Chapter 27 – By Fate I Conquer Cora Reilly Read Online Free
“F*ck, the stupid whore scratched me.” Cody shoved me away from himself. I landed on my knees before Earl, gasping from the sharp twinge, but I quickly pushed to my feet. I’d never kneel before someone like him.
He sneered. “Still too proud to bow to your betters?” He shook his head. “Just like your old man.”
“One day my father’s going to make you regret the day you were born,” I said, lifting my chin. A feeling of utter helplessness washed through me, but I didn’t let it take control.
Earl smiled in a way that froze my blood. “I was so close to allowing your old man to exchange himself for you, but something about his voice was just lacking the necessary submissiveness I was expecting in a situation like this, you know?”
I swallowed, not liking the way the bikers were looking at me. I couldn’t blame Dad. It wasn’t in his blood to be submissive. Even if he’d tried to appear that way, it would have never been convincing.
“Today, I’m going to make him regret the day he went against Tartarus and teach him his new place.”
He nodded at Cody who grabbed my neck and pressed me against the bar counter. Sharp pain shot through my hipbones from the impact. He shoved my head down so my right cheek pressed against the sticky wooden surface. The stench of cheap liquor was almost overwhelming.
Earl came into view, holding a long knife. I tried to move back but Cody held me tightly, his body pressed against mine in the vilest way. The blade gleamed in the light of the lamps over the bar. Panic worked its way through my body like poison.
Earl held up the knife with a vicious smile, watching my reaction. I wished I managed to look brave and indifferent, but I was too terrified of what he might do. “You are too f*cking pretty, whore. That perfect face makes me angry every time I see it.”
Fear choked me as he moved even closer, holding the sharp tip of the knife right before my left eye.
“I wonder what you’d do without those lethal looks.” He smiled in a bone-chilling way, revealing one golden tooth.
“Don’t,” I pressed out. I wanted to sound fierce and threatening but sounded terrified and almost begging, but I couldn’t help it. What if he blinded me? There was still so much I wanted to see, so many things I hadn’t appreciated enough because I’d thought I’d have time to look at them. My heart throbbed furiously, blood pumping through my veins like an avalanche.
“I’m sorry, sugar, but I need a little gift for your old man. He needs to know we’re not playing. We’ll destroy him.”
He moved the knife even closer. Where was Maddox? God, where was he?
When the blade sliced into me, a high-pitched scream tore from the deepest part of my body until everything pitched into darkness.
The moment I stepped into the clubhouse, I knew something was f*cking wrong. Ruby, Earl’s favorite girl and stupid enough to think he’d ever make her his old lady, had a satisfied smirk on her face as Earl wiped blood off his knife. Blood also covered the bar. My heart lurched. “What happened here?” I asked, trying to hide my worry.
Earl sheathed his knife calmly, looking bored as f*ck. “Taught the Vitiello princess a lesson and her old man too.”
F*ck. Earl must have used his spare key to get inside my room. I shoved past a grinning Cody and stormed upstairs, my pulse pounding. What the f*ck had he done? I thought Vitiello was ready for the exchange? I unlocked the door and shoved into the room. Blood splatters covered the ground, leading into the small bathroom.
Blood had never bothered me. After the carnage Vitello had caused before my eyes as a little boy I was too hardened to be bothered by it. And yet, the sight of these few blood splatters made my heart race.
I followed them into the bathroom then came to a staggering stop in the doorway.
Marcella perched on the edge of the toilet, face ashen, shoulders and wife beater covered in blood. She pressed a towel over the left side of her face. “What happened?” I asked, fearing the worst. Earl had been like a father to me, but I knew what he was capable of. Over the years, his obsession with revenge had grown rapidly, even worse than my own.
She lowered the towel that her trembling hand had been clutching against the side of her head. Seeing her blue eyes intact, relief washed over me, but then I registered her ear, which was bleeding profusely. It took me a moment to see that Earl had cut her left earlobe off.
My vision turned red and I whirled around and thundered down the creaky stairs. I could barely breathe from fury. My ears were ringing, my temple throbbing. I stormed into the common area. Earl and Cody sat on barstools and downed bourbon as if to celebrate their success.
