Page 144 of Dissolving Prejudice

Without thinking it through, I turned it on and hit the gas.

Diesel

My head hurt, it hurt bad, but not as much as my left hand. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, I could feel the broken bones. The pain was nearly unbearable, drilling through me like needles to my nerves. Adding to that, after the beating I took to my rib cage, every breath made me hurt a thousand times more, to the point I tried wheezing as little air as possible into my lungs. By now, I’d bitten my lips so hard I was bleeding, not that I had anything to do about it, as my hands had been tied behind my back for… I didn’t know how long I’d been sitting here with my head covered in a hood. I could only guess it had been a couple of hours since Gale and his men stormed into my house without explanation, but that was just a guess. The only thing I knew was that for the past however long I’d been here, I was thanking God Shay-Lee wasn’t home when those thugs came. If he were… fuck. The thought struck me with gutting fear, and I squeezed my eyes hard in an attempt to chase away the thought.

I perked up at the sudden sound of a door opening and kept still upon hearing footsteps getting closer. Knowing better than to speak, I kept my mouth shut when someone lifted the hood off my head. Blinded by the sudden light, I squinted while looking around the room. Recognizing this warehouse as a place we often took people to investigate, I understood how fucked I truly was.

There were three men in the room, none of whom I recognized, which meant they were low-ranked thugs and worthless of my questions. Therefore, I stayed quiet until the man I was waiting for joined the room, escorted by Gale. With a smile, Dion walked toward me and stopped only when the tip of his expensive shoe bumped into my bare feet.

Yeah, those fuckers also took my shoes.

Without a word said, Gale grabbed a wooden chair from the wall, similar to the one I was tied to, and placed it in front of me. With my eyes set on Dion, I watched the fucker rolling up his sleeves before sitting down and crossing his legs like the bitch that he was.

“Why am I here?” I hissed, looking straight into his malicious eyes.

Dion’s lips stretched into a crooked smile as he tilted his head and scratched his jaw. “If you’re still wondering why you’re here at this point, I must admit that I’m quite disappointed with myself for ever thinking so highly of you.”

Fury raged through me at his mockery, and I ground my teeth. “That’s a fancy way to call me an idiot, don’t you think?”

“As long as you got the message, who cares?” He leaned closer, his eyes studying me in detail. “I always saw so much potential in you, Camilo. And you know why that is?”

“Please.” My face hurt as I forced a smile. “Enlighten me.”

Dion found me amusing, as he shook his head with self-satisfaction. “Clearly, it wasn’t your charming personality, nor was it your ability to kill, as, for some reason, you always showed mercy to your prey.” His lips quivered, and his eyes glinted with something. “Well, minus that one time.” He tapped his chin while showing off his white teeth in a sickening smile. “But back to my point, as I tend to get carried away with my thoughts… I kept you because of your loyalty, Camilo.”

My brows pulled close because what the fuck was he talking about?

“First, it was the loyalty to your brother that brought you to me. The good, old, brotherly-love type of loyalty that lasted, well, until he parted this world.”

Pure anger shot through me, and I fought hard to stay calm at his words.

“Then, you were loyal to him. To that little putain you claim to love so much.” His smile slipped for a mere second before it returned. “And your loyalty to your sweet, blond lover was useful beyond words. It made it easy to bend you over and fuck you as much as I pleased because you never fought me back. Not really, anyway.”

“You son of a bitch—” A sudden blow to my temple cut me off mid-sentence, and my head jolted aside as the whole room spun around me. Blood ran down the side of my face, and I glanced aside to see one of Dion’s men gripping a gun. My throat dried, and my head throbbed, and I felt like passing out, not that Dion cared, as he continued spitting his shit.

“Your loyalty to me came from him, from the fear of losing another loved one. Don’t get me wrong, fear is my favorite type of loyalty, as no personal vendetta ever gets in its way… or so I thought.”

A shiver ran down my spine while the room slowly got colder. Feeling tired, I closed my eyes when Dion grabbed my jaw and forced my head up.

“On ne peut jamais faire confiance à un chien qui mords la main de celui qui le nourrit.”

“W-what?” My brows pulled close while I tried focusing on his face, which I was currently seeing double of.

“You cannot trust a dog that bites the hands that feeds him…” His smile dropped. “You were the mole all along.”

My heart paused as shock overtook me, enough to give me the power to shake my head.

“No.” I swallowed hard. “I gave you the man who was—”

“You gave me a scapegoat to cover your ass, Camilo,” he hissed, his words dripping with raw danger.

“I didn’t. I gave you the right man!”

Pain struck me as he held my jaw tighter until he let go, only to fist my hair by its roots. Tilting my head back and exposing my neck like he was ready to slit it, Dion bent close, pure madness written in his insane eyes.

“Non, non, non, très cher… Now’s the time to speak the truth, so you better start telling me where the information you stole from me is.”

The information I’ve stolen from him?