by Kenya Wright
“You weren’t.”
“Then, you were the one to show me that I was empty.”
“But you like empty, Rafael. That’s why you were inside those twins. I can still see the image of them sucking you off.” She lowered the gun and handed it to me. “Do you still think of them?”
“No.”
“You should. It was a hot sight. Your big dick getting licked by them both. And the look of ecstasy on your face. It was priceless.”
“Shalimar—”
“Leave.”
“I love you, Shalimar.”
“No. You love the idea of loving me. That’s all. Nothing more.”
“But Shalimar—”
“Just think of the twins, when your heart hurts. Put that image in your mind.”
“Fine.” I put my gun up. “I’ll think of them right now.”
“Good!” She called back. “Go ahead and call them up. I’m sure they’re just in Belladonna sucking someone else’s dick.”
“Who cares? I don’t even remember them.”
“Oh, you do.”
“Barely.”
“Can you see them in your mind, sucking you off?”
I gritted my teeth. “No. I don’t see them.”
“Lies! It’s all over your face. They’re in your head now.”
“But only because you put them there!”
“Leave!”
“Goddamn it!” I headed out of her place.
My men stepped out of my way as I marched out of there. I didn’t know why I’d even tried to reason with her. Three fucking years had passed, and she was still as pissed. What had I expected? Had she cheated on me; I would probably still be torturing the man three years later.
I made it to the car.
Giorgio stood outside with his phone. “The Yakuza are trying to get in touch with Jean-Pierre.”
I hurried to the driver’s side. “Why does the Japanese Mafia want to talk to Jean-Pierre?”
“They said they have a tip for him, but they only want to talk to him. The guy’s willing to wait on the phone for however long until he gets back.”
“Where is Jean-Pierre?”
“Off with Eden. I got them another reservation at, The Palace. They missed it again, probably ended up fucking in the limo the whole time.”
Well, at least someone is getting some love.
“How did it go with Shalimar?” Giorgio asked. “Did you find anything out?”
“She took my gun and pointed it at me.”
“Well, that’s better than expected.”
“Yeah. Yeah.” I drove off.
Chapter 12
Taken
Eden
We’d gone to see the lunar eclipse. Afterwards, we ditched the restaurant reservations again, and fucked in the limo. That vehicle was becoming my new bedroom. It was something enjoyable about having sex and speeding through Paris.
I loved it.
Minutes later, I cleaned up a little. Thanks to an extra pack of Giorgio’s wipe.
“I can’t believe Giorgio keeps these in the limo.”
Jean-Pierre watched me. “He has extra ones all over the place, as if we couldn’t just stop at a store.”
“I always thought he was a little OCD.”
Jean-Pierre chuckled. “A little is an understatement.”
“Why do you think he’s that way?”
“It’s strange. I thought he had it better than all of us, when we were kids. And then as we’ve become men, I wonder what happened to him behind closed doors.” Still on the limo floor he lay with my gown around us.
I rested my head on his shoulder. “Did he have a mean parent?”
“No. The opposite. My uncle was a religious man. Dad called him a hypocrite, but I believe he was just jealous of his brother.”
I raised my head to study the beautiful angle of Jean-Pierre’s face. The limo had continued to drive, taking a stop once for gas, and then cruising some more. The vehicle roamed through at a steady beat. It caused the streetlights to glow over his face as we passed by.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
“I’m thinking about how handsome you are.”
“Hmmm. Which gives me the opportunity to think about how gorgeous you are.” He smiled, and we stared at each other in silence like two silly fools.
I grinned. “If Rafael was here, he would vomit.”
“All the more reason why we should stare longingly into each other’s eyes while he’s around.”
I laughed, and we talked more. Jean-Pierre told me more about his childhood. With such a violent past, he still had so many happy memories. His mother and father had made their mistakes, but they loved him with a fierceness, and had tried to raise a good man. I shared some of my stories and he asked so many questions, wanting to know every detail of my memories.
A few hours passed.
Once I yawned, Jean-Pierre grabbed his phone and told the driver to take us home.
“Do we have to leave?” I whimpered.
“Sadly, we do.”
“We should live in here.”
“I’ve been considering that recently.” He devoured my mouth.
When we made it back, I pouted and dressed. Jean-Pierre appeared to be dragging himself out of the limo too.
As soon as the cool air hit my face, our reality returned.
Rafael met us in front of the building.
I looked up at the sky. “The lunar eclipse was amazing. Did you see it, Rafael?”
“No.” He frowned. “I had my own lunar eclipse.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
Jean-Pierre waved him away. “Ignore him. Let me talk to Rafael. Giorgio can take you upstairs.”
“Okay. Are you hungry?” I asked.
“Yes.” He nodded.
“I’ll talk to the chef.”
Jean-Pierre smiled. “You make life better.”
I opened my mouth in shock.
“You take a simple day. Simple song. Simple date. You elevate it all.” He gathered me into his arms. “I’m happy to be with you, Eden. I…”
My gaze was frozen to him. “Yes?”
“I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“Really, guys?” Rafael growled at our sides. “Can we tone down the love for the moment?”
