She shook her head out of my grasp, but didn’t say anything. I grabbed the scissors from the bathroom counter and grabbed a lock of her hair, snipping it off. She froze at the sound of the scissors snipping again.
“What the fuck?” she whispered, which made me grin.
I paused with my next cut. “Oh, would you like to see what I’m doing?” I taunted. “Here, let me give you a front row seat.”
I maneuvered the chair around so she faced the large mirrors, her eyes wide when she saw the hair clippers on the counter. Her gaze met mine in the mirror, anger and humiliation blazing in her eyes. A permanent grin settled onto my lips as I cut her beautiful hair, her body shaking as the hair fell around her.
Silent tears rolled down her cheeks as she stared at me in the mirror, her eyes never leaving me. She didn’t resist. She didn’t beg me to stop. She didn’t pull at her restraints or scream. She only stared at me, her eyes screaming that she hated me and wanted me dead.
Too bad for her that I didn’t give a fuck.
When her hair was short enough, I exchanged the scissors for clippers. She flinched when I flipped them on, a sob ripping through her when I cut more of her hair off. The only sounds that filled the bathroom was were cries and the soft buzzing of the clippers.
“Now, everyone will be able to see your beautiful tattoo. Couldn’t have your hair hiding who you belong to,” I teased, winking at her in the mirror.
“Hair can grow back,” she ground out.
“Maybe it will, maybe it won’t,” I said with a shrug. “I can always continue cutting it.”
She remained silent for the rest of her haircut. When I finally finished, I placed the clippers back on the counter and brushed my hands together.
“I think I’m digging the Mr. Clean look,” I said with a snort. Though she wasn’t as bald as he was, her hair was still cut in a boy's style. It was completely different from the long, beautiful locks that now lay at her feet. I leaned down until our faces were side by side. “Beautiful Aurora is on the floor. Now…you’re just pet.”
“I don’t care about hair,” she snapped. “If you think cutting my hair will break me, then you obviously don’t know me.”
I laughed. “Oh no, baby doll. This is nothing compared to what I have in store for you. But since you think you’re so big and bad, let’s head down to your third and final punishment for the day. We’ll see if you change your tune.”
“I won’t.”
“We’ll see, won’t we?” I said with a grin.
Releasing the cuffs that bound her to the chair, I yanked her up, noticing that she was still shaky on her feet. After she’d cut herself, the doctor had given her two blood infusions to replace the blood she’d lost. I knew her weakness would get worse considering she wouldn’t be able to eat for the next few days, but it was all apart of the plan.
I couldn’t fucking wait until she surrendered.
She stumbled next to me as we made our way downstairs. Bruce turned and looked at me from the couch as we approached, frowning when he saw Aurora.
“Are we talking now, or do you need more time?” he asked.
I shook my head. “We can talk now. I don’t want to be rushed through the next part of her punishment,” I said as I walked past him, headed for the bunker. He fell in line behind me, no one saying a word until we reached the conference room in the bunker. I turned to Bruce with a frown. “What’s the emergency?”
Bruce ran a hand over his bald head and sighed. “Some of the guys can’t get their families to safe places as fast as we need them to. We can’t leave them at home like sitting ducks for—”
“Then bring them here. Is that all?” I interrupted.
He raised an eyebrow at me. “Bring them here? Some of them have kids.”
“No shit, Sherlock. Do you have a better idea? We can keep them in the south wing of the bunker. Far away from the girls but close enough to be able to get to them.”
“But you know Wilson can attack this place at any time,” he said, his frown never leaving.
“That’s why they’re to remain in the bunker at all times until this shit blows over. Get some shit for them to be comfortable down here and get them here. If we need to move them, we’ll figure that out when the occasion arises. No one can get in this bunker without authorization; they’re the safest down here.”
He stared at me for a moment before finally nodding. “Okay then. I’ll get the guys to help me gather beds and other things everyone will need. I’ll keep you updated,” he said.
“Good. Tell a few of the girls to come down here and clean four of the rooms up. They haven’t been used in a while, so I’m sure they need a good scrubbing.”
“You got it,” he said and walked out of the room.
“Now, back to you,” I said, smiling at Aurora. “Let’s get your punishment for the day over with so I can finish everything else I need to do today.”
She glared at me as I yanked her out of the room and down the hall. She stiffened in my hold when we approached the Retribution room, trying to resist me when I pulled her inside, but she was too weak to make much of a difference. When I turned on the lights, her eyes widened when she saw what—or rather who—waited for her inside.
“You remember her, don’t you?” I asked, gesturing toward Jess, who was limp and bound to a chair in the center of the room. Blue tarp covered the floor underneath the chair, Jess blindfolded and gagged. “She was supposed to watch over you while you were in your room.”
“You can’t punish her for what I did,” Aurora exclaimed, her voice carrying an air of panic.
“Yes, I can. And I will,” I said, pulling Aurora to the chair sitting across the room. I only strapped her arms down before pulling my gun from my waistband and pointing it at her. “I can trust you to not get out of that chair, can’t I?” She glared at me, but didn’t respond. I cocked my head to the side. “Well?”
“Yes,” she forced out.
