“Like I would go to prison for those sluts wanting to be fucked. They should be thanking me. I was nice enough to give it to them—and good, I might add.” A sick slash of satisfaction settles over his mouth. His pride and ego are clearly running the show. His self-righteous confidence makes me want to throw my gloves down right here.
“You keep telling yourself those fucked-up lies. Because it’s those lies that are going to have you begging on your knees for forgiveness.”
“Yeah, right,” he says. Laughing, he throws up his hands. “And there’s not a damn thing you can do to make that happen.”
I take a step closer to him, then lean in. “You should know, the other night was just a taste of what I could do to you. I could bring so much pain down on your ass that you may never walk again, or worse, you’d never be able to get your fucking dick up again.” I tap my finger against my lips as he snarls. Grinning, I add, “Hmmm, yeah, that might not be a bad idea. One less rapist in the world sounds good.”
He tries to take a step back, but I grab his wrist. “Get your hands off me, or I’ll sue you. You know my dad?—”
“Is a piece of shit like you, yeah, so I’ve heard. It seems you guys like twinning it. You’re both dick-less and think women are yours to do whatever you want. I’m here to remind you that they’re not!”
He jerks his hand away. “You can’t prove anything,” he spits.
“Josh, listen carefully. I know what you intended to do to me, what you were planning. You thought you knew exactly what I wanted, and you were going to be the one who gave it to me nice and good. So there’s that, my word against yours. But this isthe part you’ll want to pay close attention to.” I grab him again, digging my nails into his forearm. Wetness pools under my fingers. He tries to pull away. I tighten my hold as I loop my boot around the back of his leg, planting it at the heel of his loafer. “Not only could I kick your ass into tomorrow, but there’s shit on you now—a video of you in action. And I think that alone will be enough to dig up every shred of evidence your daddy buried to keep his sorry-ass son out of prison. Then your ass would really be in a sling before you even have a chance to get your dick up.”
His face turns a few shades lighter with that little detail. I drop his wrist. Blood is smeared across his skin and my fingers.
I look at my hand in disgust. “I’m getting tired of having your blood on me.” I wipe my hand down the front of his white shirt. Stunned, he looks at his arm, then at his shirt. The idiot’s eyes widen when he sees the blood. “This is the part when you say, ‘Okay, I’ll go make things right.’”
He growls with rage as he storms off. He knows I’ve got him by the balls. This time, he can’t run.
Eden comes up next to me. “What the hell was that all about?” She unlocks the door and climbs into her car, slamming the heavy door behind her.
I climb into the passenger side. “Josh is being difficult. I told him to turn himself in, and he was an asshole about it.” I shrug. “So I had to up my game. I can’t let him get away with what he tried to do to me or what he’s already done to others or will do in the future.”
“You’re a hero.” She turns the key. The engine roars to life.
I scoff. “Yeah, don’t go that far.”
“You are!” she argues.
She might retract that statement and her friendship if she only knew what I plan.
28
KINSLEY
“Birthday time!”Luca bursts into the kitchen holding a bouquet of at least twenty balloons, a cookie cake, and a small, wrapped gift. “I see you counting. There are twenty-one, to be exact. Nineteen, for obvious reasons, plus one for good luck. And the giant birthday one because it was a must-have.” He hands the balloons to me as he sets the cookie cake on the island.
“Luca, you’re making me look bad,” my uncle says when he enters the kitchen, eyes wide. “My gourmet breakfast of an omelet, bacon, and toast is flying right out the window.”
I tie the balloons around the dining room chair. Then I hug my uncle around the waist. “Breakfast was amazing!” My eyes shift to Luca. “As for you, this is way overdoing it.”
“What, a guy can’t spoil his best friend?”
“Of course you can.” I hug him. “Thank you!”
He hands me the wrapped present. “Here, open it.”
“This can’t be better than what Uncle Trey gave me,” I challenge.
Luca’s face falls as if it were a real competition. “What did he give you?”
“A free lifetime membership to the Serpent’s Spear Dojo,” my uncle says proudly.
I bump his shoulder. “That and a trip to Venice Beach. Well, a hotel room for the weekend whenever I want to use it,” I add.
Luca looks at my uncle. “Nice one, sensei.”
