JETT
Looking over at Ebony, I couldn’t seem to fathom what she had been thinking. Her sisters were asleep, knocked out with a sedative, on the spare bed. Her mother was tied to a chair in the living room, duct tape across her face accompanied by wet cheeks from her tears.
What the fuck had I missed?
“Eb?”
“I know what this looks like.”
“No… I don’t think you do. Explain.”
“My sisters are in danger. They didn’t want to be saved, but I needed to save them anyway. My mother was pissing me off, so I silenced her.”
“Usually, you kill to silence someone.”
“I-I can’t.”
I knew that feeling. I’d never been able to kill my father, although I had thought I had sent someone I could trust to do it for me. He was still alive, and I’d made no attempt on his life since he had showed up. Killing him would make life so much fucking easier, and yet I still couldn’t do it.
“Okay,” I said. “I get it. What danger are they in?”
“Whatever Adora put them in,” she told me. “She said something about owing the men who got them to be where they are now, but she wasn’t desirable or something along those lines and needed money which Giordy was supplying her.”
“Did she say who these men were?”
Ebony shook her head.
“Okay,” I sat down on the bed next to her. “The girls are going to wake up soon. We need to figure out a way to keep them under the radar while also figuring out who Adora owes.”
“We could use her as bait to bring them out,” she said.
“There’s my girl,” I replied, pulling her into my arms. She moved over my lap and straddled me. I laid down letting her run her hands under my shirt raking her nails down my chest. “What else has been happening?”
“Be quiet,” she whispered into my ear, ripping my shirt open. “Time for talking is over.”
She licked down my neck and back up to bite my earlobe. She was right, time for talking was over. I ran my hands up and down her back, digging into her skin causing her to arch her back.
York called out to me from outside the door. I was about ready to rip him from limb to limb for interrupting my time with Ebony, but she pushed off me and straightened her black skirt.
“Eb…”
“He’d only interrupt us if it was important.”
She was right. York knew better. I pulled the shredded shirt off my chest and pulled on another one before opening the door. York stood back, anticipating my anger.
“What?”
“Adora’s loose, she’s threatening to kill someone.”
“So throw her back in shackles.”
“She’s got a gun.”
Ebony pushed past York and me heading straight for the living area. I heard a shot go off, and my heart all but stopped. We both ran into the room to see a large hole in the wall next to Ebony’s head.
York ran for the gun, wrestling Adora to the ground. I was at Ebony’s side in seconds.
“Get inside.”
“No.”
Her defiance would usually have me cocking a gun at her temple, but right now I was just trying to get her to obey me so I could take care of her mother. Adora screamed, kicking at York, trying to free herself.
“I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you,” she viciously yelled at Ebony. “Just like Aubrey, you’re absolutely useless.”
“How about you tell us who is after the girls?” I asked her.
“Just let me go. I’ll find somewhere safe for them until it all blows over.”
“Bullshit,” Ebony spat. “You came here for a reason, and you know it. So spill it.”
“Adora,” I turned back to her. “You won’t leave here until we find out who is frightening you. That sort of fear should be reserved for me and what I can do to you.”
“Just let me run.”
“You are an absolute bullshit artist.” Ebony walked back to the bedroom.
York put Adora back on the chair and tied her down, tighter this time.
“Who was it?” I asked her. “Tell me now, or I’ll start shooting at limbs.”
She didn’t speak.
Goddamn it, now I know where Ebony got her stubbornness. I moved over to the coffee table near where she was tied up and sat down, facing her. “You’re scared. I can see that, but you know of my reputation. Do you really want to piss me off by not talking?”
“You won’t be able to do anything to him,” she told me. Her eyes beginning to water again.
“Him? Okay, now we’re getting somewhere.”
York applied pressure to her neck. She hissed at him in pain before trying to move away with no luck. He’d tied her down tight this time. I could see her skin around the binds bunching with her movement.
“We’re just getting started,” I told her, sitting back. “Take your time.”
Adora’s eyes went wide as York applied more pressure. “Okay, ok—ay.”
It’s a shame she was so weak. To be honest, I was hoping for some torture to get me through the day. Ebony was pissed off, which meant I’d cop the brunt of it later just because I was taking charge. It was true what the others said. Ebony had seized my balls and claimed them for herself, but when it came to her mother, I was more than happy to take on the evil mastermind I used to be to ensure Ebony’s happiness. This bitch had tortured her, left her to men at a young age, and ruined her adolescence. If it had been anyone else, I’d never care about it, but this was Ebony. Ever since I first laid eyes on her, I knew she was special, and now she was mine. The mere fact she was forced to help her mother and sisters was causing her pain, and I knew it even though she told me otherwise.
That’s why I needed to do what I did best.
I needed to torture until I got my answer.
If Adora was scared of someone and that someone wasn’t me, I damn well wanted to know who was encroaching on my city. The only way to stay at the top was to take charge of any upcoming threats.
“The man I owe everything to is…” she paused, looking up at me with fear. “John Lambert.”