Outlaw's Vow: Grizzlies MC Romance(44)

I pinched my eyes shut. Zee grabbed my face, pressing his hands tight to both sides, and twisted my head around hard, forcing my eyes where he wanted them.

“Look, you stupid little bitch. I want you to understand – he's going to die. It's just a question of whether or not you go with him. Now, tell me truthfully, girl...were you involved in this ambush?”

“No!”

I could barely hear my own voice. It came out sharp, cold and distant, like I'd tried to shout down a long, vacant tunnel to someone on the other side.

“Hm. I almost believe you, Elle Mathers. Let's see if your daddy's got a little life left in him...”

Zee spun, and began walking over to my father, corralled by the two dead-eyed killers at his side. I hung my head, refusing to watch, even though it risked the mafia don doing something much worse.

God damn it, daddy, you screwed up BAD, I thought, hiding my tears. I can't watch you die like this.

I can't.

Zee had other ideas. He pulled my father's face up and lifted something from his pocket. I flinched, thinking it was going to be the garrote.

Oh God, I was going to watch the mobster slash his throat in front of me. No, wait. It was just a handgun.

Sighing relief at the sight was so sick and twisted I wanted to laugh.

Then the Dragon don slammed it hard across daddy's jaw. His blue eyes opened, going gray with anger.

“What the fuck?!” Daddy screamed through the blood filling his mouth.

“Shut up, Gil!” Another vicious blow landed on his jaw, this time the opposite side. “So nice of you to join the living again – for just a little while longer, anyway. I'm giving you one chance to save your daughter. Only one. And just to show you I'm serious...”

Zee turned to his men and shouted in Chinese.

Bring the others in, the ones we haven't killed.

Daddy groaned in Zee's grip, his head turning, like he wanted so badly to shake off the dizzy, hellish pain clouding his mind. For a second, our eyes met.

I had to look away. One more moment, and I'd have lost it, seeing nothing but I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry mirrored in his eyes, over and over again.

Apologies wouldn't help us now. We needed a miracle.

“Ahhh, there they are.” Zee smiled and let my father fall to the dusty concrete floor, clapping his hands together.

He switched to Chinese, barking his orders with bloodlust. Line them up. That's right, one by one, and keep your eyes on these fucking bastards. They'll try anything when they figure out how fucked they are.

Six guys were still alive. It was a small relief, but my heart thudded hopefully, amazed to see anyone in the club alive.

Uncle Line looked up, his single good eye going wide when he saw me. His mouth opened in a silent, round curse.

Oh, shit.

Zee's two underlings were joined by two more, all of them cold, quiet men in business suits. They went down the line one-by-one, checking the handcuffs on each man, then stepping behind them on opposite ends of the row when they were finished.

Their bastard leader turned his attention back to my poor father, grabbing his hair. “Nice, clear view, yes? How strange it must be to see your men lined up, defeated, completely at my mercy, Gil.”

“Fuck you,” daddy growled. “Don't know how yet, but I'm gonna fuckin' kill you, motherfucker. I'll rip your balls off with my bare fuckin' hands.”

Zee laughed. Not just a throaty chuckle, but a full, high pitched, scary-as-shit hyena cackle. I wished I could've covered my ears, if only to pretend we weren't all at the mercy of this ruthless psychopath.

“Aww, so feisty. I wonder what it will take to break a man like you, Gil. Yes, I could take the easy route and execute your daughter in front of you.” Zee looked at me, and I froze, my blood running glacial. “No, too easy. She only dies if she's guilty. We don't kill the innocent here. Fortunately, I have my pick of you and your troops, all of them guilty as sin. You'll die, Gil, but not too quickly, I hope.”

“Fuck...” Daddy tried to twist in the mafia devil's grip, but he was too dazed, too screwed up to fight the death grip the man had on his throat.

“I'm going to break you first. We'll start with that one-eyed jackal at the end, and see how far we get today. Sound good?”

“Line...”

Oh, God. No. No, no, no.

Not Uncle Line!

The Vice President shared a look with daddy, and he nodded, accepting whatever fate these animals had planned. Daddy's eyes bulged in horror, and he shook his head, refusing to accept it.

I just cowered, trying not to remember all the times my Uncle Line bounced me on his knee, or let me stay up late when daddy was gone, watching crappy reruns and eating pizza.

The mafia men all seemed to have garrote wires like Zee. I watched one of them step up, put his arm around Line's throat, then pull a sharp string around it.