My fangs come out, and my fingers curl into claws as a guttural snarl rips from my throat when Cleo Carter is ushered into the room.
ChapterForty-Two
Ashley
My brain switches off, everything inside me replaced with a red haze, and I shove past Jase and Chad and lunge at the woman who hurt my husband. The guards step back, not understanding the protocol for this. I am the wife of the Sloth Luminary, and they witnessed how Jase reacted earlier when Carter put his hands on me.
I tackle Cleo to the ground, and the only thing I register is her startled expression before the rage takes control. Straddling her hips, I land punch after punch to her face and her upper body, unleashing all of my frustration and anger as I pound her until she’s an unrecognizable, bloody mess. I don’t feel the ache in my arms, the throbbing in my shredded knuckles, or the pain as the small incision in my palm reopens and blood seeps through the Band-Aid. I just keep hitting her, consumed in a fugue state where all I see is her violating and abusing my man and other innocents.
“I think that’s enough,” Carter says, and my surroundings come back into focus.
Jase lifts me off her, and I’m thrashing around, adrenaline still coursing through my veins as I kick and scream like a madwoman.
The guard helps Rhett’s wife to stand as Jase hands me off to Chad with a knowing look.
Chad grips my face in his hands and kisses me. Hard and deep and passionate, with lots of tongue, until I come back to myself. “Okay?” he whispers, peering into my eyes when we stop kissing. Concern is etched upon his face.
“I’m okay.” I rest my brow against his. “Or at least as okay as I can be until we unalive that sick bitch.”
“I love you.” Chad kisses me again before pressing my head to his chest.
“Aw, how sweet,” Cleo says, spitting blood onto the carpet. “But does she suck your dick as well as I do? That’s the million-dollar question now, isn’t it?”
The strangled, enraged noise that travels up my throat doesn’t even sound like me. Anticipating my move, Jase darts over, trapping me between him and Chad. “As much as watching you go all She-Ra on her ass turned me on, we need to deal with this formally.”
“She needs to die,” I hiss, trying to see past the wall of solid male muscle shielding me.
“For what?” Eric Stewart asks. I hear the confusion in his tone. This is something he doesn’t know.
Jase quickly fills his dad in while holding me in between him and Chad. I clutch Chad tightly, hating he has to share air with this soul-sucking oxygen thief.
“Is this true?” Eric asks Carter.
“I’m afraid so.”
“I’m okay,” I say, grabbing both my guys. “I won’t go for her again. Let’s sit down.”
I ignore Cleo, holding hands with Jase and Chad as they lead me back to the table. They sit on either side of me while the others reclaim their seats. The Master of Ceremonies has left the room now he’s attended to all his duties, so the only people left standing are the guards and a restrained Cleo Carter.
“I was unaware of any of it.” Carter shakes his head, looking sadly at his wife.
“Bullshit,” she barks, fixing her gaze on Eric Stewart.
Wow, I really did a number on her face. Both eyes are swollen. A fresh, large bruise is already mushrooming over one cheek. Her lip is split, and blood covers her face, dripping down onto her chin and over the short black minidress she’s wearing. From the way she’s hunched over, I can tell I at least bruised some of her ribs.
All my sessions with Vincent have started to pay off. The murderous rage helped too.
“Rhett has known all along. He helped me to set up the operation,” she confirms. “Actively encouraged it. He has helped me to bury the bodies all over the grounds of our property. It was Rhett who kidnapped the boy and handed him over to me.” Her depraved grin lands on Chad, and my guys set their hands on my thighs, holding me in place. “Such a pretty little pup and so virile.” She licks her cut, bloodstained lips as she eye-fucks Chad, and I’m done.
“Are you going to shut that bitch up, or am I?” I glare at my sperm donor.
“Oh, if you insist.” In a move none of us predicted, Rhett raises a gun, points it at his wife, and fires.
Cleo’s scream dies in the air as the bullet finds true aim, lodging in the center of her skull. It’s lights out immediately for the sick bitch, and I’m suddenly sorry I enticed Carter to kill her. She didn’t deserve to die so painlessly. We should have had hours with her in a torture chamber to inflict as much pain as possible before we snuffed out her existence.
“Carter!” Eric slams his clenched fist down on the table. “What the fuck are you doing?” Jase’s dad is livid. “You cannot take matters into your own hands, and how did you get that weapon past the guards at the entrance?”
That part is easy. He has all these men in his pocket. It’s a scary truth. Carter has possibly made more inroads than we imagined. As for why, that is easy too. He had to shut her up. She was going to blab all his secrets. I curse my misguided anger. I played right into Rhett’s hand, and I didn’t even stop to consider Knight or my other siblings. No matter what, she was their mother. She still had to die, but I would rather I hadn’t played such an active part in her demise. Maybe her painless death was for the best. Not sure my siblings would forgive me if I had mercilessly tortured their mother for hours.
