We were at Sullie’s safe house on the outskirts of the city.
Kevin Matthews’ chair was pressed against the far wall, facing us so he wouldn’t miss the show. I ignored his green eyes as he stared at me, studying who I had become, because the sweet, innocent, book loving girl was dead. She died the second Romano pulled me onto that dance floor at the Gala five years ago.
The man shook his head. I sighed.Oh, Sven.
I snapped my knee up, my foot colliding with his chin, causing his head to snap back. A cry of sheer pain left his swollen mouth.
“If you think I will show you ashredof mercy because I am awoman, you’ve got another thing coming,” I hissed, twisting and snatching a knife from the table. During these times, I missed my dagger.
My little “Black Death.”
I left it in Romano’s chest.
Sven’s head rolled down, his skin glistening with sweat, his breathing ragged.
“Last chance, Sven,” I said casually. I wasn’t professionally trained in the art of torture or interrogation, and I had no interest in learning the skills. However, playing the good cop was getting old and never got me the answers I wanted.
The man slowly raised his ugly head to look up at me, hatred in his eyes. “Fuck you,” he spat.
I smiled wickedly.
“Oh, Sven. I'm going to miss your feistiness,” I said, raising the knife. I was planning to stab him in the shoulder, just through the muscle. Not life threatening, but it would hurt like a fucking bitch. I had the medical knowledge to stop the bleeding and start it all over again if I wanted to.
“Stop.”
My head snapped to the green-eyed man in the corner. “What the fuck did you just say to me?”
He wasn’t in any position to give me orders.
“This isn’t you, Gwen,” Kevin said through dry lips, his voice cracking.
“You don’t know me,” I said calmly, reminding him of the lies he spewed to me and our group. He showed no reaction aside from his eyes dropping from my face to Sven. My old friend looked worse than before, and that was shocking, considering that Dom was the one checking in on him. Unless he had pissed Dom off.
A shiver ran down my spine at the thought of a scary Dom.
“Killing him won’t ease your pain,” Kevin slowly said, trying to play the angel on my shoulder. I already had an angel on my shoulder, and she was sitting in a chair reading a book, not bothered with what was happening.
“Listen to the boy, whor—”
I knocked the man in the chair out by slamming the butt of the knife into his temple. Pain shot through my wrist, but I ignored it. It would subside eventually. The scum’s head rolled back as his eyes closed.
The silence between us stretched, only the sound of the man’s breathing in the background. Even that annoyed me.
“No, but killing you might ease my pain,” I chirped, turning fully to Kevin, spinning the knife in my hands.
He shook his head, his eyes filled with sorrow. “I am sorry, for what it's worth—”
“The shit on the bottom of my shoe,” I countered, my lips thinning as i crossed my arms over my chest, propping my hip against the table.
“Be that as it may, Gwen, I am still sorry. I valued our friendship. Our little group was the only thing that kept me sane most days. I’m sorry for turning you into this.”
The ego on this fucker. I threw my head back and laughed.
“You had nothing to do with the woman I am today,Kev.”
The woman I was today was the person who survived, who overcame the pain and heartbreak. No one had anything to do with who I was, aside from my son. He made me a mother, after all.
“Gwen—”
