“I don’t know about this.” My brother, Mauro, looked at the cage in front of us. “I want revenge—I want her to pay—but I don’t want to end up in jail.”

“She’s the only one that’s going to be sitting in a cell,” I growled under my breath. “She has to pay for what she’s done—and if we don’t do it, who will?”

“Maybe we should just take the information we have to the police. I know they weren’t very helpful the last time we spoke to them, but we have real evidence now.” My brother looked over at me, and I saw concern etched on his face.

“I’m not letting this bitch ruin our family name.” My jaw tightened. “She needs to be taught a lesson—and she deserves something a lot worse than prison.”

“I just don’t know.” He shook his head back and forth. “This isn’t just us talking about doing something when we get drunk—this is real. This is fucked up…”

“No worse than the fucked up shit she’s done—or have you forgotten the vow we made when we watched our brother get lowered into his grave?” I ground my words out against my teeth and my anger was starting to rise.

“I haven’t forgotten.” He exhaled sharply. “But we were overcome with emotion—tangled up in grief. We were just—talking.”

“I wasn’t.” I shook my head back and forth. “I meant every word I said.”

“Can I think about it? I’m just not sure—this doesn’t feel right.” He turned away from the cage.

“You’d be a monster if it did.” I narrowed my eyes. “And neither of us are monsters—yet.”

Or maybe I am because the only thing I can think of is seeing sweet little Lizzy locked in that cage.

My brother left, and I walked upstairs to fix myself a drink. Sweet little Lizzy—Elizabeth Abernathy to everyone who knew her. But nobody knew who she really was. They didn’t know what she did to pay her rent, keep her electricity on, and put food on her table. She was a plague—a virus on those that fell for her sweet charm, salivated over her gorgeous curves, and believed she was their ultimate fantasy. She wasn’t my fantasy though—she was my obsession. I was going to lock her in that cage, whether Mauro helped me or not.

But he’ll come around. I know the need for vengeance burns inside of him as brightly as it burns inside me.

I walked over to the wall that was covered in photographs and research—all of it about Elizabeth Abernathy—sweet little Lizzy. I had been watching her for over a year and I knew everything about her. I knew that she was a small child and got bullied by other students at school. I knew that her parents were well off, but unprepared to deal with a rebellious daughter. I knew that she left home when she was seventeen, dropped out of high school, got her own apartment, and after struggling to find work, she found a way to make money with her gorgeous body. It was just too bad that sweet little Lizzy turned into such a horrible human being.

But that was going to change.

I was going to make sure she never hurt anyone again.

And all of the pain she inflicted?

I was going to inflict it on her.

She’ll regret the day she fucked with my family.

“Are you in, or not?” I stared at my brother and tossed a ski mask on the table in front of us.

“Yeah.” He picked it up and sighed. “I’m in.”

“I knew you’d come around.” I smiled and nodded.

“This isn’t for you—it’s for him.” Mauro looked over at our other brother’s photograph on the wall. “I don’t know if he would want us to do this, but I can’t sleep at night knowing that she’s out there hurting other people the way she hurt him—possibly pushing them down the same path with only one way out…”

“We’re going to stop her.” I pointed at the map on the table. “I’ve been following her for a couple of weeks now. She normally has her food delivered but she goes to the grocery store every few days—that’s our best bet.”

“In broad daylight?” He looked at me and blinked in surprise. “That’s way too risky.”

“We may not have a choice.” I shrugged. “She doesn’t really leave her apartment otherwise. There’s no way we can drag her out of there without being seen.”

“You realize if we get caught, we’re both going to prison. The police aren’t going to give a shit that we’re trying to do the right thing here.” He shook his head and sighed. “If they see the cage…”

“We’re not going to get caught.” I slammed my finger down on the map. “She always walks the same route, and there are rarely any cars on Sycamore Street. As long as we take her before she makes it to Maple Street, we should be in the clear.”

“Okay.” He nodded slowly. “I can’t believe I’m letting you talk me into this, but—fuck.”

“You want revenge as much as I do.” I patted him on the shoulder. “It’s time to get it.”

“Yeah…” He sighed. “I guess it is.”

