by Penelope Sky
I didn’t care at all.
Better me than Case.
Balto was quiet, his hands on the wheel and his eyes on the road. He hadn’t said much to me since our emotional conversation. We didn’t spend our last hours together with lovemaking. I was too depressed, and he was too busy orchestrating the meeting tonight.
I turned to him, seeing the hard expression on his face. “Thank you…”
He didn’t look at me.
“Thank you for letting me do this.”
He finally turned my way, his blue eyes stoic but intense. He held the look for a moment before he faced forward again.
He was angry with me for my decision, but at least he didn’t stand in my way. That was the most I could ask for.
Heath sat in the back, his hoodie pulled over his head with a bulletproof vest under his clothes.
When headlights were visible, I knew we were approaching the meeting site.
This was really happening.
We came to a slow stop, the other cars forming a line across the road, the grass on either side of us.
I could see Lucian’s men all armed and prepared for battle. Lucian must still be in the car because he wasn’t visible.
Balto turned off the ignition but left the battery on so the headlights illuminated the space between us. He gripped the handle to open the door.
I grabbed his arm and leaned over the center console to kiss him. My hands cupped his cheeks, and I kissed him hard, not caring that Heath could see everything if he wanted to look. My fingers slowly moved into his hair as I continued the embrace.
He kissed me back, his lips soft and affectionate.
I wanted to tell this man how I felt since it was the last chance I would ever have. He wasn’t the man I’d been looking for. In fact, I’d hated him in the beginning. But now he was the man in my heart. I wanted him home every night because he wasn’t just my captor, but my man. Our relationship was ending sooner than we wanted, and it was hard to say goodbye.
He pulled away first then pressed his lips to my forehead.
I closed my eyes because he’d never kissed me like that before. It was gentle and soft, full of the kind of affection he never showed me. It was the kind of embrace a man deeply in love gave his woman.
I sat back and looked into his eyes.
They weren’t blank like before. They were packed with emotion, so many things at once, that a single feeling couldn’t be identified. The words came pouring out of my mouth. “Balto, I—”
“We have to go.” He opened the door and hopped out.
I stayed in the front seat for a moment, seeing him stand beside the SUV and ignoring my look. When I swallowed his cold rejection, I got out of the car and came to his side.
“Stay behind me.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me back. “Let me handle this.” He turned to his brother. “Heath, stay with her.”
“Alright.” Heath came to my side, his gun held in his left hand.
Balto stepped forward, entering no-man’s-land as all the lights blanketed his physique. Alone, he walked until he was in the middle, his powerful frame unmistakable in his t-shirt. Without armor or a weapon, he still looked like the most intimidating man in the world.
Lucian got out of the car and slowly came forward, wearing a black suit.
Case was nowhere in sight.
Balto spoke when Lucian was directly in front of him. “Where is he?”
“He’s here.” Lucian’s eyes landed on me. With just a simple look, he conveyed all of his rage. He wanted to punish me for making him look like a fool. He wanted revenge for my affair. He wanted to fuck me until I cried. Then he wanted to kill me, to watch the light leave my eyes after he triumphed over my dead corpse.
I wasn’t afraid of that deadly promise. All I wanted was my brother. Nothing else mattered. I stared back at him, refusing to be scared. Maybe I was only brave in that moment because of all the adrenaline.
“Show him to me.” Balto’s back was to me, but his voice painted an image of his features.
Lucian turned to his men and gave a nod.
They opened the back door of an SUV and dragged Case out. Handcuffed with bruises all over his face, he looked like he’d been imprisoned for days.
Tears sprang to my eyes, but I fought them back. When I was in Lucian’s captivity, I would find a way to kill him. I would steal a knife from the kitchen and stab him in the neck when he was on top of me.
Lucian turned back to Balto. “Let’s make the trade.”
I stepped forward.
Heath grabbed me by the arm and yanked me back. “Hold on.”
Balto kept his arms by his sides. He didn’t hold a gun like everyone else, which was surprising considering his status as their leader. But right now, he was the negotiator. “I have something better to offer you.”
Lucian smiled. “Something better than my wife?”
Hope sparked in my heart. Perhaps Balto had found a way around the dilemma. Maybe he would offer Lucian something more valuable than me. Maybe we could get Case back and secure my freedom at the same time.
“Yes,” Balto said. “Cassini is just a woman. Yes, she betrayed you, but she’s not remarkable. She has no power or connections. She’s not a threat to your organization. I can offer you something much better than a woman.”
“What?” Lucian asked, looking at Balto.
Balto stepped forward. “Me.”
My heart dropped into my stomach. “What…?”
Balto kept talking. “I’m the Skull King. I’m your biggest enemy. If you take me instead of her, you could kill me once and for all. With me out of the way, the Skull Kings will be in chaos. And wouldn’t you rather punish the man who slept with your wife? Make him pay for what he did?”
“Oh my god…” I tried to run past Heath. “No!” Now I understood that this had been Balto’s plan all along. He’d never intended to give me up in the first place. That was why he’d agreed so easily. He was taking my place—saving me and my brother in the process.
