by S. K. Lessly
However, at the end, she had learned that she was the one being used and not the other way around. For a long time, the realization that her extinction clock was ticking hit her hard. However, she hoped what she had for him today would either extend that time or seal her fate.
Cupid was a dangerous and cold psychopath. He had a no heart or conscious. Some even believed that he’d been birthed straight from the devil himself. Cupid was a large and muscular man with a bald head and a tattoo of a cross on his cheek. His features were hard with a square jaw and dark demonic eyes. He wasn’t sexy in the typical way she preferred her men to be, but she’d had to put up the façade to maintain his support. She had done a lot to keep Cupid happy; things that no matter how hard she tried to chalk up to duties of the job, she still couldn’t stamp down the bile that threatened to suffocate the life out of her.
The woman sighed audibly, surprised she had made it this far along the beach without a bullet to the head. That meant only one of two things: she was in or at least she had him curious.
Once she made it within inches of the first of the four guards, she finally saw Cupid. He was relaxing on a lounge chair with his legs crossed at the ankles. He was clothed in a simple white linen suit, his tanned skin a stark contrast to the fabric, and his feet were bare. A white fedora and dark sunglasses shielded him from the sun, and he wore one of the most sinister smiles on his face as his head turned slightly in her direction.
The smile he gave her sent chills throughout her body. This was a mistake, she finally realized. However, she couldn’t take it back now. She had already made the mistake of getting in bed with the devil. In order for her to survive this, she needed to follow through with everything she’d planned.
***
Cupid watched his guard, a large brute of a man, move in the woman’s direction with an amused yet tense expression on his face. The guard’s rough callous hands milled all over her body, squeezing her breasts and ass before running unsolicited hands up her bare legs. Cupid knew she wasn’t carrying anything. All she wore was a skimpy bikini, but he hadn’t gotten as far as he had without being cautious.
Cupid watched on, knowing his guard, the head of his security, was enjoying the search of the woman’s body. As if to confirm Cupid’s claim, a sneer slowly spread across his guard’s face as his large fingers lightly brushed hidden spot between the woman’s inner thighs. It was the final phase of the intrusive search for anything that could harm his boss before he stepped back.
Cupid grinned unapologetically as she tensed up from the invasion.
“You have to be thorough when the CIA comes to visit unannounced,” Cupid offered as an explanation in heavily accented English; his Russian heritage coming through strong. Shaking a thick finger in her direction, he added, “You people are sneaky. There’s no telling where you would hide a weapon, yes?”
The agent rolled her eyes behind her black tinted glasses, and he smiled even more as if he’d read her resentment in her eyes through her shades.
***
After receiving a slight nod from Cupid, the bodyguard stepped aside and motioned for her to continue past him. The agent fought the urge to knee the nasty fucker, especially when she saw the bulge in the front of his slacks.
Dirty bastard, she thought to herself. She started to verbalize her thoughts when her attention switched from the guard to Cupid.
He wasn’t alone.
There were two exotic and strikingly beautiful Brazilian women laying on lounge chairs next to Cupid. They only wore bikini bottoms, their large but perfect tanned boobs exposed to the ocean air. Their presence here faltered her slightly, but she believed she had just a bit more power than they had. She and Cupid had history. Their existence here shouldn’t change her plans. If push came to shove, she would simply ask that they leave.
She had viable information that was hot and for his eyes only. Cupid was a private man who wouldn’t want his business out there, so she knew he would honor her request for privacy.
Cupid observed the woman with guarded eyes as she came closer to him. He had heard she’d been asking around for him, causing unwanted attention that he couldn’t afford. He strongly thought about killing her on sight. However, she intrigued him. She was an American spy bitch, but she had been useful to him countless times. He decided to see what she wanted before he put a bullet between her eyes. If she wasn’t wasting his time, maybe he’d have a little fun with her first. He’d always enjoyed her efforts of pleasing him. They were most entertaining.
“So, Ms. Sutton… That is the name you are traveling under, is it not? Elizabeth Sutton?”
The agent fought back a chill as she stood before the man. She hadn’t actually used that name yet. She had just received the papers from her contact about two hours ago. She cleared her throat, doing her best to hide her shock and removed her sunglasses. “This place is beautiful, but I figured you to be more a hunter than surfer.”
Cupid shrugged his shoulders. “It seems that you are not as familiar of me as you think.”
“I guess not,” she countered quietly.
Cupid, bored of her presence already, reached for the glass of tequila he’d been sipping from the table next to him. He took a few gulps of the smooth liquid before asking, “So let us cut the chatter, yes? Have a seat and tell me why you are here, Diane? Why have you been looking for me?”
CIA agent Diane Deonatti looked around the area and found no other seat available for her so she remained standing. She removed her hat and pushed her glasses to the top of her head.
“I have some news that will be of great interest to you. If we could have a few minutes alone… twenty minutes tops… Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.” She cut her eyes at the women sitting in lounge chairs on either side of Cupid before returning them back to him.
Cupid nodded. “Okay, you have ten minutes. Tell me.”
