“Is redundant. He runs the cathouses and the fucked-up boarding school circuits just like his daddy, and we take care of the hard stuff. I don’t see what the problem is, little brother.” He eyeballs me and then laughs, shaking his head. “Only that you’re his fucking bum buddy and you think you can come in here and take what’s rightfully mine.”
Viola’s hand reaches forward and tightens around the stem of the remaining glass of wine as it rests on the table. There’s no cutlery on the table. Just plates, glasses, and some kind of finger food. Viola is right to see the glass as a weapon. It’s the only thing in the room apart from the candlesticks in the middle of the table that she could grab in a hurry.
Kristian sees it too and yanks Viola back by her hair. His motion knocks over the glass in her hand. She manages to smash and grab hold of it until he casually sticks a knife to her throat. I’m already on my feet.
“Don’t move,” Kristian says, eyes on me. As red wine pools all over the table and onto the white carpeted floor, Viola also looks my way. She’s not making a sound. She also doesn’t move either. My nostrils flare and my heart slams in my fucking chest, but I hold up a hand to calm my brother down. Kristian won’t hesitate to kill her. Viola…I’ve no idea what she’s going to do. I could do with backup right about now. Where the fuck are the others? As if to answer my question, my phone in my pocket vibrates. Something is wrong. If someone is trying to call me something is very fucking wrong. Shit. The line was either disconnected or there’s a bigger problem.
But now I know for certain.
They’re not coming.
“I haven’t shoved my dick inside this one yet. I wanted you to watch, baby brother,” he says, looking at me across the table. “It’ll be like old times.” He grins when I just look at him with black eyes.
He used to make me watch. I fucking hated him for it, despised him because I got off on it. I was just a kid, but I didn’t even care if he hurt them. That’s how fucked up our family was. Still is.
“I’m going to destroy you,” I say softly.
Behind me, there’s the light step of someone approaching quickly, and then the feel of cool metal at the back of my head. My brother’s grin widens. “Maybe not today, eh? Now sit the fuck down, Kardinal, and enjoy the entertainment with your meal.” His gaze flicks to Viola whose hand is shaking as she holds the glass stem of the wine glass. Blood oozes from her palms. She must have cut herself. “And you, what the fuck are you doing with that? You little bitch. Drop it or I’ll blow a hole in his fucking head.”
Viola hisses but drops the glass.
Whoever is behind me, my vote is on the heavy who escorted me in here, shoves the end of the gun into my head. “You were told to sit.”
I sit, reluctantly, hands gripping the leather seat while Kristian drags Viola up by her hair and forces her back down onto the glass table, into the mess of red wine and shards all over it. She kicks and bites, but Kristian doesn’t fucking care. He laughs as she fights him, and all I can do is watch in slow fucking motion.