~Unknown~
The door creaked open, and I heard footsteps. Not just one set-I knew there were more.
A switch flicked, flooding the dark room with harsh, artificial light. I kept my head hung low, trying to pry my swollen eyes open, but the effort was almost impossible. Every pulse of pain reminded me just how badly they had beaten me.
Before I could process what was happening, ice-cold water crashed over my body. I gasped, the shock rattling through me as I jerked violently, straining against the binds cutting into my wrists.
What the fuck?
“He actually has the audacity to sleep,” someone snickered.
I raised my head slowly, vision swimming, but I could still make out their faces. I recognized them.
“Ace. Ace. Ace.” A man stepped forward, his voice dripping with mockery. Sparrow. I knew that voice anywhere.
“How does it feel being held captive, knowing damn well you’re going to die?” he asked.
I gritted my teeth, ignoring the way pain knifed through my jaw.
I never expected it that night. That the syndicate would ambush me just as I was on my way to see my daughter.
The intel had come in earlier-she’d finally broken up with the Thompson boy. Relief had flooded me. Honestly, killing another Thompson didn’t sit well with me, but I wasn’t about to let that family sink their claws into my daughter again.
I killed his parents because of her. I could just as easily kill him.
But none of that mattered now. Because I never made it to her. The syndicate got to me first, and they tore through my men like animals. The second I realized how easily they overwhelmed us, I knew it was over. Still, I wanted-needed-her to see what her father looked like, just once.
A sharp sound shattered my thoughts, and fire exploded across my face. A slap.
I tasted blood.
“When I ask a question, Knight, you answer.” Sparrow’s voice was dark, edged with quiet amusement.
I exhaled through my nose, tilting my chin up. “You son of a bitch.”
He grinned, slow and wicked.
“Still feisty, I see,” he muttered, turning his back on me to face the other men. “I told you to break him. Crack his will. Make sure he’s alive-but barely. And what do I find?” He gestured at me, his tone mocking. “A man who still has the strength to talk back.”
No one answered.
I clenched my fists, testing the bonds around my wrists. Tight. Secure. Fuck.
“Let me go. It’s not too late.” My voice came out rough, hoarse.
Sparrow only chuckled. “Oh, it’s way too late.”
Then he punched me. Hard. My head snapped to the side, pain radiating through my skull.
“Get the electrocution wires,” he ordered, and I heard movement.
Shit.
“We need to silence you before the boss comes in,” he continued. “What do you think, Knight?”
I barely had the strength to form a response, let alone spit out another insult. My body was failing, sinking further into exhaustion with every blow, every drop of blood I lost.
But I wasn’t going to die here. Not yet.
One of his men handed him the wires.
I braced myself.
Sparrow jammed them against my skin, and my body seized. A current of white-hot agony ripped through me, arching my back against the restraints. My vision whited out, the scent of burning flesh filling my nose.
Then it stopped.
I sagged against the ropes, chest heaving. My ears rang. My muscles twitched involuntarily.
“How does it feel?” Sparrow asked. Then he pressed the wires to my skin again.
The pain was worse the second time. It felt like my veins were on fire, like my body was trying to rip itself apart from the inside out.
By the time it was over, I could barely lift my head. Blood dripped down my chin, my shirt soaked in crimson. My breaths were shallow.
I couldn’t fight them. Not now.
But I knew one thing for sure.
They weren’t going to kill me yet.
And as my consciousness slipped, one thought burned in my mind, cutting through the haze of pain and agony.
I needed to meet my daughter.
I would get out of here alive.