“You still think I won’t pull the trigger?” I ask quietly.
He tips his face up.
“I’m not interested in killing you, that’d be a waste. Body disappears, headlines fade, Daddy cries on TV, the Syndicate finds a new errand boy, and Mara still wakes up scared of your ghost. I don’t want your ghost.”
He licks his cracked lip. “What… what do you want?”
“Leverage. Every time you look down at that hand, I want you to remember who stopped at one finger. You want this to end? You give us the leader. You don’t?” I shrug. “We have more time. Nine more fingers, ten toes, two ears, one tongue, one cock. You pick which order.”
Talon whistles, soft. “Ownership, baby.”
“You’re just a broken tool we’re keeping functional.”
He stares, hatred and terror doing the tango in his eyes. He really thought we were just rich boys playing gangster.
“Look at me.”
He reluctantly looks up at me.
“This is not a negotiation. You are not safe. Not with us, not with them. The only reason you’re breathing is because I decided your pain has utility. Understand?” I ask.
He nods once.
“Say it,” Talon sings.
Chase swallows blood. “I’m... not safe.”
“Good boy,” Talon purrs.
“Stay with him,” I tell Talon. “Make sure he doesn’t bleed through Nico’s artwork.”
“Going upstairs to tuck the kids in?”
“Yeah.”
He sobers. “You gonna tell them?”
“No.”
He studies me, looking for cracks. “You’re not the only one this is gonna live in, Dre.”
“I know.”
His gaze softens, just a flicker. “Wash your hands. You look like shit.”
I give him a half-smile. “Noted.”
The hallway’s dim, one lamp glowing softly against the wall, and my hands leave faint red smudges on the banister. I stop in the bathroom, scrubbing my hands until the water runs clear and my skin burns.
Then, I dry my hands, roll my shoulders, and walk to my room. The door opens without a sound.
Mara’s curled on her side, facing Jasper, her hair spilling over my pillow. There’s a faint bruise on her temple—yellow at the edges now—and Jasper’s hand rests above her hip.
Below us, the boy who tried to break her is tied to a chair, missing a finger.
Up here, she’s breathing steady, in my bed.
I could wake Jasper—tell him. Let him come down and see Chase small and bleeding and ruined.
