by West, Sinden
I saw her nails coming and didn’t even try to move. They sunk into the flesh of my cheek, gorging and tearing at my skin as they dragged trails down my face. I felt wet, warm blood before the agonizing pain set in.
She screamed and bared her teeth, blunt and white. “Why are you so stupid? Why would you say something so…unbelievably ludicrous. You sound like him.”
She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, hugging them to her. She seemed oblivious to my blood staining and embedded in her fingernails. Her eyes shone with threatening tears.
“Don’t cry,” I said urgently, sitting up beside her and pulling her to me. She didn’t resist. “I didn’t say it to upset you.”
“Don’t say it again. It makes you sound…”
“Crazy,” I finished for her. “I’m not crazy, Rachel. I swear to you. It’s just…can’t you see how perfect you are? There’s no black or white with us, there’s just a lot of grey. You know everything bad about the world. You’ve done bad things and you’ve done good things, and for the most part you accept me for what I am.”
She looked at me through her tears and messed hair. “So you like what I am and what I’ve done? Because I don’t.”
I held her even tighter. “It wasn’t your fault and I’m going to help set you free. We just need to get rid of her and then you’ll be able to begin again. When I killed my father, I felt free. I felt alive for the first time.”
“This is different though.” Her tears fell onto my chest.
“How?”
“My mother loves me.”
I stiffened and then brushed my lips across her hair. “I’ll only do what you want me to do. That’s a promise. You call the shots.”
“You’re drunk. You’re only saying this stuff because you’re drunk. Tomorrow we’ll wake up and nothing will have changed.” Her voice was muffled with her tears but I wasn’t really listening. All I could concentrate on was my blood falling onto her hair.
I half expected her to be gone in the morning when I woke up with my head pounding, but she hadn’t fled. She sat, nude, in front of the dressing table mirror. Perched on a stool, every ounce of her was on display from her perfectly formed back to her pink tipped breasts reflected in the mirror. She reached out to touch her reflection, trailing a forefinger along the glass as if she could ripple it like it was water.
I got out of bed and stretched, before grabbing a blanket and approaching her. I placed it over her shoulders, wrapping it around her. Her skin felt like ice. “You feel cold.”
Her eyes met mine in the mirror. “I’m always cold, no matter what the weather.”
I stroked her hair. “Then we’ll go somewhere where it’s always warm.”
“Hell?”
I let a tendril curl around my finger. “We’re already there, aren’t we?” I tried to smile. That wasn’t true. This wasn’t hell. Not even close. I bent down to kiss her neck, inhaling her scent. But the kiss wasn’t enough; I needed more, so I sucked her skin into my mouth to bruise and mark her flesh. All the while, my hands roamed over her, beneath the blanket, feeling hard nipples at the helm of her full breasts that had an impossible softness to them. A slight gasp emitted from her, and I let my hands go further south to her thighs that parted enough for me to touch her and enter her with my fingers. I found warm moisture there to spur me on, rubbing in and out, pressing against her sensitive clit while her eyes closed and her small gasps continued.
With my free arm, I wrapped it around her, holding her against me. “No. Open your eyes. I want you to look,” I whispered in her ear.
She obeyed, opening her eyes to half mast, watching us in the mirror.
I increased the speed as I fucked her with my fingers, enjoying her mouth that was open in a helpless ‘O’ shape. Perspiration covered her skin and moans came from deep within her as her body shook.
With a sudden jerk, she thrust her face down into my arm, closing her mouth over my skin. I felt her teeth and saliva as I brought her to orgasm, trapped in my arms. As she rode it out and then collapsed against me, I leaned into her with a smile. “Still think we’re in hell?”
She didn’t answer, and I took her hand to lead her to the bathroom.
I ran a bath and once the water was to temperature I helped her in, soaping every inch of her. As I rubbed the sponge around her neck and back, she gave a groan of contentment before saying. “Last time we were here like this, I thought you were going to kill me. I thought you were getting rid of the evidence.”
