He frantically looked around as if he’d expected them to walk into the room. “You’re fucking lying, you dick!” he exclaimed. “You better not lay a fucking finger on either of them, or I swear to fucking God I’ll—”
“You’ll what? Kill me?” I interrupted. I opened my camera system’s app on my phone and pulled up the cameras from rooms two and three, the rooms his sister and girlfriend occupied with two of our roughest clients. His eyes widened when I thrust the phone in his face, his skin becoming red with anger.
“No!” he bellowed. “No!”
I turned the phone slightly toward me and nodded. “Yep, definitely looks like they’re being two sluts for two of our highest paying clients,” I said with a sarcastic sigh. “And your sister…I heard she was a virgin. The current girls who’ve been with him says he has a monster cock, and there he is, ripping your sweet, innocent sister to shreds.”
His eyes glistened with angry tears as he glared at me. “You won’t fucking get away with this. I promise you that,” he growled.
“Who’s going to stop me?” I taunted. “Because once I kill you, I’m going after Wilson, and I won’t stop until I have his head on the mantle of my fucking office. And your slutty girlfriend and sister will be my new whores that my clients will enjoy immensely.”
Kyler spat at my feet, which only amused me more. “Fuck you. You can burn in hell,” he snapped.
“I’m sure I will. Be sure to save me a seat when you get there,” I said and looked to Bruce. “The equipment, please.”
He carried the sledge hammer on his shoulder and rolled the commercial pressure washer over to me, the ammonia sloshing around in the chamber. Kyler’s breath quickened as he watched me, flinching when I turned it on and sprayed the floor a couple of times before taking the sledge hammer from Bruce.
“One thing Wilson forgot is that he taught me everything he knows. And when you tell someone all your trade secrets, it’s easy to use those secrets against you,” I started. “He also forgot that he may have made a couple of enemies who want him gone just as much as I do now.”
I pulled my phone out and turned the camera on to record him. “Do you have anything you want to say to your girlfriend and sister? I’ll at least be nice enough to show them this so they understand why they’re here.”
“Fuck you!” he bellowed, jerking against his restraints.
Bruce and Nyxin firmly gripped his shoulders and forced him back into the chair, his chest heaving with every breath. I shrugged, turned the camera off, and put my phone back in my pocket.
“Suit yourself,” I said. “Now, let’s talk about Vinnie really quick. From what I’ve seen, Wilson broke every bone in his body before decapitating and dismembering him.” I smiled at him. “And I’m a firm believer of an eye for an eye.”
His scream filled the cemented room when I took the sledge hammer to his knee, a wave of satisfaction coursing through me. Getting revenge felt so fucking good when they suffered through it. His screams and wails were a beautiful concert of torturous music as I crushed the bones in his arms, ribs, and legs until he sobbed for me to stop.
“I’ll... tell you anything...you want to know! Just...fucking stop, man!” he begged, struggling to breath.
I rested the sledgehammer against my shoulder and grinned at him, panting. “I always love it when you fuckers beg. It’s all fun and games until you’re paying the price for being a traitor. The window for negotiating is over,” I said and tossed the sledgehammer to the ground.
His begging became more frantic and louder as I picked up the pressure washer hose, turning it on. “And now for the grand finale.”
His screams filled the room, bouncing off the concrete walls as the hard water and ammonia mixture hit his stomach. The water cascading down his body and pooling on the floor turned a satisfying shade of red. A gaping hole sat in the center of his t-shirt, blood oozing into his lap and dripping onto the concrete beneath his chair.
My mind went back Vinnie and the bad shape his dismembered body had been in when it appeared on my property. This fucker had set him up and didn’t seem to have an ounce of regret. Remembering how scared Aurora was after the attack at the safe house made me angry. The fear I felt as I’d rushed into the bathroom thinking she was hurt was something I never wanted to experience again, and I damn sure wouldn’t let this traitor catch me off guard. The sooner he was dead, the sooner I could breathe a little easier in my own damn house.