“Yes what?”
“Yes, sir,” she said.
I placed the gun back where it belonged before going over to the wooden table and picking up a single razor blade. “I’m sure this looks familiar, doesn’t it?” I teased, allowing the light from the room to glint off the metal. “This is what you used to slit your wrists.” When her eyes widened and looked over at the woman across from her, I chuckled. “Don’t worry. It’s been properly sterilized if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“It’s not her fault,” Aurora shrieked. Jess jerked awake at the sound of Aurora's voice, pulling at the cuffs binding her to the chair.
Her voice was muffled behind her gag as her head thrashed from side to side, the blindfold blocking the scene that would soon unfold before her. Aurora looked at me in horror, but I only smiled, slowly walking backwards until I stood next to Jess.
“Now that Jess is awake, the fun can start,” I said.
Jess froze at the sound of my voice, her breaths coming out in small pants. I worked the blindfold and the gag off, watching as she squinted against the bright lights of the room. She slowly looked up at me, her creamy skin going pale as she took in her surroundings.
“Oh, no,” she whispered, already aware that she wouldn’t walk out of this room alive.
She had Aurora to thank for that.
“Bennett, please. I’ll take whatever punishment you give me. Just let her go! It’s not her fault!” Aurora pleaded.
“And that’s where you’re wrong,” I said, shaking my head. “It would be no different if I asked one of my men to protect you and you still got hurt. I’d kill them, too, for failing in their duty. Someone failing at the task I assign them could be the difference between life and death. I’m sure you found that out the other day.”
“But—”
“Jess here was supposed to look after you,” I continued, ignoring Aurora’s attempted protests. “She was to make sure you were fed, safe, and got to and from the bathroom without incident. When you got those razor blades f
rom the bathroom, she failed in looking after you.”
“I asked her for privacy!” she exclaimed.
“And I told her to watch your every move, and she didn’t,” I said, twirling the small razor between my fingers. “She let you out of her sight for five minutes. In that short time, you managed to find razors in the bathroom. Had she been in the bathroom with you, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“Please,” she whispered. “I’m begging you, Bennett. I’m sorry. I didn’t—”
“She knows what the consequences are for going against my orders. There are no exceptions. I told you there would be consequences for your actions; you’re just not the only one who’ll pay for them.”
I walked around Jess, whose body shook with silent sobs. Stopping behind her, I put my hands on her shoulders, noticing that she flinched under my touch. She already knew what was about to happen. She didn’t scream. She didn’t beg for her life. She didn’t do anything a normal person would do in order to save themselves. While Aurora lost her shit across the room, Jess sat there silently aside from her sniffles, awaiting her fate.
The one Aurora wished she had.
“As I told you before, pet, you didn’t want to die in that room,” I started again. I leaned over Jess, caressing her skin with the razor blade. “The key is to cut vertically, as it’s harder to stitch up than a horizontal one is.”
The room filled with a blood-curdling scream as I placed a deep cut down Jess’ left forearm, blood staining her milky skin.
“No! Please stop!” Aurora screamed, jerking against the cuffs that held her down by the wrists.
“I keep telling you that the more you rebel, the more you’re going to keep bringing people down with you. Is this what you want? For people to suffer on your behalf?”
“No!”
“I sure as hell can’t tell,” I said with a shrug. Jess wailed in pain, which started to get on my damn nerves. “You may have survived your suicide attempt, but Jess won’t survive this.”
I cut her right arm, another deep cut that sent her life's essence gushing out onto her skin. The blood dripping onto the blue tarp sounded a little like water droplets falling onto a tent, the sound almost seeming hollow in the closed off room.
“How does it feel to know that you’re the reason this woman will die?” I murmured as I held Aurora’s fierce gaze. “All you had to do was follow the rules, and now you’re costing someone their life.”
“Just punish me and only me! Cut me! Whip me! Shock me! I can handle my punishment alone!” she shrieked.
I held her gaze as I grabbed Jess’ hair and tilted her head back, slitting her throat in a quick movement. Aurora screamed as Jess choked on her blood, her eyes nearly bulging out of her head.
“I’m done playing games with you,” I said, my voice low and hard. “I’ve given you chance after chance, but you insist on defying me. So, I promise I’ll make you suffer.” I dropped the bloody the razor blade on the tarp, never breaking eye contact with Aurora. “And would you look at that? The color of her blood matches perfectly to your pretty nightgown.”
She turned a light shade of green before throwing up in her lap. It was only stomach acid since she hadn’t had anything to eat or drink. I ignored her mess, instead focusing on wiping my bloody hands in Jess’s hair before strolling over to the door. Jess’s dead, blank eyes stared across the room at Aurora. That was bound to freak her out after a while.
“I’m sure you’re crushed with guilt, so I’ll let you sit here for a while and stare at what your decisions caused. Maybe you’ll think twice before you do something stupid, now won’t you?” When she didn’t say anything, I stormed over to her and grabbed her by the back of the neck. “Fucking answer me!”
“Fuck you,” she snapped, spitting in my face.
I ground my teeth as I wiped her pitiful attempt off my cheek before backhanding her across the face. She whimpered, her face bright red where I hit her.
