Page 71 of Irrevocably

He shrugs. “Your funeral. Maybe quite literally.” He throws a glance at the man standing next to my chair and nods. The man grips my index finger tightly and the knife blade presses against my skin, sinking in. Pain is a burst of light streaking through me.

“No!” Dad shouts. “Stop!”

But he doesn’t know that pain is an old friend of mine. Pain clears my head, pain helps me think. I’m used to it. And while this is a lot more pain than I ever give myself, the sharp, clean of the agony cuts away my fear.

I grit my teeth, determined not to make a sound as the knife slices through my skin and blood pours down my finger, dripping onto the floor. He hasn’t cut my finger off, but it’s a deep cut all the same.

“I told you what you wanted to know,” Dad says furiously. He doesn’t look tired now, he looks enraged. “Leave her the fuck alone!”

But the man shakes his head. “I don’t think you did tell me, chief. I think you’re lying.” He flicks a glance at me. “Your daughter knows a thing or two, too, don’t you?”

I breathe deep and slow, letting the pain course through me, sharpening everything, making everything clear. I don’t want to tell him about Lucien. I don’t want to put him in danger, because considering these guys are all armed to the teeth, I might.

“What’s he talking about, Astrid?” Dad asks, tension in his voice.

My brain moves faster, processing several things at once. Lucien told me he’d be coming to get that information from me tonight, but he’ll arrive to see the front door kicked in and Dad and I gone. Wolf said he’d send someone to watch over the house, too, so whoever comes will discover the same thing.

They’ll know Dad and me have been taken, and they won’t like that one bit. They’ll try to find us, come for us. I don’t know how exactly they’ll find us, but they’ll definitely come.

“Oh,” I say, forcing the words through the pain. “Are you talking about the guy whose been stalking me?”

“Stalking you?” Dad echoes.

“That’s not what I heard,” the man says over the top of him. “Tell me what you know about him.”

“Nothing,” I say, which is true. “I haven’t talked to him.”

“Yeah, that’s bullshit.” The man wanders over from Dad’s chair to mine and stands in front of me. “You were seen in the bar talking to a guy with tattoos. Ring a bell?”

Right. So someone did see us in Love Bite.

“Him?” I say, breathing fast, trying to get my thoughts in order. “That was someone who asked me out on a date. Just a student from⁠—”

The man nods and the knife sinks deeper scraping on bone, and a low moan escapes me. The pain is intense, so much sharper than anything I’ve ever experienced, but strangely, I feel like I can handle it. It’s kind of … exhilarating.

“Addie!” Dad shouts, struggling now against the plastic ties keeping him in the chair. “Let her go. I’ll give you anything you want.”

“Brave little thing, aren’t you?” the man in front of me says. He sounds older, though I can’t really tell if he is. He’s got that balaclava on and my vision is too weak to let me see his eyes. “But he’s not a student, sweetheart, and you know it. Some of my men disappeared here a few days ago, and I’m pretty sure Lucien Frost was involved. He’s quite … well known, shall we say, to our family.”

Frantically I try to process what he’s just said. Some of his men disappeared. Was one of them the guy who attacked me? The guy who wanted me to take him to Dad? The one whom Lucien killed? How does he know this? And who the hell is his family?”

“If you know who he is already, why do you need me to tell you?” I say, my voice thin and thready.

“Was he using you?” the man demands. “Who is he working for? Is it his family?”

Blood drips steadily down my finger and onto the floor. I don’t look at it, but the pain is making me lightheaded and a little sick. I embrace it, though, using it to ground me. “I don’t know who he’s working for,” I say. “He didn’t tell me.”

“Oh, I think he did,” the man murmurs. “In fact, given what I know about Lucien Frost, I’m surprised you’re still whole and alive.” He takes a step forward then crouches down in front of me. “He left you alive for a reason, didn’t he?”

“He can’t kill me and neither can you,” I force out. “And you can’t kill the chief, either. You need us both if you want to take over the MC’s operation.”

“Addie,” Dad says urgently. “Don’t say anything more.”

“I mean, we could,” the man says mildly. “The chief is eminently replaceable and if he is, then so are you.”

“But then you’ll have to cut a deal with the new chief who won’t be as amenable as Dad is.”

“True,” the man says. “I do so hate complications. Then again, that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun with you both first, hmm?”