Heath’s strong grip kept me steady. “There’s nothing you can do.”
I started to scream. “Balto, no! Don’t do this!”
Lucian looked at me for a long while before he looked at Balto. “Not only did you sleep with my wife, but you fell in love with her.”
Balto ignored his words. “I’m the better choice. Take me instead.”
Sobs choked my throat. “No! Please!”
Lucian looked at me again before he turned back to Balto. “I have to admit, this is fun to watch. When I kill you, I can hunt her down.”
“You’ll never be able to find her,” Balto responded. “My men will see to that.”
“And before your men have a chance to hunt you down, I’ll strap you with explosives and blow you into a million pieces.” Lucian stared him down. “There will be nothing left to bury. There will be nothing left to remember. I accept your offer.”
“No!” I slammed my fists into Heath so I could get past. “Lucian! Take me! Please.”
Lucian smiled and turned away. “Cuff him.”
“No!” I slid to my knees on the asphalt.
Case was pushed forward so he would cross the center and come to our side. He walked slowly, like any false moves would get him shot. He came to our side then approached me. “Cassini.”
Lucian turned and punched Balto in the face.
Balto hardly even moved.
The men pulled his hands together in front of him and cuffed his wrists together.
Balto didn’t fight.
Lucian punched him again.
Balto turned with the hit slightly then spat out blood. “If you really want to hurt me, have your men do it. You don’t know how to hit a man.”
Lucian snapped his fingers and walked away.
Two of his men stepped forward and started slamming their fists into his body, hitting him in the face and slugging him in the stomach.
“No!” I covered my face and sobbed because I couldn�
��t watch it. “God…” I heard their fists assaulting his hard body, heard the subtle grunts he made as he took the beating. Then I heard his body crash to the ground as the men started to kick him.
I sobbed harder than I ever had.
“Come on.” Heath grabbed me by the arm and dragged me into the back seat.
“Do something!” I smacked him in the chest. “He’s your brother! Do something!”
“Balto honors his deals.” He shut the door and enabled the child safety locks.
Case got into the truck beside me, his face bruised and swollen.
Heath got into the driver’s seat and pulled away, turning around so I wouldn’t have to see Balto’s body in the middle of the road, beaten and bloody.
Case wrapped his arm around my shoulder and held me, but he didn’t say any empty words to comfort me.
“I didn’t want him to do this! I never would have asked him to do this.” My throat was sore from crying so hard, from leaving him behind when it was never his sacrifice to make. I should be the one who was beaten and bloody, not him.
Heath kept his eyes on the road as he drove away. “You didn’t have to ask him to do anything. That man will do anything for you—and you should have known that.”
I took Evan’s place, and now Balto took my place. I sacrificed myself for a man who didn’t love me, and now I had a man who would do anything for me. The realization only hurt me more, only made me die a million deaths. “We have to do something, Heath. We can’t just let this happen.”
He took a deep breath. “There’s nothing we can do. I have to get you to safety so Lucian never finds you. That’s what Balto wants. That’s what he asked me to do. And I’ll honor his last request.”
10
Balto
I was cuffed to the metal chair, sitting in a sterile room with only fluorescent lights overhead. When his men had driven back to the estate, I was surprised he wasn’t taking me to a more secure location. If he intended to make good on his threat, it didn’t make sense to do it on his own property.
Lucian stepped into the room, pushing a cart full of equipment. He came to the table beside me and laid out a vest along with wires and explosives. Meticulously, he set everything out so I could see it.
I glanced at his supplies then looked at him. “If you’re trying to intimidate me, it’s not working.”
“No.” He smiled, like this moment brought him so much joy. “I don’t need to intimidate you. I’m happy enough as it is.” He began constructing the bomb. “When I detonate this vest, you’ll be in so many pieces that even your teeth will be lost.”
“Good. That’ll be a bitch to clean up.” There was something oddly calming about imminent death. When there was nothing that could be done to avoid it, it was peaceful. I only had thirty minutes of life left to live, but I was okay with that. I’d never imagined this was how I would go, by taking the place of a woman, but I didn’t have any regrets. All I wanted was for her to be happy, to have the life that was taken from her. Now she knew how a real man treated a woman, how a man should sacrifice everything for his woman. She’d wasted her heart on Evan, a man who didn’t deserve her.
But I deserved her.
Lucian took a seat and started working. “I took Case to hurt her. But taking the man she loves is much better. Watching that woman sob her heart out is vengeance enough. And now I can finally get rid of you. Two birds, one stone.”
I watched him piece everything together. “If you make the wrong move, can this detonate right now?”
“That’s always a possibility.”
“Good.” I faced forward. “So if I distract you enough, maybe we’ll both die.”
He chuckled. “I’m the best for a reason. I don’t make mistakes.”
“Except when you crossed me.”
He looked up from his work, his smile gone. “You’re the one about to be blown to pieces. So I think I won that match.”
