by Jade West
“God means nothing to me,” she whimpered, squirming against my knee, even through the pain. “God gave up on me a long time ago.”
“Only because you gave up on yourself. There’s always redemption, little girl,” I replied, and the words sounded strange coming from me.
Her surprise was genuine. “Redemption? Wow. Didn’t have you down as the religious type.”
I ground my knee against that sweet pussy some more. “Not religious, sweetheart. Godly. Godly enough to hear your sins and deliver your salvation.”
“You’d be here a long time,” she said. “Hearing my sins would take a lifetime. Like you’d ever understand them.”
Jesus Christ, how I wanted them. I wanted to hear every single one of them from her quick little breaths.
Thank fuck my senses picked that point to come back to me. I broke the tension, dropping her to the floor with a curse.
“Forget it. I don’t have another second for you, let alone a lifetime,” I spat and crouched down to her strewn belongings. I looked through her purse, digging my fingers into the lining until I found her cocaine. I slipped it into my inside pocket as she stared.
What she didn’t notice was me gathering the slick little item I’d chosen to replace it. I forced the tracker inside the lining in a heartbeat, deep enough that she’d never find it without a pair of damn scissors.
I handed it back over with a smirk. “Make sure you don’t bid on any more penguins now. Be a responsible little bitch for half the night at least.”
“That’s it, is it?” she asked. “You’re really going to steal my coke and fuck off again?”
I straightened my cheap bowtie as I got to my feet. My silence was answer enough as I walked away.
I was out of sight of her when I pulled my cell from my pocket and fired up the app through encryption. I was out of the venue and in the parking lot when the first bleep of her location showed up on my screen.
Yes. Perfect. Absolutely damn perfect. Just as I’d been planning, and just as I’d been craving.
The pretty Constantine bitch was at my fingertips.
16
Elaine
I would have probably snorted a fresh round of coke if he hadn’t stolen it from me. I was trembling as I gathered my things together and headed back through to the sea of people in the gala room. My heartbeat was fast, and my legs felt like weak little twigs.
He could’ve killed me. Yet again, he could’ve killed me. So, why hadn’t he? Why hadn’t he torn me apart?
Harriet was still her amazing self as I sat back down at our table. She gave me her usual supportive smile and reached out to pull me close.
“You’re doing great,” she encouraged, but I felt anything but great. I felt like every bit the broken mirror – a flawed Constantine blonde, at odds with all the others.
Harriet seemed blind to the fear in my eyes, no doubt putting my shivers down to coke withdrawal and little else.
Or maybe not . . .
“Did I see you talking to the journalist guy?” she asked me with a smile. “I was only joking when I said he looked like Lucian Morelli and you could go after him instead.”
I nearly spat it out and told her, but I didn’t.
“I know you were joking, don’t worry,” I whispered. “I couldn’t go after anyone without Mom tearing them down before I’d even planted a kiss on their lips.”
Harriet didn’t even bother attempting to argue with me; she knew I was right.
The night dragged. Terence Kingsley was gone.
I drank more champagne, but didn’t feel the thrill or the release, just piled into the car with my chauffeur when it was acceptably late enough to bail on the shitshow. I opted for my apartment in the city, barely looking out the car window as it took me home, but there was something weird about the journey. An odd shiver down my spine.
It felt like I was being watched. That strange intuition when you know there are eyes on you.
I scoffed at myself. More cocaine withdrawal. I guess paranoia was a sensible addition to the list.
Or maybe I should be adding the Power brothers.
The chauffeur opened the door for me when I got to the block, and I glanced around before I headed up to my suite. I was still feeling it. Still feeling those eyes on me.
I dropped my clutch on the table when I got inside, not bothering to restock the lining with more coke. I really was done with it this time.
I was done with Lucian Morelli, too. I had to be done with him. For good. Cross my needy heart.
I got in bed and slept until late, waking up with a muggy head and a pounding heart to go along with it. I trembled and craved more drugs, but I ignored it, eating ice cream for breakfast, even though it made me retch. I watched some of my favorite movies from my childhood, knowing the words by heart. I remembered being a tiny little girl who still believed in the world. I thought about the dreams I’d believed in when I still thought they could be real.
And I thought about Lucian Morelli. Even though I’d sworn to my heart I was over him, I thought about Lucian Morelli.
I ignored my cell. I ignored everything. I ignored my heart, and my hurt, and the scalpel blade screaming to me from my bedside table. But I couldn’t ignore my thoughts about Lucian damn Morelli.
I had a Roosevelt dinner scheduled that night, on the lawn at my Uncle Crane’s mansion with Harriet, Silas, and Newton. Mom would be there, and so would Winston, Vivian, and Tinsley too.
Yet again, I didn’t want to go.
Yet again, I had to.
I got dressed up, fresh under a new round of makeup. I styled my hair so it looked decent and put on some jeans and pumps. Casual. At least it could be casual.
I shouldn’t have done it, but I did, as a safety net. I slipped more coke into the lining of my clutch where I always kept it safe, even though I cursed myself for doing it.
