He looks over at Prospect before looking back at me. "Why didn't he just take the money, why did he have to be mean?"
I shake my head. “I don't know, bud. I know I have to sign for the money, but if he'd asked us, I would have given him it all. I'm sorry that you've gone through everything you have, I'm sorry that I didn't fix it sooner." I lean forward and pull him to me, wrapping my arms around him. "He won't hurt you again, I promise."
"It's not your fault, Nova. You can't stop them from being mean." He pulls back from the hug and looks up at me. "What's going to happen now?" he asks.
"For now, we're going to stay here. Andrea will too. Just for a little while. Is that okay?" I ask him, worried he won't want to stay.
"I don't ever want to leave here, Nova. I feel safe here. And everyone likes us, nobody's mean to us." His voice is quiet, like he's a little scared to say it out loud.
I smile at him. "I know, bud. I feel safe here too. But we can't stay here forever. These guys have to get on with their lives. We can't get in their way forever."
"Okay," he whispers, his face falling with my response. I don't want to see him sad, but he needs to know that we can't stay here Forever.
I hate that I'm not with her. I hate that she asked for space, but I get it. Prez dropped a pretty big bomb; it's a lot to get her head around. I just hope she's okay.
As we make our way to the basement, I shake thoughts of her off my mind, I need to clear my head before I walk in there or this will be over before I want it to be.
"You okay that I didn't tell you before we told her?" Prez asks me as we wait for Tongue to open the door to our ‘kill room’. I turn to look at him, and Wrath watches me as he stands on his right. I smile at them both and nod.
"Don't get me wrong, Prez, I would have liked to have known what I was walking into, but I am okay you told her before telling me. She has a right to know, and I have no right to expect to be told first. I appreciate the fact that everyone cares about her and her brother. They've haven't had that for a long time," I tell them both as I turn to face the door.
Prez places his hand on my shoulder and steps in front of me. Wrath slaps me on the back. "We're brothers, family. She's your girl, that makes her family. When one bleeds, we all bleed. We've got you, we've got you both," he tells me before stepping to the side of the door and making a path for me to follow Prez through the door.
I smile as I see the two cops who tried to rape my girl when she was sixteen. They have been stripped naked and are already covered in cuts and bruises.
When Nova left Church, Nitro told me that they figured out who the two cops were and that they had grabbed them with the help of Arthur’s men. I smile as I see what my brothers have already done to them, and the thoughts of what’s to come has a warm sensation settling in my stomach.
I walk forward and stop in front of one of them. His head swings low, his chin hitting his chest, defeat already showing on his face. I lift his chin a little, just enough for him to look at me, and he swallows when he sees my face. "You don't know me, do you?" I ask.
His eyes flick back and forth over mine, before he gives a small shake of his head. "No," he says quietly.
I smirk. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Ice. And I believe you know my girl."
He gives me a confused look and shakes his head again.
"Oh, but you do. She was sixteen when you tried to rape her, sixteen when you and your buddy here kicked the shit out of her in a police cell. Ringing any bells yet?" I ask, my voice so much calmer than I feel inside.
His eyes widen as realisation hits him. "Thats right, your boss’s niece. Nova." I turn and walk toward the table with all the weapons laid out on it, all nice and clean and placed neatly in rows. I run my fingers over them—daggers, needles, fishing hooks, knives, lighters, alcohol, a cheese grater, and salt, to name a few. There are so many, not to mention petrol, a fire extinguisher and a hose.
My fingers run over the edges of a knuckle duster as I pick it up and place it on my right hand. I turn to face the officers hanging there, flexing my fingers wide enough so they see the weapon tucked around them. They both move around, trying to break out of the chains and cuffs, not that it will do them any good. My brothers know how to secure our prisoners.
I slowly walk toward them, clenching my fist. "I may not have known her when you hurt her, but I'm gonna make sure you pay for your actions that day. You see, nobody touches my girl and gets away with it."
Chapter Seventy
My muscles burn, and the sweat pours off me. I've been at this for four hours. My brothers have stood back and watched me torture these guys, not once stepping in. I may not have officially claimed Nova, or it may not have officially been accepted, but she's my ol' lady, making this my responsibility. They'll step up if and when I need help, but they knew I needed this, they knew I needed to see this through. To finish it for her.
I step back and take a look at my work. There’s not much left of these guys, I've ripped out every single one of their nails, broken every toe and every finger. One of them has no eyes left, both of his legs have been burnt down to the bone, both shoulders have been ripped from their sockets, and I made one long deep cut all along his dick. He passed out over an hour ago, and his breathing is shallow—we thought he'd died a couple of times.
The other guy… I cut off his left hand, then sealed it with the blow torch, removed one of his eyes, one of his ears, seven fingers, and pierced both of his balls. Both men are covered in a multitude of bruises and cuts, and it's only a matter of time before they are both dead. I want to kill them, I want to watch them take their last breath, but the desire to want them to suffer outweighs the need to see them die.
I walk over to the table and place the bloody knife back down on it and then turn and walk toward the door. I stop and turn back to face them, blowing out a breath. "You don't deserve to die any quicker. You can stay there until you take your last breath, give you some time to contemplate your life choices." I open the door and go to step through it, but I stop throwing over my shoulder, "The mistakes you made led you to this, but don't worry, you'll be seeing your boss in hell real soon." I slam the door behind me as I head back into the main building, using the side entrance.
***
The clubhouse is alive with people, Pink Floyd, ‘Take it Back’,blasting through the speakers. My arms are resting on the bar behind me as my eyes scan the room. Everyone is having a good time, people are happy, laughing, dancing, drinking. This is what it's all about. Brotherhood. Family.
My eyes flick to the back corner behind the pool table. Mason is sat in one of the booths, Marissa and Wrath sat with him, and he's drawing as usual. He's happy, he's been smiling since Nova told him that he doesn't have to go back to his uncle’s.
