Page 116 of Savage Roses
The sickening revelation has me suspended in time—this guy forcing Delphine to her knees is the same piece of shit who raped her in the alley.
The man I’ve been hunting for over a year now.
He’s bragging about it. He’s about to do it again.
A violent tremor rocks through my body and I throw myself out of the chair. Ready to black out. Ready to wreck him and everyone else. Ready to slaughter them all.
De Trolio raises his unibrow from where he stands. It’s in warning. A clear threat if I act out again.
Go ahead and try. See what happens. She’ll pay the price.
That’s what he’s telling me. They’ll only keep doing it. Somehow make what Cesar’s about to do even worse.
It’s the most fucked up thing I’ve ever had to do—sit back in the chair. Sit and watch as sickness churns my stomach and I blink against the hot moisture in my eyes.
How will we ever overcome this? Even if by some impossible miracle we’re able to escape, how can we possibly move on from this moment?
Delphine refuses to beg when he demands it of her. Tears slide down her cheek and her hand trembles taking hold of him.
“Firmer,” he barks, readjusting her grip. “Haven’t you ever held a dick before? I know you’ve sucked and fucked him plenty of times. Don’t be timid now.”
Bile rises in my throat. The fury remains in my glare. It takes everything I have to remain in the chair. Every last cell in my body burns to make them suffer.
I will slaughter them. I won’t take my last breath ’til they’ve taken theirs. Death can only have me once I’ve ripped their hearts from their fucking chests and I’m holding up the gory, sputtering organs up like a trophy.
“No teeth,” Cesar warns, fisting Delphine’s curls. He takes half a step closer to feed himself to her.
I’m holding my breath, my body clenched in my chair, soaking in the agony of what I’m being forced to watch—and Delphine’s being forced to endure.
The door to my room swings open. The twisted show about to start, stops.
Cesar holds Delphine by her curls only inches away from himself as he looks up at the glass pane. De Trolio turns around with a less startled vibe, like he knew what was coming. I choke out a breath, my lungs aching.
I’ve never been happier to see Lucius. He’s brought backup. A handful of his private security. His suit is smooth and wrinkle free on his round, paunchy frame. A cigar dangles from his fat lips as he glances from me to the soldiers I knocked out on the floor.
Finally, he cuts a glance at the glass pane and sniggers. “I see the party started without me.”
“You were just in time for his punishment.” De Trolio holsters his gun, motioning his head in the direction of Cesar and Delphine. “He cracked real easy. The second we brought her in.”
“Unsurprising.” Lucius strolls into the room puffing out cigar smoke. You’d think he was touring an art gallery the satisfied way he admires every detail about the situation. He stops in front of me in time to blow another cloud of smoke and choke me up. “But I have one last deal to offer him.”
“What? Boss, you can’t—”
“Shut the fuck up, Ray,” Lucius snaps. “If I want to offer my piece of shit son a deal, I’ll offer him one. You got that?”
De Trolio nods.
“Cesar, let the product go. And for fuck’s sake, put that dick away. Yours won’t be getting sucked anytime soon unless your little bro Ray wants to volunteer.”
Neither man looks happy. In particular, Cesar, who glowers and reluctantly lets go of Delphine’s headful of curls. He tucks himself back into his pants, though doesn’t help her up from her collapsed position on her knees.
“Contrary to what you and others may believe,scarafaggio,I have a heart,” Lucius says, smirking down at me. “I look at two lovers being separated, and it doesn’t seem right. Not in such a fashion.”
All I can do is glare—this is another trick. Another fucked up game of his. If anything, he’s about to make things ten times worse.
It’s in the sick way his lips twist around his cigar, wisps of smoke curling into the air.
“Why don’t you two say goodbye?” he says. “Go ahead. Uninterrupted. I’ll give you… how about… sixty seconds? Cesar, bring her here.”