“I promise you’ll pay for that,” I growled before I left the Retribution room, leaving her alone with the dead body.
I stared out the window of my office, my mind going a mile a minute. Psychological warfare was my last resort with Aurora, and if that didn’t work, she’d have to be put in the bunker. I knew I needed patience for this to work, but with her track record, I wasn’t too confident. Since I was in a war with my father, the last thing I needed was to be distracted with disciplining her whenever she wanted to act like a fucking basket case. Her new obsession with Stephanie didn’t make things any easier. It was as if she wanted to fuck with me as her way of retaliating.
“Did you want the next torture room set up?” a voice said from the doorway. I turned my chair from the window to see Nyxin leaning against the doorframe. Rubbing my temple, I nodded.
“Yeah, you can do that. I also need a high pressured hose in there,” I said idly. Nyxin stood there a few moments longer, which caused me to frown. “Why are you still here?”
“Can I ask something without consequence?” he started.
“Spit it the fuck out already,” I ground out.
“If the girl is causing so many issues, why didn’t you just let her die? I mean if you don’t want to kill her yourself, why not just give her to your father? Doesn't he want her anyway?” he asked.
The question angered me, not because he’d dared to ask me that, but because I didn’t even know the answer to it. I didn’t know why I wanted her to live. Maybe she was fun to play with, but there were so many other women I could toy with without the headache Aurora gave me. Perhaps I enjoyed knowing I was the bane of her existence and she had no choice but to be stuck with me.
I knew I wasn’t in love with her in the slightest, so it wasn’t because I felt something for her. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it drew me to her like a magnet, wanting to consume her body and soul until she was just as dark and twisted as I was. If Hell week went as planned, she’d be a perfectly blank canvas to create just that.
“Because I’m not done playing with her,” I stated matter-of-factly, pretending to be busy with the papers on my desk. “Don’t you have something you should be doing?”
“I guess that’s my cue,” he said with a half smile before disappearing down the hall.
I leaned back in my chair with a sigh as his words bounced around in my mind. He was right though; seeing the condition Aurora was in, I could’ve easily left her to die and moved on to the next pussy. Her last words before she passed out echoed in my head again.
I win, bitch. I win, bitch. I win, bitch.
I fucking refused to let her win. Perhaps I wanted her to see she didn’t win anything in the end, that all she got for herself was a week of torture and heartbreak. I was a competitive man by nature, but the fact that she thought she’d won a game over me put an end to that quickly. No one would escape me unless I wanted them to.
Not even in death.
I pushed the thoughts of Aurora out of my mind and focused on the contracts sitting before me. It was still hard to process that Wilson, the man who made me, was the very person trying to end my life. And to plant my assassin on my property was the lowest of low.
A part of me wanted to spill blood for all the lives he’d ruined, for the part of me that was lost forever due to the blood and violence of our lifestyle. But then that small, vulnerable side reminded me that he was my last living parent. Once I killed him, that would be it for me.
I wasn’t too sure how I felt about that, but I did know I wasn’t going to sit around like a fucking moron waiting for Wilson to take me out.
Another solid knock on my doorframe pulled me out of my musings. I looked up to see Bruce standing in the doorway.
“The tater tots are arriving,” he said, using our codeword for my men's children.
I chuckled inwardly as I stood. “Tater tots, huh?” I mused as we strolled out of the office.
He only grinned in return but didn’t say anything until we were safely in the bunker. “So what’s th
e plan for the girl?” he said instead, changing the subject.
“Regular tactics didn’t work, so now I have to mentally break her,” I mentioned idly, my eyes drifting to the door of the Retribution room. “I want to start with a clean slate so I can mold her into what I want her to be.”
“With everything she’s already survived, do you think it’ll work?” he asked.
I sighed inwardly. I didn’t even fucking know if it would. I thought our fight in the Retribution room would’ve been enough to break her, but it wasn’t. If this didn’t work, I’d have no choice but to put her with the rest of the girls. There was too much shit going on for me to waste time correcting her behavior. If she didn’t get her shit together, I’d have to take much more drastic measures.
“For her sake, I hope so,” I muttered just as we reached the large, open space where they children would be housed.
The girls had worked quickly to get the place cleaned up and prepared for the kids. Several cots lined one side of the room and toys were on the other side. The walls were still bare, which would have to change so they didn’t feel as if they were in prison while they were here.
“Have someone bring a TV down from one of the spare rooms on the main floor,” I said to Bruce with a slight frown. “It’s bad enough they won’t be able to go outside. I don’t want them to go crazy from boredom.”
“One of the guys were already on it once we brought everything down,” he said.
“Oh. Well, good. I want each of them to also have an iPad. We’ll need another router down here so there’s a good enough—“
“Already on that, too. Theo thought it would be good so the kids could use streaming services and shit.”
“Where’d you get this shit from so fast?” I asked, noting the multiple bean bag chairs and small folding chairs that made a makeshift living room.
“Saint had a connection. He was already trying to figure out a place to set up for the kids in case you didn’t have a plan for them. Someone he knows owns some kind of kid shop and gave him a deal.”
Rules of Bennett: The Complete Collection Page 26
