RYDER (Slater Brothers 4) (27 page)

I shook my head. “Your son was a dirty paedophile who hurt children, it was justifiable what he got. I personally think he got off too eas—”

Big Phil cut me off with a bang to the face. It was so forceful, that the knock caused me to surge backwards, tipping the chair until it fell and hit the ground. I cried out in pain as fire spread across my cheek and pounding pain erupted at the back of my head.

“I’ll kill you right now if you talk about my son like that again, do you hear me?”

Death—to just be gone from this Earth, was what I wanted, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask for it. I didn’t acknowledge Big Phil’s warning, I only continued to whine in pain.

“That’s why
you’re
here,” he pressed. “I can’t have Aideen, and your sister is always with Nico. Alec and his woman are together constantly as well. That other girl in your group is single, and Damien has no one so that left
you
. I thought you would be as hard as the others to snatch, but I’ve come to learn a lot about Ryder’s routine, and yours. He leaves you alone a lot with only Damien for protection when you aren’t at the hospital. That was the weak link in your chain, and I took advantage of it.”

It sent chills up my spine that a stranger knew so much about us. It was a feeling I couldn’t describe—it made my already churned stomach twist once more.

“So that’s the answer to
that
question,” I said, curtly. “What’s the answer to me other one?”

I yelped when the chair I was bound to was pulled back into an upright position, and the blindfold I wore was yanked from my face. My instant reaction was to close my eyes until they adjusted to the light. It didn’t take long because the room I was in was dimly lit, and thanks to the window facing me, I could see through the net curtains that it was dark outside.

How long am I here?

I felt a presence to my left, so I turned and looked at the man who stood next to me. He was taller than the brothers with a normal build, but his face was severely scarred. He reminded me of
Freddie Kruger
, and that thought didn’t bode well with me. I refused to show it though.

“Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.”

He slapped me across the face, and then laughed.

“I think you’re a bigger pain in the ass than Aideen was.”

I scrunched up my face in pain before I turned my head back in his direction and glared up at him. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You shouldn’t,” he countered. “Mouthy pieces of ass give me headaches, and you and Aideen are a cut above the rest. I don’t understand what Ryder and Kane see in you both.”

I wasn’t fazed by the insult.

“You won’t ever want to meet Bronagh or Keela then, they’re
worse
than us.”

Big Phil lips quirked before he walked away from me and moved over to a fireplace across the room. He opened up a small bag of coal, threw two or three pieces into the already lit fire along with some wooden sticks. He reached over and lifted a poker from its stand and used it to move around the fire contents.

I used his distraction to take in my surroundings. I was surprised at what I saw because for some reason, when he said he brought me to his apartment, I envisioned it as being small, dark, cold and dirty, but it was the complete opposite. The sitting room I was in was really spacious and even with the lights dimmed, you could see everything clearly—the decor was beautiful. I wasn’t expecting such an evil scumbag to be living in such a nice place.

“Why’d you pick such a nice place to live?” I asked, still glancing around.

“Because I have standards,” Big Phil replied in
duh
tone.

I rolled my eyes.

“It wasn’t nice when I moved in,” he continued. “I decorated it because once Kane is dead, I plan on ending my life too. My son is gone, and once his life is avenged, there is no reason for me to exist anymore. I want the place where I’m going to die to be comfortable… the condition it was in before didn’t cut it.”

If I didn’t know what a scumbag he was, and what a monster his son was, I’d think him a pretty great father.

“I won’t kill you,” he suddenly said, regaining my attention.

He was still hunkered down in front of the fire, but the poker he had a few moments ago was still in the fire—the pointy end was anyway.

“Why not?” I asked, curious to know why.

I wasn’t pleased with his answer because if he didn’t kill me, it meant I would leave here and go back to my life of nothingness.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were sad with my answer.”

I shrugged. “I rather die than listen to you talk, but you can’t blame me.”

I wasn’t letting him know a thing about my life, it would only give him more information about me, and he had enough of
that
.

Big Phil laughed. “Smartass.”

