by K. Michelle
“Uh, Cohen. Where are they?”
“They’ll be here.”
We find a spot out of view and sit in the shadows of the room. I observe everything from the rowdy drunk bastards, the quiet and stern businessmen, to the waitresses and security guards. Evan is doing the same. It’s about five minutes or so until Dessa goes on, and I’m starting to wonder where they are right when Evan kicks my foot. I turn towards the entrance and see Vex and several other goons follow in after him. My heart speeds up and slows at the same time when they sit at the front of the stage. It’s time, and the lights dim even more, knowing Dessa is a force to be reckoned with. “The Hills” by The Weeknd plays through the club, the opening bass of the song turning everyone’s attention to the tan goddess covered in black straps with legs a mile long. Her long, messy blonde curls give her the just-fucked look. I couldn’t peel my eyes off her if I wanted to, and I know she has every person in this room’s attention.
Dessa’s legs slowly step in front of one another to the pole, grabbing it and turning towards it, so her back is to the room. She drops down and slowly raises again, ass first. The whistles and hollers are already ensuing, and if I’m being honest, I’m plotting every single person’s demise in this club. I glance at Evan, and he’s looking down, laughing into his chest.
“You, my friend, look like you’re having a hard time not staking everyone’s eyes in here,” Evan says over a glass of Whiskey.
“Your assumption is correct. What the fuck was I thinking?” I rub my hand down my face then bite my fist as I watch Dessa give everyone a smile I thought was solely reserved for me. She crawls forward on the floor, carrying out the routine I was able to watch her practice. I downplay my willpower when it comes to Dessa, and it’s going to cost me one day. The guys are throwing money on stage at her, and she struts back to the pole, swinging around and doing shit that takes a lot more muscle than anyone would think. I lick my lips at the thought of the things I’m going to do to this woman. I love her with every ounce of my being, and I want to do nothing more than hurt her in the best way, in the way we both crave.
I nod at Evan, and we casually get up and walk around the club towards the private rooms. When we get to the hallway, Tyler meets up with me. He’s a good kid. I got him out of Sanctum not long ago after realizing Sanctum was going downhill. I see a lot of myself in him, so I got him set up real nice, and he’d do anything I’d need him to, which is how I got Dessa a spot to dance here.
“Dessa will be in here. You guys go in and get ready. She has a fuck-ton of requests. D is going to want to keep her around here. She’d be great for business.”
“The only person who keeps Dessa is me. Not a guy named ‘D.’”
Tyler chuckles, leading us to the room Dessa will be in, and we head around the small corner where a door to the closet is before leaving to get her.
“Oh, this is going to be cozy,” Evan says, rubbing his hands together.
I sigh. “Shut up, Evan.”
He looks offended. “What? You should be excited that you finally get to get cozy with me.”
“Get in the damn closet and stop saying cozy.”
“Does this mean I get to come out of the closet?” Evan says, proud of his lame joke.
“You have got to be kidding me,” I exasperate to whatever divine spirit that’s listening in hopes this dick will shut his mouth. Once we’re in the dark, Evan has the sense to be quiet, both of us felt the shift of our job officially starting. Moments later, we hear the door open. Not being able to see my girl is torture, but I’m positive if I watch her touch and dance on another man, I will emerge onto a path of fury and destruction. I hear the click of the door and the sultry voice of my very own Achilles.
“How you doing, handsome?” Dessa asks with disdain in her voice, although her lucky victim is probably too drunk on the lust of her curves to know he’s on the cusp of violence.
“Good now, baby,” he says, and short breaths stumble from her lungs. And, so help me God, if he hurts her, I’ll blow a gasket. Evan squeezes my shoulder, but not in support. He’s in the same boat as me. “Crawl over to Daddy,” he slurs out of his drunken state.
My fists ball and my teeth grate. If I could see anything in this closet, it would be red.
“Guy’s night out tonight?” She’s attempting to make conversation naturally, and I think she’s trying to reassure me she’s okay and has it handled.
