Chapter 332
Jaxx’s Point Of View
The sun beat down mercilessly on the gravel driveway, transforming the blood pooling on the white stones into a sickeningly shiny crimson. I remained kneeling over Graham, my weight shifted perfectly so that each time he tried to twist his shoulders, my knee dug a little deeper into his spine.
My breathing stayed even and controlled. My bare chest, slick with a thin layer of sweat, rose and fell in a slow, steady rhythm that felt entirely disconnected from the frantic, ragged hitching of the man beneath me.
Some distant part of my mind registered how surreal this moment was… how I’d crossed a line I could never uncross. But that voice was faint, drowned out by something far more primal.
Graham began thrashing violently against the stones, his polished leather shoes kicking uselessly at the air as he searched for leverage. His desperation radiated off him in waves, a palpable thing I could almost taste. The acrid scent of his fear mingled with the metallic tang of blood, creating a nauseating perfume that hung heavy in the afternoon heat.
“Let go of me! Help me! Somebody help me! Security!” His voice broke into a high-pitched shriek that bounced off the sleek hood of my Mercedes, the sound echoing through the empty estate grounds.
I let out a low, dark chuckle… smooth, completely calm, and dripping with dangerous amusement. The sound seemed to unsettle him even more than the blade I held. I tilted my head, flipping the small pocket knife between my fingers with casual, liquid grace before resting the cold flat of the blade against his sweaty temple.
Beneath me, his entire body went rigid with fear. I felt him freeze, every muscle locked in primal terror, his pulse hammering wildly against my knee where it pressed into his back.
“So you can actually scream for help?” I murmured, my tone almost conversational, as though we were discussing the stock market over drinks. “I honestly never knew you had it in you, big bro. But it’s funny, isn’t it p>
I paused, letting the weight of my words settle over him like a suffocating blanket. My voice dropped lower, each word deliberate and measured. The control I maintained over my tone was the only thing keeping me from becoming the very monster I was punishing.
“You ignored her cries completely,” I continued, feeling my jaw tighten despite my efforts to remain calm. “She sat inside that house, on that hardwood floor, begging you to stop, crying until her throat was raw, and you just tried to force yourself onto her. You didn’t hear a single word she said, did you p>
The vivid image of Elena’s small, bruised shoulder flashed through my mind… the way she had huddled into my chest inside, trembling and broken. I could still feel the dampness of her tears soaking through my shirt, still hear the way her voice had fractured when she’d whispered what he’d done.
The memory of her tear-stained face, those beautiful eyes dulled with trauma and shame that should never have been hers to carry, sent my blood into a slow, toxic boil. A rage so pure it felt almost cleansing coursed through my veins, white-hot and righteous. But I didn’t let my voice crack. I didn’t lose my cool. That was his trick, not mine.
I stayed completely steady, looming over him like a lethal shadow. Control was everything in this moment. Without it, I was no better than the monster pinned beneath my knee.
“You’re insane!” Graham gasped, his face pressed sideways into the dirt, his eyes wide and rolling back with terror. Sweat poured down his temples, mixing with the dust beneath him and creating muddy streaks across his flushed skin. “You are completely unhinged, Jaxx! You are not reasoning properly right now! There is absolutely nothing wrong with what I did! Elena is my wife! She is legally bound to the Sinclair name, and I have every single right to take what belongs to… “
The words died in his throat with a wet, choked gurgle.
He stared down at his own arm, his entire body freezing into absolute stone. The silver blade of my pocket knife was lodged deep, buried in the thick muscle of his forearm. For a single second, there was no sound… just the raw, silent shock of metal slicing through fabric and flesh. The world seemed to hold its breath. Then, he screamed. It was a loud, bubbling sound of pure agony that echoed across the empty driveway, bouncing off the pristine walls of the estate that had witnessed so many of his sins.
“Shh,” I whispered, a slow, wicked grin spreading across my lips. The expression felt foreign on my face, yet perfectly natural in this moment. Something dark and primal had awakened inside me, something that had been waiting for this exact opportunity. Something I hadn’t known existed until I held Elena in my arms, shaking and violated.
I twisted the knife inside the wound, feeling the wet resistance of muscle and the hard click of bone, before pulling it out in one clean, sharp motion. The blade emerged slick and dark. Blood welled up immediately, dark and thick, staining his expensive white shirt sleeve and spreading across the fabric like a grotesque flower blooming in fast motion.
Before he could even draw enough breath to scream a second time, I brought the blade down again, plunging it straight into the meat of his right thigh. The knife sank in with surprising ease, meeting less resistance than I’d anticipated. Flesh parted like butter beneath the sharp edge.
Graham’s mouth flew wide open, a deafening shriek rising from his chest, but I was already moving. I slammed my left palm directly over his mouth, my fingers wrapping around his jaw like a steel vise, crushing his lips back against his bloody teeth. His breath came in panicked bursts against my palm, hot and desperate, each exhale a silent plea I had no intention of answering. The sound was cut off instantly, reduced to a muffled, frantic vibration against my skin.
