He was already gone.
CHAPTER TWENTY
I bit into the apple he’d had Arlen bring for me while I was in the shower, along with a bowl of oatmeal.
She leaned against the dresser, looking much better than she had the night prior; I sat across from her Indian style at the edge of the bed, dressed in an outfit almost identical to the one I’d worn the day before.
“Where’s Jinx?” I asked after I swallowed my bite.
“No idea. I haven’t seen her since we left this room.”
I nodded, wondering if she was going to avoid me because of what happened, shrugging it off. I’d talk to her eventually. What I wanted to discuss was better off not heard by her ears, anyway.
“Tell me how you are.”
She laughed and huffed out a breath. “I should be askin you that. Grimm found me three days after that little bridge incident and kept me at some damn shack. I’m only here because you are. When I heard you’d been found, I raised hell until he brought me to this shithole.”
I scanned over her fading bruises.
“He didn’t do this.” She gestured up and down her body but didn’t elaborate on what did hurt her. “Do you think his balls would still be attached if he put his hands on me?” She quirked a perfect brow, making me laugh.
“I’m glad you’re here,” I admitted.
“I already told you; I go where you go. Now, tell me what the hell happened to you.”
Taking a small breath, I told her everything from the time I went over the bridge up until the present, excluding the R on my back, and it felt good. I’d never had another woman I could talk to like this. I wasn’t this open with anyone, not even Jinx. She didn’t say much until I was finished, only adding a curse word here and there.
“My sister is here and I’d love to know why they won’t let us near one another. That bitch acted like she didn’t know who I was. Ya know me and my uncle left to find her and she never needed our fuckin help? He died for nothin,” she fumed.
I watched as she paced back and forth, understanding her anger completely. Her uncle was shredded apart right in front of her and then consumed as someone’s breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She had every right to be enraged.
“Cali, I don’t know how the fuck you’re still sane.”
“I’m far from sane.” I laughed but I was being serious. Nothing about me was remotely stable. I was a high functioning psycho on my good days. On my bad days, no one was safe.
“That’s not all,” I sobered, keeping my voice low. With a soft exhale I let the cat out of the bag. “I’m pregnant.”
“Huh?” She whirled around so fast she almost spun into the wall.
“Shhh,” I hushed her, nodding my head in the direction of the door.
“Are you for real? I mean, you’re sure? You don’t look any different.” She zeroed in on my stomach as if she had x-ray vision.
I was ninety percent sure. I didn’t have nausea and I wasn’t any bigger than I had been, but I highly doubted Mother Nature decided to be kind and take my period away just for the fuck of it. They’d always been regular and Romero wasn’t exactly wrapping his dick. I told her as much, leaving out the fact I’d been through this before.
“I figured he’d be comin on you, not in you. He doesn’t look like the bareback type,” she mused. “Holy shit, you’re gonna be a mom. Does he know?”
I scoffed once my brain caught up and defined her terminology. Twisting my lips, I thought back to how his gaze lingered on my stomach and a few oddities in his behavior. “I think he does, but he hasn’t said anything. I have an idea on how to fix that.”
“He’s crazy possessive over you. Lord knows what he’ll do if this comes full circle.”
Nodding in agreement, I went to speak when the door flew open with such force that it hit the wall.
“Get out,” Romero ordered her without looking at me.
Sensing his dark mood, Arlen glared at him, not moving an inch. “Are you calm enough to be left alone with her?”
“Get the fuck out.”
His expression didn’t change but she must have seen something in his eyes because she held her hands up in surrender and edged past him, shooting me a look that said, “See what I mean?”
I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding once she made it into the hall unscathed. He shut the door and walked to the window.
I knew this wasn’t the time to bring up the R now scabbing over on my back. One: I liked it. Two: Romero gave zero fucks and did what he wanted. The argument would end with his dick inside me again and my body couldn’t handle that.
A stifling silence filled the room and I internally groaned. At least our relationship was never dull.
“Romero, you can’t go around terrifying all my friends. That’s not right,” I explained in a voice that didn’t sound like my own.
“We both know you don’t give a shit about––”
“Well, maybe now I do.”
“Don’t interrupt me again.”
“Don’t talk to me like that, asshole,” I snapped.
He turned away from the window and the look in his eyes almost made me flinch. I was smarter than that, though. You never showed a monster your fear; they fed off it. I was recklessly unafraid of him because, if nothing else, he was my monster.
I never claimed to be smart when it came to dealing with him. Even as my heart thudded in my chest like a thoroughbred in its final stretch and my mouth dried, I didn’t run. I let him approach me and wrap his hand tightly around my throat.
“For someone who doesn’t trust me, you’re real fucking comfy. I could snap your neck and be done with you right now.
I could slit your wrists and fuck your dying body until your heart stopped and you bled out.” His voice was normal but the threat was loud and clear.
I stared up at him and my breath caught. His eyes were like windows to the darkest pits of hell. That alone should have terrified me, but I happily breathed him in and accepted every part of himself he laid bare.
