by K E Osborn
“Fuck!”
CHAPTER TWELVE
My feet carry me quickly as he dumps another load of water on her. Racing into the torture room, I run up to Chops just as he’s about to throw over another load, and smash it out of his hands.
“What the fuck, you cock head. You’re going to kill her!” I yell.
He looks down at her. Her tense body from before now motionless and still. “Shit, sorry, I get carried away. I’m not used to torturing without the kill.”
“Well, fucking help me you prick!” I demand racing to her and undoing the strap on the sack and pulling it off her head. Her lips are blue, and her face is pale.
“Blade, do something,” I call out, and he rushes in, her head flops to the side.
Shaking my head, he steps up to her and starts pushing on her stomach. She convulses with his movements, but rivulets of water start to flow from her mouth. She suddenly coughs up large mouthfuls of water, and her eyes flicker slightly.
“Oh, thank fuck! Chops go get a torch,” I demand, and he goes off in search of one. She blinks a few times and Blade gently slaps her across the face to bringing her to, as Chops hands Blade the torch. He shines it in her eyes as she winces slightly from the light intrusion. She’s breathing, but she isn’t waking up.
“She might take a while to come to, Prez,” Blade says.
Nodding, I chew on my bottom lip and huff. “Okay watch her and call me when she starts to rouse.”
Walking out of the room, I run my hands through my hair. We’ve been here for little over half an hour already. I didn’t want to be here too long, and now Violet has passed out. Who knows how long we’ll be here for?
I pace around the back area drinking from a bottle of whiskey. Men are coming and going from the room. I can hear Violet gurgling and breathing heavy from the other room, so at least, I know she isn’t dead, just merely trying to stay alive. Fucking Chops! I’m fuming, and every minute that ticks by, I’m getting angrier and angrier.
Looking down at my watch, I notice I’ve been waiting for nearly two and a half hours. She’s got to be awake soon, surely?
“She’s coming to, Mad Dog,” Blade calls out. So I rush back in, and Violet’s body clenches sitting up a little straighter, making me sigh in relief. She looks ahead, still fairly pale, as we all look at her watching to make sure she doesn’t pass out again.
“Jesus Boss, we thought we’d lost you there for a moment,” I tell her, walking up to her and taking her chin in my hand. “I thought you were a fighter?”
She takes in a deep breath.
“You went too hard on her, Chops,” I reprimand. Anger surging through me like a raging fire, so I clench my fist and thrust it forward into Chops’ guts. He hunches over and grabs at his stomach, and I can’t help it as a slight smile crosses my face.
“Now get out of here, before I kill you myself. You knew we needed her alive, you stupid fucking bastard,” I yell in my ever-present anger.
Chops glares at me, shaking his head, and storms out of the torture room. Turning back as I flare my nostrils, Violet rests her head against the back of the chair as she tries to concentrate on her breathing. It’s like she doesn’t care anymore and welcomes death. I guess losing Hudson really did mean something to her.
“You with us, Boss?” I grab her chin and force her to look at me.
“You can’t get rid of me that easily,” she murmurs through gritted teeth, and I can’t suppress my impressed laugh.
“There’s that fighter we know,” I say and lean in gazing into her eyes to make sure she’s fully okay. But before I have time to register, she pulls her head back and smashes it forward, head butting me right in the eye socket. Pain sweeps through my temple as I close my eye. “Fucking hell,” I call out backing away from her and holding my hand to my now bleeding left eye.
Fucking little bitch. Here I was feeling sorry for her, and she fucking head butts me!
Shaking my head, I take a step toward her and lift my leg and side kick her right in the ribs. She screams out a gasp as the pain in her ribs takes hold.
“Do you want us to kill you, Boss? ‘Cause you’re heading the right way,” I scold.
“I have nothing to live for now, so yes, please kill me.”
Frowning, I cross my arms over my chest. She does want a way out. “Well, that takes the fun out of it. . But our plan was never to kill you… just to torture you until you give us what we want.”
