Lawless Kingdom (Reign & Ruin 1)

“Tony get here then?” I gestured to where Dax’s car had been parked.

“Yep. Car will be exactly where it needs to be by morning.”

“Good. Let’s go get this over with.” I climbed out of the car and headed for the side of the house. Gavin fell into step beside me, already pulling on his leather gloves.

I knocked twice on the side of the garage, so Owen knew it was me, and then I opened the door.

Plastic had already been rolled out to cover the floor and the walls. The windows were tinted so dark that not even x-ray vision would grant someone sight strong enough to see what happened in here.

From the center of the room Dax stared at me with one good eye, the other swollen and black. Some type of insult I’m sure came from behind the gag shoved in his mouth as he rocked his body in the chair he’d been bound to.

“That’s the first noise he’s made since I tied his ass up,” Owen remarked from where he was leaning against the tool bench, arms crossed over his chest.

“Lucky you.” I snagged a pair of gloves from beside him and slipped them on.

Going to stand directly in front of Dax, I bent my knees, so we were eye-level. “Are you having a bad day, mio amico?”

His brows narrowed in a glare, a snarl bringing the vein on his neck to the surface.

“I’m sorry I can’t relate.” I shrugged. “Things on my end are pretty damn fantastic. There’s just a few small issues it’s time to revolve.” I held my index and thumb up a to emphasize my point.

“Where should I start?” I asked Owen and Gavin.

“I’d start with him fucking your girl,” Owen suggested. “He knew better.”

“Sure as shit did,” Gavin agreed.

Mm. Yes. There was that.

“What do you think?” I tugged the gag down so he could respond.

“She’s not yours!”

“Daxton. She’s always been mine. I knew who she was long before you did.”

“Bullshit!”

“Why do you think I specifically told you to befriend her and demanded that you didn’t fuck her?”

He threw his head back and laughed, his teeth showing stains from the blood that had accumulated in his mouth.

“She know she’s yours, Judas? I don’t think she does.”

I grinned down at him. “Oh, little Rhia knows me very well.”

“She’ll never be like the submissive bitches you’re used to. And if she ever finds out what you’ve done to me, she—”

I lifted the gag to cut him off. He was grabbing at straws and it was fucking pathetic. It wasn’t up to Rhia. She didn’t need to know she was mine. I knew. That’s all that mattered. We’d be on the same page soon enough. As for her giving a shit about what was going to happen to him…Now it was my turn to laugh.

“I think I know more about your relationship than you do, Dax. Not to mention…she has no idea who the fuck you really are. I can’t wait for that truth to come to light.” I gestured in the direction of the tool bench. “But you know that’s not the only reason you’re in this position, is it? I’m pissed you put your hands on her, but this is much deeper than that.”

He couldn’t answer me with words, but his eyes said enough. I wanted to make a mess of him, string him from the rafters and gut him as my nonno did the pigs, listen to him squeal until his life bled out of him.

I couldn’t end it quick, though. He had to suffer for my own peace of mind. Also, I had a feeling he wasn’t going to be very forthcoming when it was time to tell me all I wanted to know.

I leaned down and removed my Gambit from my boot, hitting the button on the side to engage the blade.

Flipping my knife around, I gripped his shirt and cut it straight down the center. His entire body tensed, but that didn’t deter me. I made quick work of the tattoo on the right side of his chest, slicing into the smooth flesh to ensure every single fucking part of it came off. He’d never deserved the insignia to begin with.

His muffled screams only made the process easier. Blood ran down his torso, staining the tips of my gloves and the serrated edge of my blade.

“Hard to imagine that in a few weeks we’ll be in shitty ass electives,” Owen commented with heavy sarcasm.

“Trading one life for another,” Gavin said.

I tossed Dax’s thin piece of flesh onto the floor, leaving it to hit the plastic with a soft pop. He was moving so much I was surprised he hadn’t tipped yet.

“It’s our last year until college. We got this,” I spoke up.

School. A six-letter word that had an entirely different meaning to us than it did the average student. We attended because the diplomas and degrees were needed to blend in with everyday society and cover up the darker parts of our world.