“You could say that. We’re celebrating. And you’re the perfect present wrapped in a pretty black bow for a reward.”
I can’t see what she’s doing, but I’m assuming his hands are on her. This was such a stupid plan on the fact I want to rip off the head of anyone who looks at her when it should only be my eyes on her body—the one made for me.
“A celebration, huh? Well, I must say, I’m honored.” It’s quiet for several beats of music before she continues, “What are you boys out celebrating? I want to make sure I give you a performance of a lifetime. If you deserve it, that is.”
I turn my head towards Evan. “What the fuck is she doing?” I whisper out to him. This fucking woman is treading in shallow water. I don’t know why I expected her to cooperate with my plan without veering in her own direction.
“We’ve been tracking someone down. We got a big lead in New York City. We’ve been looking for her for a while.”
“Her, huh? She must’ve done something horrible to get a group of big, strong guys after her.”
“No idea. Boss’s orders.”
“Is that right, daddy?”
“Fuck, you’re sexy.”
I hear her giggle, and I’m doing everything to hold myself back and not ruin my cover. The song winds down, and I hear him chuckle and moan. He probably fucks being on the bottom in missionary.
“I have one more question, daddy.”
I swear, I’m going to punch this wall if she calls him daddy one more time.
“Yeah, baby?”
“Was her name Rory?” Her sultry tone is gone, and her words drip with venom laced with murder. My eyes widen, and I’m about to break out of this closet, but I hear him stutter, giving away his answer, followed by a loud groan of pain. I break open the door, but the view before me makes Evan and me stop in our tracks. Dessa is behind, who I now see is Devin, with his head cocked to the side in her arms, but his hands holding his dick over his pants, her stiletto is broken off in his lap, shaded with the color of blood.
Dessa’s eyes glue to mine, but she’s talking to him, “Burn in hell, daddy.” Then in all her glory as the vixen she is, Dessa snaps his neck with speed and precision, and I have never been so turned on in my life.
“That was …” Evan trails off, but I walk to Dessa in about three strides, grabbing her by her hair and yanking her mouth to mine.
“You crazy bitch. You never follow my lead.”
“I’m not meant to be led, Cohen.”
“That’s why I keep you by my side, Dessa.”
Her mouth is back on mine, and all I can taste is honey, mint, and sin.
“As much as I enjoy watching you two suck face, there’s a dead Sanctum member in front of us, with another on the way soon.”
She chuckles, nipping my lip. “We’ll finish this later.”
“That’s a given, Little One.”
“Y’all like that kinky stuff, don’t you?” Evan questions, suspiciously.
“Shut up, Evan,” both Dessa and I say in unison. His hands go up in defense, and Dessa leaves my side as Tyler joins this party we’re apparently hosting.
“Um, what happened?” Tyler mutters.
“Listen, sweetie, I need you to hold off my next client, for lack of a better word, and let him know this one,” she points over her shoulder to a very dead Devin, “passed out and we called him a cab,” she turns those bright blues over to me, “You two need to bust ass and take him somewhere. Shove him in the closet for all I care.”
“If I get fired, you’re hiring me, Priest,” Tyler
says, and I roll my eyes at the kid. He’s a good one and shouldn’t get caught up in this shit, but it’s better than being inside Sanctum—especially now.
“Well, I wasn’t planning on anyone dying here at the club.” I narrow my eyes at Dessa, and she returns my gaze with her middle finger.
“Seriously, we need to move. Not only are we running out of time, but I’m also sick of everyone gawking at my tits.” She pauses. “Shut up, Evan.”
“Oh, come on. Now I can’t be witty? You guys are clipping my wings. You gotta let me fly, Collins.” We’re all moving about the room, and I toss Dessa my jacket in the meantime. The woman has a body that would easily bring any man to his knees, but she’s never been one to show it unless it was warranted, or if she felt like it. Always a rhyme or reason. She respects herself and demands respect in return. She puts the coat on for the few minutes we have left.
“Thank you.” I give her a small smile, and we finish loading Devin’s body down the hallway and out the back door, dragging his sorry carcass to the tree line.