“And what the fuck else do you want to take from me, hey? You’ve already taken the man I love, so tell me, big man, what else matters?”
Sighing, I slump my shoulders. “Sorry about the cop… he got in the way. It’s his own fault.”
“What the fuck do you want, Mad Dog? This isn’t only about turning around my statement is it?”
I smile and shake my head. “You’re a smart cookie, Boss.”
“So what do you want?”
“Cupiditas,” I state categorically. She opens her eyes wide in obvious shock and purses her lips.
“What?”
“You’re going to hand over Cupiditas to us, officially. You will sign all the paperwork saying that I am the new owner and that you have been bought out. Of course, there’ll be no money changing hands because technically you still owe us the second lot of money for the drugs. But we’re willing to let that all slide, and to let you go so you can live a normal life away from Cupiditas. We want the business and all its profits, all legal like. So you will hand it over to us, and you will retract your statement to the cops and tell them everything was a lie.”
She chuckles shaking her head. “No way! I worked too fucking hard to get that business, and I’m not going to hand it over to arseholes like you. My staff are too important to me to have them work for a fuckhead like you.”
I shake my head. “Well, maybe this will change your mind?” I say pulling out a long knife from my back pocket.
She swallows hard, sitting up taller in the chair. She’s trying to give off the ‘I’m not scared of you’ vibe, but it’s failing miserably because the terror in her eyes says it all. “Go your hardest,” she spits.
Laughing, I bring the knife’s tip to her left arm, running the blade slowly down her skin. “I’ll give you another chance, hand over Cupiditas,” I demand. She creases her lip and shakes her head.
Chuckling, I grin, and then push the tip of the blade into her arm, the thrust of the steel cutting into her flesh sends a shiver down my spine as she screams out from the discomfort.
“Oh, so you do have some feeling left in you then?” I ask with a lopsided smile. “Ready to hand it over yet?”
She shakes her head. “Never.”
I chuckle again as I bring the knife up to her throat, holding the blade’s edge right along her jugular vein. “Do you know how quickly it takes for a person to bleed out when their throat is cut?”
“Why don’t you just do it and I’ll find out?”
She’s always so full of fucking witty comebacks, stupid smart mouthed bitch. I grunt and pull back thrusting the knife straight down into her thigh. Her muscles pull and retract against the blade as it sears through her flesh. She screams loudly in agony while I grin watching the blood ooze from her thigh. Blade hands me a whiskey bottle, and I badly want to take a swig, but Violet looks at me wide eyed as she pants hard in undeniable discomfort. A smirk crosses my face, as I decide on my next course of action. “You asked for this, Boss.” Pulling the blade from her thigh, I then tip the alcohol straight onto the open wound. Her piercing scream echoes through the room making me wince as she squirms in pain.
“Stop, please stop!” she yells out.
I smirk and lean in close to her, but not so close she can headbutt me again. “Give us Cupiditas, because if you don’t, we’re going to torture and kill every one of your whores. You say you have nothing to live for anymore, but do they?”
“You wouldn’t kill them all?” she asks, and I grin salaciously letting her know we, in fact, would
.
“Oh, sweet Violet, I would. And just for disbelieving me, I’ll kill their families too, and it will be all on you. I’ll start with Angel and go from there. Maybe I’ll drive up to Port Augusta and finish off what we started with Sheila, and take out her precious brother while we’re there. How would you like that?”
She shakes her head and starts to cry. I can see she’s weakening, so I pour some more whiskey on her wound causing her to scream once more.
God, this woman can scream.
“C’mon Boss, just say, yes. I’m getting bored,” I declare and force my closed fist down in the open wound on her thigh, her warm blood coating my knuckles as she cries out in agony once more.
“Yes, yes… okay. Yes, I’ll do it. Just don’t touch my employees,” she yells.
I pull my fist from her thigh, relieving the pressure, and she visibly relaxes.
“Good girl, Boss. You made the right choice,” I chirp as she cries.
