“I understand,” I say.
She looks at Kai as he comes back through the door, Mason behind him. She turns to him. “Thank you for caring about my parents. You’ve never even met them.”
Kai hits her with the grin that’s earned him his fuckboy reputation. “You’re with us now, pretty girl. Your boy here will have to get you your own official cut with his name on it.”
Fucking right I will.The thought of that makes my cock start to swell even in the midst of the devastation and carnage.
“And hey,” Kai adds as she looks at him questioningly. “Remind me not to get on your bad side when you’re holding a bat.” He chuckles, mocking a swing and clucking his tongue. “Fucking beast mode.”
Layla laughs, already looking less in shock after that ordeal.
Kai moves closer and shakes my hand. “I’ve got this. You guys get out of here.”
“Not a fucking chance in hell,” I retort.
Kai grins at me. “Always gotta ruin my fun.”
I shake my head. It’s not about ruining his fun; it’s my need to make sure this is done right.
Layla looks up at me for direction. “Go to my room, it’s right at the end of the hall.” I pull my keys out of my pocket and hand them to her, holding the one to my space here at the club. There isn’t much in there—just a bed, a dresser and a small bathroom. “You can get cleaned up, then head out and find a prospect. They’ll all be sober. Tell them I said to take your friends home,” I tell Layla.
“Nah, that I’m on top of,” Kai calls out from the other side of the room.
I smirk. “So fuckin’ helpful tonight.”
Kai sharpens his knife as he grins. “That’s me, Mister Helpful. Tell your friend I’ll see her soon, Layla.” He winks at her.
“What will you do to him?” she asks, curious.
“What you commanded. I promise he’ll live, and by the time you’ve asked someone to take Chantel and Amber home, I’ll be out there with you.”
She looks up at me, trusting but still curious.
“Need to know, little dove.”
She nods and kisses my lips, so soft and so sweet, and I fight the urge to kiss her deeper. “Thank you, Sean,” she hums, reaching up to place her hand on my cheek. Tonight, her world came crashing down around her for the second time—and if I can help it, it’ll be the last. But even though she didn’t take a life today, her compass is forever altered too.
I kiss her head, not saying anything as I open the door to let her out. The second I close it and turn to Kai he’s holding the ten-inch tanto knife with an even bigger grin on his face than before.
“Take this fucker’s hands?” he asks.
“You read my mind.” I nod. “Then get Mason, and dump him outside St Vincent.” I mention a hospital the next town over.
Kai holds the knife out to me but then pulls it back as I reach for it. “You take one and I take one.”
I chuckle.Fucking Kai.
I swipe the knife from his hand. Ramos is so out of it this won’t be as satisfying as I’d like it to be, but I speak anyway as I slide him downward on his tarp so he’s lying flat on the ground.
“You put your hands on my girl, so I should be slitting you from your guts to your mouth.”
He makes a garbled sound. Layla really did a fucking number on him already with the bat. I pull his hand away from his body, laying it flat beside him. He’s so weak he doesn’t even fight it as I admire the blade. This fucker is sharp. I calculate the weight of it, as I’ve never used this knife before so I have to judge how hard I’ll have to strike. Kai might take his time, humming himself a song as he saws through the small bones of Ramos’s wrist, but I’m eager to get back to Layla so I’ll do this as quickly and cleanly as possible.
“Every day after this, every fucking morning when you wake up and you can’t hold your own cock to piss, I want you to remember my face and remember the woman who allowed you to live.” I line up my strike. “And if I ever see your face around here again, it will be your head that I take next.” I lean down so I know he can hear me. “I’ll hollow it out and hang it on my fucking wall.”
I raise the blade and tighten my grip before I bring it down, taking Ramos’s hand clean off. The monster in me rears its head, breathing deeply. Satisfied even without the kill, knowing above all else I’ve madeherhappy.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
