This Regret

The door slams behind me, causing me to jump and cover my mouth. This place creeps me out even more then the men.

Cape looks at me and grins wickedly. “Calm down, sugar. We're not frightened, are we?” He walks over to stand next to me and I stiffen at his closeness. “There’s nothing to be scared of . . . yet.”

I back away as he reaches for my chin, but he grabs it anyways and brings my face close to his. His breath smells of cheap Tequila and cigarettes making me gag a little. “So, tell me . . . Phoenix. Has your boyfriend ever mentioned me before?” I shake my head, trying to keep from shaking. “Oh what a f**king surprise. He acts as if nothing ever f**king happened. It must be nice to go on living normally.” He kicks the crate next to him and growls while squeezing my chin tighter. “As if he didn’t ruin my f**king life; after how generous I was to him. That little shit!”

His breath is heavy on my lips as he looks me in the eyes and brings my hips close to his, rubbing his erection against my thin dress. “I’m going to love ruining his life. Yeah!” His fingers dig into my chin as I struggle to pull away. “I started with that dipshit brother of his. You know. . . Kade. You’re next, sweet tits.”

I shake my head, holding back the tears as his lips press against mine, roughly kissing me as his tongue tries to pry my lips open. He tastes disgusting, as if he’s just licked an ashtray. I fight against him enough to get my lips away from his and scream. “Don’t kiss me!” I struggle some more in his arms as he grips my ass, working his way down between my legs. “Asshole!” I spit in his face and he slaps me, while cupping my ass tighter and slipping a finger under my panty line.

“Let me feel what Kellan gets to feel. I bet you're tight. We can loosen you up a bit. I'm sure when I'm done with you, these two would love my left overs. They always do.” Just then, one of the two doors across the room opens and in walks a beautiful woman with long red hair, pushing a wheelchair. She takes one look at me in Cape’s arms and her face twists into disgust. “I’m not staying for this. I’m done this time.” She turns to leave.

Pushing me away, Cape throws me into another set of arms where I’m forced down onto one of the crates, a hand pressing my shoulder down. “Maxine, baby. You know how this works. This is business not pleasure.” He grabs the woman by the arm and pulls her to him, grabbing her chin just as he grabbed mine. “Now shut the f**k up and kiss me, yeah? Don't forget your place and that's to please me.”

The woman’s eyes meet mine as she hesitates. She looks at me for a moment before leaning in and kissing Cape on the mouth. I can’t tell for sure, but it almost looked as if she gagged a little upon impact. It makes me wonder what she’s doing with someone as awful as this guy. She is actually quite stunning. She doesn't belong here.

Now that I’m out of the creep’s arms, I can finally focus on what I heard come out of his mouth. I can finally pull myself together enough to try to get some information. “What did you do to Kade, you sick bastard?” I grip onto the wood, preparing myself for the worst, while looking across the room at the wheelchair. Who is this guy staring at me? Why won’t he stop looking at me?

His hair is long, blond and unkempt and it looks as if he hasn’t shaven in months. Maybe he can’t take care of himself. Can he even use his hands? He’s not moving; he’s just staring at me expressionless. I feel sick and I want to run. I can't help but wonder if Cape did this to this poor guy.

My eyes wander around me, scoping out my options as Cape takes in my words. I have to get out of here. “Kade!” He laughs and walks over to stand behind the wheelchair. My eyes land on him as he begins to rub the guy’s head, lovingly. “This is Echo. My f**king brother! My damn flesh and blood. The boy I looked after as a kid. The boy who wanted to follow in my footsteps. Does it look like he'll be following in anyone's footsteps now?”

He starts coming my way, so I turn away, not wanting to look at his face. I can't look at him. The thought of him makes me sick. I just want to know what he’s done to Kade. I can’t take this. “Tell me what you did!” I feel him standing right beside me, so I bring my eyes up to look at his waist that is inches from my face. It’s then that I notice the handle of a gun, sticking out the top of his jeans. My heart goes crazy thinking of all the possibilities. Are they all armed or can I get away with this gun? I’m good with guns. I can use one. I didn't notice anyone else with guns. Then again, I didn't notice his until now either.

Just as he’s about to look back at me, I look up before he can notice me checking out his pistol. He laughs and lifts his pant legs before bending down in front of me with a sneer. “He’s dead.” He frowns and pats my cheek. “You can thank your little boyfriend for that. Sorry you have to find out this way.”

Dead? I couldn’t have heard that right. He can’t be f**king dead. Is that why I never heard back from Kellan? I’m going to kill this sick jerk! Anger courses through me and without thinking, I reach for Cape’s gun as he stands up and face’s his brother.

I feel the cool steel in my hand as I clasp it and pull it from his waistband. On instinct, or from what I’ve seen in the movies, I reach for meat grinder next to me and hold it to his chin as Cape comes at me. “Don’t make me use this.” Knowing these guys, I don’t have to check it to know it’s loaded and ready to go. Men like this are always packing. My legs shake, but I try my best to keep steady. Showing weakness with a loaded gun in your hand can backfire in a heartbeat. “Tell me what you did to Kade. He can’t be dead. Don’t f**king lie to me.” I push the barrel further into meat grinder’s face and he laughs. The idiot actually laughs. “Tell me!” Why are they all smiling?

Cape walks over to me as if he doesn’t believe I’d actually shoot him. The balls of him. “If you’re going to make a threat, you better go through with it. Once you pull that trigger, there’s no going back; you have to shoot every last one of us. Can you handle that?” My hands shake as he reaches for the gun and points it at his own head. “Go ahead. Make my f**king day.”

My finger hovers over the trigger as sweat drips down my face. I’ve never taken a life before. Is this really something I can live with for the rest of my life? Now, my whole body is shaking. I scream and fall to my knees, dropping the gun down beside me. I can't do it. There’s only one way out of this: death.