“Right, everyone out,” I demand, and my brothers all turn walking out of the torture room leaving me with a broken Violet. “It’s a shame you’re a cop lover. We could’ve had a good thing, you and me Violet. You’re feisty and I like that, but being on the right side of the law doesn’t suit me well. Thank you for giving us Cupiditas, and for retracting your statement. I’ll let you rest for now and then we’ll take you home. You’ve been here long enough.”
“How long have I been here for? It feels like hours?” she murmurs.
“A little over three hours, Boss. Not long at all really,” I answer not meaning the not long part and then kiss her forehead. “Rest, we’ll get you out of here soon. Oh, and if you go to the cops before handing over the business, I’ll kill everyone and make you watch,” I tell her while leering at her, so she knows I’m deadly serious.
“Cupiditas is yours, Mad Dog, just take me home,” she whispers defeated.
“Yes, Boss!” I salute her. “I’ll get the van ready for your departure.” I grin, gently caressing her shoulder then turn and stroll out the door leaving it open. I turn to Acid, nod, and he flicks the switch sending gentle, soothing ocean sounds through the room to try and calm Violet down.
“Just relax Boss. This is to help you unwind,” Acid says over the speakers as I walk out the back toward the Crafter to where Chops is waiting.
Huffing, I stride up to him, and he tenses as he sees me.
“Mad Dog, look, I know I went overboard, but she’s okay. We got her to cave, and everything worked out. So we’re good, right?”
Exhaling and rolling my eyes, I nod and tilt my head. “Yeah, we’re good. Just fucking try not to kill us when we’re driving her back, okay? I’m gonna stay in the back of the cage with her, just to make sure she doesn’t drown on any remaining water that might be in her lungs. I want to watch her.”
He nods and chews on the side of his cheek. “Yeah, okay. The cage is ready to go so we can transport her whenever you want to leave.”
“Okay, I’ll go get her now. Get ready.”
“Righto boss.”
Turning, I walk back into the warehouse and up to the torture room where Blade and Acid are sitting on the other side of the window chatting.
“How’s she doing?” I ask.
“Out like a light,” Blade says, and I look into the room to see her passed out again.
Sighing, I wince and nod. “Hopefully, it’s from the pain and not ‘cause she’s inwardly drowning.”
“She should be okay, Prez. A heap of water came up when I was doing the compressions,” Blade states and I nod and click my tongue to the roof of my mouth.
“Right, well, let’s get her into the back of the cage.” We all walk into the torture room and Blade unties her. She moans slightly, and I lift her up cradling her into my body.
She slowly glances up at me and blinks repeatedly. “It’s okay, Boss, I’m taking you home,” I say to her honestly. Her eyes open wide, and it’s like panic rips through her. She sits up in my arms, and I grip hold of her tightly as Chops opens the back of the van and I walk her to it. She brings her hand up and slaps me across the face as I step inside. The sting resonating through my already tender eye socket.
“Fuck woman.” I throw her down on the floor, the thud of her small frame hitting the cold metal, makes me wince. She scrambles forward and screams in determination to get to me as she slaps at me repeatedly, each slap stinging more than the last.
“Shut the fucking doors and drive, Chops,” I call out. Chops slams the door shut, as a darkness engulfs the area.
“Fuck you! I fucking hate you,” she yells, continuing her assault.
I don’t bother to defend myself, I just let her slap me because honestly she’s been through a lot because of me, and to be honest, I more than deserve this treatment.
Why?
Because I’m a cunt.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again.
I’m a cunt, and I hurt people.
I hurt everyone I come into contact with.
I hurt the people I know.
I hurt the people I love.
I hurt the people I do business with.
I simply… cause hurt.
And Violet Dyson is no exception to that rule. So I’ll let her slap me, scream in my face, and abuse me for the cunt that I am, because really, it’s justified.
She’s really getting herself worked up, and unfortunately, that’s only hurting herself in the long run, her lungs must be burning and her leg would be painful as fuck, so I choose to stop this.