“I know.”
I moved my arm around to clean the silky skin of her chest, but she caught my hand and held it tight against her. “What are we, Aaron? What are we doing? We just exist…or do we? Sometimes I imagine that we never left here and that we just died here and everything since is just a dream. Or maybe I didn’t die and I’m still locked in that room thinking that each day will be my last. Maybe your humanity is just in my imagination and the truth is that you are so terrible my mind broke because it couldn’t deal with the horror.” Her voice trailed off as she stared off into space.
“Hey.” I cupped her chin and made her look at me. “There is nothing broken about you. You’re the strongest person I know.”
Her mouth twisted up in to a wry smile. “You’re manipulating me.”
“Isn’t that what you’ve been doing to me this whole time?”
Her smile receded into a line as she frowned. “No. I haven’t. Is that what you think I’ve been doing this whole time? Playing you?” She jumped up, splashing water out onto the ground and onto me as she snatched at a towel, wrapping it around her body almost defensively. She stepped out of the bath tub, keeping her distance from me. “I’m not playing games with you Aaron. I never have. I’m not your fucking enemy so stop acting like that’s what I am!” Her teeth were bared but her eyes showed her hurt.
“I don’t think you’re my enemy,” I said quietly.
“Well you shouldn’t, because I’m not.” She kept her towel tightly around her.
“You should go get dressed. It’s cold.” I turned my back on her. I needed a drink, and more than anything, I needed to not be around her. Anything that I’d had to drink the night before had worn off and the sharpness of sobriety hit me hard.
Once downstairs, I hurriedly poured a drink before collapsing down into the arm chair. Why had I even started that stupid conversation with her? I didn’t need to talk about feelings, about us. We just were and this was the way that it should continue.
She must have moved silently, because when I looked up, she stood in the doorway, clad in one of my sweaters that fell to mid-thigh, revealing nude legs beneath it. She was still damp from her bath and her face flushed from the heat.
“Why are you so angry?”
“I’m not angry.” I turned to watch the fire.
“You are. You’re never happy. You’re always simmering like something is about to break free and‒”
Enough of this crap. “You want to know why I’m angry?” I snapped out. “It’s because I don’t like who I am around you. You make me weak.”
Her eyes went wide for a moment. I had taken her by surprise, but she recovered and stepped into the room. She didn’t fear me. Not anymore.
“You aren’t weak, Aaron. You don’t feel fear. You’re scared of nothing.”
I let out a bitter laugh. She didn’t have a fucking clue. I desperately sucked in air as I faced her. “You know what I’m scared of? I’m scared that one day you will wake up and not be fucked up anymore. That’s what I’m scared of, because if you’re not fucked up then there is no way in hell that you will ever love me.”
She stayed quiet, and I laughed once more. “What are you thinking, Rachel? Let me tell you, you’re thinking that you would never love me anyway, under any circumstance. Isn’t that right?”
“Stop it,” she hissed out finally. “Stop talking like this. We don’t need it. You and I don’t need love. Love makes you weak, but we’re strong. Togeth
er, we’re strong. You’re just drunk right now.” And with that she moved out of the room, her hair swaying behind her.
I felt like I’d been punched. I’d just said the stupidest thing that I could ever say in my life…and she’d hardly reacted. Or had she? Did she grow stronger the more weak that I became?
She hadn’t slithered into my life. She hadn’t connived and schemed. I’d stolen her, and then I’d taken her again. When she’d been kidnapped, I’d searched for her and when she ran, I came after her even when commonsense told me how stupid I was being.
My hand tightened on the glass. No, she would never love me, but that didn’t matter. I had her and she wasn’t going anywhere.
I got to my feet with more grace than the alcohol should have allowed me to have. It was time to stop drinking, otherwise I would turn into my father or my uncle, and Rachel would only allow me in her life while I was useful. She wouldn’t tolerate a pathetic drunk.
