Sinister

by Sherell Cummings

  With fake credentials and a recommendation from a traitor, I was on the phone with Nicolae arranging to meet at the airport in a few days as I watched Justine leave her room. I didn’t intend on it playing out the way it had with her, but I couldn’t help myself. And seeing her shocked then infuriated face this morning when I walked onto that plane was all I needed to make this lie worth anything.

  I left the house and met up with my boy Ricci down at the front gate outpost, which was approximately two miles from the house, before I drove off the property. By the time I returned later that day it was already getting dark and with no indication of Nicolae’s car or his driver out front I knew I had beaten him back, which also meant I had time to fuck Justine without having to worry about being caught.

  I found her downstairs in the sitting room with her smooth long legs propped on a table as she sat reading a book. She was dressed in another skirt and I was eager to know what color her panties were. I stood in the doorway , watching the angles of her face as she read the words in front of her. Whatever it was seemed intriguing as her eyebrows dipped before one brow lifted and she bit her bottom lip. She was aroused, which sent me forward and pulling the book from her clutches, eagerly turning it around before she jumped from the chair trying to pull it from my hands. “Take Me Now,” I read off the naked man's chest on the cover before I flipped it over, while trying to dodge her grabby hands.

  “Give it back.”

  “Oh, he sucked her clit into his mouth so eagerly she felt her body tremble the moment he took his first lick,” I read, lifting my brow at her in amusement. “You like this sort of thing?”

  “Give it back,” she said adamantly, with eyes that could bore holes in my head.

  I held the book above my head while she jumped trying to reach it, which only made my eyes focus on the her breasts that bounced when as she moved. “You do know I could do this for you anytime you like. All you have to do is ask.”

  She stopped, scowling before crossing her arms over her chest. “Why are you so infuriating?”

  “I answer your question, when you answer mine.”

  “And what question was that?”

  “Why are you reading this?”

  “It’s a book. People read it, or at least those of us who know how to read.”

  “Clever. Of all the books to read, why this one?”

  “Will you give it back if I answer you?”

  “You have my word.”

  She sighed. “I was bored, okay?”

  I snorted a laugh. “And I wasn’t born this morning.”

  “Fine… I was thinking about you, saw the book and started reading it and… it sort of reminded me of you in a way.”

  I smirked. “In what way?”

  “Really?”

  “In quale modo?” I repeated in my native tongue knowing how turned on she’d get. She never disappointed. Her face turned red as she swallowed and licked her lips. I dropped my hand and took a step forward until we were a breath away, bending so I was eye level with her. “In quale modo?”

  “In every way,” she whispered, grabbing my face and planting her lips on mine. I moaned, grabbing her around the waist and dipping her back as my tongue sunk deep within her mouth. She tasted of chocolate, sweet and all devouring and I wanted nothing more than to sink my teeth into every inch of her. The soft moans that left her throat were enough to send me over the edge, but our moment was cut short by the slamming of the front door.

  She ripped her mouth away from mine, heaving before she turned away moving her hand over her lips. I readjusted myself, cursing as Nicolae entered the room. “Good you’re both here,” he said with excitement in his tone. “How was your day, baby?” he asked walking over to her and kissing her cheek. My insides suddenly grew hot as my temper rose, eyes narrowing at him before Justine glanced at me with a warning gaze before smiling at him.

  “It was perfect. How was yours?”

  “Exceptional. Is dinner ready?”

  “Should be, last I checked Willow was almost finished.”

  “Good.” He turned to me. “Why don’t you join us, Andrea?” Justine’s face had a slight shock to it but she quickly composed herself to seem unaffected. I wasn’t stupid and had been in this game long enough to know when something was up. But since he wanted to play so badly, I could definitely play.

  I smiled. “I would love nothing more.”

  “Great.” He smirked, turning quickly back to Justine. “I have a few calls to make, but I’ll meet you two in the dining room in few minutes.” With that we both watched as he left the room.