“You could, and you already told me you want to, but you’re not going to,” I said confidently. “Because you wouldn’t hurt the baby.”
He studied my face for beat and chuckled softly. “Cali, you’re fucking crazy.” His lips met my forehead and his hand fell away.
“I told you, I trust you not to hurt me like that. Just because your demented ass has fantasies about killing me, it isn’t going to change my mind.”
“And what made this come about?” he asked, cupping the back of my neck.
“I’m the queen to your king. If I go down, you’re going down with me.” I grinned and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “You’re a Savage psycho, and I fucking love that about you.” I stepped back. “Now, tell me how long you’ve known about baby S.”
“I don’t know if I want to fuck you or kill you right now.” He grabbed hold of my ass and pulled me into him. “I’ve known for a while, Cali. How could I notice everything about you and miss something that fucking important? I told you pregnancy was nothing to worry about when all our kids were either going down your throat or landing somewhere on your body. I’ve been coming inside you for a while now. How did you know I knew?”
“Um, the nasty protein drink you keep giving me, you keeping me locked in here when I’ve always been by your side, and the way you stared at me earlier. You’re okay with this? I mean, you do know what a baby is, right?”
“Cali, shut the fuck up,” he sighed. “I’m okay with it. I wanted this. The timing might not be ideal but my fucking kid is inside you so I don’t give shit.”
Oh my god.
I felt tears welling up in my eyes and scowled at his chest. “Goddamn it, Rome, look what you did.” I swiped at them, glaring when he laughed.
“Everything will be okay, baby. We’re going to take care of all this Order shit way before you’re so big I have no choice but to fuck you from the back.”
Ignoring the fucking part completely, I hon
ed in on the finer details of that proclamation. “You’re going to let me in still?” I looked at him in surprise. I thought for sure I’d have to fight for that right.
“I’m not doing it without you. You’re not fucking handicapped or suddenly made of glass. And as shitty as this is to rush, we need to go.”
“Where are we going?” I asked as he guided me towards the room door.
“I’m going to take you to see someone before we head out, and on the way, I’m going to give you the Cliff Notes version of events.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
A sweet metallic pungency assaulted my nose the minute we stepped into the room.
The smell of blood…it never got old.
Cali wrinkled her nose in disgust and eyed the man partially suspended from the ceiling. When the door clicked shut, he opened his good eye and attempted to lift his head.
He was ass naked, the heavy odor of must, piss, and shit mixed with the other aromas in the square room.
“Tito, how are you my friend?”
“Fuck…you,” he rasped out through cracked, peeling lips.
“Hey, don’t say that. I might get jealous.” Cobra feigned hurt as he entered the room with Grimm and Bryce, shooting Cali a bright smile.
His red hair was still dripping wet. He never dried off when he got out the shower, one of his many quirks. Just like his preference for breaking men.
I didn’t judge him; none of us ever would. I’d had my fair share of experimentation in that department. Cobra could be an eccentric motherfucker but at the end of the day, you wanted him on your side.
“Fuck, he stinks,” Bryce coughed, pulling his black robe up over his nose.
“Ah, come on now, Bryce, man up,” Grimm scolded him sarcastically, laughing when he gagged and back-pedaled into the door.
“No, he’s right. It smells like swine ass in here,” Cali coughed.
I chuckled under my breath, letting her hand go so I could tighten the pulley holding Tito’s arms above his head.
His muscles strained and he groaned in pain, a fresh line of sweat breaking out on his brow. I was waiting for his shoulders to dislocate. If he hung here long enough, it would happen on its own, but then I wouldn’t be around to see, and that diminished the entertainment significantly.
“Grab me a rag, Grimm,” I called to him, looking down at Tito’s bullet hole. The area was swollen, surrounded by dried old drainage and seeping with new.
“I know this seems like the shit end of the stick, but Luther wanted to keep you for himself, and between you and me, being skinned alive would hurt a fuck of a lot more than this. So, you’re welcome.”
“What are you doing with it?” Grimm asked, walking over to where I stood.
“I’m going to shove it in the bullet hole, unless you want to do the honors?” I looked at my gorgeous girl.
“If Grimm wants to do it, I’m happy to watch.” She gave her brother a soft smile.
He nodded and balled the end of the dirty white cloth up so it was easier to push in.
“Cali…please,” Tito gasped, no doubt sensing how much worse things were about to get for him.
“Tito, he told me all I needed to know about you, your sister, and Jinx. You’re a grown man and you got yourself into this bullshit way before I came along. You’re on your own.”
“Cal––” His strained sentence cut off in a high-pitched scream.
When Grimm knelt down and started pushing the rag into the gaping wound, the smell of dead skin, puss, and blood wafted from it.
“No, no, no,” Tito thrashed, trying to kick his leg away.
Grimm easily subdued him, holding it in place with one hand and twisting the rag in the other. “Why?” He hung his head and groaned, his body shaking with a silent sob.