Diane hesitated a little, her eyes roaming over the two women again, more obvious this time, before she looked at Cupid. Cupid met her gaze, never reacting to her hints for privacy. Resolved to not getting the time alone, Diane sighed deeply and said ‘Fuck it’ inwardly.
She told him what she had.
Cupid, to his credit, didn’t show an ounce of emotion even though he was burning inside with fury. It was something he had mastered as a child. He had heard rumors that people thought he was born without the ability to show emotion. However, that wasn’t true. He just didn’t believe in the excess energy it took to express them. He preferred using actions. It was more productive that way and it left more of a desired statement.
Once the bitch spy was done with what she wanted to tell him, he had to admit he was intrigued. When she told him her plan for revenge, he smiled. She had a good plan, but it wasn’t one he had in mind.
“So, you have names for me, yes?”
She smiled. “Of course I do.”
“And you have family information too? I want it all: names of every family member and addresses, and everything on this suka.”
Diane put her hands up and kept an even smile spread across her face. “And you shall have it. But I need assurances, you understand. If I give you everything I have, you’ll have no use for me. No, things need to go my way, Perchanko.”
Cupid smiled, an action that didn’t quite reached his eyes. “You do understand that I can just beat it out of you?”
“You can try, but you and I both know how useful torture is for people like you and me. By the time that you are done with me, you won’t be able to tell the truth from the lies. No, I see it only one way. You let me help you get your revenge, and in turn you would be helping me a great deal. We can work together and both come out of this getting what we want.”
Glasses off now, Cupid thought for a long moment. He never worked well with others, especially when it had to do with more personal matters such as this. But this situation was different. This time he would bend and make the exception.
Cupid reached for the tequila again and
took a sip. “Okay, I will play this your way until of course, I make plans of my own.”
Diane smiled. “Fair enough.”
Cupid jutted his chin in her direction. “We can talk in more detail later about this plan of yours, but now I need something else from you,” Cupid told her over the rim of his glass.
It took a second for Diane to realize the implications of Cupid’s words. Coupled that with the look that accosted Cupid’s weathered face and Diane’s smile faltered slightly. She looked nervously at the women before she said, “And what would that be?”
Cupid’s smile broadened in mischief. “Come now, you have not forgotten our little arrangement, have you?”
Diane searched Cupid’s eyes intently hoping, no praying that he was joking. He had two ample bodies next to him. He couldn’t want her, but the look in his eyes told her that he did.
Smiling, she took in their surroundings. There was a house off in the distance not too far from where they were. She was familiar with this part of the beach. There were a lot of beach front properties along this private stretch that were owned by millionaires around the world, including Brazil’s elite. She assumed that the house she saw belonged to Cupid, which made her relax slightly. The sooner she gave him what he wanted, the sooner they could get down to business.
“No, of course not.” She smiled and waited for Cupid to move. He didn’t.
Confused, her smile fell from her lips. “Are you ready? I’m assuming that house back there belongs to you. I figured you’d want to get started right away so we can get down to business.”
“Oh, I do, I do. And that is my villa yes, but…” He shook his head dismissively. “We do not have to leave the beach. I mean it is a beautiful day, yes? Why waste it away inside when we can conclude all of our business right here?”
This son of a bitch is crazy! Diane laughed. “Clearly, you’re joking.”
The hardness that drowned Cupid’s eyes caused the hairs on the back of Diane’s neck to stand at attention. His face never changed, but his eyes scared the shit out of her.
“I do not joke,” he spat harshly, his voice raised ever so slightly. “Now, get the fuck over here and get on your knees or our business here is done.”
Diane looked around at the amused smirks on the four bodyguards’ faces and the bored faces of the two women. She knew if she went over to him what would happen. She could see it on everyone’s faces. She also read what would happen if she decided not to move on Cupid’s face.
He had her cornered, and she knew it.
Was her need and desire for revenge worth her dignity and self-respect? She took in a deep breath. Fuck yeah!
Chapter Three
Misty
The fluid rhythm of my tired arms, slowly slicing through the surface of the cool water of my pool was barely audible against the night air. I was doing my best to concentrate on breathing and relaxing instead of the deep burn tightening around my arms and legs.
My obsession of never giving up caused me to fight through my fatigue and push myself through yet another lap and then another. I ignored the tightening in my chest. I held my breath under water for as long as I could, punishing my body until I felt I was going to explode. Then I pushed and punished myself even more.
Since I had arrived home, I hadn’t been able to relax. The long drive from the crime scene didn’t help either. I’d been wired, and no matter what I tried to do, the adrenaline from tonight was still raging rampantly through my body. The ghost of Simon’s words, the downright enraged looks, and blow up from my so-called fellow men in arms, Majors Shane and Malcolm Cooper, and my soon-to-be ex-partner, Josh, continued to haunt me. To top everything off, I still couldn’t get the shit that I’d seen out of my head.
This was the norm for me after a mission. I had the habit of replaying everything in my mind, questioning if I had done everything I was supposed to have done. I analyzed if I had done something differently, would the outcome have been the same. As a result, I had to deal with pent-up aggression and energy that coursed through me without a place to go.
