CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

AVERY

I ENTER MY STUDY AND SIT behind my desk. Everyone sat around the table for hours talking until the late night. Tristan finally carried off a sleeping Chloe to a room after I told him to stay over. Bunny helped a drunk Alex crawl to hers before she headed off to mine, telling me to wake her up when I come to bed.

My computer comes on just as my door opens. Marvin enters. The man is like me—never sleeps. “Sir, you had a package arrive while you were in New York.”

Without looking up, I reach out my left hand, and he places a small padded envelope in it. “Thank you.”

Then I hear the door close as he exits. I type away on my computer for a few minutes. Once I’m done sending the email, I pick up my cell and make the call.

“This better be good,” my boss growls.

“Preston is taken care of.” Might as well get to the point.

“Good.” His voice changes to appreciative. “And Damon?”

“Still working on it.”

“Well, I believe you will get it done.” Click, he hangs up. We never do small talk. Always business.

I turn to the envelope on my desk and open it up. A USB drive falls out of it. I stare at it for a few long seconds before I slowly put it into my computer. I stand from my desk, go over to the door, and lock it, not wanting any uninvited guests.

Leaning up against my desk, I lift the remote and press play and watch a familiar dark room come on my TV. The same room I found Bunny in after she was taken from me.

And her brother stands in the middle of it. He smiles up at the camera. “Hello, Avery. I’m making you this video because I know you would want to see what she really thinks of you.” He runs his fingers over his chin. “I hid out back while you and your men just whisked her away like you saved her. But we both know that’s not the case.” He chuckles. “You may think you won. But you haven’t. Not even close. She’ll always be a broken little bitch! Just like all the others. Let me prove it to you.”

The screen goes black for a moment, and then it shows the camera focused on a concrete wall. There’s a chain bolted to the wall and a steel collar lies open on the dirty floor.

The back of a man comes into view, and he’s carrying an unconscious Bunny. He lays her on the floor and removes her shirt; it was the only thing she had on. Then he picks up the steel collar and secures it around her neck, locking it in place in the back.

“I’ll be back when this has worn off,” he tells her as if she can hear him. Then he turns around and looks up at the camera. It’s Preston.

The door shuts, and the camera changes to night vision. I watch her pull herself into the fetal position and begin to shake.

The bastard recorded the entire fucking thing! What Damon said to me when I spoke to him last makes sense now.

“You know, Avery, your father showed me the tape of what he did to your little Bunny. I must say, that is why I’m offering you the extra for her.”

I thought he meant the tape of when he raped her. But this is what he was talking about.

I fast forward until I see movement. She laid there for four hours. Shaking, she was so cold.

I press play once I see her open her eyes. She sits up and notices she’s naked.

“Avery?” She calls out my name, and my throat tightens.

She looks to her left, and her breathing picks up. Then to her right. You can see the fear creeping into her eyes when she realizes she’s in a concrete box.

“Avery?” she shouts, standing, and begins walking over to the door but is yanked back by her collar.

Her hands go to it, and when she feels the lock, she spins around to see the chain connecting her to the wall.

“AVERY!” She shouts my name frantically, and my chest tightens to the point it’s painful. That she could think I would do this to her. But why not? Isn’t this what I threatened her with when I dragged her down to my cellar? And then again after Conway’s party?

Wrapping her hands around the chain, she begins to yank on it

She starts shouting my name. Then the tears start to fall. “Avery, this isn’t funny,” she screams. “Let me go!”

I sit in my office for hours watching all the footage. Fast-forwarding through the part where they left her alone and unconscious. Seeing everything Victor and Vaughn did to her. Even the brand. I shouldn’t have watched it, but I did. It was like the last video. I couldn’t look away. It physically pained me, but I deserve that. I should feel her pain. I watched up until the point I came running into the room with Tristan and cut her loose. Then after we walked out with her, Preston came back on screen.

“See, Avery?” He gives me that fucking smirk again. “She will always see you as one of us. And nothing you can do will change that.”

I shut off the video and place the remote on the desk, then walk out of my study, heading down to my cellar. I haven’t been back down there since I watched Bunny torture them earlier today. Yanking open the door, I go storming into it to find Preston still in his restraints. My brother is gone. That means he’s already dead. Kayn must have removed him before he went to bed and got rid of the body. But he left Preston because he is still breathing. He knew I’d want him down here until the bastard is stone-cold dead.

“Preston, I got your tape,” I inform him, walking over to the black safe that stands over six feet tall and four feet wide. It holds all my torturing devices.

He whimpers. There’s not much more he can do than that. Bunny had him screaming for hours. He lost his voice long ago.

I open it, grabbing the red and yellow can. I remove the straw and shake it up before screwing the straw to the top, securing it. Then go to stand in front of him. He lifts his heavy head to look me in the eyes. He smells of death, so he’s not far from it. Blood runs from the skin Bunny removed after branding him. She did a hack job, that’s for sure. Some places on his forearms are down to the bone. He probably doesn’t even feel them anymore due to her severing nerves. “You’re about to die.” I sigh. “Maybe ten minutes at the most.”

He drops his head unable to hold it up any longer. “I wish I could have drawn it out longer. But this was Bunny’s show.” I would have done things differently, but it wasn’t my decision. Not my revenge to take.

“But …” I take a step closer to him and grip his chin, pushing his head up. “I have a gorgeous woman in my bed waiting on me, and I don’t want to wait another minute for your pathetic ass to die.” I growl. “I wanna watch you take your last fucking breath, Preston. So, open up.” I begin to pry his mouth open with my hand, and he tries to pull away, but he’s too weak. I dig my fingers into his cheeks and push his head into the concrete wall to help keep him in place. Then I shake the can in my right hand before lifting it to his lips. I place the long straw to the back of his throat, and he starts to gag. I push the button. Foam begins to fill his mouth and throat. His head tries to fight me, and he pulls on his restraints to no avail. I fill his mouth completely. Then I shove the straw into his nose and fill his nostrils.

I take a step back. He thrashes, and his eyes widen as the foam starts to expand, cutting off his air. And I watch the life drain out of him like the piece of shit he is. I tap the side of his face a couple of times, and say, “Go to hell, Preston. And tell your father I said hello.”

I smile satisfied and go back over to the safe. I place the foam sealant that is supposed to fix cracked ceilings and walls away and then walk over to the door. I turn off the light and shut the door. As I walk to my room, I pass Kayn.

“I’ll take care of him, sir,” he says, knowing where I just came from.

“It can wait until later,” I tell him and enter my room. I undress, then crawl into bed next to Bunny. My hand immediately goes underneath the covers, and I find her naked. She begins to stir when I slide my hand between her thighs to cup her pussy. “I need you,” I tell her.

She gives me a soft smile, eyes still closed, and says, “I’ve been waiting.”