Tyler cleared the area of people for us. To be honest, I don’t give a shit if anyone were to see us, anyways. I plan on getting the fuck out of dodge when this is all said and done.
Moments later, we’re back in the room and Dessa hands me my coat before walking over to a mirror in the room to fix her hair and makeup the best she can. Evan and I shuffle our tall, bulky frames back into the closet, although this time, it won’t be for long. Music plays softly from inside the room, along with a deep breath out of Dessa when the door opens. Vex is a big motherfucker, and I’m over six foot, so that’s saying something. He may be older, but the man knows how to melt the panties off the coldest women. He’s the perfect sinful elixir of forbidden, mysterious danger.
No one is saying anything, and I don’t hear either of them move. I think they’re just staring at each other. This isn’t going to be easy for her, as he doesn’t put himself in a position to be taken advantage of, but if anyone can do it, it would be Dessa.
“Hey, sugar.” She added her sultry tone to her words again, making them drip with sex and desire. He doesn’t respond, and I didn’t expect him to. But I can’t expect anything from him because no one ever knows what he’s going to do. You think you understand him enough to know what he’ll do next. Then he’ll do something out of left field. But his decisions are always calculated and thought through. “Not a man of many words. I can respect that.”
He’s probably just glaring at her, planning her demise in his head—in a murderous sense. I don’t hear either of them talk, only the subtle sounds of “Massive Attack” reverberating through the dark room. Red overtones gleam off of her tan skin with silk straps of black decorating her figure. I always see her, even when she’s not in sight. Always there, at the front of my mind, never in the back. Her presence takes up such a big space in my life, and I couldn’t run from her even if I wanted to. I turn to Evan, the crescendo in the song is approaching, which means our plan is about to unfold. Prior to this, I told Dessa to sit him with his back toward us, so we could come out undetected. But, by then, he’ll hopefully be mesmerized in everything that is her, and we will have a slight advantage. At the same time, I can’t underestimate this man. He’s been through the wildest shit you could imagine and trained to do even more fucked up things than that. Twenty more seconds and my heart is beating in my ears.
Not in fear, but adrenaline.
Thump, thump, thump. Fifteen. Thump, thump, thump. My hand is on the door handle. Thump, thump, thump. Deep breath. Thump, thump, thump. Five more seconds. Thump, thump, thump. Showtime.
I quietly twist the handle. Evan and I exit with the utmost stealth to see Vex’s face between Dessa’s tits, her eyes pleading with me to hurry the fuck up, and now I want to kill him even harder if I could. I crack my neck side to side and look at Evan, who has murder in his eyes and a smirk on his mouth. She slides down his seated body, her full lips level with his ear. “Surprise.”
The moment the word is out of her mouth, he pushes her off of him, so she falls onto the floor. He turns and immediately charges me, and I block a few of his swings, landing two of my own. He switches stance and catches me off guard. The blow radiating through my chin makes my teeth ache, but the adrenaline rushing through my body is so powerful, I barely register the pain.
Evan hooks him in the side with a beautiful shot to the kidney, and he curls over in pain. Full of speed and power, Ev flies his knee up, but Vex blocks him and grabs hold of his leg. I seize the chair he was sitting in and lift it over my head, swinging it down his body, causing him to drop Evan. Right when he turns around to charge me, Evan stabs the syringe into his neck, effectively putting our not-so-gentle giant down to the ground in a deep sleep that he’ll be in for quite a while. Evan binds his hands and feet together while I turn to Dessa, who’s sitting in the corner out of harm’s way, for the most part. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
Dessa’s throat moves as if she were swallowing down her fear. She shakes her head, finally taking those ocean blue eyes off the scene in front of her and moves them to me. “He knew who I was.” I look at her with questioning in my eyes. “He whispered Rory’s name in my ear, but I played it off like I didn’t know what he was talking about. He knew who I was. And he knows who she is.”
“You didn’t react. I’m proud of you.”