“Your brother would disagree.”
He hooked the vest onto my body. “I have to admit, you’re taking this better than the others. Most men would have shit themselves by now.”
“Because they didn’t volunteer for this. I did.”
His men gripped my arms and marched me out of the room.
Lucian walked beside us. “When the final beep from the alarm goes off, that will be the last sound you hear in this life. Then the fire will rise and burn whatever body parts are left over from the explosion. I have to ask…was she really worth it?”
I kept my eyes straight ahead as they marched me outside.
“It’s a sad way for the Skull King to go. Who will inherit your ring?”
I’d left my ring behind because I wasn’t letting him have it. “We all have to die sometime, right?”
“For a woman?” he asked incredulously. “Sure, she’s beautiful. But she’s unremarkable in every other way.”
“You don’t believe that. You just tell yourself that to make yourself feel better. She prefers fucking a real man to being the prisoner of some spineless pussy.”
Lucian nodded.
One of his men slugged me in the stomach.
I didn’t let out a single sound of discomfort.
We marched across the compound until we approached a building in the corner. It wasn’t much larger than a two-car garage. A road didn’t lead to the area, so it seemed like a shed. I’d never paid attention to it before.
We entered the building, and I spotted a room constructed out of solid concrete. The door that led to it was black and manufactured from an indistinguishable metal. Lucian opened the door and revealed another metal chair. “Take a seat.”
I stepped inside, hearing the echo of my steps in the small room. It was a confined space, powerful enough to contain the blast so no one would hear it. There were black marks all over the place, the result of other explosions.
Of other deaths.
This was the last place I would ever visit, the last room I would ever see before I left this earth. If heaven and hell existed, I knew exactly where I was going. I sat down, the vest an extra twenty pounds on my frame.
Lucian stopped in front of me, his hands resting in his pockets. He stared at me with a slight smile, like he was enjoying every single moment. “I win. You lose.”
“That still remains to be seen.”
“Death is pretty final.”
“My men are loyal to me, unlike yours. Eventually, they’ll get their retribution. Don’t expect mercy.”
He smiled. “We’ll see. And when I get my wife back, I’ll fuck her and think of you.” He pulled a remote out of his pocket and hit the button.
The small screen on the wall displayed a countdown.
Ten minutes.
“I’ll let you enjoy the countdown. Most men don’t even last this long before they start crying. So, congratulations.”
I stared at him blankly, refusing to feel anything for this man. He could torment me all he wanted, but it didn’t change my victory. Cassini was alive and well, far away from his clutches. I wouldn’t survive this—but she would. That made all of this worth it. “Goodbye, Lucian.”
He nodded. “Goodbye, Balto.” He walked out and shut the metal door behind him.
My eyes shifted to the clock, seeing the seconds tick by. My death felt anticlimactic. I was the Skull King. I deserved something better than this. But I let it happen because I didn’t have any other choice.
Giving Cassini away wasn’t an option.
I’d die before I allowed that to happen.
Before we got out of the truck, it seemed like she was going to tell me she loved me. Maybe I should have given her the chance to say the words, but at the time, it was too difficult. Maybe I shouldn’t have been a coward and told her how I felt when I had the chance. But maybe it was so obvious that I didn’t need to say anything at all.
Maybe it was better this way.
11
Cassini
We arrived on the top floor, and I was still in
tears. “Heath, this is Balto, your brother. We’re going to stand by and do nothing? Do you understand how ludicrous that is?”
Case came to my side. “I agree. There has to be something we can do. We have all his men who can help us. We can’t just give up.”
“No. We need to do something, and we need to do it now.” I walked farther into the room then stopped when I noticed something on the kitchen table. I halted as I examined it, trying to figure out what it was. When I came closer, I recognized the ring, the skull diamond Balto always wore. It was on a necklace, and there was a note.
* * *
Baby,
I’ll always be the Skull King. And you’ll always be my queen.
* * *
Tears dripped down my cheeks as I lifted the necklace and examined the flawless diamond he wore every day. Enormous and beautiful, it was a ring so big that it would never fit on any of my fingers. That was probably why he’d put it on a chain. I placed the necklace around my throat and turned back around.
Heath looked away, like the sight was too painful.
“Case.”
My brother came toward me, his face bruised and swollen from the abuse he’d received while with Lucian.
I lowered my voice so Heath couldn’t hear. “I need you to help me.”
“Help you what?” he whispered.
“Lucian said he would use his explosives on Balto. When he’s killed his other enemies the same way, he uses a small building on his property. It’s made to buffer the sound so no one will hear it. That’s probably where he’s doing it.”
“Alright. But what does that matter? If there’s really a bomb vest on Balto’s body, we can’t just disarm it.”
I’d lived with Lucian for years. He’d asked me to keep him company even when he was working, so I saw him in the lab all the time. He’d even taught me how to disarm bombs if someone ever tried to take me away from him. “I think I can…”
Case’s eyebrow rose. “You’re serious?”