Page 78 of Healed

“Happy hunting,” he said to me, closing the door behind him.

Chapter 22

Vienna

An eerie silence fell over the garage after Dante’s departure, only broken by Sam’s terrified breathing and the occasional drip of blood.

My own injuries were currently throbbing, reminding me that I was nowhere near healed—definitely not enough to be participating in this level of torture. But I pushed it to the back of my mind, focusing on the one person I was doing this for.

“Y-you don’t n-need to do th-this,” Sam panted. “We-we can come to an agreement.”

An agreement?

“You want an agreement?” I asked, raising one eyebrow at him.

“I’ll leave. I-I’ll tell the Riders to leave the Devils alone. Permanently.”

“You’d do that for me, Sam?”

He nodded, looking almost frantic.

“The thing is, I like the Riders coming after us. I like their squeals when we show them how foolish they were. And now that Gabby is back in my house where she belongs, I have everything I’ve ever needed. I don’t need any agreements.”

“No, please…”

I ignored him, drowning his words out.

Instead, I reached into my cut and pulled out the bottle of painkillers. Sam’s pleas grew quiet as he watched me.

The sound of them rattling was almost deafening in the quiet room, and Sam watched my every move, from unscrewing the lid to tipping two out and throwing them in my mouth, swallowing them dry.

“Vienna. You don’t need to do this,” he repeated.

“I know. I know that I don’t need to. I want to,” I shrugged back, finally looking at him.

Hacksaw had already done a number on him before we’d even arrived. There was a cut on his forehead, his eye was swollen and his lip split. Add that to the blood dripping down the side of his face, his pale skin and missing fingers, my man wasn’t in good shape.

“Pl—”

“Please what?” I snapped, rushing forward and bringing my face close to his. “Did you ever show Gabby mercy when she pleaded for you to stop?”

He somehow seemed to pale even further. I saw his throat bob as he swallowed heavily.

Because even when I had been on his compound, even when I had been willing to die, to follow Gabriella wherever her spirit went, I had never once lost my composure.

Now he was seeing me unleash.

“Did you hear her scream?” I demanded. “Did you hear her cries for mercy?”

“I didn’t… it was Nico—”

“You knew she was there. You woke up every morning knowing she was trapped in hell, and you did nothing to stop it.”

“I didn’t know how bad it was,” he promised, shaking his head frantically.

My fist connected with his jaw. The sound echoed out into the room, followed by his grunt of pain.

“You knew everything, Sam. Just like I know everything my president is up to. I’d have more respect for you if you just owned your shit.”