“I’m not dumb. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see I hold absolutely no chance against that man.” Dessa says as my thumb graces the apple of her flushed cheeks. Her finger grazes my swollen jaw. “Are you okay? Your jaw took quite the hit.”
“I’ll be fine.” I put my coat around her once again. “I’ll have Tyler grab your clothes and block off the hall so we can get out of here. You need to head straight to—”
“Your house and keep my ass there. I got it.” She gives me a rare, sweet smile, and it throws me off my axis. She raises her hand to my cheek, her long black fingernails lightly scratching against my face. “I love you, Cohen. Be safe tonight.”
My eyebrows pinch together in confusion at first, but then my mouth pulls to the side. “Not getting soft on me, are you, Collins?”
Her eyes roll as she drops her hands and stands to her feet, wrapping my coat around her. “You’re an asshole.”
I chuckle, halting her by her elbow when she walks past me. “I love you too, Dessa Collins. You better be waiting in my bed when I get home.”
“I’m looking forward to it.” Her face tilts towards mine, landing a kiss on the side of my mouth before she walks over to the door, opening it slightly to let Tyler know what’s going on.
Once she has her bag, and we tie up Vex, the cap pops off a thick red Sharpie to leave her mark on the walls.
Johnny’s got the whooping cough,
And Mary’s got the measles.
That’s the way the money goes.
Pop! Goes the weasel.
I narrow my eyes at the rhyme on the wall. Dessa’s chosen each verse specifically for each of our victims. This one was for my Momma. She turns around, locks the cap back on, looks up to catch my gaze, and throws a wink my way. Then, within a matter of minutes, we have Vex shoved into the trunk of our car, and I’m kissing Dessa goodbye one more time.
And now the fun begins.
We’re at the warehouse, tools laid out, gloves are on, and our victim is secured nice and tight in the chair. It’s time to make this fucker pay. He killed my mom then looked me in the eye as if he did nothing wrong. He killed a woman who was nothing but kind, even to him. She showed grace to everyone, always believing in second chances to the point where people would take advantage of her.
They just need to be shown a little more love, baby.
And when that wasn’t enough, she’d show a little more. She was a saint, who deserved far better than what she got. Henry, the fucking selfish coward he is, did whatever his self-serving heart wanted to, and killed her—my mother. He took away the one woman I loved without an ounce of
hate attached to it, the only person to show me love as a child. He ripped her away from me when she was getting better. Healthier. Stronger. He thought she would’ve passed during the low point when I graduated High School, but she didn’t, which put a kink in his life.
So, he eliminated the kink.
Find the problem, and eliminate it, Son. It’s as simple or as complicated as you make it, but that’s all it comes down to.
My anger rises, and Evan plays “Black Dog” by Led Zeppelin through our speaker. I look over at him, a blow torch in his hand, big goggles covering his eyes, and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He’s letting loose, putting on a show for no one but himself, and that’s always been enough for him. I laugh as he moves like Elvis. He’s a weird motherfucker, but I love the guy.
I walk up to Vex, who’s slumped over, and slap his cheek to rouse him from his slumber. It takes a bit, but when he finally comes to and lays his eyes on me, confusion covers his face. But only for a moment before understanding takes over, and he slightly nods. “You know, I knew I’d die by Sanctum. But I didn’t think it would be by your hands.”
“You should’ve thought of that when you murdered my mom, you stupid fuck.”
He scoffs, “Son, you know business is business. I had orders, and I took action on them.”
“SHE WAS MY MOM!” I yell, spit spattering over his face, but he doesn’t blink. “You took my mom from me, an innocent woman, and you have the nerve to call her an order? A job?” I stand back up, brushing the imaginary lint off the front of me. “Well, consider this a job of my own, to make you miserable for every fucking thing you’ve done.”
“You don’t know the half of it, boy. If you think taking Sanctum down one goon at a time is going to work, you’re in for a world of disappointment because there’s so much you don’t know.”
“What? Like the sex ring? The trafficking? Already know.”
He shakes his head as if there’s more.
“What are you not telling me?”