The chauffeur picked me up at seven outside the apartment block, and there it was again – the paranoia as soon as I stepped outdoors. That feeling of eyes on me was burning bright, making me shudder with every step. Hell, how I wished the coke withdrawal would get the fuck away from me. I was twitchy, looking out of the windows, trying to convince myself I was safe, but it only made it worse. A car was following us to Crane’s place, and I was convinced the eyes were from that. Paranoia fresh over paranoia. The Power brothers would never follow me onto my family’s home turf. They weren’t dumbass enough to risk the backlash. So, who was it? Who would be stalking me across New York and out into the suburbs?
As it turned out, the car wasn’t following me. It kept on going down the street as we pulled into Crane’s driveway, carrying on quite innocently through Bishop’s Landing. Damn my muddled mind. Damn it.
The event was dull. Laughter was a thin guise over the dirty business conversations Mom was having with Crane and Newton, and it didn’t distract me from any of them. I knew what they were talking about. I knew they were talking about causing harm to anyone they wanted to destroy for the sake of their profits.
Once again, I bailed on the place as soon as it wasn’t going to cause any shit from the others. They were trying to keep a sheen over Mom’s blatant disowning of me, but it was a poor show. She barely looked at me that evening, and when she did, it was like I was a piece of crap on her shoe.
Harriet tried to keep me talking. She failed.
Silas tried to talk with me about what happened with Lucian Morelli at Tinsley’s ball. He failed.
I was in the car and heading back to the city with barely a wave of goodbye to them all, letting out a sigh of relief as I slumped into the backseat.
But there it was again.
That paranoia.
I was stupid. Crazy and stupid.
I glanced through the back window, just to assure myself how stupid I really was . . . but it was there again. That same car was following us back towards the city.
It was then that I realized I wasn’t being stupid at all. Of course I wasn’t being s
tupid. The Power brothers were coming for me, for real this time. My days of giving them the brush off were coming to an end, and I was done for. This time I’d be truly done for.
I should be happy. Finally. The people who’d end my world.
So why was I terrified? Why was I terrified of giving my last breaths to anyone other than the evil god who should be the last person on earth I wanted to give them to?
I wanted to give them to Lucian.
I dashed out of the car as soon as the driver pulled up outside my tower, not even giving him the time to open the door for me. I was inside and in the elevator up to my suite, barely catching a breath before I was through my front door.
The Power brothers wouldn’t get me in here. Nobody could get me in here, not with all the security on the ground floor.
I checked my diary, and the rest of my week was mostly with Harriet. The Power brothers wouldn’t come after me around Harriet, that would be striking too much of a blow against my family to risk the comeback on that score.
I was so churned up thinking about the Power brothers that I jumped in my seat when my cell sounded out with a ping. Tristan. It was Tristan.
Still coming on Saturday night? Blue Hawk was great in bed, you know. Hope you can meet him again. Want your approval.
I hadn’t actually liked Blue Hawk that much. He was an arrogant little shit, dangling Tristan by a thread. I did like his support act though. That inspired my reply.
Is hot Stephen going to be there?
The response came within seconds.
Sure is. Hopefully he can keep you distracted from your Morelli fantasies.
He shouldn’t have put that in text form. I deleted it before I replied.
I’ll be there.
At least it was something to look forward to. I had no idea if or when I’d ever see Lucian again before I got taken out by the host of other assholes after my blood, so at least I could enjoy staring at a guy who reminded me of him.
Tristan sent me a reminder of where I was going, and I put it in my diary before I could forget it. Spirit Club. Another dive downtown. Another place I wouldn’t be telling anyone I was going to. At least the Power brothers wouldn’t think to find me there.
I got into bed, managing another night with no coke to blot out my self-hate. The scalpel was calling me, the craving for the release of slicing my skin was almost harder to resist than the craving of drugs in my veins. I managed to resist them both. Hell knows how, but I managed to resist them both.
Just a shame I wouldn’t be able to resist Lucian Morelli if he ever came for me again.
I hated myself more than ever as I realized I was praying that he did.
17
Lucian
Slipping the tracker inside Elaine’s purse was a bad decision. The bitch was preoccupying me through every minute. I should’ve been satisfied with having her whereabouts at my fingertips, but I wasn’t. I wanted to be hunting her. Taunting her. Scaring her until she hurt.
I told my chauffeur to keep his mouth shut as to where our journeys were taking me, on pain of death. I didn’t need to convince him; he knew I was serious in my threats. Once he was aware of the severity of my demands, he was mine. Twenty-four hours a day, until I told him otherwise.
I knew I’d need him.
I’d been stalking Elaine from the moment she stepped outside the auction that night, tempting myself with fantasies of her pain and fear. I hadn’t so much as ventured close to the Morelli Holdings headquarters on that Thursday morning, staring up at her apartment block like a fool, just outside of her security radar while my chauffeur tried to sleep in the front seat.
