Suffocating anguish swirled within me, and I couldn’t find my breath. “Annabel?” Father questioned.
“Yes…you…have…my…word,” I gasped.
“Good. You have my word that I will do everything and more to save this man’s life and bring you back into our fold. Stay close to your phone.”
And then the line went dead.
When I turned around, Deacon and Alexandra stared at me in horror. “What did you do?” Deacon demanded.
“I traded his life for me.”
“Rev will never forgive you.”
“I’ll never forgive myself.”
When Deacon opened his mouth again, I shook my head. “It’s what had to be done. I can’t bear to think of a world without Rev in it…even if I’m not a part of that world.”
Alexandra darted forward to try to draw me into her embrace, but I dodged away from her. “I can’t collapse right now. I have to stay strong for Rev.”
I pushed past them with their anguished expressions and headed out into the hallway. I didn’t need their comfort, but I did need a shot of whiskey.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: REV
Oh sweet Jesus the pain.
Fiery torrents of it plagued every inch of my body. It pulled me out of the depths of unconsciousness. The smell of burning flesh assaulted my nose. It took a few seconds for my brain to process that it was my own skin being burned.
My eyelids pealed wide to see Mendoza standing before me with a blow torch in his hands. When I tried to jerk away, I found my hands were bound, and my arms were stretched above my head. I had been stripped of my shirt to give him better access to torture me.
“Glad to see you’re back with me. After hours of you being unconscious, I was afraid you might never come back around again.” With a cruel smile, he said, “And then I would’ve missed all the fun.”
“Fuck you,” I spat.
He rewarded my outburst by singeing my bare lower back to where I couldn’t bite back my screams. I panted and heaved as I tried to keep upright. When I moved, it felt like the entire layer of skin on my back was peeling off as it blistered and bubbled.
“You know you deserve much worse for what you and your men did to my camp. Do you know the money you cost me?”
I didn’t answer him. I knew if I opened my mouth I would throw up from the searing pain biting my flesh. Instead, I bit down on my lip and focused my energy on staring him down.
Mendoza met my glare. “But the worst thing you did was you took my Roja from me.”
“She..isn’t..yours,” I gritted out. With a shake of my head, I countered, “She never was.”
Burning agony engulfed my chest. Pinching my eyes shut, I tried riding out the pain. My teeth sliced into my bottom lip so hard that blood ran down my chin.
When Mendoza finally let up, I couldn’t speak. I could barely think. All I could do was try focusing on my breathing. As long as I was breathing, I was still alive. I had to stay alive for Annabel.
“Did you enjoy fucking her?”
Through my tormented agony, my eyes fluttered open. When he saw he had my attention, a cruel smile curved on Mendoza’s lips. “She’s one of the finest pieces of ass I’ve ever had. And the way her pussy tasted when I stuck my tongue deep inside her.” He cocked his brows. “I can’t wait to taste it one last time.”
I jerked against my bindings, desperate to get free so I could tear him apart. The thought of him reminiscing about the way he tortured Annabel made me as rabid as a feral dog. As I focused on Mendoza’s throat, I envisioned ripping it out with my teeth.
Mendoza’s next words chilled me to the bone. “I’m about to call her to make a deal.” While I stared at him in disbelief, he said, “I’m going to lead her to believe I’m going to trade her for you. What a beautiful little fool to be willing to risk her life for the man she loves. Some would think I would be stupid to trust her, but I know my Roja. She is honorable to a fault. Took the worst fucking beating of her life just to keep a ring one of the whores gave her.”
Hanging my head, my chest tightened as I remembered the story that it had been Sarah who gave her the ring. Surely mybrothers wouldn’t let Annabel come for me, even if it meant my death.
Once again, Mendoza jerked on my hair so I had to look at him. With a sinister gleam in his eyes, he said, “When she gets here, I’m going to fuck her one last time in front of you. Then to truly devastate her, I’m going to kill you in front of her. For the big finish, I’ll slit her throat.”