  Waiting about a minute before either of us spoke, I looked at her confused. “Any idea what that was about?”

  “None,” she said shaking her head before whispering, “think he knows about us?”

  “How could he?”

  “Well let me tell you, dinner with him is never a good thing.”

  “I can already tell.” I took her hand pulling her closer. “I don’t like him touching you.”

  “And I’m supposed to do what about that? You already knew the situation.”

  “I know, but that doesn’t mean I can’t hate it.”

  She smirked. “You sound like a whiney bitch.”

  I chuckled. “You’re lucky I like your mouth.” I started walking us into the dining room, where I took a seat facing her. A few minutes later, Nicolae entered claiming the chair at the head of the table before that Willow girl came rushing in with a cart filled with food. Nicolae ignored the poor girl as she placed a plate in front of him first before moving on.

  “So have you finished planning for the party?” he asked Justine while moving his napkin onto his lap.

  Justine swallowed after thanking Willow and reaching for her own napkin. “I did. Everything is all set, but you haven’t told me what the party is for and who I should invite.”

  “Don’t bother about any of that. It’s a surprise dinner party and I have already taken care of the guest list.” He said surprise, but a surprise for who? “Andrea how are you liking the job so far?”

  I wiped my mouth with my napkin before I spoke. “Well, this has only been my first day and so far I must say I’m liking it very much,” I said taking another bite without looking at Justine.

  “And you said you were in the military?”

  “That’s right. Eight years Special Ops.”

  He eyed me sparingly as he cut into his meat with gusto. “Like my son,” he said pointing his fork at me. “He left home at eighteen and joined the military just to get away from me.”

  “And why would he do that?”

  He looked up from his plate with an amused expression before grinning. “I sold his girlfriend… The bitch was a gold-digging whore and my son was too stupid to see that I was only protecting him.” He continued eating as Justine kept her gaze on her plate while picking at her food. I kept a stolid expression on mine, beginning to hate this man more with every ticking minute, but he didn’t need to know that just yet. “I would have kept her for myself, but she was a whiney brat, couldn’t even suck cock right,” he said without care.

  My hand with the fork twitched as I held it with a grip so tight it was beginning to cut into my skin. Justine spoke before I could. “Nicolae, don’t you think we should talk about something else?”

  He lifted his head glancing at her with his eyebrow raised. “You have a problem with my dinner topic?”

  She blinked at him. “It’s not that, it’s just that—”

  “I didn’t ask for an explanation. And a stupid one at that.” Yep, I was definitely drawing blood. “Would you prefer if I talked about you?”

  “No,” she held his gaze boldly.

  “Why?”

  “Because there’s nothing to talk about.”

  “I beg to differ—” He motioned with his head as he placed his fork down. “Come here.”

  “Nicolae—”

  “I said, come here.” As pissed off as I was, I couldn’t show
it. I held my composure as I watched Justine stand, her heels clicking across the floor while she made the short distance to where he sat. Before I could blink though, he was out of his chair and had her pinned to the table. His front to her back as he pressed into her, pinning her arms out in front of her. “I think that you think you have too much power in this house. My house. But you forget.” He leaned closer to her ear. “I control everything in this house and that includes you.” Lifting a little, he turned his smug gaze over to me as I clenched my jaw knowing there was nothing I could do but watch. “I think our new guest would like a show.”

  She struggled against his hold, breathing hard while shaking her head. “No, Nicolae stop.”

  His head snapped to hers, face hardening with anger as he gripped her jaw to keep her head in place. “There you go again giving orders. Are you fucking deaf?” he yelled. “Or is there a reason you suddenly feel like showing off?”

  “I am your girlfriend, not your fucking whore.”

