mum pain and bewilderment.
I crossed my arms and enjoyed the show.
“Who the fuck are you working with?” Hyde demanded as Kent’s head hit the cement with a crack. Blood pooled where he landed. Nitro had stopped for now, but in a short amount of time, he’d put Kent in a world of hurt, and he looked ready to continue if we didn’t get the information we were after.
Kent growled with that pain when Hyde finally tore the tape from his mouth. His top lip curled up in a snarl, though, and he bit out, “Get fucked. I’ll die before I tell you that.”
I grunted as I shot up and stalked to him. My boot connected with his stomach on a heavy thud as I kicked him. “It’ll be a slow and fucking excruciating death.” I kicked again before putting my boot to the side of his face and pressing down hard. “So I suggest you reconsider.”
He attempted to curl his legs up against his chest, but he struggled. Spitting again, his mouth curved into a crazed grin and he laughed. “Do your best, King.” His breathing was laboured, his words slow to come out.
I usually got a good feel for people and whether they were bluffing or not, and I had a suspicion this asshole wasn’t. I suspected he wanted to die.
As Nitro’s fists clenched, ready for round two, I stopped him. Crouching, I tipped Kent’s chin up to bring his gaze to mine. “You want us to kill you, don’t you? Because you think it’ll be a walk in the fucking park compared to whatever torture waits for you out there. That’s what this is about, isn’t it?”
The fear I hadn’t seen in his eyes yet surfaced. He tried to hide it, but I saw it. And I had my answer.
Standing, I jerked my chin at him. “Untie him. We’re putting him back out there for whoever wants him more than we do. Once we find that cunt, we’ll take care of everyone involved.”
My demons roared to life at the thought of watching Kent while he waited for his day of reckoning. Witnessing that kind of suffering wasn’t as satisfying as inflicting it, but it came fucking close. And knowing it would lead me to who I really wanted caused my demons to get their fucking dancing shoes out.
Havoc’s warning from earlier came back to me: he’s Salvatore Bianchi’s cousin. Salvatore Bianchi had been untouchable for years. He’d never been on my radar, though, because he’d never stepped on my fucking toes. If he had now, I didn’t give a fuck who he was or what power he thought he had; he would pay with his blood for coming after my club.
10
Lily
“He’s going to make it,” Tatum said as she placed her hands on my shoulders and pushed me to sit on my couch. “
“Yes, I know,” I said, earning me a confused look from her.
She sat on the coffee table in front of me. “Okay, so what happened to the stressed-out Lily I spoke to on the phone an hour ago? Not that I wanna see her again, but I need to know if you’re bullshitting me here or not.”
Monroe sat next to me and hit her cousin with a smile and a glass of wine. “I gave her some pot. It was the only way to calm her down.”
I rolled my eyes. “She didn’t give me pot. I just came to my senses.”
Tatum drank some wine and encouraged me, “How so?”
I shrugged. “This is King we’re talking about. It might be Friday night, and it might be flooding across half of the state, and he might have been on the road for two days trying to get home with no luck, but I know my man, and he’ll be here.” I lifted my glass of wine and added, “Oh, and this helps. A lot.”
Tatum shook her head, took a long sip of wine, and said, “Okay, I get the picture. We’re all just gonna get trashed tonight and pray that God forgets what an ass King can be and remembers what a good person you are and as a result decides to let King home. Does that about cover it?”
I cocked my head and squinted one eye shut so I could see her without seeing double. “I didn’t think you believed in God?”
“I fucking don’t.”
I giggled, my head spinning a little as I took another sip. Before I could get that sip, Tatum stole the wine glass from me with, “Okay, you’re giggling and I’m putting my foot down. No more wine for the bride. I do not need to deal with King’s cranky ass tomorrow when he turns up to discover you’ve got a fucking hangover at your own wedding.”
I pouted. “I don’t know why you two don’t get along better. You’re both as bossy as each other. And grumpy.”
“That is fake news, Lil,” Brynn said, entering the lounge room. “There’s no one alive who is as bossy or grumpy or assholey as your man.”
“Amen,” Tatum said, nodding at her. “Right”—she stood—“we’ve got the dressmaker arriving in about fifteen minutes with the dresses. After that, I’m heading out to get the flowers while you get in the bath, and Brynn and Monroe organise dinner. Evie can’t make it because she can’t get a sitter for Elizabeth, but Hailee said she’d try and come over. I’m not holding out hope, though, because the streets around her are still flooded.”
I rested my head against the top of the couch and did my best not to think about the fact half of Sydney was still flooded. I’d come to the decision about half an hour ago, that if the wedding didn’t happen tomorrow, it wasn’t the end of the world. I mean, I wasn’t the one who wanted to bring it forward, anyway. Either way, King and I would be married. It just might take another week.
As the girls scattered, my phone rang, and I smiled when I saw King’s name flash across the screen.