I cleared my throat.
Was that an unofficial proposal? No. This is just awesome, but it’s not that. Shut up, Eden and enjoy the moment.
“Sorry, Rafael.” I caught my breath and then turned back to Jean-Pierre. “Nothing would make me happier than spending every last day of my life with you too.”
He beamed.
“Okay.” I raised my hands in the air when Rafael rolled his eyes. “I’m going.”
“Sorry to end the love fest.” Rafael held his phone out to me. “We have a problem.”
“What?” Jean-Pierre asked.
Rafael glanced at me and then back at Jean-Pierre. “We have a dragon on the phone. He wanted to give you an interesting tip. The phone’s on mute.”
“Kenji?” Jean-Pierre frowned and took the phone. “These men and their damn animal names.”
Rafael shrugged. “Kenji’s man has been waiting on the phone for five hours.”
Suspicion hit Jean-Pierre’s gaze. “Why?”
Rafael further explained, “Well, he has some guy waiting on the phone and I guess he’ll get him, when you’re on.”
“I could’ve called Kenji back, when I returned.”
“You know how the Yakuza can be. They’re always extra.”
Yakuza? Didn’t Jean-Pierre say that was Japanese Mafia?
Jean-Pierre spotted me still standing there. “Eden, I’ll meet you upstairs. I should take this phone call.”
“Giorgio’s over there.” Rafael gestured to the front of the building. “I’m staying here. I want to know what the fuck the dragon wants, and if it has anything to do with Celina or Shalimar.”
Me too.
Either way, I headed to the front door where Giorgio waited. Jean-Pierre would let me know everything once he returned upstairs. For now, I would let him focus.
I made it to Giorgio.
“Good evening.” Giorgio held his arm out for me. “How was your date?”
“Awesome.” I hooked my arm around his.
Jean-Pierre called after us. “Watch those hands, Giorgio! She’s not one of my maids.”
“Clearly not.” Giorgio waved his comment away.
I tried to keep in my laughter as we entered the building and hit the elevator.
He pressed the top floor button. “I’m sure Jean-Pierre has clued you in on one of my favorite pastimes.”
“Maids?”
He winked. “Yes.”
We stepped on the elevator.
The doors closed behind us.
Giorgio studied my clothes and hair. “Jean-Pierre is insatiable.”
I blushed.
The elevator rose.
“Jean-Pierre was always like that. No control. Even when we were kids. Do you know that when I was eight years old, he ate my whole birthday cake the day before? The entire thing. His mother had made it and hidden the damn cake from him.” Rage blazed on Giorgio’s face. “I never forgave him. His mother was quite the cook.”
I widened my eyes. “Wow. He never told me that.”
“No guilt for his actions.” Giorgio shook his head. “Jean-Pierre snuck down in the middle of the night, spent hours searching for my birthday cake, and then the greedy bastard ate the whole thing. They found his fat ass with icing all over his fingers. He was vomiting and shitting himself on the kitchen floor that morning.”
“Whoa.”
“I didn’t even get to see the cake.”
“Did you get him back?”
“Not yet.” Giorgio grinned. “I’m close. One more maid will make it eight, and then we’ll be even.”
“Damn. Remind me to never piss you off.”
The elevator doors opened.
We walked out, arm and arm.
But then Giorgio paused and stared at the door. “Where’s everyone?”
The elevator doors closed behind us.
“There’s usually men in front the door.”
My heart beats increased a little. “Do you think they took a break or something?”
“It’s too tense right now. No one’s getting any breaks.” Giorgio pulled out a gun I didn’t know he had. And for the first time upon meeting him, he wore a terrifying expression.
Yes. Never piss him off.
Giorgio guided me behind him. “Pull out your phone and call, Jean-Pierre. I may be overreacting, but better safe than sorry.”
I did as he said and checked my phone as we walked forward.
No signal. What? That’s weird.
“It’s not working,” I said.
“Dial Rafael’s number. Louis made sure all of us were in your phone.”
My fingers shook. I slid through my contacts and found Rafael’s number. Still, there was no service.
Giorgio moved us closer to the door and muttered under his breath, “It’s probably fine. Rafael will use this as a joke for the rest of the week.”
Soon the signal returned.
I dialed Rafael again.
He answered on the first ring. “What’s up, Eden?”
“Giorgio is nervous about security not being in front of the penthouse.”
“What?” Rafael said. “They were there when I left a few minutes ago.”
I turned away from the phone and whispered back what Rafael had said.
Giorgio put me behind him and stopped us from moving forward. “Tell him that we’re going back down to them, and then I’ll come back.”
“Rafael, he said—”
“I heard him. Tell him to stay right there. I’m coming up to get you.” Rafael hung up.
I reported back to Giorgio and then a gun pressed to my back and someone shot Giorgio in the back. Blood blossomed where the bullet hit. Giorgio fell to the floor.
“No!” I screamed.
The person shot Giorgio again.
“No! God, no!” I charged for him, forgetting about the person with the gun behind me. “Giorgio!”