Some of the people I served with, ex-marine and warriors, had regimens that they did to help them deal with the shit they’d done or seen. It allowed them to hold on to the little sanity they had left. There were those that went to the gun range while some needed booze to help them forget or cope. Others sought solace in talking to someone like a fellow warrior, a priest, or a shrink. Some found more physical ways of dealing with their issues like sparring or working out. There were even a few that I knew who actually did yoga and meditation, which I had to say I didn’t understand.
Unfortunately, there were those that took the negative and destructive ways of coping to great heights through drugs, physical abuse on spouses, families, and even self-deprecation. It was sad and it wasn’t right, but it happened.
For me, getting physical and exerting as much energy as I could helped to calm me down. I’d go to someone’s dojo to find a sparring partner to beat up on or I’d get sweaty in the small gym housed in my two-car garage. And sometimes I went swimming like I was doing tonight. But I must tell you that most of the time there was only one thing I could do that would take the edge off. I could always rely on this particular physical activity to do the trick: fucking someone’s brains out.
Don’t judge me, but there was something about sweaty physical exertion with my lady parts getting worked over by a man with a hard body, who obviously knew what he was doing. That always did it for me. Sex allowed me to put everything I had; every emotion I was feeling and every bit of rage and frustration I had into one goal, which was to get off. And it was accepted.
Most of the time, sex was just a temporary fix. It was something to do to take my mind off of what I had done. It didn’t completely bury the adrenaline I felt, but it was enough for me to at least function. Sadly, tonight wasn’t turning out to be my night. When I left the crime scene, I had pushed out my feelers, texted a few of my regulars that I’d usually hook up with, and I still hadn’t received a call back. Maybe it was a good thing. I wasn’t in a mood to play nice, and knowing me, if I didn’t get satisfied tonight, I would hurt someone’s feelings. So, swimming it was, which allowed me to replay the night repeatedly in my head.
Swell…
During the self-evaluation of my actions and reactions, one of the things that bothered me the most were the things that Shane and Josh had said to me and the disapproving look Malcolm had given me. It was ironic because the majority of the time I couldn’t care less about what anyone said or thought about me. Now I couldn’t stop thinking about the disappointment in their eyes.
All of my life I had played by my own rules because as I’ve said, I didn’t care what people thought of me. I ended up putting away most of my selfish ways the day I became a marine. I had no choice. I had to learn to play well with others if I wanted to be who I was born to be. It was hard for me though, because I was an only child who’d been spoiled since birth, but I adapted quite nicely.
I joined the United States Marine Corps fresh out of high school because… well… because it was my destiny. I wanted to serve my country and save the world. No other branch of the military would do, the police academy was for rejects, and I didn’t have any desire to go to college. Books were my parents’ thing, not mine. By no means was I a slouch in the brains department, though. I just wasn’t suited for learning about life from books or a classroom.
Being a marine was what I was made to do. I got excited going over maps of hostile territories, war plans, and strategic thinking and problem solving as the world went to shit around me. I flourished on chaos and thrived off of protecting my country from all enemies.
My parents didn’t understand my passion for purposefully going to the most dangerous places on this planet to hunt for my enemies. They thought I was wasting my talents. They had no clue how much I got off hunting bad guys and sending them to hell where they belonged or how I got moist between my thighs being out in the world kic
king ass and counting the bodies I had dropped.
The military allowed me to be the woman I was born to be. That’s how I loved to work. I mean, you could throw me into the fire with just a knife and assault rifle, and I would be elated. Give me something or someone to shoot, and I’d think Christmas had come early.
I had to admit, I wasn’t always comfortable with who I was. It was hard for me at first to adapt to my twisted way of thinking. For a long time it freaked me out. There were times my quick temper or idea of solving problems with violence made me question my existence. I thought for a minute that God wasn’t perfect, but as I grew up and realized the value of the gifts that I possessed and how to use them, I came to my senses. God didn’t make mistakes, so what I had and what I could do were things to cherish.
The saying, ‘Once a marine, always a marine’ was embedded in me, but I had to say it wasn’t enough. Serving in the Marine Corps was the most fulfilling and rewarding time in my life, and when it ended, I wasn’t ready. It felt as if I was an old horse whose usefulness had run out, and I was being led out to pasture to meet my demise. That wasn’t the way I wanted to go out. I still had a lot of fight in me.
Terror had a new face, and they fought a different type of war. That was the war I wanted to fight. I wanted to continue to do my part and make a difference, and for a while I couldn’t find a home. Like I said, the police force was a joke, and the DEA, FBI, CIA, and the NSA were all a waste of my time.
For a while, I thought I was going to lose my mind or go into teaching. Fortunately, for the youth of this generation and me, one of my old mentors saved my life. He had always been a supporter of my skills. He was responsible in part for who I was today. He was highly pissed to hear the corps had given me the boot. Therefore, he fought hard for me.
Anyway, one day he called me and told me about this place that would enable me to utilize my skills and stay in the dog fight. He told me about the Defense Intelligence Agency, popularly known as the DIA. Since the recommendation had come from him, I went for it and I had to say, I was glad that I did.