The bitch had finally moved on Thursday evening, leaving her place to dash to the waiting limousine and head off for her Roosevelt social function. My own chauffeur had been moving in seconds, screeching tires as we pulled away. I’d followed her from her city apartment through to Bishop’s Landing, keeping her in my sight until she’d pulled left into her uncle’s driveway – the asshole called Crane I’d heard plenty of rumors about over the years. By all accounts, her mother relied on her brother for some of the more nefarious parts of her business. Maybe Elaine’s attendance was a token social event to coast along on top of a more lucrative one.
I should’ve been straight out of the vicinity, done and dusted, but I wasn’t. I’d bailed on my own family social night at the casino, telling the others I had more important shit to be attending to. That was the truth.
She was my important shit to be attending to.
I didn’t even recognize my own mind as I kept on obsessing over the stupid bitch in her stupid world, but I couldn’t step away from it. Couldn’t come to my fucking senses enough to write her off as worthless and leave it the fuck alone.
I’d been hovering around the streets for hours, driving in circles with my exhausted chauffeur until her tracker finally told me she was leaving Crane’s place. I’d caught up with her car on the main Bishop’s Landing drag, following her back into the city just to watch her dash from the car through to her apartment building.
One thing the pretty bitch couldn’t hide – she was moving damn fast wherever she went. It brought a smile to my face. There was no doubt in my mind that she knew she was being followed. Instinct – she knew she was being chased by a monster.
My lack of attendance at the Morelli HQ on Friday morning was an alien event to everyone. I had CEOs calling my cell on constant loop. I barked out instructions, barely more than one-liner answers to complex situations, but I didn’t care. I didn’t have time for any of them, not a fucking peep of it.
Trenton was trying to chase me down for approval of another cross-border arms deal, but I didn’t have time for him either. I couldn’t give a shit who was delivering what and when. It was when he called me late that morning for a final okay that I found myself asking a whole load more from him in return. Much more than should ever have been on my radar.
“I want to know what’s happening between Elaine Constantine and the Power brothers,” I told him. “I want to know what the fuck she owes them and what the fuck they are planning to do about it.”
Trenton paused. “Sorry, what? You want me to go digging on the Powers about Elaine Constantine?”
I hissed out a breath. “That’s what I said, isn’t it?”
I could hear the confusion in his voice. “Yeah, but. I just . . . if I track them down, they’re gonna know it’s coming from you.”
He was right. I knew he was right. Every scrap of common sense in my head was screaming out about my insanity, but still, I didn’t back down.
“I want everything. I want to know everything,” I insisted, and he sighed.
I knew he thought I was as crazy as I did, but he knew better than to challenge me again. Sure thing, boss was the answer he gave me, and with that he was gone.
Friday morning was a bore and a slow burn. Elaine didn’t move until the sun was up high in the sky, walking on foot through NYC with her cousin Harriet.
I was a true damn stalker as I ditched my chauffeur in a city parking lot and followed her through the streets. I kept my distance, far enough behind that she didn’t stand any chance of catching my face, but again, her instincts were still pricking strong. So many times she cast a glance behind her, wide eyes searching for her hunter. So many times I dipped away out of her view.
It was when she was getting a dress fitting at one of the premier boutiques in the city that I finally opted to poke the bitch’s fear some more. I stepped up to the window, just close enough that she’d catch a glimpse of me. Then I waited. Waited until she stopped in the middle of a twirl, an instant halt which had the stylists as surprised as she was. My pretty blonde minx blinked and took a step forward, her shock so palpable that I could taste it on the air.
She rushed for the door towards me, but that didn’t matter. I was gone in a flash, just out of view as she dashed out onto the sidewalk.
I loved the self-fucking-doubt on her face as she stepped bac
k inside. So much self-fucking-doubt she must have thought she was losing her mind.
I did it again when she was having a coffee with Harriet in one of the bars on East Street. I hovered on the other side of the street, my eyes firmly fixed on hers until she turned her head and caught a glimpse. This time she visibly flinched, getting up from her seat to rush in my direction, but again, I was gone.
Over and over I played my game through the streets. Chasing her. Teasing her. Watching the paranoia rise higher and higher. Cat and mouse had always been my favorite game, ever since I was a child. It gave me thrills all the way through my veins.
Here pussy, pussy.
So many times I gave her a glimpse. So many times she was rushing to find me.
Every single time she was a failure.
The afternoon was a long one. The evening drew in with both girls swinging a collection of designer bags along with them, Elaine managing to laugh through her fears. She headed back to her apartment as soon as they were finished, hugging her farewell to Harriet in the backseat of their limo before dashing inside.
I was still hovering outside her place when Hunter began trying to get hold of me. He called three times straight before my reality came crashing back in like a hammer blow. Fuck. Of course he was calling me. I was supposed to be out with him for his social meal. I pressed to receive the damn call.
“Hey, finally,” he said with a groan. “You coming? We’re waiting on you before we order our main courses.”
I could hear the thrum of the restaurant in the background, and should’ve been heading right on over there, but I wasn’t. One look at the light on in the top windows of Elaine bitch Constantine’s tower block was enough to keep me in my seat.
“No. I’m not coming,” I grunted. “Enjoy your night.”
“Not coming? For real? What the hell?”
“For real,” I said. “Greater priorities.”
“Shit with Trenton?”
I didn’t lie. I never lie.