His breath gurgles and his movements slow the longer I hold him in a headlock. Justin digs his blunt nails into my bare forearm, though the pressure lessens as he struggles for air.
“Let me make myself clear, Justin,” I say. “You’re going to end your engagement with Madison. You won’t come near her again. You won’t breathe anywhere near her. You won’t call or text her. And you sure as shit won’teverthink about her again, especially when you’re beating your dick. Do you understand me?”
Justin’s hands fall limp, and right before he passes out, I loosen my hold around his throat. He sucks in a ragged breath.
It pisses me off that this motherfucker is alive, but I can’t kill him. Not with Jerry in his corner, making this into a bigger mess than it needs to be. Silencing Justin and forcing him to walk away from my sister is the best I can do right now.
A husky laugh breaks me out of my seething thoughts. Justin turns his head, his cheek flat on the car, and his gaze shifts to me as he laughs. “You think you can threaten me and get away with it?”
“Oh, I know I can.” I grab my pocketknife and release the blade. Justin tenses as I tap the blade’s flat side against his thigh. “I know where you live, and I will kill you in your sleep before you can utter a word to Jerry.”
Justin huffs out a laugh. “You think that scares me? I know far scarier people than you.”
A tiny smile tugs at my lips. “You need a demonstration, then. Got it.”
Justin’s eyes widen. He yelps as I grab his hand and slam it against the car while keeping him pinned in place.
“You owe me your hand and tongue, but I’ll only collect two of your fingers tonight,” I say.
Justin yells as I extend the fingers on his right hand. I wind my arm around his neck and tighten until his screams die out. Justin’s body slumps as he toes the line of blacking out. I drag him to the ground and straddle his stomach while holding hisright hand and my knife. Justin’s eyelashes flutter and his eyes roll as all the blood rushes back to his head.
“Make a sound and I’m taking a third finger,” I warn.
All I get from him is a subtle groan. I single out his index finger and drag my blade through flesh and bone. Justin’s body arches, and he throws his head back with a scream.
I shake my head and smile. “Three, then.”
I cut off his thumb, and Justin flails beneath me, begging me to stop. By the time I take his middle finger, he’s sobbing as sweat coats his forehead and temples. I lean back and watch him as he cries like the pussy that he is.
“I won’t tell anyone,” he says between sobs. “Just let me go!”
This is the man Madison was going to marry? It’s pathetic, really, how he changes his tune as soon as he experiences pain.
“What did you mean earlier about a deal?” I ask.
Justin’s eyelids crack open, and he peers at me with glassy, bloodshot eyes. “Wh-what?”
“You said something to Jerry about a deal. What deal?”
“N-nothing.”
I lean forward and grab him by the throat, squeezing with enough pressure to make it harder for him to breathe, but not impossible. “That fourth finger of yours is calling my name.”
Justin’s eyes flare wide, and he stumbles over his words. “Jerry is paying me to marry Madison. It was a deal.”
I grit my teeth. “What does he get out of it?”
“An heir.”
“That can’t be all,” I say.
My stepfather doesn’t care about anybody but himself. Having a grandchild to pass any wealth or power to isn’t something Jerry would do. It’s always what can benefit himnow.
Justin swallows hard and shakes his head. “He’ll receive ownership of a stock from my uncle?—”
Red bleeds into my vision, and I squeeze my hand over his wounds. Justin screws his eyes shut and yells, all the fight returning to him as he throws himself from side to side to get out from beneath me.
It doesn’t make sense for Justin’s uncle to lose stock in exchange for his nephew marrying Madison. The only one who benefits from that would be Jerry.