  Flipping her over, he swiped his hand across the table knocking everything from his end onto the floor. The plates and glasses shattered near my feet as the uneaten food smeared the floor. I knew why he was doing this. He either knew something or was fishing, trying to break me, to see if I would try to stop him, and as much as I wanted to pull my gun and end this, I had to wait. I had to believe he knew nothing and would continue holding my place and acting like she meant nothing to me. “Wrong again. You are whatever I say you are.” He ripped her blouse open and exposed her breasts as he placed his head close to her face. “My whore.” He pulled the cups of her bra down and roughly kneaded before grabbing her face and kissing her hard. Somehow her angry eyes found mine and something inside me snapped. I had seen enough and could give a fuck if this fucker lived or died. I wanted to slit his throat and I wanted to do it now.

  I was about to push to my feet when she looked away using her free hand to push him back as one of her legs connected with his thigh. His lips ripped from hers as he was forced back with a curse and she used that small space to sit up. With a menacing scowl he back handed her causing her body to fall from the table. “Get out of my fucking sight,” he said glaring down at her and I watched as she got on her feet and rushed out of the room.

  My eyes burned where she once stood not sure of what the fuck I had just witnessed. Did she do that to stop me? Did she know I was about to snap? Nicolae pulled the lapels of his suit jacket and grinned at me, like he wasn’t just about to fuck my woman in front of me. “I like you, Andrea.” He stepped forward running his hand through his hair. “Another man would have already been dead trying to save her, but you, you know who you belong to.” He started walking past me but stopped, looking down at the mess on the floor. “Have the maid clean that up would you? I have somewhere I need to be.” And with that he was gone.

  What the actual fuck?

  Chapter Fourteen

  Christopher

  I was fucking crazy. Or somewhere along the way I had become crazy. This wasn’t who I was, and I kept saying it because it was true. I wasn’t this obsessive stalker needing to feed this urge inside me because I wanted her. But she was the only one. Why was she the only one capable of filling my needs? She wasn’t special, but every bone in me screamed that she was because she loved me. It was like the first time we met.

  She was standing in the school hallway laughing so hard her voice drowned out all the other sounds around me. I had just gotten out of class, pissed off for being stuck with another writing assignment when I heard it, stopping me in my tracks. I looked up expecting the sound to be coming from a large girl, but no. This tall, curvy, blonde haired girl stood talking with so much life and expression on her face that I couldn’t help but stare.

  I’m not sure how long I stood there but eventually she must have felt my eyes on her. . I didn’t know what she saw, but she stared right back and we somehow met in the middle of the hallway. I wasn’t sure why I never noticed her before and maybe it was because we never shared any classes that year, but when I noticed her, I couldn’t stop noticing her.

  It was a terrible obsession I had developed, so terrible that the moment I knew where to find her I was back in Vegas, dropping mom off at the apartment before chartering my father's private plane to Brazil. I felt bad about dumping my mother without a proper welcoming into her new environment, but time was something I didn’t have a lot of. Although I knew Izzy was in Brazil, I still had no idea where and for how long. Brazil wasn’t my first choice for an impromptu vacation, but it would have to do for now.

  “Welcome to the Royal Rio Palace Hotel. How may I help you?” greeted a thickly accented man at the front desk as I entered the Royal. I figured I would be staying the night and this was the only hotel with an available room, seeing as everywhere else was all booked up for the Carnival tourists.

  Quickly rattling off my information to the man, I was given a room key before he pointed to the elevators across the lobby. With a thankful nod I grabbed my bag and key, turning to make my way across the busy lobby. There were a lot of people mulling around the floor and I had to dodge a few as no one seemed to give a shit where they were going. Passing a plush sitting area, my footsteps slowed as a familiar laugh filled my ears.

  I was near a large plant that stood against a pillar when my eyes zoned in on a head that sat on a couch facing the other direction. The voice was familiar because I remembered it as the other laugh I had met in the hallway that day I met Izzy. Praxton wasn’t alone as another guy sat next to him talking animatedly about something, and when he turned to the side, I noticed him instantly as his cousin Sean. I figured that guy at the diner had something to do with this and luckily he wasn’t lying about Izzy being here because I had my doubts.

