by Ashley Jade
“You said we were leaving town. If you’re just using me—”
“I’m not.” Christ almighty. She’s so needy. “We’ll spend the night at the house. Then we’ll head for the airport at the break of dawn.”
There’s a smile on her face as she undoes my cuffs. “Okay.”
I stand up, and she tenses, as though expecting me to hurt her. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s go home.”
So I can fuck your little whore cunt…and then kill you.
Make you both pay for your sins.
Chapter 43
Damien
“Party’s over,” I tell Geoffrey as the ambulance drives off with the governor and Margaret. “Kick everyone out.”
Turns out Bexley’s years of bad food and no exercise caught up with him and he suffered a massive heart attack while eating an eggroll. The EMTs are trying their best to keep him alive, but they don’t think he’s going to make it to the hospital.
Looks like karma is catching up with everyone tonight.
Geoffrey bows. “As you wish.”
“Wait,” I bark before he scurries off.
“Yes, sir.”
“I want you to spend some time with Eden tonight. She’s…just hang out with her. Do whatever it takes to make her happy. I’ll be in my office for the remainder of the evening. I don’t want any interruptions.”
I have an opponent to torture and kill.
“Of course, sir.”
The heaviness in my chest eases as I make my way down the stairs.
Revenge is so close I can taste it.
My heart beats like a drum as I walk down the dark, narrow hallway leading to my office.
Tick tock, Cain Carter.
I’ve been waiting to do this for eleven long years. It’s better than the last bite of a decadent dessert.
Hell, it’s almost better than sex. My dick gets hard just thinking about slitting his throat from ear to ear.
My lips twitch as I enter my office. The evil, vile things I’m going to do to him.
“Time to rock and roll, Cai—”
My heart stops cold. No.
Dread crawls up my throat, squeezing like a vise.
How does a man who’s cuffed, hogtied, and fastened to a tank…get up and disappear?
Easy. He doesn’t. Not without a lot of help.
I check my office phone. It doesn’t look touched. The tank is fine. Eden’s ball gown is still on the floor. Everything other than Cain not being tied up looks exactly the way I left it.
Pressure tightens against my ribs.
Eden’s ball gown is still on the floor.
My insides twist into something dark and vicious. The thing currently beating out of my chest tells me not to believe it, but the writing is all over the wall.
I brace my arms on my desk and blow out a heavy breath. She let him go.
Why the fuck would she do something so stupid? I know I hurt her—but Cain. It doesn’t make any sense.
Eden was in the clear. She never had to see or hear from him ever again after tonight. Hell, her plane was leaving…
The anger in my gut takes a sharp turn, propelling up my esophagus before surrounding the vital organ she snuck her way into.
That fucking bitch. I trusted her. I thought she was playing Cain…not me.
Not only does Cain win the girl, but he also gets twenty-five million dollars of my money to boot.
Christ. When she demanded money, I didn’t question it.
Faster than my brain can catch up with my reflexes I rip the cord of my lamp out of the wall and raise the steel base over my head.
Then I bash it against the fish tank.
The first crack is small—they usually are.
There’s damage. Water is trickling out. But it’s repairable if you patch it up in time.
But my mother didn’t give a fuck.
The second crack is worse—it’s deeper. Bigger. Water isn’t trickling anymore…it’s pouring out onto the floor.
The damage is too significant to repair. The only thing you can do is take the chunks left behind and turn them into something else.
Something stronger.
So you can get your vengeance.
Until that third crack—because that third one is catastrophic damage. Nothing is salvageable.
Nothing matters anymore. You’ve lost everything.
Including the piranha flopping on my office floor. The one you’re currently beating to death with a lamp because Cain’s no longer here to take the years’ worth of payback you’ve saved up for him.
Because Eden let him go.
She took my heart, my money, my plane ticket, and my revenge…
And then she betrayed me…just like everyone else in my life.