I would spill all the blood I needed to in order to avenge every single person Wilson took from me, and I wouldn’t be satisfied until he was fucking dead.
Turning the pressure washer on high, I aimed at his neck. I tuned out his screaming as it turned into a sickening gurgle, the high-pressured water immediately drilling a hole into the delicate flesh of his throat. Blood cascaded down his chest and out of his mouth as he struggled to breathe, the ammonia in the water so strong that the smell was suddenly overwhelming in the sealed room.
“Open that door. I need ventilation in here,” I finally said, turning the water off. Nyxin opened the door as I watched Kyler struggle to breathe. If he didn’t suffocate, he would surely bleed to death in the next few minutes.
A slight grin formed on my lips as I thought of a better idea. “I need a bit of plastic wrap. I think Wilson needs a little gift.”
I wiped my bloodied hands over my white dress shirt, not particularly giving a fuck now that it was already covered in blood. Bruce rolled out a long sheet of green plastic wrap on the floor. I took Kyler’s severed head and put it in the middle. Once it was carefully wrapped, I placed it in an insulated box with the bounty contract on top of it.
Grabbing one of the contracts left behind when my men went to their posts, I tore a small piece of paper from it and scribbled a little note with a sinister grin on my face.
Special Delivery
Courtesy of B. Moreno
AURORA
Despair.
It swelled in my chest and leaked from my eyes as every minute ticked by. Minutes felt like hours, and hours felt like days, all blending together to make up my miserable existence as a sex slave to a psychopath. I couldn’t believe what my life had become. I’d worked my ass off to create a life for myself, years of hard work only for it to disappear in a blink of an eye. My life, which was sculpted so perfectly, was blown apart by the hellion dynamite known as Bennett Moreno.
“Fucking hate him,” I murmured, throwing my head back.
Pain radiated at the back of my skull as it hit the wall, but I didn't even care. I was sure things would get a lot worse in terms of pain with his bullshit new rules and his adamant desire to “put me in my place.”
He’d tortured me for hours, playing the day he’d beat and raped me in the Retribution room. Over and over the video played on a loop, my screams from that day echoing in my mind, taking me back to that time when I was weak. When I was vulnerable. When I was shattered. The electrodes he’d put in my body were all in sync as well as the thin metal rod he put inside my pussy. I’d felt all the pain I did just as I had that day, reminding me of what he was capable of. It reminded me of what he wouldn’t hesitate to do again. I thought it was bad when I lived through it, but watching it over and over again was another kind of torture. Watching my broken body curled up on the floor filled me with helplessness. I remembered how close I thought I was to death, only to be taken in my room to wake up in Hell later. I fucking hated him so much and I had to find a way to get away from him, no matter what happened to me for trying.
It didn’t help that he wouldn’t listen to anything I said about the things I’d learned from Stephanie. It probably wouldn’t even matter if what she’d said was proven to be true. Bennett wouldn’t let me leave this place whether I was wrongfully taken or not. I’d seen too much and knew too much for him to let me go, so my fate was sealed. Just the thought of that made me want to scream out in anger and frustration.
Every fiber of my being wanted to fight back, to show him
that I wasn't weak regardless of what he thought he could do to me. I took down a guy twice my size, for fuck’s sake, but the threat of becoming a sex worker was enough to make me clam up. Enough to paralyze me with fear. Seeing how those men manhandled me at that meeting was enough to give me a taste of what my life would be like. And unlike at the meeting, Bennett wouldn't be there to save me from men set on violating me.
I glanced down at my hand, tears burning my eyes as I looked down at my engagement ring. Despite everything, I was surprised Bennett hadn't taken it from me. Memories of Heath and my old life rolled through my mind, grief squeezing my heart in a vice grip. I thought of the last night we were all together. Savannah smiling. Heath’s loving eyes. Kandice’s laugh. It was our last night of freedom, our last night of a normal life. Heath’s last night alive. Savannah’s last night of a normal life.