  My eyes narrowed while leaning against the pillar, pulling my hat low against my eyes just in case one of them turned and spotted me, but the chances of that happening was slim since they were too busy talking and drinking. “Dude, isn’t this like the best shit that has ever happened to us?” asked Sean.

  “In us do you mean me, because your ass wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my fine ass. If I recall correctly, Nate asked me out and not you.”

  “That’s because I’m not gay and I’m starting to wonder if Nate even is.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean you met the guy yesterday and he invites you on a free trip to Brazil—” he air quoted, “claiming he has the hots for you, but we’ve been here for a while and he hasn’t been around once.”

  Praxton placed his glass on the table in front of him and rubbed the back of his neck. “The man has a job, he did say that before he invited me.”

  “One that takes up all his time on a vacation, when he supposedly has a hot guy waiting for him… he didn’t even book you in the same room as him.”

  “Look, would you just drop it?”

  “Fine, would you rather we talk about that shit you confessed on the plane?”

  “Why are you bringing that shit up?”

  “Because I thought Izzy was your friend.” I lifted my head at the mention of Izzy. Much of the conversation before was a bunch of shit I could care less about and much of it I already had an explanation for. But this I was interested in hearing. I took a step forward.

  “She is my friend,” Praxton said sound a bit pissed.

  “Really… and breaking her and Christopher up was a friendly thing to do?” What the fuck? “Friends don’t do that and what you did—”

  “I get it okay. Drugging him into thinking we slept together was the only thing I could think of that would break them up. She deserved better than that asshole, she just needed a push to help see that.” My jaw clenched and so did my fists, eager to punch in his face. That fucking son of bitch was the reason we broke up. I knew something wasn’t right about that night, and this fucker was the reason.

  From the moment I met Izzy, Praxton had always been her shadow. He was the reason she did certain things, she took his adv
ice over anyone else's, and now he was the reason for us breaking up. I knew he hated me, was even jealous of the fact that she had been spending more time with me than him, but I didn’t think he would take it as far as to drug me.

  “That is just so many types of wrong, don’t you see that?”

  “What I see, is you rehashing something that happened six years ago. If we talk about it… nothing’s going to change. So why the fuck are we talking about it?” He faced Sean with a scowl while I stepped back behind the plant. There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to kill this fucker. He deserved it for what he had done to me—to us.

  “Why don’t you tell her the truth?”

  “And why the fuck would I do that? It’s not going to fix anything. You saw her yesterday, how happy she was seeing me again and when she calls, I’ll answer with a smile on my face knowing that I saved her from a life of misery with that fucking idiot, Christian.”

  Sean shook his head. “I feel like I don’t fucking know you at all, dude.”

  “Well, it’s like they say. You never truly know someone until you know their dark side.” He stood in that moment, gazing down at him.

  “Who the fuck says that dude?” Sean stood as well facing him.

  “I don’t know, and I don’t fucking care. And stop calling me dude.” He started patting down his pants as if looking for something, but stopped short staring straight ahead. “Fuck I forgot my phone in the room. Give me your key so I can go get it.”

  “Why?” Sean asked pulling the plastic key card from his pocket and handing it over.

  Praxton slipped it into the back pocket of his jeans. “What if Izzy calls and wants to meet up?”

  Sean looked at his watch. “We don’t have time to go back and get it because the car’s going to be here any minute. No wait, it's already here. Let's go.” As much as I wanted to rip this fucker in half, I had to find Izzy and I couldn’t do it without his phone. When they started moving, I pulled my phone out and started walking toward them, making sure to keep my head down as I bumped into Praxton, hard. Sliding my hand into his pocket where I saw him put the key, I swipe it out before our bodies separated. “Fuck, man watch where your going,” he cursed, but I continued on without a word. I could have said sorry, he was the one that was going to be sorry he ever fucking met me.