Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 88(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 88(@300wpm)
The door of “The Room” opened and Storm—the Iron Rogues Captain, and an expert interrogator and negotiator—stepped out into the light of dawn.
“What kind of shape is he in?” I asked as I tucked my cell in my pocket and closed the distance between us. Nic had assured me that he would leave Cordell in one piece and “relatively healthy.”
Storm grinned. “Couple of broken fingers, missing pinky, and a broken knee cap.”
I couldn't help chuckling. How very Mafia.
When I stepped inside, Blade was exiting the cell. He glanced up and nodded in greeting. “I bandaged the missing digit and set the broken ones in a splint. Knee cap is shattered though, not much I can do there.”
“Bet he fell all over himself thanking you,” Storm drawled, clearly relishing what came next. He could be a little bloodthirsty. But only when it came to fuckers who deserved it.
Cordell didn’t know where he was, or why he’d been brought here. So when Blade went in to fix him up, I could see how he might have been mislabeled as a hero.
“Put him in the blue room,” I ordered as I walked through the third door on the right. I flipped on the light and glanced over my options. After some deliberation, I decided to go old school, grabbing a bat, brass knuckles, and a switchblade.
My gun was already loaded for the finale.
When I stepped into the room where Cordell was tied to a chair in the center, he looked at me with surprise, then his expression morphed in loathing and a hint of smug defiance.
“Looking awfully calm for someone who pissed off an Iron Rogue,” Blade drawled as he leaned back against the wall.
“You wouldn't risk Nic’s business by hurting his family,” Cordell spat.
“Don't see any of his family here,” I stated in a steely tone.
“Call Nic,” he muttered, looking just a touch less confident.
“Who do you think gave me your location so fast?”
Cordell blanched. “He wouldn’t betray family…”
“You might have gone after me, but my woman was caught in the crossfire. I don’t know if you didn’t think about that or didn’t care, but either way, you crossed a big fucking line. Nic doesn’t tolerate attacks against wives and children. You were already on thin ice with him. When he found out about my old lady, he washed his hands of you.”
Cordell shrunk into himself as the truth of his situation hit him. “I didn’t mean for her to get hurt,” he whined like a little bitch.
His eyes darted to the left, a sign that he was lying, which just added to my rage.
Stepping close, I rammed my fist into his jaw so hard it snapped his head back and rocked the chair. “You mean you didn’t’ give a fuck if anyone else was hurt when you tried to kill me,” I growled. “Lying to me isn’t the smart play here.”
“The truth won’t save me.”
“No,” I agreed as I slipped on the brass knuckles. “You’re gonna die for hurting my woman, but honesty might save you a little pain.”
“Fine. I knew she’d probably be with you, but I figured if you were dead, you wouldn’t care that she’d been killed too.”
My next hit broke his nose, sending blood spurting out.
“I lied,” I told him as I slipped into a side of me that felt little to no emotion, making me a deadly foe. “This is gonna hurt.”
“Damn, prez,” Storm said with a low whistle. “And they call me bloodthirsty.”
I rolled my eyes as I strode to a little kitchenette and started washing the blood off my hands.
“Brutal,” Blade agreed. “Gotta say though, Dahlia is your weakness now. You’re always gonna have to be on your guard for people who’ll try to get to you through her.”
“You think I haven’t already considered that? Dahlia deserves a fuck of a lot more than a man like me, but I’m just enough of a bastard not to care.”
“Don’t think I could give up my control like that,” Storm mused as he cleaned the instruments I’d used to inflict hours of pain on the man who’d almost taken away the person who mattered most to me.
“When the right woman comes along, you won’t care,” I stated.
Blade scoffed. “Bullshit. The last thing I need is an old lady to deal with.”
Storm muttered an agreement, and I just shook my head at their stupidity. It was almost funny that they thought they’d have a choice in the matter. I certainly hadn’t. The second I saw Dahlia, I’d known there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do to have her. She owned me from that moment on.
“Dispose of the body,” I instructed as I dried my hands. “I need to get back to Dahlia.” There was some other blood spatter on me, but I’d wanted to at least have clean hands for the ride home.