“Are you fucking serious right now?” Cobra laughed, swaggering up to us with a bottle of bourbon in his hand. “Get the fuck over here, Bryce.”
“No, I’m good,” he called out, standing securely in a corner.
I laughed and shook my head. The man would crush throats with his bare hands but couldn’t stomach torture.
“Because you’re no good to me now. Because you and your sister have been nothing but pains in my ass.” I responded to Tito.
I held my hand out for the bottle in Cobra’s hand. He handed it over without comment, pulling a gold lighter out of his back jean pocket.
“The real issue is that he didn’t want to give Calista up.” Grimm picked up where I left off, rising to his full height.
“Good help is so hard to find.” I untwisted the lid of the bourbon. “You’re easily dispensable. How many times have I told you that? There are a hundred fucking men vying to do what you did for me. I’ve already replaced you.”
With that, I began to pour the liquor over his wound, drenching the rag hanging out of it. I made sure I coated some of his skin for added benefit.
Some men would have felt an ounce of remorse for discarding someone who had worked for them for so long. He was my eyes and ears of the outliers, feeding me information and keeping me updated.
It was his idea to use his sister to further my agenda.
When I made sure the stupid bitch got burned at the stake, he suddenly wanted to feel regretful. He didn’t care when she was fucking me, my brothers, and anyone else that gave her an illusion of power, never defended her when I made her ass bleed and then locked her in a dog cage because she pissed me off.
I fucked her mind to the point of insanity and then fed her to the wolves. When he discovered Cali, it was because of me. I gave him the fucking order to drive down the road she was dumped on when I found out what David had done.
“You made me think she was dead.” I took the lighter from Cobra and looked at the sack of shit dangling in front of me. He told me he’d found the body; he’d lied to my face.
“Listen,” he began to plea, grunting when Grimm’s fist met his mouth, jerking his head to the side.
“Shut the fuck up. There’s nothing left for you to say,” Grimm leveled in an even tone.
Tito’s head lolled back down and he whispered an apology that wasn’t good enough to wipe my ass with. I never trusted him but I relied on him for information.
It was only when word reached me that David had started searching for Cali that I knew Tito had lied. Sending Janice in had proved to be a waste of time. For four fucking years, they kept the wool over my eyes and fucked one another.
Never again would I be so comfortable in my position. I needed to stay hands on and ride all these motherfuckers so hard that they had heart palpitations if they even thought of going behind my back.
I flipped the lid of the lighter back and lit up the rag. Flames consumed the cloth within seconds, reaching into his bullet hole and burning the surrounding flesh.
“Damn,” Cobra laughed, jumping back as Tito wailed.
Cali watched on in silent fascination.
His agonized screams filled the room. He looked like a worm on a hook, twisting around uncontrollably.
An audible pop was heard as his shoulders dislocated. With his contorted body hanging in the pulley and flames eating his flesh, his screams cut off and he passed out.
“It was just getting good,” Grimm mused, walking to the sink in the back of the room, his heavy boots thudding across the concrete floor.
I breathed in all the different smells, feeling a sense of comfort from being in my element.
“You good back there, Bryce?” I couldn’t keep the humor out of my voice.
“Never better,” he deadpanned.
“You sure about what we’re going to do?” Cobra asked quietly, watching Grimm as he lazily doused the fire close to consuming Tito’s balls.
“You know our plan is solid. We’ll all be right there,” Grimm reassured me.
He was right. We’d gone over a million possible outcomes and tweaked the plan so we could control how it all went down.
“We need to get going,” I turned and made
my way towards the door, taking Cali with me.
I wanted to chain her up in a fucking cellar until her dying day but the need to have her beside me was too damn compelling. I despised that she made me care so fucking much. Hatred was so much easier to cope with than whatever the fuck it was I felt for her.
One woman was wreaking havoc on my iron-willed control, but she was carrying my child and accepting it without argument. That only solidified the fact that I’d made the right choice in keeping her.
Now it was time to end this shit once and for all so we could move forward with our lives. It was time to rack up our body counts and stain our hands red.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Everything was about to change.
We were actually going after The Order, I was going to be a fucking mother, and most of the people from my past were dead.
All in all, life wasn’t too bad.
I was damn near frothing at the mouth knowing I’d get to spill blood. We came back to the room to do one last sweep and Romero felt the need to give me an unnecessary number of safety rules and tips.
I’d never jeopardize Baby S, but like he said, I wasn’t handicapped.
I could cut someone’s throat open and drink a protein smoothie at the same time.
“You ready?” he asked, hooking a duffel bag over his shoulder.
“Can you put that down a sec?”
He gave me an imploring look, slowly lowering the bag back down to the floor.
I took his hands in mine, tilting my head back and never breaking eye contact. My skin suddenly felt sensitive and there was a flutter in my stomach.
“You’ve made me such a girl,” I grumbled.
“You’re welcome,” he smirked.
I think we were having a moment. That thought had me ready to run to the other side of the room. I didn’t. I gathered my lady balls and gave him the truth, hoping like hell I wasn’t fucking myself.
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