Sicko

“Jade,” Isaac growls, his mouth in a thin line.

“Fuck you!” I snap at Isaac, turning back to Royce.

His face is pale, but not in a way that makes him look weak. His eyes turn to a shade almost black as his pupils dilate. “What did you just say?” The veins in his neck pulse beneath his ink, his soft lips curling up in a snarl. Before I can stop him, he’s turning around and heading back through the exit.

“Royce!” Wicked calls out, shooting forward to chase him.

I’m already running down the long exit, until I slam into Royce’s back, blanketed in the darkness of the tunnel. It leads to a street in the city on the other side of town. I look down at what he’s staring at and my body turns hard.

James is tied, his mask still concealing his face and his arms and feet tied.

My mouth opens, but then I snap it closed. My whole world is going to crash down and I know that I’ll most likely lose Royce forever, but he needs to know. I’m tired of secrets, and I’m tired of living in the shadows of another life that was thrust upon me.

Royce leans down, his finger hooking beneath his mask as he whips it off. My eyes close just as he stumbles back from shock.

James Doe aka Kyle Kane. I had no control over what he did to me all those years, so I decided to change his name. James Doe is the male equivalent to Jane Doe. What better name to call him than one of a soulless body.

“Jesus fuck!” Wicked’s hands dive to his hair. “Not what I suspected at all.”

Kyle’s face is calm, his eyes closed. He has bruises on his cheek and a bloody nose, but I know he’s not dead. I can see it in the way his chest rises and falls.

Royce drops to the ground, his hand coming to his mouth, his head shaking. Slowly, he looks up at me, his eyes glassed over and his face contorted into pain. “I’m—” He swallows, his eyes closing as more footsteps patter through the concrete tunnel from the basement of the complexes.

“Royce,” I say softly, tears falling down my face. I’ve lost the feeling in my hand now, but that seems irrelevant when the man I love is curled up after just finding out his father is the notorious K Diamond, the man behind the mask of the worst human trafficking and drug deals in the United States of America since the nineteen-hundreds. Someone takes my hand, but I keep my eyes on the top of Royce’s head. “I wasn’t working with him.”

“I know,” Royce finally says hoarsely, standing to his feet and making his way to me. His fingers come to the back of my neck. “But…” He can’t find the words, but his eyes are telling a full-length novel. They shoot over my shoulder and he shakes his head. “She needs to be part of this. More than anyone.” He scoops me up by the backs of my legs and cradles me into his chest, carrying me back the way we came. “Bring that bastard with you.”

Revenge or forgiveness. They’re the two words that sit on either side of the scale, as you decide where you’re going to add your weight. I had thought about this day a lot. I dreamed of it. I never thought it would ever happen because I thought Royce was dead, and if Royce was dead, no one else was going to save me.

Not Orson.

Not Storm.

Not myself.

Isaac shifts closer to where I’m seated back on the sofa. Slim has taken Sloane on Wicked’s orders, and the only people in here are me, Isaac, Royce, Orson, Storm, and Wicked. There are other men walking around in cuts that I don’t know, guarding the curtain.

“You have fifteen minutes, Royce,” Isaac croaks.

Royce removes his shirt and cut, slapping his father across the face with the back of his hand. I don’t recognize this side of Royce right now. It’s terrifying. “I’ve got questions. Wake the fuck up.”

Kyle comes to, his freckled skin bruised and his eyes finding Royce.

Nothing.

Blank.

Then slowly, a smirk lifts on the corner of his lips. “Tsk, tsk, so the cat’s out of the bag.” Then his attention lands on me, and his smile falls. “Unfortunate you’re still alive, Bunny.”

Royce’s hands come to the front of his father’s throat. “I have fifteen minutes to end your life.” Royce leans in until his lips find Kyle’s ear. “But I only need one.” He pulls back. “So you’re going to tell me everything, and you’re going to do it now.”

Kyle brings his eyes to Royce. “So many things to tell you, so little time. How about you take me somewhere else, so we can have this discussion. Preferably somewhere where Lion is too.”