I stop just short of them, not wanting to get much closer, but Nic indicates to the guy. “Pour it on him.”
“No,” I snap, glaring up at him and putting the bucket down at my feet. “I’m not about to be dragged into whatever bullshit games you’re about to play here. Do your own dirty work.”
Nic pushes off the metal pillar, and he seems to grow a million feet tall. “I said pour it on him,” Nic growls in a chilling tone.
Letting out a defiant huff, I grab the stupid bucket and haul it at the dickhead on the ground, feeling sick with myself for how easily I caved. Why am I not stronger than this? I should be able to stand up to him, but the fear is too real.
The guy sucks in a deep gasp, his eyes springing open in shock. He instantly starts looking around, and the second he lays his eyes on Nic, he starts scrambling away from him. His eyes dart around the warehouse for some kind of exit, but Nic isn’t that careless. If there were a way out of here right now, I’d already be running.
The guy can’t keep his eyes off Nic, especially as he starts stalking him, moving forward like a python about to strike.
My chest rises and falls with rapid movements, watching the scene before me through wide, terrified eyes.
Nic draws a gun from behind his back, and I suck in a deep breath, but he doesn’t take his eyes off the man, not even for a second. “Knees,” he demands, the one word echoing through the empty warehouse like an ugly death sentence.
The guy blanches, and after quickly glancing at me, he realizes just how fucked he is. There’s no getting out of here. This man will not live to see another day; it’s just a fact.
He panics. “I … I … I …”
“KNEES. NOW,” Nic booms, his tone making me flinch.
Tears fill the guy’s eyes as he finally rises to his knees, his hands fall together in front of his chest, and he meets Nic’s eyes. “Please, please. I swear, I'll hand myself in. I'll do anything you want. Please, I have a girl, a family. My mom … this will break her.”
Nic steps into him, pressing his gun right against his temple as though he hadn’t said a damn word. “You should have thought about that first,” Nic rumbles, the words filling every inch of the warehouse.
“Yes, you’re right. I should have thought of that first, but I’ve learned from my mistakes. I’ll do anything. Please, just …”
A sick grin twists across Nic’s face as he flinches the gun against the man’s temple, moisture spreading down the front of his pants.
I stare in horror, unable to look away from the horrendous scene before me. “Nic,” I seethe under my breath, desperation creeping through my veins. “Stop it. What are you doing? Who are you to decide if a man should live or die?”
Nic’s eyes slice back to mine. “You’re right,” he says, his voice low and filled with a challenge. “I won’t be deciding if he lives or dies. You will.”
My mouth drops open. “What?” I breathe, instantly backing up a step, shaking my head viciously. He can’t be serious. “No. I have nothing to do with this.”
“Sure you do,” Nic prompts, turning to face me and taking a step in my direction and then another. I back up a little more, glancing at the helpless man on the floor. Nic reaches out and grabs my wrist, hauling me into his chest and slamming the gun into my hand. “What’s the matter, baby? You were so determined to kill a man last night. Now’s your chance.”
“No, I …” Fuck. This is that punishment he was talking about. He's going to force me to kill a man.
He walks away from me, and I instantly tighten my grip on the gun, the power rushing through my veins. He walks back toward the metal pillar, and the thought hits me that I could just shoot him in the back and end this once and for all. But my stomach clenches with the idea of killing a man like that.
Nic reaches his metal pillar and props himself against it like he had been earlier. “Well,” he encourages. “What are you waiting for? Get it over and done with.”
“No,” I snap, instantly thinking of the girl and family the guy had mentioned earlier. I turn the gun on Nic, and just as I knew he would, he acts as though the gun doesn’t even exist. “I’m not about to shoot him. I don't even know who he is or why he’s here. I’m not an executioner, Nic. I don’t have the right to decide who lives or dies, just like you don’t. If he did something so awful, hand him over to the cops with a confession.”