Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 78534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
The cell is bare, the same one that Jessica hid in when Kane sent his troops here. It feels like poetic justice. Something the man curled up on the floor opposite from us, his legs and arms still tied together, will never appreciate.
It doesn't fucking matter, and I don't fucking care.
Riot kneels next to him, makes a fist in his hair and forces him to look up at us.
Victor Kane has seen better days.
"How you feeling?" Tex asks with deceptive light-heartedness. "We picked you up outta the water just in time, I think. Close call. You mighta missed out on this little reunion if we hadn't."
He looks between the three of us, a little wild-eyed. Fearful. And I fucking love that. The monster that hurt Jessica for so long, I'm almost surprised he remembers what it means to be scared.
But he chooses bravado. "What are you animals planning? Extortion? Ransom? I'll give you money."
I shake my head. "Don't need money."
"Weapons? I can get my hands on anything you could possibly want. Tanks. Bombs. A fucking fighter jet if you want it."
"Nah. I think we're good."
Realization is starting to come to him. I can see. Eyes widening just a little, pupils widening a little more. The tic of the artery in his neck as his heart speeds up. The nervous wetting of his lips as it sinks in that we didn't bring him in here because we wanted anything from him.
Other than blood.
Riot draws Kane's attention back to him. "So… unfortunately, none of this is going to undo ten years of using Jessica as your personal punching bag, but I have to admit, I'm looking forward to this anyway. If you can't fix it, at least fuck shit up, right?"
Tex leans in and smirks cruelly. "In case you didn't figure it out, you're the shit."
"Don’t be stupid. There has to be something I can give you to make this go away. I'm filthy rich. I can give you just about anything." Desperation now that he fully understands. "Please, we don't have to do this."
Grabbing his collar with his huge fist, Riot hauls him up to his feet. I pull out one of my knives, and Kane finally fully panics.
"No! Please, no!"
"Relax. I'm just cutting you loose." Riot spins him around and presses his face against the wall so I can get at his wrists. His hand is bandaged where his thumb used to be. Woulda hated to have him bleed out early. Then I slice through the rope, barely even nicking him. Maybe a little. I crouch, and cut his legs free, too, then put the knife away. "See? If you can get out of this room, you're free to go. How's that? I promise. And unlike you, I keep every single promise I make. Think you can do it?"
Kane eyes the door, briefly, but his gaze keeps flitting between the three of us, trying to watch us all at once. We all know he doesn't have a chance.
I'll give him this. He tries. Not very well, but he tries.
He pretends to lunge towards Tex, then jumps the other way, trying to dash past us to the door, his only chance of getting out.
Riot's fist in his gut stops him dead. Kane collapses, trying to catch the breath that's been knocked out of him. We give him time. We're not in a hurry. He abused Jessica for ten fucking years.
He tries again, even knowing that he doesn't have a chance. I punch him right in that fucking face of his, knocking him right off his feet and flat onto his back. He screams in pain as his head bounces off the hard floor. He tries to roll over, but he's dizzy already.
He tries to get up on all fours, but Tex kicks him hard in the side, dropping him right back to the floor.
"See, normally I'm not a fan of unfair fights," I say, happy to watch him squirm on the floor. "But then again, most people don't murder a girl's parents before keeping her around to beat on. She didn't have a fucking chance. You never gave her a fucking chance. So this feels appropriate. Right, you know?"
He grunts and spits out a mouthful of blood.
"So I'm gonna make you a second promise. You're not gonna leave this room alive."
He doesn't last nearly as long as he deserves, but when we haul his corpse out to the pier, tie a hunk of concrete around its neck and toss it into the water, it's still a sense of fucking closure. And now when she wakes up in the middle of the night because of a nightmare he gave her, we can honestly tell Jessica that he's never gonna fucking bother her again.
42
JESSICA
It's not often that women and outsiders are welcome at Church, but this is a special occasion. I don't think this is the wedding that Mom ever envisioned for me, or that I ever did, for that matter, and I guess technically it's not even really a wedding, but Ghost, Riot and Tex are claiming me as their old lady, and that's good enough for me.