“Boss, stop it! We’re not going to hurt you anymore.”
“I will be hurting for all eternity because of you, you fucking prick.” She spits in my face and cries hard.
“I know, I’m sorry, Boss. I like you, and I am genuinely sorry it had to be done this way. But you’re such a stubborn arse that it was the only way to make you do what we wanted,” I admit and she stops fighting and slumps her body.
“I don’t even know how someone could be as cruel as you are? Surely you have a family? Surely your parents wouldn’t be proud of the man you’ve become?” she asks finally sitting down next to me.
“My parents died when I was young. I had to make my own way through life, Violet. Things happen. We make bad choices and then we’re stuck with them for the rest of our lives. I bet there was a time in your life you never thought you’d turn into a woman whoring herself for cash? But things happen, and we change. It’s life. Some of us are good, the rest of us are evil. It’s in my blood to be bad, Boss. I don’t know any other way,” I admit honestly. I don’t know why but I feel like I can talk to her. There’s something about Violet that’s struck a chord with me. From the first moment I met her, I knew she’d have an impact on my life. Maybe now is that moment?
“Everyone has a choice, Mad Dog. You can choose to stop this lifestyle anytime you want. Not everything has to be done illegally you know?”
“Why do you think I’m trying to obtain a legitimate business, Violet? Cupiditas is not only a significant income for the Savages, but it’s also a way of going straight—”
“So you want to go straight, but you go about it by stealing the business and torturing the owner to get it? Yeah, really heroic, arsehole.”
“I didn’t say I was perfect, Boss, but I am trying. Habits are hard to break, you of all people should know that.”
“I still don’t understand you at all.”
Huffing out a laugh, I nod. “Boss, I don’t understand me either.”
She raises an eyebrow and shakes her head. “But seriously, why are you doing this? If you don’t like doing illegal things then why keep doing them? Are you scared of what people will think of you if you change?”
“Yes, that’s exactly it. How am I supposed to go from this tough leader of the most feared biker gang in all of South Australia to someone who doesn’t want the violence, greed, lust and anger? I don’t want any of it anymore, but because I have been so involved in doing things the wrong way for
so long, how do I stop this behavior, Boss?”
“Wow, I don’t know how to go about changing behaviour. I’m really not the right one to ask about that, but… do you really want to change?”
I nod and rub the back of my neck. The truth is I’m sick of the trouble this club brings me. I want my wife—I want my kid. I can’t have that with the club. “I’ve wanted to for ages. I see the lives normal people have, family, friends, the love they share and I want all of that. Sure I have my brothers, but what good are they if all they want to do is torture the good people who have families that love them. I’m so jaded. I haven’t been loved by anyone for a very long time, and yes, I guess my brothers might care for me, but honestly if they had a chance to have Chops as their leader, they’d kick me to the curb in a heartbeat. I’m not stupid, I know my brothers are only in this for the money. That’s why I need Cupiditas, Boss, because if I don’t do something soon they’re going to start taking matters into their own hands, and things around here are going to get a hell of a lot worse than they are now. And trust me, it can get worse. Torture and stealing businesses are only minor compared to the things my brothers have in mind.” It’s true, Chops would do anything to get his way and take down anyone, and if he were in charge, this would go downhill faster than they are now.
“Mad Dog, I think if you want out, then maybe you should just leave the gang. You’re the president, surely you can step down?”
I huff and let out a laugh. “If it were that easy Boss, don’t you think I would have by now? One doesn’t simply leave an MC club. Once you’re in it, you’re in it for life. The only way I’m getting out is by being six foot under and, to be honest, the way my life is right now, I’d gladly welcome it. But if I can change things around with Cupiditas then it might make life bearable again. I don’t know, I shouldn’t even be telling you this. If you blab to the other guys, it could be the end of me, and after what I’ve done to you, I wouldn’t blame you. But if you do blab, I’ll be the first one with my hands around your neck, got it?” I state seriously.
“You don’t have to always talk that way, you can still change you know?”