Her eyes were on me as I entered the room. She lay on her side with her hair spread out on the pillow, waiting.
She held open the blanket so I could slide in beside her, almost in a welcoming manner. “We have plans to make,” she said softly. “You have a man to kill, and I…I have my mother to be free of.”
She moved over to rest her head on my chest. She must have heard my heart beating, every part of me seemed to throb beneath her as if I needed her to breathe. I would never tell her that though. She didn’t need to know that; it would just give her more power and she already had too much.
“In the morning,” I murmured, gently stroking her hair. “We’ll start then.”
Chapter Thirteen
So many people think that their home is a safe place to be. But walls, a roof, and even a gate‒they are never enough to keep someone out. If a person wants to get into your house, if they want to get to you, then nothing will stop them.
Luca’s home‒that structure that was built to resemble his power or cock size‒had every security measure, from a bodyguard to alarms and cameras. But Luca underestimated everyone. He thought that his name alone should protect him and make any man piss himself in fear. When his family weren’t home, he just had one of his men there. As for alarms and cameras, they wouldn’t do any good, because I was just going to walk right up to the front door in the open.
Rachel raised an eyebrow at me when I said that. She was expecting some kind of covert operation, but that wasn’t how I worked. Simple was best. She had dressed in dark pants and a sweater that hugged her figure and made me want to bend her over and take her right there and then. Her bright hair was fastened back at the nape of her neck like she was ready for a fight. She wouldn’t have to do anything though. She was merely there as a decoy. Luca wouldn’t think that I’d bring her with me if I meant him harm.
He didn’t know me at all.
We parked right in front of the house. I knew he was home and I knew there was only one of his men with him. I had my own guy who could hack into security systems. Nothing was infallible. I looked at Rachel before we exited the car. I could have left her there, or maybe I shouldn’t have been taking her with me at all. If everything turned to shit, Luca would claim her as his until he bored of her, and as fond as Antony was of her, he wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop him.
Shit. I resisted the urge to bang my hand against the steering wheel. I was being weak again. Never have doubts. That was my rule. Anything else got you into trouble. Rachel was here. She belonged to me and she needed to be strong. If I had to be running around protecting her, then I would be ineffective and pathetic. I wouldn’t let her suck my strength away.
“Let’s go.” I got out of the car just as John, Luca’s man, came out to greet us. He forced a smile, and I gave him one right back.
“Aaron,” he greeted with fake joviality, “we weren’t expecting you.” The wariness in his eyes nearly gave me a hard on. He knew not to fuck with me, but he would if it meant protecting his boss. He was nothing. He was just something that I could squash beneath my foot like an annoying bug.
I flashed him my best grin. “Good to see you. We just got back from vacation and thought I’d see the boss man first before heading home.”
Rachel was just behind me and his eyes raked down her body like she was a piece of meat. Lucky him. He got to see something beautiful before he died. Not all men had that pleasure.
“Come on in. He’s in his office.” He indicated toward the entranceway.
“Thanks.” I casually walked past him and through the open door. Mine and Rachel’s footsteps were dull on the marble floor, his were much louder. He had yet to learn the art of walking softly. It was always better not to be detected until the very last moment. I led the way to Luca’s study and tried to suppress the excitement that was building in me. I needed to be cool and calm, but it was hard not to enjoy the buzz of knowing that I was about to destroy the biggest psycho that I knew.
I laughed out loud and felt Rachel’s and John’s eyes on me. I just turned and winked at them. John looked worried, but Rachel, her eyes were unreadable. All emotion had left her. What was going on in that head of hers? Did she trust me?
I turned away from her as we came to the door of the study. John moved in front of me to knock on the door. It was a farce. Luca knew we were there. He pushed it open and then stepped back so we could enter.
Luca sat there, watching us from under hooded eyes. His mouth smiled but, as usual, it didn’t reach his eyes. They moved slightly to my left, to study Rachel in her dark finery that hid her muscle and her strength.
