Chapter 56

AIDEN

I checked my watch again. I could spare another thirty minutes for this. It was getting boring anyway.

It was a fucking Sunday. I could be spending time with Freya, watching her bake all that sugary shit. Instead, I was here staring at this disgusting…

“You should know that I’m not known for my patience. Besides, you’re not much to look at. Hurry up, will you?”

“You can’t do this to me! You know my brother is the Mayor. You don’t want to do this!” Our captive was trying to put on a brave face, but by the last word, his voice was trembling. Of course, I knew his brother, Ric Heron. A total asshole. But even with his shiny title of Mayor, he couldn’t…

This old pervert knew that very well. It was a last, feeble attempt to escape.

“I don’t, huh?” My lips curled into an amused smirk, which sent all his bravery flying out the window. He wasn’t looking too sure.

“Look, I’m sorry, man. I said I’m sorry! I didn’t know she was yours. It was a mistake.”

Damn right it was. Touching Freya was a mistake that was going to cost him dearly. He was yet to see the price. I cocked my head to the side. “I didn’t ask for your pathetic apology. I want to know what you’ll do to make it right.”

He gulped, knowing he couldn’t give the right answer. Still, he tried. “I–I would never look at her again. I…”

My left eye twitched, amusement battling with annoyance. He thought he was in a position to choose? He was stupider than I’d assumed. “Your promise means shit to me,” I gritted out. “Tell me how you’d like to punish yourself.”

Minutes passed as he kept his eyes fixed on me, as if a split second of inattention would result in me gouging his eyes out. Not that that didn’t sound lucrative to me.

I sighed. “Since you can’t decide for yourself, I’ll do it for you.”

The old pig stared at my face in alarm. Good. He should be scared. He’d walked right into his biggest nightmare.

“Give him the blade.” As instructed, the blade was thrown toward him. It fell beside him on the ground.

“Your right hand. You groped her with your right hand. Am I correct?” I was feeding off his nervousness. It filled me with immense satisfaction to see him cowering like a chicken before I delivered his punishment. My lips tilted into a vicious grin.

He froze out of fear, or probably shock. It took him a few seconds to recover.

“What! No! Are you fucking crazy?” He squealed like a little child, his frantic eyes jumping between me and Chris. Fucking hell! I didn’t have…

“Come on, pick it up. I don’t have all day. I want to see my girlfriend.”

“Please, I’m sorry. Please, just let me go. I won’t tell anyone about this.” He was crying, fucking pathetic. I clicked my tongue.

“You do it yourself, or I will. And I won’t stop at just your hand.” The threat reverberated loud and clear. And it wasn’t an empty one. If the blade were in my hand, I was going to take more than just his hands. I wanted to fucking stab him in the throat and kill him. But that would get way too messy.

“What will it be?” I asked, trying one last time to spare his life, hoping he was smart enough to take the opportunity. He wasted another minute deliberating before his trembling hands reached out and grabbed the blade.

I smiled in mock appreciation. “You’re not that stupid.”

Chapter 30

He was struggling to get the words out. “If you…”

“Just tell me what you’re looking for.”

He quickly shook his head, afraid to ask for anything.

“Anything else? Whatever you need, man!” I could tell by his rapidly moving eyes and tense posture he was actually considering the blade. The quick glance Chris had given him was stopping him from committing that stupidity.

I sighed, stressed and annoyed with this episode. “You’re wasting my time. I don’t like it when people waste my time.”

A long few minutes passed. He made a decision. I grimaced at the deafening scream he let out as I watched that grabby hand fall on the dirty floor.

“He pissed himself,” Chris muttered, his face twisted with disgust.

“Shut him up.” On cue, the men who were holding him down stuffed a handkerchief into his mouth. I turned to Chris. “I’m leaving. I’ll talk to his brother, make sure he doesn’t open his mouth. Get someone to clean him up, or something. And that hand… burn it.”

“Will do.” Chris nodded, and I trusted him to keep his word. He’d been there with me for many such less-than-cordial meetings. He was as…

I glanced at my watch while walking out of the warehouse and cursed under my breath. The stupid motherfucker wasted so much of my time, and now it was past lunchtime. That important meeting was in half an hour. So much for seeing Freya. It would have to wait until the end of the day.

I got into the car and dialed my assistant.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Knightly. How can I…”

“I need a large bouquet delivered to an address.” I paused. I didn’t know her favorite flowers. That’s unacceptable. I would have to know all her favorites. But for now… “Make it peonies, pink peonies.”

“Of course. Do you want…”

A note landed to myself. “Yes.”

The final passage contained several non-English characters that were removed because they could not be identified. There were also a few instances where the meaning was unclear and had to be inferred during editing.