In The Safety Of A Lie - COMPLETED!

Chapter 36

CONTENT WARNING: LANGUAGE and VIOLENCE

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"Just leave her alone, Davy." Joey ignored the blood pooling down his brother's face.

Davy ignored his brother's request and gave a nod to proceed.

The man walked over to Evelina and threw some chilly water in her face. She shook her head in surprise. Her eyes blinked open. Pain pounded in her head. Her ears buzzed from the impact beforehand. She noticed Zach first on the floor. He looked up at her, a mix of pity and pain. There was blood dripping down his forehead. Seeing his position on the ground made the guessing game of what had happened pretty obvious.

She peeled her gaze away from her ex, looking up at Joey still hanging from the meat hook. Surprised by his beautiful, yet bruised chest being bared. She caught her breath as her eyes brushed over the purplish coloring coming from his lower ribcage. She could see one or two of his ribs poking out more than they should. She gulped back wondering what he'd endured while she was unconscious.

Joey watched her, an apology forming on his lips. His eyes held pity and pain in them as well. Those feelings seemed to be a dime a dozen at this point. He struggled to keep his teeth from chattering from the cold.

Evelina tried to pull free and shook the chair in the process. She stopped when the pain in her head began to retaliate against her constant moving. She blinked a couple of times to clear her vision and focus on Joey. "Why's his shirt off?" She couldn't help but ask.

Davy watched her for a moment. "For him to catch a cold!" He snapped sarcastically.

She didn't respond to him, but couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes.

He darted toward her, his index finger held out in her direction. "Don't do that again!"

"What?" She asked innocently. "Run away? Assault you and your man? Not cooperate? Being sarcastic? You'll have to be a bit more specific." She was taunting him, but she couldn't seem to help it. It was her only way of knowing how to keep him away from her husband. The only method she had in protecting him.

Davy smacked her against the face again. He grabbed her by the top of her shirt. "Keep your mouth shut or I will personally hurt you." He warned her.

Evelina spit out some blood onto his shirt and glared at him. "Isn't that what you're already doing?"

Davy lightly tapped her cheek. He smiled at her before giving her another warning. "Keep it up and I'll kill you."

"Oh, I'm so scared." She growled at him. Chances were he was going to kill them anyway, she didn't understand his reason to warn her. "Killing us would be an act of kindness. I didn't know you were capable of showing mercy."

Davy looked up at the ceiling. An agitated smile darkened his face. He looked back down at her and released her shirt. "Fine." He told her, marching back over to Joey.

Evelina knew she screwed up. Her eyes followed him to see what he was up to. "What are you going to do?" Worry began to crease her now bruised and bloodied face. Her heart was beating faster. Anxiety flooded her body in the anticipation of what would soon follow.

"I'm going to hurt Joey. Thanks to your little sarcastic remark." Davy turned around and told her. "You can personally blame yourself for it."

"No." Evelina moaned, shaking her head back and forth. She wasn't beyond begging him for mercy. "I didn't mean it. Leave him alone. I'll do whatever you want me to do. You want me to shut up, I'll shut up. I promise."

"I'm not going to leave him alone, Evelina. You should have thought about that before you decided to mouth off." Davy said clearly. He slugged Joey hard in the kidneys, before reaching down to pick his knife back up.

Joey groaned in pain, his breathing still raspy. He was losing his strength quickly.

It only took a moment to drag the knife across Joey's chest. An act that elicited a pained scream. "Blood for blood, brother." Davy's eyes narrowed. "Shouldn't have kicked me in the face."

"Leave him alone!" Evelina screamed. She struggled against her restraints, trying to loosen them in whatever way possible.

"It's not part of my nature." Davy smacked Joey across his face as if to back up his words. "I've had a personal vendetta against my brother since he was born. It's time to end it."

"Hey! Leave him alone!" Zach had pulled himself up to his knees. Ev had never seen him so angry. There was a fire in his eyes that looked just as lethal as she felt she could be if she were loose. She bit back a scream when the man behind her ex gave him a jolt of electricity to his back. He hollered in pain and dropped to his hands. Still, he pulled himself back up just enough to throw an unannounced kick into the man's knee, dropping him to the ground next to him.

Davy rolled his eyes. "I thought you were better than that, Brody." He glanced at his man struggling on the ground with Zach. Zach had a pretty good grip on the cattle prod, but Brody wasn't about to let go of it either. "Anton, deal with it."

Yet another one of Davy's guys intervened and overpowered Zach. Both men had him pinned to the ground, throwing a few devastating punches into Zach's midsection, reminding him of who was in charge. He was left rolling on the ground, clutching himself, moaning.

Evelina had a bad feeling about the words Davy had spoken about things needing to end. She tried to pull free of the ties on her wrists and ankles. She needed to do something. Zach was still rolling around on the ground in pain. Joey looked like he could pass out at any second. He couldn't take the abuse; not that she implied that she could either, but at least she could deflect some of the blows. She just needed to buy them enough time for Jimmy to get there. That's all she had to do.

She managed to pull one hand free. Using that free hand, she untied the other, praying that nobody would look her way. She made sure no one was watching her at that moment as she reached down to untie her feet. She knew that God had to have been watching out for her because logically someone should have seen her trying to make another escape attempt. The knot around her ankles hadn't been tied tightly. She managed to break free of the ropes with a few tugs with her fingernail.

Davy kept hitting Joey all over his body. Evelina couldn't handle it anymore. It was breaking her. She stood up, nearly toppling over with dizziness. Her head hurt more than what she had thought, but she endured on. She rushed over to Joey's side. With all of the might that she could muster, she shoved Davy away from her husband. He didn't budge too far, but the unexpectedness of seeing what she'd do threw him off guard and he tumbled to the ground.

Brody and Anton quickly grabbed her and pulled her under control. She could tell by the way Davy glared at them that he disapproved of her escaping so easily.

Evelina fought them tooth and nail, kicking at every chance she had. Adrenaline ramped up through her body. "You don't ever touch Joey again!" She screamed at Davy. "You hear me! You don't ever touch him!"

Davy had smacked his face when he had fallen. He got up and spit out some blood. He looked meaner and madder than ever. He got up onto his feet, swaggering over to her. He licked his now bloody lip. An evil, unmistakable smile darkened his face — as if he had been waiting for her retaliation and welcomed it. He may have warned her against it, but he was very clearly ready and waiting for it. "I know I was raised up not to hit girls, but that rule I've never obeyed, nor thought of very fondly." He punched her in her stomach.

Evelina gasped as she sunk down to her knees. The men had released her as she fell. Her arms wrapped around her stomach. Her head tapped the ground as she tried to regain her composure and push the nasty pain away. She pinched away tears.

"Still want her, Scotts?" Davy asked him, not taking his gaze off of her for even a second.