[ARTEMY]
I turned back toward my captive, and his fearful eyes met mine. He tried to glance at his wife, but my body was hiding his view.
His body started to shake from the lack of oxygen. But that wasn’t all. It was also from fear. For his wife and daughter.
I couldn’t help but smirk. Interesting.
“Come in, ladies. I’m sure you would want to stay with your husband as he takes his last breath. We wouldn’t want him to die alone. Keep him company,” I taunted without glancing away from the man’s eyes.
Releasing my hold on his throat, I stepped away. He fell to his knees, and my heart soared with power. Yet another of Raffaele’s men on their knees, bowing down to me.
I turned around to see Leon escorting the woman and her baby to a chair. She sat down, but her whole body was trembling like a leaf.
“Who are you?” she whispered.
“I am your husband’s executioner,” I replied, my voice deadly. She flinched and held her baby tighter to her chest.
“But…he…” she stuttered, but I cut her off quickly.
“He deserves it.”
Tears streamed down her face as she shook her head. “Please don’t hurt him.”
“Your begging only makes me want to hurt him more.” I laughed, pointing a gloved hand at her husband, who was still gasping for breath.
Brayden chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest as he regarded the woman with keen interest. “Please keep begging. It’ll only be more fun,” he goaded.
“You’re evil. All of you. Monsters. How could you do this?” she cried.
“Ah, I never said I wasn’t evil.” I shrugged when she shrunk back into her chair. Leon kept a hand on her shoulders, and she shuddered.
“I’m not that repulsive,” he muttered under his breath.
Shaking my head at the poor frightened woman, I turned back toward her husband. I saw Avim holding a baseball bat. He shrugged. “We need to get creative sometimes.”
And then he smacked the bat against the man’s back. “Here you go, Boss,” Avim said, giving me the bat as he stepped back.
“Are you going to talk or not?” I asked, looking at the man at my feet.
“I’m telling the truth. Raffaele…didn’t…tell me…anything,” he wheezed through the blood pouring from his mouth and nose.
My patience had run thin, and I snapped. I rammed the bat into his legs until I heard bones crunching. He screamed. His wife screamed. The baby cried.
But that didn’t stop me.
It spurred me on. The bat came in contact with his stomach. His ribs broke under the solid wood, and his body convulsed in pain.
“Please stop. Stop!” the wife wailed.
Stop! Please stop! Rebecca’s voice resonated through my ears, and I stumbled back in shock. My chest grew tight at her voice as it rang in my head.
Angel. My Angel.
I looked at the man as he writhed in agony, his body beaten up and swelling under the pressure. I stepped away and faced the woman. She was sobbing heavily, and the baby continued to cry.
Leon caught my eyes, and he nodded. I didn’t even have to say anything. He understood what I wanted. He grabbed the woman by the arm and started pulling her away and out of the house.
The wife and the baby would be given a safe place to stay. The innocents would be safe, while the evil would be chained.
“One last chance. Anything you might know. Tell me and I might let you go back to your wife and daughter,” I hissed into his face.
It was a lie. He wasn’t leaving this house alive. He knew it was a lie. We all did.
“I don’t…kn…ow…I rea…lly don’t know. But…please. Don’t…hurt…my wife and daugh…ter.”
I sighed and shook my head. I stood up and faced my men. Brayden looked pissed. Avim was ready to murder someone. Milandro was glaring down at the man with venom.
Leon came back inside, and he rubbed his hand over his face, a sign of fatigue. We were all tired. Dead on our feet. But we were still not giving up. Not until we found Rebecca.
I saw Brayden’s eyes widening and then Avim’s. “Artemy!”
Guns were drawn, and I swiveled around, my gun pointed at the man in a split second. Five shots rang through the air and the sound resonated around the walls of the house.
Five bullets.
And all five had pierced the man’s body.
One in his chest, two in his stomach, one in his neck, and the last one between his eyes.
One bullet from each of my men. And one from me.
He sunk to the floor soundlessly, the gun he had drawn on me falling limply through his fingers.
“Another stupid man dead,” Brayden spat.
Without a second glance at the dead body, I walked out of the house. My phone rang in my pocket, my eyebrows shooting up in surprise.
When I saw the caller ID was unknown, I picked up the call, knowing already who it was.
“I left another gift for you,” I spoke before Raffaele could say anything.
“Killing my men won’t get you to me,” he mocked.
“Maybe you should stop being such a coward and face me,” I hissed through gritted teeth.
Every day I got a call from him. Every day he taunted me. And every day I was helpless as I listened to Rebecca’s cries.
If only his phone wasn’t untraceable. The bastard enjoyed playing with me every day.
It was a game. We were both playing it. It was a dangerous game, and one of us was going to lose in the end.
And I was going to make sure it wasn’t me.
“Ah, why would I do that? I’m enjoying my time with my woman here. We’re making up for lost time.” He chuckled cruelly.
My blood ran cold as my anger burned like lava. It burned under my skin, and my body shook with it.
“I’m not going to let you break her,” I said, my fingers folding into a fist at my side.
“Ah,” Raffaele tsked and then laughed. “You’re too late. I have already broken her. I have plucked every single feather off her wings. I took until she had nothing left to give, and still then, I kept taking.”
My heart ached, my stomach rolled, and I almost doubled over in pain. Rebecca. Rebecca. My sweet Angel.
“So you see, in the end, I have won.”
I refused to believe it. I just had to get to Rebecca. I would cast away all her nightmares. I would take away all the bad memories. I had done it before. I would do it again until she’d be whole again.
“No,” I snapped. “You haven’t won yet. Your death is coming, Raffaele. Start counting your days.”
I hung up before he could say anything else.
Throwing my phone against the car, I closed my eyes.
I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Angel. I’m sorry for keeping you waiting, but I’m coming.