I inhaled deeply and blew it out. I wondered if Kandice took her money and forgot about us. I wondered if Bennett had trafficked her somewhere. I wondered if she forgave me for the situation I put her in. My heart bled for Savannah and everything she went through down in the bunker. And here I was thinking I could save her.
“Ma’am?” a voice said, cutting into my thoughts. I blinked, noticing a petite woman with chestnut hair, green eyes, and ruby red lips frowning at me. She wore a thin white tank top and black, form-fitting dress pants. Her eyes were empty, bare of any emotions as she looked at me, as if waiting for an answer.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, drawing my knees tighter to my chest to cover myself.
“I was just checking if you needed to use the bathroom or needed anything before dinner,” she said, her voice flat.
No sooner than the words left her mouth, Bennett came up the stairs covered in blood. His eyes were dark with anger, a deep scowl on his handsome face. His white dress shirt was stained with blood and there was red splatter on his face.
Who the hell did he kill that fast? I thought, unable to take my eyes off him. It was almost as if he moved in slow motion as he ascended the last few steps, his gaze hard but brief on me before he turned the opposite way and retreated to the bedroom.
“Ma’am?
“No,” I finally answered. “I’m fine for right now.”
“Okay then,” she said with a tight nod. “Dinner will be up in a couple of hours. I’ll be back periodically to check on you. Do you need anything right now?”
“No, I’m good. Thanks,” I said.
She gave me a small smile and closed the door, locking me back inside.
I rested my head back on the wall, wondering what this monster had in store for me. One thing was for sure; the man always kept me on my toes with how he kept changing both his personality and the things he wanted from me. Either something was wrong with him mentally or he was the most indecisive man I’d ever met in my entire life.
Time slowly ticked by while sitting in my box of a room. Noises in the hallway signaled that life went on beyond my door, but reminded me that I wasn’t a part of it. That I didn’t deserve to be a part of it. It was as if I were a caged animal, only brought out when Bennett wanted to pet me and play with me, but then locked up afterwards when he’d had enough of me.
Sad tears burned my eyes once again as I looked down at my engagement ring, twisting it around on my finger.
“This wasn’t how we saw our future, was it, Heath?” I murmured. A few tears rolled down my cheeks as I looked up at the ceiling. “I bet you’re not proud of the things you’ve seen me do. I’m not proud of it either.”
And I wasn’t. Heath still had my heart, but Bennett possessed my body and was after my soul. I was slowly losing my identity, my will to live, and my desire to continue fighting. I knew what I had to do. And as soon as I got the opportunity to do it, I would end this once and for all.
The same women came back a little while later with a bottle of water and asking if I needed to go to the bathroom. Taking in a shaky breath, I nodded and slowly stood, my heart racing a mile a minute. She handed me a blood red satin robe.
“Please put this on. Master Bennett requires that you wear a robe when walking around the house,” she said, diverting her eyes away from my nakedness.
In a few minutes, it won’t matter what I wear, I thought to myself as I took the robe and slipped it on.
She led me out of the room and down the hallway. My heart thumped hard in my chest as we got closer to the bathroom. I thought about Heath, my parents, my friends. I had to do this for them, for myself. I didn’t care about whatever Stephanie’s agenda was with her dream messages, not that Bennett believed me.
Considering that I hadn’t seen or heard from Carrie since she’d arrived at the house a week ago, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d talked her out of helping me. I was sick of being trapped, sick of being controlled and abused for having my own mind and voice. I was completely over being a play toy for a fucking lunatic who only wanted to break and manipulate me.
When we arrived at the bathroom, the woman followed in behind me until I turned around and held a hand up.
“No offense, but I really don’t need a babysitter in the bathroom,” I said, frowning.
Her expression remained flat and unbothered as she looked at me. “I’m following the orders given by Master Bennett. You’re not to be left alone,” she said, her voice flat.
I had to think of something fast. There was no way I could execute my plan if she was in the bathroom with me.