I charged toward Earl and grabbed his cut, jerking him off the stool. “We agreed not to torture her! You swore it.” I’d never talked to my uncle like that, especially not in front of others.
Earl’s eyes narrowed and he grabbed my wrist in a bone-crushing grip, trying to unlock my fingers but I didn’t release him. He’d grown old, but not less vicious. “What have you done?” I seethed. For the first time in my life, I wanted to kill him.
“Don’t forget who’s pulling the f*cking strings in the club, Maddox,” he muttered, his expression full of warning. “And don’t forget who took you in when the little whore’s old man slaughtered your father.”
Cody had stood from his barstool and was ready to interfere. He’d had an eye on the position as second in command for years, always saying I was too young for the position. Killing me would make his day.
I unfurled my fingers, took a deep breath and stepped back. “You shouldn’t have done it. You went too far. I never agreed to this shit. I want to torture and kill Luca Vitiello, not Marcella.”
Earl tilted his head, stepping closer and regarding me with a challenging smile. “Is she getting under your skin? Where are your loyalties?”
“With the club,” I said.
Earl’s lips tightened. In the past they’d always lain with him but after what he’d done today, I wouldn’t follow him blindly ever again. “I am the club, don’t forget that, Maddox. If you want revenge, you better stop getting into bed with Vitiello’s spawn. She’s making you lose focus. Maybe it wasn’t wise of me to allow you to take her into your room. Maybe we should all share her.”
Cody’s face lit up like a f*cking Christmas tree. I’d cut his d!ck off before I’d let him anywhere near Marcella.
“I’m not losing focus,” I said in a much calmer voice. “But provoking Vitiello like that could lead to rash actions on his part. You know what he’s capable of.”
Earl smiled grimly. “This time, we are in control. He won’t catch us by surprise like last time. With his daughter in our hands, he’ll think twice before acting.”
Up until this point, I would have agreed with my uncle’s assessment. Luca wouldn’t risk Marcella’s wellbeing, but now that my uncle had started torturing her… my blood boiled, my chest constricting. Earl didn’t take his eyes off me. “With your actions, you forced Vitiello’s hand. He won’t wait for you to cut off more pieces of his daughter, Uncle. I thought he was ready to exchange himself.”
“He won’t find us. We’re well hidden. And if he attacks another of our brothers, we’ll send him another piece of her until he learns his place.” He climbed back on the barstool and emptied his bourbon. “He wanted to exchange himself but I didn’t like his tone when we talked. He still thinks he’s better than us. Until he learns his place, his daughter stays with us.”
I’d secretly wished for more time with Marcella, but not like this.
“The longer this takes, the higher the risk for all of us,” I said, fighting to keep my voice under control.
“I’m in control,” Earl said, his voice laced with spite.
I gave a terse nod, seething. Cody gave me a superior look that made me want to smash his face against the wall. I could imagine how he’d gotten off on seeing Marcella being tortured. Just thinking about it made me want to put a bullet through his and even Earl’s head. F*ck.
I stalked back to my room, my mind reeling for a solution to the predicament I was in. Marcella was no longer safe in this place. Now that my uncle had begun torturing her, he wouldn’t stop. He enjoyed it too much. F*ck. I, too, wanted blood, but not Marcella’s. I wanted her father’s brutal end, not hers.
I found Marcella still in the bathroom. She hadn’t moved from her spot on the toilet seat and was watching blood drip from her ear, drop after drop, and landing at her bare feet. By now, most of her nail polish had peeled off, but what remained of it had the same color as her blood.
She ignored me and peered down at her feet. Then slowly she lifted her head but she still wasn’t looking at me. I stared at her profile, trying to sort through my whirlwind of emotions.
Even in a tattered and bloody wife beater and my old boxer shorts, Snow White looked more regal than any queen on a throne of gold and diamonds ever could. She carried her invisible crown with unabashed pride. F*ck, this woman had been born to be a queen and she f*cking owned that title.
I kneeled down beside her but she didn’t look my way. Instead, she kept staring straight ahead, her eyes distant.
By Fate I Conquer Cora Reilly Read Online PDF Free Download Bookmark this site “www.NovelKoo.Com” for Daily Updates.