His eyes bulged with terror and pain, tears streaming down his face and mixing with the dirt and sweat. I leaned closer, close enough to see my own reflection in his dilated pupils, close enough to watch the exact moment understanding dawned in his eyes.
Good. Now he understood what it felt like to be powerless. Now he knew the helplessness Elena had experienced when he’d ignored her pleas, when he’d used his size and strength to pin her down, when he’d treated her body as property to be claimed rather than a person to be cherished.
“Easy, brother,” I murmured, my gaze locking onto his wide, bloodshot pupils with a terrifyingly calm, seductive malice. I leaned down until my lips nearly brushed the shell of his ear, my bare shoulder muscles flexing as I pinned him to the ground. The scent of his expensive cologne mixed with fresh sweat hung in the air between us. “We wouldn’t want people to interrupt our little party out here, would we? We’re just getting to the good part p>
Graham trembled badly now, his entire frame shaking like a leaf caught in a thunderstorm. I could feel every shudder, every desperate attempt his body made to escape the inevitable. The expensive wool of his trousers darkened to a heavy purple as blood soaked through the fabric, dripping onto the pristine white gravel stones below. Each drop made a soft pattering sound, almost musical in its rhythm.
But I didn’t care about his shaking. I didn’t care about his pain or his terror or the way his breath came in short, panicked gasps. Every single thing I saw when I looked at his face was Elena’s tears streaming down her cheeks.
I saw the ugly, red finger marks he’d left on her beautiful body, bruises that would take weeks to fade. I saw her hiding behind that velvet couch, shivering in a towel because this pathetic rat thought he could own her, thought he had the right to touch what wasn’t his.
The memory of her frightened eyes fueled something dark and primal inside me.
I pulled the knife slowly from his thigh, the metal making a wet, squelching sound that made his eyes roll back into his head. His mouth opened in a silent scream. Without a second thought, I brought the blade down hard on his left shoulder, driving it through the seam of his ruined jacket. The fabric tore easily, offering no resistance.
Graham screamed violently against my palm, his nose flaring as he tried to bite my fingers in a last desperate act of defiance. But I just pressed my weight down harder, my thumb digging into his jaw joint until his mouth locked open, rendering him helpless. His teeth clicked uselessly against air.
I let out another soft, airy laugh, my chest brushing against his back as I leaned into the movement. The sound felt foreign even to my own ears… cold, detached, nothing like the man I used to be. “This is just the tip of the iceberg, brother. Really. You should see your face right now. It’s absolutely pathetic p>
I twisted the knife deep into his shoulder muscle, listening to the wet tear of the fibers separating, before wrenching it out and bringing it down sharply on his second thigh. Stab. The blade sank in with practiced precision, and I felt the slight resistance of muscle giving way.
Now, blood flowed freely, a dark, heavy river pouring off his legs and staining the green grass at the edge of the driveway. Graham trembled so badly his heels drummed a frantic, irregular rhythm against the dirt, like some macabre percussion. The corporate king of Houston, the man who commanded boardrooms and bent politicians to his will, was completely broken. He’d been reduced to a weeping, bleeding mess on a gravel road, and the irony wasn’t lost on me.
I slowly pulled my palm away from his mouth, checking the blade in the sunlight. Crimson gleamed along its edge. I grinned, my teeth gleaming against the dark tan of my face. “Don’t worry, big bro. You’re not going to die from these little stabs. I know exactly where the main arteries are, and I’m avoiding them perfectly.” I paused, letting the words sink in. “I want you awake for the rest of this. I want you to feel every second p>
Graham let out a low, muffled whimper, his head slumping sideways into a puddle of his own sweat and blood. The fight had drained out of him completely. “Please,” he whispered, his voice ruined, barely audible over the wind rustling through the willow trees. “Jaxx… please… stop. Just… stop p>
The sound of my name on his lips, so broken and desperate, sent a strange thrill through me. Part of me… a small, distant part wondered if I’d gone too far. But then I remembered Elena’s face, and that part went silent.
My grin only widened, my eyes dancing with a dangerous, golden light as I flipped the bloody knife back into my palm. “I should stop p>
Graham nodded frantically, his eyes begging me, wide and wet with a total, unvarnished fear that felt absolutely intoxicating to watch. He looked nothing like the arrogant bastard who’d walked into that penthouse. Nothing like the man who’d thought he could take whatever he wanted.
I pretended to think about it for a second, drawing out his hope like a cruel game. I tilted my head, looking up at the sky, tapping the dull side of the blade against my chin with slow, exaggerated thoughtfulness. A crow cawed somewhere in the distance. Then, I looked back down at him, shook my head, and let out a dark, purring chuckle.
“Nah I murmured, my voice smooth as silk as I lined the point of the blade up with his lapel. The tip caught the light, gleaming red. “Why the hell should I stop when the fun’s just getting started p>