“I’d rather not take a shit with someone watching me.”
“I’m not getting in trouble for you. Either you have to go to the bathroom or not,” she said, her tone sharp.
“Can’t you just stand outside the door? We’re on the second floor; I’m in no mood to jump out of a window or run around this property naked. I’m sure I wouldn’t get far anyway.”
She stared at me for a long moment, her baby doll face settled in hesitation and a frown.
“You have five minutes,” she finally said. “If you’re not out in five minutes, I’m coming in.”
“Fine, five minutes,” I repeated. She stepped out of the bathroom and closed the door, the sound seeming hollow. Five minutes didn’t give me a lot of time, so I had to complete my mission while I had the guts to or not at all.
I rummaged around in the cabinets, estimating in my head how much time I had left. Frustration filled me as I looked through the nearly empty cabinets until I finally stumbled across what I was looking for. I grabbed the open pack of razor blades with shaky hands and pulled two of them out.
“One minute and I’m coming in,” the woman called from the hallway.
Shit. I looked down at the robe to see that it didn’t have any pockets. Even if it did have pockets, there was no way I’d be able to get them out without her noticing it.
Blowing out a breath, I carefully placed the two razor blades on the inside of my cheek. I was almost too scared to breathe, worried I might accidentally cut myself. Once they were comfortably situated as well as they could be, I put the pack back where I found it.
“Thirty seconds!” she called out.
I went back to the toilet and flushed before walking over to the sink. She burst through the door as I was washing my hands, and I made sure to keep my eyes down in fear of giving myself away. She waited as I dried my hands and then gestured for me to follow behind her. I made sure not to speak or even breath too deeply, fighting the urge to wince when the razor slightly cut into my cheek. When we got back to my bedroom, I slipped off the robe and handed it back to her, settling back on my thin mattress.
“Dinner will be up here in half an hour,” she said and locked my room door again.
After a few moments, I gingerly took the razor blades out of my mouth and placed them under the sheet beside me. My mind raced with everything I’d lost in the last few weeks and the consequences I’d face if I failed in what I was about to do.
Did I really want to risk it all? Did I want to risk even more punishment or even worse—Bennett putting me
to work as one of his whores so he wouldn’t have to deal with me?
Suddenly, I was conflicted and scared to actually go through with the plan because of what could possibly happen to me if I failed. It was sad that I felt this was my only resort to escape the hell I endured in his castle of horrors.
My parents wouldn’t have been proud of my decision. Heath wouldn’t have accepted my decision. Savannah would feel betrayed by my decision. But what did it matter? I was alone in my fight with no one to save me, no one to support me, and no one to help me realize there was actually a bright side to this very long, dark tunnel I faced.
“I have to worry about myself,” I murmured.
Those were the very words Bennett constantly said to me when I thought about other people. And maybe he was right. Maybe I needed to focus on myself because at the end of the day, no one else was worried about me.
If Savannah wanted to free her herself, she’d figure it out. If Stephanie wanted Bennett to know the truth about something, she could go harass him in his own dreams and leave me the hell alone. I was over this life and all the lies that made up this entire organization. I just wanted to be with the people who mattered, and if I could only be with them in death, then I’d accept it. With that thought in my mind, it solidified my decision. There was nothing that could stop me.
Dinner came not long after that, which was nothing but a dry ham and cheese sandwich, mixed fruit, and another bottled water. It was as if I was in prison, unworthy of a decent meal. Even when I wasn’t confined to this room, he’d only allotted me cold oatmeal and made me eat on the floor. I refused to be anyone’s prisoner. I refused to be anyone’s punching bag or sex toy. I’d rather die before I let that happen for any longer.
I kicked the tray away and reached under the sheet for one of the razors. My heart raced in my chest as I held it between my fingers. Tears blurred my vision as I held it over my wrist, so many conflicting thoughts crashing around in my mind.
Rules of Bennett: The Complete Collection Page 24