I looked away from him and scanned the room once more. If I wasn’t going to die here, then I needed to figure a way out. The door leading out of the sitting room was closed, and the only other exits were two windows in the room. I wasn’t sure how high up the apartment was, and from my angle, the window I could see out of, there was no fire escape next to it so I had no way down even if I somehow managed to get free and get it open.

“If you aren’t goin’ to kill me,” I said and returned my attention to Big Phil. “What are you goin’ to do with me?”

He smiled at me but it didn’t improve his face whatsoever, in fact, it only made him look creepier.

“You’re the bait.”

I blinked. “Lucky me.”

“I’m goin’ to contact Kane, tell him I have you, then set up an exchange. I’m not playing around anymore. He took a life, and I plan to reciprocate.by taking his.”

I felt like I was in a very bad non-fantasy
Avengers
film with the crap this man was spewing.

“He won’t leave his fiancée and son.”

“Bullshit,” Big Phil growled. “I know Kane, and he considers you family. He will come for you if I ask, he will know I hold your life in my hands.”

I set my jaw. “Fine, let’s say he comes, he won’t be alone and you know that.”

“I have more than one bullet, Branna. Kane
will
die tonight, and if another Slater brother or two being put down first gets that result, then so be it.”

“You disgusting son of a bitch!” I bellowed and fear shot through me. “Stay the
hell
away from me family!”

He laughed at me then took out his phone. “Give me his number.”

“Fuck you!”

He moved across the room to me in a couple of seconds and fisted his hand on my hair. He pulled my hair with such force that I felt him pulling clumps out at the root. I screamed and tried not to give into him, or the pain, but it hurt too much.

I cried out Kane’s number so Big Phil released me, punched the numbers into his phone and put it to his ear. He stroked my face as I cried from the throbbing in my head. He remained in front of me when he began speaking.

“Guess who?” Big Phil sneered.

I closed my eyes and wished for a way to get free so I could push this waste of space into the burning fire across the room and finish the job Kane started all those years ago.

“You know why I’m calling you. You’re missing someone from your close knit group, are you not?” Big Phil chuckled after a couple of seconds. “You always were a smart cookie.”

I heard shouting then.

“There is no need for that language, or for the yelling, I’m on the phone with you, not a thousand miles away. I can hear you perfectly.”

He was
such
a dickhead.

I jumped and opened my eyes when the phone was pressed to my ear.

“Confirm you’re here.”

I licked my lips and said, “Kane?”

I heard sharp intakes of breath, then a whimper or two. Big Phil then pulled the phone away and put it on speaker so he could hear what was being said to me.

“I’m here,” he said. “We all are.”

I heard the echo on Kane’s end—he had me on speakerphone, too.

My eyes instantly pooled with tears.

“Let ‘im kill me, okay? Don’t come for me, he plans to kill you all just to get to you Kane—”

Big Phil pulled the phone away from my ear and punched me in the stomach, which caused me wheeze, and choke on air as blinding pain consumed me. He hit me on the head once more but I barely felt that over the agony in my stomach. I felt a sharp tug as he fisted his hand in my hair one more time. It took a minute, but when I could focus on something other than my pain, I heard all sorts of screaming coming from the phone in Big Phil’s hand.

“Stop,” my sister pleaded. “Please, stop hurtin’ her. She’s done nothin’ wrong!
Please
.”

“I
will
kill you for this, Philip,” Ryder cut in, his voice menacing. “What you do to her, consider it child’s play compared to what I will do to you.”

My heart jumped the second I heard his voice and was shocked at the instant anger I had towards him but still wanted nothing more than to be in his arms.

“You probably will, but I plan to put your brother down, too, boy. Let’s see who can make good on their promise first.”

Before Ryder could reply, Big Phil walked over to the fireplace, took something from the mantle piece, and then advanced back on me. I was whimpering in pain already, but when I saw what was in his hand I screamed.

“No!” I pleaded. “Stay away from me.”

He had a blade of some sort in his hand, it was sharp, long and I knew it was going to be inside of some part of my body soon. I fought against my restraints with that knowledge. Without speaking to me, or acknowledging my pleas in any way, Big Phil kneeled before me and jammed the blade into my thigh and pulled, slicing my flesh open.

