make her pliant. But here’s the thing.” I grab him by the collar, hauling him to his feet. “That girl you touched belongs to me, and do you know what I do to people who look at, let alone hurt, what’s mine? I make them wish for death.”
Steven's eyes shine with unbounded fear for the first time since we broke into their apartment.
He knows he fucked up and messed with the wrong person. The one person’s path he should never have crossed.
If they’d only made the mistake of approaching her in the club, a punch and a blacklisting from the club would be enough. Not really, but I would’ve forced myself to stop at that.
But these three fuckers had the nerve to hurt her emotionally and bring back memories she’s been trying so hard to get over.
“Here’s how it will go. I’ll punish you for daring to come near Cecily and having the audacity to touch her, and I will make sure it hurts. I’ll also leave a scar so you’ll remember me. Then you’ll remove yourselves from her life. If I spot you within a ten-mile radius of her, I will fucking kill you and dump you so deep in the sea, no one will find your corpse.”
Then I singlehandedly beat the fuck out of the three of them, but Steven is different. Steven also gets to be waterboarded to within an inch of his life while he bleeds all over the apartment and shits himself.
Steven will remain on my radar long after he’s healthy, so I’ll beat the fuck out of him all over again. He’ll live in fear, looking over his shoulder, under his bed, and in the closet, searching for the devil from his scariest nightmares.