“Thanks, Payne, but I can do this. I may not like it, but I can do it.”
“Okay but let me pop in and out some. I’ll know when the time is right to push her harder or up the pressure.” I nodded. He had done this in the Army. He was the expert. I grabbed a knife with one sharp edge and a serrated one on the other. It was huge and terrifying to look at. Perfect. I sauntered back over to her like I didn’t have a care in the world.
I crouched down in front of her and let her see the knife. Her eyes widened then went back to their prior size.
“See this. This is a favorite for us. I can’t tell you how many people we’ve taken apart with this. Do you want to see what you look like on the inside? I can tell you it’s much uglier than you are on the outside. You’ve been using your looks to get your way for years. I think it’s time for the outside to match the inside, don’t you?”
She turned her head away from me to stare at the concrete wall. I laid it against her cheek and let it barely cut a tiny slice. She cried out.
“Want to look back at me? I don’t like to be ignored.” She turned her head back to face me.
“Who gave you the code?”
“No one. It was a lucky guess.” I heard one of the guys laugh. She looked over at them. Joker gave her an evil smile and drew his thumb over his throat, mimicking a throat being cut.
I took the knife and gave her another tiny slice on the other side of her face. Nothing too deep, just enough to bleed and for someone as vain as she was, it hurt more than if I’d stabbed her. As blood ran down both cheeks, I circled her again. When I got back in front of her, Payne stepped up. I handed him the knife. I saw her eyes flare with fear. She was scared of him.
“So, you think you’re all that. Maybe we should see what you’re made of. You think you can handle pain?” She didn’t answer him. “Good. Stand her up and loop her hands over the hook,” he told Demon and Slash. They quickly did as he asked. She was now on her tiptoes. He stepped up and held up the knife.
“I think we can find something better than this, at least for a little bit.” He went back to the cabinet and returned with a flogger. It was one used in BDSM. It was one that could leave marks, welts and even cuts. In the hands of an expert, it could give maximum pain without leaving permanent marks. Payne was a master at it.
We all heard the whistle as he let it fly. The crack of it against her back had her crying out in pain. He smiled. “Sounds beautiful, doesn’t it? The whistle and then the cry of pain. I could listen to this all day.” He smacked her three more times in quick succession. She kept crying out. He then went to stand in front of her.
“Want to tell us who gave you the code?” She spit at him. He laughed and went back behind her. He took the knife I’d given him and cut up the back of her shirt. In seconds, he had her standing there in her bra. She struggled to try and turn around to see him.
He stood back and let the flogger go again. The crack against the skin was louder and she screamed louder as well. I looked to see the prior marks had left her with red stripes on her back. This one had actually cut into her skin. Two more times he let it fly. When he was done, she had three perfectly distanced stripes bleeding on her back. He came back to stand in front of her again.
She had her head hanging down, looking at the floor. He crouched down in front of her. He spoke so softly we all had to strain to hear him. “Do you know what my job was in the military? I took people apart to get information. I was an expert at it. I can keep up the torture for days if I want. I know just how far to go before killing you, and how to inflict optimal pain. You’ll beg for death long before I give it. You being a woman doesn’t matter. To me, you’re just meat. Now, I can continue and this time really up the fun. I have endless toys to use. And hurting you, gives me pleasure. Would you like me to continue?” She sobbed and shook her head no. He smiled at her.
“Tell me who gave you the codes to the gate.”
“It was some woman. She approached my two guards at a bar outside of town. She said she knew who they were and why they were here. She told them she could get them inside here to grab Jessica. All they had to do was promise to leave everyone else alone.”
I felt a haze of rage start to fill my head. Who in the hell would that have been? Not one of the old ladies, obviously. It had to have been a bunny or someone who had come to one of our parties recently and somehow seen the code used on the front gates. We kept all of them the same. But why? None of them should have a reason to do something like this. We provided the bunnies with money and shelter. They were safe with us.
“What was her name?”
“I don’t know. She never told me. They brought her to meet me and my daughter. She gave us the code and we paid her the money she wanted.”
“What was the purpose of the grenade thrown over the wall earlier today if you had the code?” I asked her.
“They thought it would rattle you guys. Maybe get some of you to leave the compound, so there were less of you to avoid when they came to get her. But you didn’t fall for it. We couldn’t wait. Her birthday is only a week away. When it didn’t work, they came in the side gate and waited until she was where they could grab her.”
“How would they know that? Or where to get her? Surely they weren’t just wandering around the compound.”
“The woman who helped us told them. She called them.” I raised my head to look at the others. All of them had looks of consternation on their faces. That narrowed it down to having to be one of the bunnies. Last night, they had been entertaining the single guys from both clubs. It would have been easy for one of them to hide and wait.
“What does she look like?” Payne asked her.
She shuddered and tried to inch away from where he was standing. “She’s young, maybe mid-twenties. Has short dark hair to her shoulders. She stands about my height, five foot six. Has a beauty mark on her upper right lip.” I froze at her description. She was describing Daisy. The goddamn bunny who’d tried to make problems early on between me and Jessica. I looked at all my brothers. They looked just as stunned. Payne stepped back. As soon as he did, she started to whine.
“Please, I told you what you wanted to know. Now you can let me go. I swear I won’t tell anyone what you did. And I’ll never bother her again.” I couldn’t hold back a humorless laugh. She looked at me.
“Do we look stupid? No one said anything about letting you go. You kidnapped my woman twice. Was going to steal her money and let two men rape then murder her. You put my unborn daughter at risk, and I know that you killed Jessica’s dad. I hate to tell you, but you’re going to one place—in the ground as ashes so no one ever finds you,” I sneered.
She broke down in sobs. “He’d served his purpose. I couldn’t let him change his will to leave everything to her. Who knew he’d already left her most of it? I was his wife. I should’ve gotten the bulk of it!” she screamed. It was only a guess about them killing him. I thought I’d see if she’d say anything, but I didn’t expect all that. This would hurt Jessica. She loved him. I’d wait to tell her until later.
I was sick of the whole damn thing. As I went to pull out my gun and end it, a shot rang out. There stood Payne. He was holding his gun. He shrugged.