Cruel Temptation (Underground Kings 1)

I took control of his arm and twisted his wrist back, snatching the needle from his grasp. “I will let you talk about me all your want, Owen, but fuck you if you think I’m going to let you disrespect Quinn like that.” I shoved the syringe into his neck and pressed whatever medication was inside into his bloodstream. Maybe it would kill him; maybe it wouldn’t. Right now, I didn’t care. No one spoke about her like that, no one.

Owen collapsed. His body hit the ground hard, and his head hit the floor with an unforgiving smack. His eyes were wide, and he moved them back and forth.

Ah, the paralytic again.

“How does it feel to get a taste of your own medicine?” I asked him, knowing he wouldn’t be able to reply. I squatted and then yanked the needle out of his neck. “I will say this once,” I held up a finger. “Talk about her like that again, and I will throw you from the cliffs myself next time, while you can’t feel your body, and you can’t swim to the surface. You’ll watch yourself sink deeper and deeper into the ocean. The world around you will get darker the further you get since the light can’t touch you. You’ll try not to breathe, but instinct will finally win, and you’ll inhale water. There will be nothing you can do to save yourself. You’ll die helplessly.” I patted his leg and stood, then cracked my neck as I twisted it from side to side, and rolled my shoulders.

“Take him to a free bed. Force his eyes closed. I don’t want to have to worry about giving him eye drops.”

Heaven and Grayson hurried to Owen’s side, and they grunted when they lifted the poor bastard and carried him out the door.

“He will be furious at you for that,” Sebastian advised as he leaned against the mirror. When I stared at him, I noticed Brian was chained to the wall this time. Ankles strapped against the wall, and his hands chained to his sides.

Okay, maybe it was a little dungeon-y, but it was a classy dungeon. His torture chambers could have been a lot worse.

My eyes flicked over Brian and settled on Sebastian a second later. “I don’t care. Let it be a warning to everyone. She was before all of you. I love you like family, but she’s different. I won’t let anyone talk about her like that. That was a warning. Next time, I’ll kill whoever speaks about her that way.”

“You forgive her that easily?”

Without hesitation, I stared him in the eyes and said, “Yes. I do. It’s that easy.”

“Why? I’m not being insulting. I’m trying to understand. All those years of built-up anger, just forgiven?”

I laced my hands behind my back and watched Brian tug on the restraints. His arms were clasped above his head, so his shoulder would be fine. For now. “I was upset. It hurt like hell not to have her faith in me. We were young, it was a hard situation, and she admitted her wrongs. I love her enough to not hold it against her. If I did, there would be no future.” And if Brian breathed the same air, Quinn and I would be looking over our shoulders. I would never know peace if he never confessed.

It haunted me that I was accused of killing my sister. I wanted to feel liberated when the words were spoken into the air. I wanted them to be out in the world.

Sebastian didn’t say anything. He just nodded and thought about what I said. I didn’t know if he understood, but that was okay. When the time came for him to get his vengeance, and he fell in love, he would see how much didn’t matter compared to what did.

Quinn was what mattered.

“How has Brian been?”

“Quiet. There was a police report of what happened at the church filed, but witnesses say they didn’t see anything. Still, I’m going to keep an eye on it. We don’t need backlash from this.”

“Agreed.” Sebastian’s warning about getting caught led me to think about Brian’s family. With how far apart his brother was from his sister, I’d say they had no idea Brian was missing. They hadn’t gone to the wedding, probably due to Brian telling them to stay away. The man had a lot of enemies. He obviously had no intention of protecting Quinn like the rest of his family, or he would have gotten married in private. He wanted to protect his brother and sister, but nothing was too far out of reach for me to grab.

I’d take his sister and dangle her in front of him if I had to, threaten to wrap my hands around her throat just like he did mine, but I hoped it wouldn’t have to come to that. I didn’t ever hurt women. It was a rule I had, but I didn’t mind using them as a means to an end for my own advantage.

“What are you going to do with him?” Sebastian asked as I stared at the man that ruined my life.

I was wondering the same thing. I wanted to punch him, beat him within an inch of is life, torture him, waterboard him, give him pain, unlike anything he ever felt to get what I wanted.

But I didn’t want to deal with him. A part of me wanted to forget the plan, let go of the need for his confession, and just live my life with Quinn. Was the stress worth it? I tried to dig down deep for the hatred, the need to hurt the man, and while it was there, lingering like a disease, it wasn’t as strong as it used to be.

Where the hell did that leave me? What was happening to my drive to bring this man to his knees? He didn’t deserve to live, to breathe, to smile, or laugh. He deserved every ounce of pain I could give him.

But the time spent here in this room with him was time wasted. I could be making new, sweet, and better memories with Quinn. My anger was never an afterthought. It lived in the forefront of my mind, all-day, every day.

And now it was barely a sting inside my chest.

I needed to change tactics. This wasn’t about Quinn. Not anymore.

T

his was about my sister. Vengeance had to be about her. The right man had to go to prison, and he wouldn’t survive long in a hell hole like San Quentin.

An evil smug grin tilted half my face when an idea formed. All I had to do was get that confession, and the worst pain of his life would be waiting for him in that facility. If a guy wasn’t smarter, quicker, and stronger than the next, he’d die.