Page 65 of Broken Empire
“Ahshit!Iwas about to shower whenIheard you.Sorry.I’llgo get cleaned up now while the guys stay with you,”Itell her and move to get up but she holds me back.
“Isit yours?”
“No.”
“Thenwhy?”
“Um….”Isay and then look over atHunterfor help.Hejust shrugs his shoulders.
“It’sup to you if you want to tell her or not.ButIfigure she’ll find out at some point so…”
“Fine.Iwas beating the shit out ofAntonio.”
“He’shere?” she asks andIfeel the tremble in her body.
“Yes.”Huntersays.
“Ididn’t tell you sooner becauseIwas debating it, to protect you.Butdon’t worry, he can’t hurt you baby.Ididn’t want to kill him where we found you becauseIdidn’t want to let him get off easy for hurting you.Iwanted to bring him here and draw out his suffering, beforeIkill him,”Itell her and watch her reaction closely.Idon’t want her to thinkI’ma… well never mind she already saidI’ma monster too and that fucking gutted me in case anyone was wondering.
“Iwant to watch,” she says instead.
“What?”
“Iwant to watch you hurt and torture him.”
“UhbabyIdon’t think?—”
“Iwant to watch him suffer for everything he did to me,” she says, cutting me off.Hervoice coming off strong and demanding. “Maybeit’ll help with my demons, maybe it won’t but it sure will go a long way to making me feel better.”
“Betbaby.Whendid you want to watch?”
“Now,” she says andInod my head.
WINTER
“Alrightlet’s go.Iguess there’s no time like the present,”Masonsays, before getting to his feet and then pulling me up on mine.Hewalks out of my room with my hand in his, as he leads us down to the basement.
I’mnervous at the thought of seeingAntonioagain.Istill have a lot to work through where he’s concerned andI’mso angry with myself at the thought.Whythe hell amIstill letting him have all this power over me, by letting it all consume me so much?
Iblame myself for what happened sometimes.Logically,Iknow that none of what he did to me was my fault, but it’s sometimes difficult to actually believe that.WhatifIwasn’t friends with him, would that have helped somehow?Iwonder what would have happened ifIdidn’t let him into my life.Thenagain, being friends with him may have helped me since he was hired to kill me but didn’t because he got infatuated with me.Thoseare some of the thoughts that torture my mind constantly.
Ihear my brother andGrayson’sfootsteps behind me, soIknow they’re following along too.Nodoubt they don’t want to miss the show.Assoon as we make it down the last step,IseeAntoniothere.Ican’t help but look over at him with nothing but disgust and hatred.
He’strussed up on a platform, kneeling in the middle of the room.Hisentire face is a bloody mess right now and he’s passed out.I’dfeel sympathy ifIsaw someone looking like this, but the asshole deserves it.
“Damn, bro, looks like you were busy down here earlier,”Graysonsays, breaking the silence between us all.
“Meh.Thatwas just a tap.Thereal fun is about to begin now.Thisis his last day on earth.I’mnot letting this asshole breathe any more of the same air that we are,”Masonsays and then he turns to look at me. “Doyou want to hurt him too or are you going to just watch?”
“Um…”
“Beforeyou answer, canIjust tell you whatIwant?” he questions.Notknowing what to say, sinceInever really thoughtI’dget the chance to seeAntoniotortured, much less torture him myself,Ijust nod my head at him. “Iwant you to sit there and watch.Idon’t want you to lift a finger to touch this asshole.You’vebeen through enough andIwant to be the one to carry this burden for you.”
“Sure.Uh,I’lljust watch then,”Imurmur with a lump in my throat.
Hewalks over to me and grabs my face with both of his hands and rests his forehead against mine.
“I’llfight all your battles from now on.Iswear to fuckIwon’t let anything happen to you ever again.I’lldo my best to protect you or die trying, but just know you’re not alone anymore.Iam so fucking sorry that my hate and disregard for you and our relationship caused so many unthinkable things to happen to you, butI’mgoing to make it all right,” he says before giving me a kiss and then leaving me to walk across the room.