Page 42 of Merciless Angel

Not wanting to draw attention too quickly, I stopped the car in the trail. We’d walk the rest of the short distance.

Taking the gun Daire held out to me, I stalked up to the cabin. Surrounded by trees, there was a lake in the distance out back. Chirps of birds and chatters of squirrels provided the soundtrack to this moment. It would have been a nice, peaceful place if some dumb fuck hadn’t been holding my girl hostage inside.

With Daire and Cash beside me, I tested the doorknob. Locked. Of course. A glance through the front window revealed an empty living room. The set of stairs off to the side told me where they were.

Zane was a damn idiot. The door may have been locked but the window wasn’t. I easily slid it open and climbed inside. As much as I’d have loved to kick the door in, I wanted the element of surprise on my side this time.

I pointed at the staircase before leading the way. The first stair to creak and groan under my weight made me cringe. This fucking old cabin was going to blow this for me.

Muffled whimpers floated down the stairs to my ears. Clover. I recognized that sound from when we’d had her tied in our basement mere hours ago. She’d been gone long enough for Zane to have done some fucked up shit to her. Although some might argue that we’d also done some fucked up shit to her.

Hey, I wasn’t pretending to be a good guy. I’d had more than one ex-girlfriend tell me that I needed to get help. So what if I liked to tie up my toys and play a little hard with them? Nobody died. It was all in good fun.

When we reached the top of the stairs, I paused to listen.

“Zane, please.” Clover’s voice was quiet but clearer now. “This isn’t love. I don’t want this. Please, get off me.”

That was all I needed to hear. Following her voice right to a door that was cracked open, I gave it a kick hard enough to rip it off the hinges. I burst into the room to find Clover tied to a bed. Zane was half naked on top of her, tearing at her clothes.

Zane flew off the bed like a bomb had gone off beneath him. He whirled to face us, his eyes wide with shock. Clover’s face crumpled with relief as she sank back against the mattress, no longer fighting.

“How the hell did you find this place?” Zane demanded, as if that mattered.

Pulling the gun from where I’d tucked it in the back of my jeans, I pointed it at his head. “I hardly think that’s important. Get on your knees. Now.”

Zane hesitated a moment, his gaze going from me to Cash to Daire. Realizing that he had no options, he slowly sank to the floor. “If you kill me, you’ll spend the rest of your life in jail. Is it worth it?”

“What was your big plan?” I asked, ignoring his question. “Keep Clover tied to a bed forever while you forced yourself on her?”

“Me? What about you guys? Clover would never go for someone like you. Any of you. Wannabe tough guys with a vigilante complex. You’re scum.” Zane clenched both hands into fists.

Stepping forward, I smashed him across the face with the gun. The impact knocked him heavily to one side. That wasn’t enough for me. I hit him repeatedly until blood ran down the side of his face. Then I kicked him hard in the stomach.

Zane doubled over, clutching his middle. Daire didn’t wait for me to tag him in. He circled around behind Zane with his knife in hand. A few deep slashes across his bare back had Zane shrieking.

“We told you to stay away from Clover,” Daire snarled, clutching the knife tight. “You brought this on yourself.”

Zane’s head hung forward, blood dripping onto the floor. “She loves me. I brought her here to make her remember how good we are together. She doesn’t belong with you sick fucks.”

Another slash of Daire’s knife tore open a gaping wound on Zane’s shoulder. Anything too deep or precise would bleed him out faster. I wanted to take our time and enjoy this.

While Cash stepped in with a knee to Zane’s face, I turned to Clover. She lay on the bed trembling. Her shirt had been pulled up to expose her gorgeous tits. I tugged it back into place. This wasn’t the time for that.

“How are you doing, Rainbow? Did he hurt you?” I smoothed the tangled blonde hair back from her face.

She peered up at me with wide eyes, her bottom lip quivering. “I was so scared. I thought he was going to kill me.”

“No worries, Baby Girl. He’ll never touch you again.” To Daire I added, “Isn’t that right?”

Taking the hint, Daire grabbed one of Zane’s hands and slapped it against the floor. While Zane screamed for him to stop, Daire sliced off all four fingers in one cut of the knife. Then he went for the thumb.

With one look at the knots in the rope holding Clover secured to the bed, I knew we’d need the knife to free her. It would have to wait until Daire had finished. I watched with growing delight as he hacked off the fingers on Zane’s other hand too.

“What about his pathetic little cock?” Daire asked. “Should he lose that too?”

“No, no, please no,” Zane begged. He made a pitiful attempt at covering his groin with his fingerless hands. God, he was pathetic.

Cash grabbed Zane’s hair, shoving him down against the floor. “He was going to use it to defile our Sunshine. Cut it off.”