Heathens & Hand Grenades (Book 1 of the Heathens Duet)

Chapter 68- Kace

If I could rewind time with the knowledge of what would happen when I abandoned her, well I sure as hell wouldn't be here. None of us would. Riggs and I'd probably be saddled down with wives and kids living out the lives we always saw laid out for us, just like the rest of our families. Fate had different ideas, cruel bitch.

Glad that whatever Jax did to the generator has been remedied, I take in the cabin around us. It's beautiful: cozy' if a little outdated. A shame it'll all have to go when this is over. It's the kind of place I dreamed of having to myself once upon a time. A boat to fish on the weekends with my best friend, cheap beer, and a fish fry if we were lucky. No use dreaming of a fantasy. That life went by the wayside way before the girl crash landed into our lives.

Wrapped around Dario, I can still smell her cherry scent clinging to my skin where I held her while she slept. She never would have relaxed like that if she knew it was my arms who held her, but I couldn't resist a moment of her peace. I didn't deserve a second of it, but I needed it something desperate. To feel her in my arms, whole and alive. Hearing those shots go off and not being able to do a damn thing but pray that my brothers and some higher power who had rarely come through for me when I needed him could ensure her safety. It was a torture that I more than deserved. Just like this one. Having her so close and not being able to fall at her feet and apologize. My words mean nothing when my actions led us here. All I can do is watch as my brothers get what I crave. I can and will protect their happiness, all four of them.

"Are you ready for more baby girl?" Riggs asks her again, teasing her with more than she realizes.

"Yes," she nods firmly, her back straight with a fire I'm grateful that asshole didn't extinguish out of her.

Unspoken orders have me stalking towards the bathroom, ready to drag Colton Barnes from his shower and back into the living room. Standing over him, wet and shivering, it's hard to believe he was able to manipulate her for so long. The girl, no woman perched on Dario's lap has never once backed down from me and I could toss this dude like a football. He's not small by any means, but I've always been bigger than most. No, this jerkhole has been inflated from his position and power. Callie wouldn't hurt a fly and he abused that trust and gentleness. Just call me Karma, delivering a painful uno reverse of fortune.

I never understood why Jaxson rarely smiled unless he was dispensing some kind of twisted punishment. It was a job, a task to be carried out swiftly and efficiently. Taking pleasure in causing pain would have made me no different from the evil we were tasked with dispatching.

I understand now. I will find immense pleasure in every wince, cry, and scream that we wring from his pathetic body. He tries to weakly scramble away while I untie him from the bath, the water soaking and tightening the ropes binding him. Eventually I give up and just cut them loose with my pocket knife.

Colton makes a desperate attempt to leap from the tub while I put away my knife and I allow him those few moments of futile hope. His pruned feet slide along the floor, slick from Jaxson's earlier game, and he crashes to the floor like the little cockroach he is. It would be so easy to squish him beneath my boots, so I do. Pressing down on his shoulder blades, his arms windmill about for anything to grasp, his legs pushing against the walls for purchase to try and throw me off. I just lean, more and more of my weight coming down on him until he relents. Watching his fire dim and eventually burn to embers is a heady feeling.

I lean down, looking into his dull, lifeless eyes. My hand on his neck pulls his face to mine, hidden behind my unpowered mask. It would be so easy to snap, but he doesn't deserve that kindness. "Don't look at her, don't speak to her unless she asks you a direct question. You don't think her name," I tell him. "She controls your fate. You should consider yourself lucky. If it was me on any other one of my brothers, we'd draw this out. A day for every hour. You'd beg for the sweet release of death."