He dropped the gun and fell face first into the carpet. His body shook. Still forgetting about the gun pointing to my back, I raced to him. But the person grabbed me with huge arms. I turned around and stared into a face covered by a clear plastic mask that distorted the person’s image.
“No!” I screamed again punching and slapping. Pushing the mask to the side, scared, and chewed up tissue greeted my eyes. “Ah!”
I wasn’t sure if the man had a face at all.
“Stop it, bitch.” He slammed me into the wall. “Move it again and I’ll cut your tits off, make you pick them up from the floor, and have you slide them across my dick.”
I shivered against him. “W-who are you? W-what do you want?”
“I’m the Devil. Say it.”
“Y-you’re the Devil.”
“Come on.” He dragged me to the penthouse door.
It opened.
Another man with a black mask and black clothes appeared. “Rafael is heading to the elevators. Jean-Pierre is still on the phone with Kenji.”
“Good.” The Devil shoved me into the penthouse. “Tell them to shut off the power once Rafael gets in the elevator and hits the third floor. He hates dark places.”
“And what are you doing with her?” The man in black pointed to me.
“Check the scanner.” The Devil shut the door behind him. “Has the tracker moved?”
The man in black pulled out an iPad and nodded. “You’re right. The codes moved. In fact, the codes are right in front of us.”
The Devil turned to me, and so did the man. “She has the codes.”
I edged back, taking one step at a time. “I-I don’t have them—”
“Shut up.”
I jumped back and bumped into something. I turned and saw that it was a dead body on the floor. The scream lodged in my throat. It wasn’t just one dead body. It was several. Jean-Pierre’s personal guards all lay on the ground with holes in their foreheads.
No. This isn’t happening. This is a bad dream.
The man in black touched his ear. I realized he had some sort of hearing device in it. “Rafael’s on the elevator. We need to hurry.”
“Okay. Plan B.” The Devil unsnapped one of the many pockets on his vest. “Switch to night goggles.”
My heart boomed in my ears. I tried to think of what to do. Run was the only thing that came to mind. The penthouse only had two exits that I knew of. We were sitting next to one of them. The other led to the roof, but I would have to get past these men to get to it.
“I-I need to go the bathroom.” It was all I could think of.
“I don’t give a fuck. Piss on yourself.” The Devil scowled at me. “You’ll be dead soon anyway.”
And then the lights shut off.
Chapter 13
Cold Silence
Jean-Pierre
The Dragon wants to talk to me? Why?
Grabbing the phone, I watched Eden walk off with Giorgio. The time with her had been worth the war. Thank God the Corsican had gotten stronger, and richer because of it, or my cousins would’ve left me to Celina’s craziness
Giorgio held the door open for Eden.
She laughed as she stepped in.
Don’t flirt with my baby.
I called out to them and said as much. I doubted Giorgio heard me.
She’s not a maid and Giorgio knows better.
I moved my attention away from Eden.
Back to business. What does the Dragon want?
I shifted from a man falling in love to the Butcher. There would only be one way to deal with the Dragon, and that was with chess-like responses and confidence.
They called him the Dragon. Kenji was the head of the Japanese Mafia—the Yakuza. Like the Russians, they enjoyed pain
ting their bodies. But where the Russians wore tattoos as walking advertisements for their killing skills and power, traditional Japanese tattooing had been intertwined with the Yakuza since their beginning. Hundreds of years ago, Japanese authorities would tattoo their criminals. The ink made it difficult for the men to reenter society and find work. And there, the Yakuza’s tattoo culture evolved as a protest to the country’s branding.
The Dragon had a full body of tattoos. Ink covered everything on him, but his face. I knew that due to meeting with him in a Russian bathhouse last year. Sasha had brought us both together. I didn’t know how much the Dragon had helped Sasha with going after Kazimir, but I knew there was some assistance.
Are you nervous too, Dragon?
I spoke into the phone, “Hello, Kenji.”
Kenji’s deep voice came onto the line. “Hello, Jean-Pierre. My father enjoyed his phone conversations with you. However, my father never told me how difficult it was to reach you.”
The problem with the Yakuza, was that they never said what they meant. It was all in the subtle details. Kenji didn’t like that he had to wait. He expected to call and have me on the phone within seconds. To him, anything else would be disrespect.
Unfortunately for Kenji, I’d just been deep inside Eden and was ready to return. “Why are you calling?”
Sorry. I’m not your bitch, Dragon. Say what you have to say or shut the fuck up.
Kenji gave up. “The Lion is alive.”
“I’m aware of that.”
“He’s in Paris.”
“I’m aware of that too.”
“Have you talked to him?”
“We have, but it was only about kings and gods.”
“As most conversations are.”
“And he liked the way that I smelled.”
“As we all do.” Humor hit Kenji’s voice. “But has Kazimir suspected your play in his assassination attempt?”
“I played no part.”
“You asked me for my men. I gave them to you.”
“And you’ve been rewarded.”
“Their locations give me pause.”
I let out a long breath.
Just say it. You know I used your men for the major hits against Kazimir.
Kenji took his time with his point. “You wanted some of my men for Prague. You wanted a few for New York. I discover in hindsight, that these were not good places for my people to be in the past months.”