I stared at my brother’s picture for a couple of seconds before walking Mauro through the plan. We would wait until she was coming back from the grocery store so that her hands were full. Mauro would pretend to show interest—distract her from the danger that was coming—and then jump into the driver’s seat once I grabbed her. It would have been easier to let him be the one that put the chloroform over her mouth, but I was afraid he wouldn’t have the courage to actually go through with it when the moment came. There was still doubt in his heart and we were only going to have one chance. If we blew it—she wouldn’t let her guard down again.

“There she is.” I pointed at Lizzy as we turned onto Sycamore Street. “This is the first time she’s gone shopping at night. We have to do it now.”

“Fuck…” Mauro fidgeted and swallowed hard. “Fuck, fuck—fuck!”

“Just lean out the window and flirt with her. Keep her distracted until we get to the corner.” I growled under my breath. “Think about what she did to our brother. She deserves everything that’s going to happen once she’s locked in our cage.”

“I know.” He sighed. “I fucking know.”

I was afraid Mauro was going to chicken out, but he didn’t. When I slowed down, he leaned out the window and turned on his charm—or whatever it was about him that all the women loved. Most of the time he could make a woman melt with a glance and a smile—but Lizzy was different. She didn’t seem to be very impressed. The fact Mauro was in the passenger seat of a dirty old van instead of the sitting behind the steering wheel of his Rolls Royce probably had something to do with it. If we were in one our luxury sedans, she might have smelled the money and came running—that seemed to be what motivated her.

“Okay. Are you ready?” I let the van roll to a stop once we got to the intersection of Sycamore Street and Maple Leaf Drive.

“Yeah.” He nodded.

I slipped on my mask and crawled into the back of the van. We had to move quickly. The street was deserted, but it might not stay that way. As soon as she got close, I slapped the back of Mauro’s shoulder and he made the turn. That gave me enough cover to hop out and grab her. I would have been disappointed if she didn’t try to run—or put up a fight. Wrapping my arms around her and feeling her go limp in my arms was as divine as I imagined. I tossed her into the back of the van as soon as she was out cold, and Mauro hit the gas.

We had her.

Finally.

And she was going to pay for everything she did to our family.

“How long are you going to leave her in the cage before you go check on her?” Mauro leaned forward to look at the camera. “I’m sure she’s thirsty—probably hungry.”

“Her comfort isn’t my concern,” I growled under my breath. “She needs to feel the darkness, not just see it—and then we’ll give her hope—something to cling to before we rip it away.”

“I’ve been keeping an eye on the news. Nobody is looking for her—yet.” Mauro sighed and poured a drink.

“I know.” I nodded. “She’s alienated everyone that cared about her except for a few friends.”

A few text messages and a post on social media took care of that problem. As far as they know, she’s taking a long overdue vacation—and she is—but there will be no sandy beach in her future.

“I should get to work.” Mauro looked down at his wrist. “Someone has to make sure the family business doesn’t fall apart while you play with your new toy.”

“It’ll be a while before I actually start playing with her.” I chuckled and reached out touch the image of her on the screen. “Sweet Lizzy needs to suffer for a little while first.”

“Yeah—but I think you enjoy this way more than you should.” He shook his head and started walking towards the door.

Maybe I do. She’s not the first woman I’ve put in a cage—but she’s the first one I’ve ever put there against her will.

Lizzy had been in the locked away for two days. The fight seemed to be gone from her. She was no longer trying to rattle the cage door or rip it from the foundation—not that she could do either of those things. The hopelessness had started to set in. The hunger and thirst were definitely enough to make her bargain for food and water. It was time. I walked into the room and turned on the light. She looked beautiful in the cage—exactly where she belonged. My sweet Lizzy—locked away where she couldn’t hurt anyone—locked away where she would have to bargain for every semblance of kindness that I showed her.

“How bad do you want a drink of water, sweet Lizzy?” I walked over to her cage with a glass in my hand.

“Please…” She extended her hand, pushing it through the bars.

“What price are you willing to pay?” I tilted my head to the side. “Why don’t we start with something simple. Give me your shirt and I’ll give you every drop of water in this glass.”

“I—please…” Her face twisted into a look of confusion.

“It’s a fair trade.” I pushed the glass closer. “It isn’t like I’m the first man who’s ever seen you in your bra.”

Because you trade that beautiful body for everything—now I’ m going to make you trade it for something you took for granted.