Page 27 of Reckless

“It is. And you know it.”

“Fine. Now, what do you say we go to Jules and learn how to kick some ass?”

“Deal.”

Chapter Twelve

CALLAHAN

Gemini

Failure is apart of life.

Brush yourself off, and get back up.

“I’m displeased, Cal. What seems to be taking you such a long time to track down the guy who killed one of our family. You don’t seem to have any urgency. Do you not want to find out who did this? Or did you find out and want to hide it from me?”

A solid punch landed directly in my gut and blood filled my mouth. My arms and legs were stretched wide, held aloft by chains. They’d used tranquilizers on me to knock me out the moment I stepped foot in the casino. Then they dragged me to the basement where no one could hear me scream.

“Maybe we should ask your new girlfriend what she thinks.”

“No. Please.”

“You know we could put her where I put her sister.”

Sister?

Another punch landed, this time to my side and I felt my rib crack on impact. I swallowed a scream, wheezing in pain. I should have known he was fucking watching me and keeping tabs. It’s why I didn’t want to open myself up to have someone in my life. Carmine was doing exactly what I feared he would and now Stella was in danger. Fuck.

“Simon. Where did you take her sister again?” Carmine asked.

My head craned to look. Simon wasn’t here. He couldn’t be. But then I saw him. Arms crossed over his large chest, leaning on the door frame like he’d been there watching for some time.

“I put her with the others. She’s one of the compound’s favorites. You should get the matching set. Twins always sell well there.”

Compound? Sell?

What the fuck had I missed? And why the fuck was Simon here?

“Surprised to see me, brother?” Simon asked, pushing off the frame and walking over in front of me. “You don’t look so good.” He took my face in his hand and squeezed my cheeks. His short, sharp fingernails dug into my flesh as his usually expressive eyes looked hard and dull. It was like he was a completely different person.

Had I been too blinded by our supposed friendship to see the truth right in front of my eyes?

But then he winked at me. This mother fucker winked at me right before he slammed his fist into my stomach. Not as hard as Carmine, but enough to fucking hurt. A wad of blood came flying out of my mouth, landing centimeters away from his black boot. There was a small viscous piece of blood still dangling from my bottom lip swinging back and forth before it slid down onto my chin.

I don’t know how long I’d been there or how long they planned to keep me like this. Time seemed to ebb and drift away from me as black spots flickered in my vision.

“Simon, why don’t you take him home. Seems like he might have learned his lesson,” Carmine said.

“Sure thing, Uncle.”

I heard a shuffle of feet leaving the room and then it was just me and Simon.

His hands worked on my restraints. First freeing my legs and then my arms. I dropped with a heavy thud, landing on my crumpled legs. I could barely feel them anymore. “Hey, hey,” Simon slapped the side of my face. “Don’t go passing out on me. I’m going to get you home and have the doctor come look at you.”

This hot and cold act from him was pissing me off. I didn’t know what to believe. But I didn’t have much of a choice. My body was barely functioning, and I was seconds away from passing the fuck out. I needed water. And rest. And a hospital.

The way my chest and stomach felt made me wonder if I was bleeding internally. My eyes closed and I heard Simon calling for help.