“Aaron.” His eyes still lingered on her for a moment longer before switching to me. “We thought that you had vanished. What were you hiding from?”
My smile was smooth. “I don’t hide, Luca.”
He shrugged. “Call it what you want, but I don’t appreciate my men disappearing when I’ve got work to do.”
I wasn’t his man and he knew it. I would never show the fear disguised as loyalty that motivated all the others.
“I’m here now.”
He leaned forward and set his elbows on his desk, resting his chin on his hands. “It might be too late. I don’t like to be disappointed.”
“That was never my intention.” I hoped that I looked suitably contrite.
“Perhaps it wasn’t, but I don’t like to give second chances, even for you.” His voice stayed the same, showing no change in emotion.
Now was the time. He was playing with me, now it was my turn to join in the game. “I have no desire to end our working relationship. I’m sure that I could make it up to you somehow.”
“Really? How?”
“A gift.” I reached out and grabbed Rachel’s wrist. It seemed so thin as I curled my hand around it, as if I could break every bone there if only I squeezed. I pulled her forward in front of me, her eyes widened as her mouth twisted.
“Aaron‒” she began, rage forming on her face as realization struck her. Quickly, I clamped my hand over her mouth and pulled her hard against my chest, positioning my arms in such a way that her head was caught. She froze. She understood what I could do to her in this way. None of the self defense techniques that I had schooled her in would do her any good.
I lowered my mouth to her ear. “I could snap your neck in an instant like this and you know it. You’ve been too disobedient for too long. I thought that I could break you and train you, but you’re just too goddamned defiant for your own good. You brought this on yourself, Rachel.”
I let my hand drop from her mouth but still kept my tight hold on her head. “My name’s Paige, you fucking psychopath,” she rasped through gritted teeth.
“It doesn’t matter now. None of it matters.” I looked up at Luca. “Well? She’s fun to play with, I’ll give her that. She’s got a killer body.” I let a hand run down her like she was meat. “You should just hear her beg. It’ll nearly move your heart.”
Luca’s face was still and then he laughed. “I don’t need you to give her to me
, Aaron. I can just take her, but I appreciate the thought. I really do. Now hand her over to John.” He had reached into a drawer and pulled out his gun. It now rested on the desk in front of him. I hadn’t brought mine. There was no point. John would have taken it before I could get inside the house. Not that it mattered. I didn’t need it.
I paused for a moment and then gave her a push toward the man. John caught her with ease, grinning down at her and probably hoping that his boss would let him have a go with her when he tired of her and before he killed her. She didn’t bother to struggle and just stood there in his hold, staring at me with hate. It was a look that I was used to.
“Come on,” I implored Luca. “Surely this offer buys me some time. She was special to me. This pains me.”
He chuckled. “Go lock her in the bedroom,” he told John. “I’ll be there shortly. Actually, get her ready for me. She looks like a hellcat.”
“Sure.” He dragged her along with him as he left, casting one last wary look at me before he went. He didn’t think that he would ever see me again, but he was stupid. I was all about self-preservation.
“Well, what else have you got to bargain with, Aaron?” John and Rachel had disappeared through the door and I turned my full attention to the man in front of me.
I gave him a wry smile. “That’s it, I guess. She was it.”
“It’s very sad when a man makes his life around a woman. It makes him weak. It makes him forget to keep his eye on the prize.”
“Thanks for the philosophy lesson.”
“I expected better of you, Aaron. I really did.”
I shook my head. “No you didn’t. Everyone’s disposable and no one’s to be trusted. I know how you think; we’re the same in that regard. Except I have one thing that you don’t.”
I took a step closer but he didn’t seem alarmed, such was his arrogance.
“What was that? You won’t have it for much longer.”
I moved. The knife was out of my boot before he could even pick up the gun. I slammed it into his throat. The sharp blade bit into him with ease, stuck there up to the hilt while blood poured around it like a waterfall.