Chapter 26: 17| Bones-2

I glanced at Jay as I picked up the knife again. "Don't worry, it's not your turn yet." He couldn't turn in his seat and with his position so he couldn't glance far enough over his shoulder to see what I was doing. He would simply hear Nathan's screams, not knowing what I was doing or when I would stop, not knowing when I would grab him instead. I stood in front of Nathan and lifted the knife to his chin, tilting it up, demanding that he meet my gaze. My voice was low and quiet, my words sharp as I asked him, "How dare you touch her?" Realization dawned on him and he stared at me in disbelief. "Her?" he questioned, "this is… Is this all because of that bitch?" He scoffed loudly, shaking his head. "Amara Milano, was it?" He laughed humorlessly, "How dare I touch her? She was in my way, Harper. She's lucky she got away." "Got away?" I mused, walking back to the tray and grabbing a dagger instead. "If I recall correctly, she walked out alive and your men were dead on the floor, Nathan." His eyes flared up with fury and rage as he struggled to gain stability and yelled out in a mix of pain and frustration. "She deserved it!" he shouted, "she was the one who came to us, Harper, don't you forget that! You think I didn't recognize her? You think I didn't know who she was?" I watched him blankly. "If you knew who she was and still tried attacking her, you're denser than I thought, Nathan," I replied, lifting the dagger to his forearm and slicing across it, watching as blood trickled onto the floor beneath him while he screamed in pain. He ground his teeth and continued, "Amara is a pretentious little bitch. She thinks she rules the world." He snickered and glanced up at the thumb cuffs as they started slowly tearing up his skin. "She grew up on her father's money, and became an attorney, so she thinks she can beat anyone." "Regardless of that," I smirked, moving to his other bicep, "I'm sure anyone could beat you." I cut down that arm as well, stepping back before his blood could taint my clothes. "If it weren't for Jay, that little bitch would have been taken care of," he tried again. I nodded slowly and hummed, "Since you tried to drug her?" He scoffed once again. "Your little friend from earlier didn't let that happen now, did he?" I remained silent, watching his blood pool on the floor. "Who do you think would be worse? Me or him?" I questioned. "After all, you weren't just trying to drug Amara, were you?" "I'm no stranger to Dante Rossi. Both of your names are spoken in hushed whispers in this city, Harper." "Yet you chose to put your hands on the wrong woman." Stepping around him, I placed the edge of the dagger on his shoulder blade and cut right across it. "Is she yours?" he questioned, panting softly, "is she your wife? Your girlfriend? Or just your whore?" A scream left his lips as I delivered another sharp slash on his other shoulder blade before cutting along the length of his spine, leaving trails of blood dripping down his back. Without pausing, I continued cutting across his back, allowing the blade to choose each spot of its own will until every inch of his skin was covered and dripping with blood. I glanced at my hand as I rounded up to stand in front of him again. There still isn't a single drop of his blood on my hands. After hours of his agonized screams filling the warehouse, he started to grow dizzy, his eyes rolled back into his head before fluttering shut as he passed out. I let out a sigh and walked back to the table, sitting in the chair he was tied to just moments ago. Throwing the dagger on the table, I turned to Jay. "Your turn," I announced, grabbing the back of his neck, and forcing him to meet my gaze. "Should we play a little game of Trivia first?" He struggled to breathe without me doing anything. "You wouldn't happen to know how many bones there are in the human body, would you?" He shook his head hesitantly. "Two hundred and six," I answered in a low whisper. "Start counting." I stood up while tightening my grip on his neck. "Please!" he shouted out, "I tried to stop him, I swear I did!" Grounding my teeth in annoyance, I stopped. Scoffing, I let go of him and leaned back in my chair. Staring ahead, I thought about it for several minutes. He was clueless and a waste of my energy and rage. "What do you do for Nathan?" I interrogated him. "Whatever he needs me to do. I source whatever he needs." My attention drifted to Nathan as he groaned lightly behind us, slipping in and out of consciousness. "Are you really going to kill me?" Jay asked, sighing softly. "Why? Are you ready to die tonight?" I questioned. A dry chuckle escaped me as he stilled in fear. My gaze narrowed lightly as I watched him. "You kissed her," I stated. He blinked, then replied dumbfoundedly, "She's fucking pretty." Ridiculous. He's lovestruck even in the face of death. "Stop talking if you want to stay alive," I warned. He swallowed nervously, staring at the ground. Exhaling, I ran my tongue along the inside of my cheek and tilted my head to one side, observing him. "Will you work for me?" His gaze snapped up to mine, stunned. "What?" "Work for me and I'll let you live. You have one job. Just one. If and when you find out somebody's going after her… I don't care who it is. Report it to me." His brows furrowed in doubt. "You… want me to look out for her?" "Hmm," I nodded once, "can you do it?" He nodded frantically, "Of course." "Great," I stood up and moved to the tray, picking up the keys for the thumb cuffs. "You're free to go." Moving behind him, I unlocked the cuffs, throwing them on the table. I grabbed his shoulders and pushed him back down as he moved to stand up. "Stay the fuck away from her," I warned, keeping my voice low as I dropped down to his ear. "Keep your eyes down and your hands…" I glanced at him, "and lips to yourself. Understood?" "Understood," he mumbled. Standing upright, I squeezed his shoulders. "Get out." My gaze followed him as he ran out without glancing back even once. Judging from his behavior, he wouldn't report me because he was too afraid of me, and he wouldn't cross me because he was too afraid of dying. He wouldn't go near Amara because of those reasons either. I let out a loud sigh and reached for the gun in my waistband as I faced Nathan who was conscious once again. "Shall we wrap this up now, Mr. Roberts?" I asked, "I'm tired of this game. And truth be told, you're really fucking boring." He scoffed as blood began pooling in his mouth. "Did you think I would regret it?" he mumbled drowsily. "If I could kill that bitch with my bare hands, I would do it myself." I rolled my eyes and took the safety off the gun, aiming the pistol at him. "If I could-" "It's too bad you can't, Nathan," I cut him off before blindly shooting all thirteen rounds at him. Each bullet pierced his abdomen and chest, each gunshot echoed at a deafeningly loud volume in the warehouse, and the sound of every bullet shell hitting the ground followed. Placing my gun on the table, I grabbed my phone and dialed Dante once again. Hours had passed since he left. I looked ahead as the shutter opened and then closed followed by footsteps. Moments later, Dante strolled back in. "Need me yet?" he asked knowingly. His gaze drifted to the body hanging behind me. "Creative," he nodded, "messy but creative nonetheless. What now?" "I need to burn the body and the evidence." I pointed toward the knives. "I need to clean and wrap all this up too. Care to help?" "What do I get in return?" he asked. I stared at him blankly. "After the night I've had, you get to go home with all your bones intact, Dante. Collect your debt some other day. I'll bring the mop." . . . . . Chapter 17