The scream that tore out of me was one you would hear in a horror film.

“Branna!” Ryder roared, but this time his voice sounded far away.

I heard Kane’s shouts from the speakerphone, too, but everything blended together except the pain I felt. It consumed me, and with every pulse of my beating heart, it became more agonising.

Big Phil lied; he
was
going to kill me, because my body couldn’t take much more.

I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder then, and when I looked to see what was causing it, I widened my eyes as I watched the blade that cut my thigh, being pulled from my shoulder. I stared at my now bleeding wound and felt lightheaded.

He stabbed me. Again.

“Omigod,” I whispered and continued to stare at it.

Surprisingly, I didn’t move a muscle; instead I sat still as I felt blood seep out of the hole that now marred my shoulder.

Things were quiet and eerily peaceful in that moment until suddenly the shock of what just happened wore off and the agony set in. I cried out when what felt like fire filled my shoulder, and thigh then quickly turned to a sickening throbbing. Each pain pulse reminding me that this was real, and not some sick nightmare.

I’m really somebody’s captive, and he is really going to kill me.

“Stop your screaming,” Big Phil hissed. “They’re just flesh wounds, not deep enough for you to bleed out, so
stop
.”

Oh, they were just flesh wounds. That made them not hurt.

“Ryder?” he suddenly said, tapping on the screen on his phone and placing it against his ear. “Are you still there?”

I held my breath when Big Phil spoke even though the throbbing in my shoulder and thigh demanded I scream to release some of the pain I felt.

“I’m going to cut to the chase, I want Kane for Branna.”

Silence.

“You want to test me right now?” the sick fuck laughed. “I’m putting you back on speaker. I want you to
hear
her more clearly so you understand I’m
not
playing.”

He put his phone down on the table close by and he advanced on me once more, his eyes locked on me with a sick smirk on his face.

“Get away from me,” I pleaded then screamed bloody murder when he reached me and grabbed hold of my wounded shoulder, pressing his thumb into the wound.

“I’ll kill you!” Ryder’s voice screamed through the phone.

Big Phil laughed some more as he moved away from me and picked up the poker from the fire. I cried then, tears falling from my eyes in streams.

“Please,” I sobbed. “
Please
don’t do this. I’m
beggin’
you.”

My pleas only fuelled him on, and in seconds he was standing before me holding the burning red head poker inches away from my skin. I could already feel the boiling heat from it, and I whimpered in fear.

“Tell Ryder what I have in my hand, Branna.”

“A…a hot poker.” I answered, my voice shaking.

Big Phil nodded. “And what am I going to do with it?”

I cried. “Please, don’t.”

“You’re bleeding more than I’d like, so it has to be done.” He said to me making it sound like he was doing me a favour.

“You shouldn’t have stabbed me then!” I shouted.

Big Phil ignored me, and pressed the hot end of the poker against my wound and for a few seconds I was consumed by darkness. I came to just as the same blinding pain consumed my leg and I blacked out once more, my body falling to the side and hitting the floor with a loud thud.

“Branna?” Ryder’s voice screamed. “BRANNA?”

“Shut up fucking screaming!” Big Phil snapped as he lifted the chair, and me, back to an upright position. “She’s fine, just passed out for a second. I used the scalding poker end to burn her wounds to stop her bleeding. You’re welcome.”

“When I fucking get my hands on you,” Ryder swore, “I’m going to kill you slowly. I’m going to make you beg for death!”

“I’m not afraid to die,” Big Phil dryly replied. “It’s only a heartbeat away.”

I willed myself to stay awake, though my body pleaded desperately to succumb to the bliss that was darkness. I managed to open my eyes in time to see that the next thing Big Phil cut was the restraints on my ankles and wrists. I fell forward when my limbs fell free, but he caught me and hauled me over to the big sofa near the fire. He dropped me onto it, and it was the stupidest thing to think of considering the circumstances, but the sofa was like landing on a soft cloud and for a moment I felt like I was already in Heaven.