I should have known something was wrong. The way she looked at me. The way she went from spilling her heart out and crying while proclaiming her love…to becoming a stone in the blink of an eye.
It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before…
I drop the lamp.
Not since Cain told me his father and brother died.
Chapter 44
Cain
I take a deep breath, letting the crisp air fill my lungs as I pull up the driveway. Freedom.
“Home sweet home.”
Eden sighs as she steps out of the car. “Feels like forever since I’ve been here.”
I follow behind her as she ambles up the walkway. “I’m glad to have you back.”
You won’t be leaving again.
She opens the front door. “Can we relax a little before we start packing?”
I flick on a light. “Whatever you want.”
Turning to face me, she palms my cheek. “I missed you.”
I kiss the inside of her wrist. “Missed you more.”
Her palm drops to my chest and she comes closer, pushing me against the door.
Christ. She’s so fucking sexy, it’s almost enough to give me second thoughts.
Loose ends are trouble—I remind myself. You granted someone mercy before, and look what happened?
Talk about irony. If Damien really wanted to help Eden, he should have left her alone.
History always repeats itself.
Eden’s kisses are soft and sweet like cotton candy. I want to gorge on her until she fills my bloodstream, but I can’t. My baby’s toxic.
Tainted by Damien King.
Our kisses turn frantic and I slip my hand between her legs. My little Eden. She’s wet for me.
Bile works up my throat. Wet from Damien’s cock.
No, this simply will not do. I need to fix her. Make her better. She deserves it.
My temples throb so hard I wince. I want to be inside her before she dies. And maybe again after. Just to see what it’s like.
Fucking hell. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this powerful and in control.
She mewls when I slide a finger inside her. “Take your tits out.” Not willing to wait, I pull her bra down. Suck the hard pebbles into my mouth.
Eden has nice tits, just like her mother did. Almost too big for her perfect frame but not so big she looks disproportionate.
Her cunt is tighter, though. Then again, my angel hasn’t taken the number of dicks her mommy did.
I’m preserving my little cherub.
I give my precious girl a smile, then kiss her lips and her cheeks as I remove my hand from between her legs.
Every killer keeps a souvenir. A little token to remind them of their favorite victim.
Eden’s mine.
And I want this to be special for her. For me.
It’ll be less messy if we do it in my office. The rug is small and cheap. And hideous—thanks to Claudia’s terrible fashion sense.
It will be easy to discard.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. That comes later.
First, I want to light some candles and pour a little alcohol. Show her how special she is. Celebrate this monumental occasion.
Because she’s mine. And now she always will be. Forever.
“Wait for me in my office,” I tell her as I give her a kiss.
She starts to walk away, but I halt her.
“Would you like something to drink? A little wine? Perhaps some whiskey? A little something to relax?”
It’ll help with the pain.
“I’m not old en—”
I place my finger to her lips. “Shh, sweet angel. There aren’t any rules tonight. It’s just me and you.”
She blushes a beautiful pink, the same color as the inside of her pussy. She’s perfect. Simply perfect. Perfection on earth.
It’s a shame such beauty has to die. It’s not fair.
Damien shouldn’t have fucked with her. With my humanity.
But he did. The bastard made her taste the fruit like the snake he is. He made her see what it was like to be without me…and now she has to pay the price.
I can’t possibly be her everything when she allows him into her head, heart, and body.
No one else should come before me.
I deserve every perfect inch of her. And tonight, I will have it.
I’ll have her last heartbeat and her last breath while I’m rooted deep inside her. Plucking my pretty flower from the earth’s soil.
After fetching my supplies, I join my angel in the office.
She’s so obedient, already bending over my desk for me with her pert little ass in the air.
“Gorgeous.”
I place my glass of whiskey on the desk after I take a sip. Not too much though. I don’t want to get sloppy. I’ll be drunk enough on this experience.
I scratch a match against the box and light two candles then place them both on my mantel. This is a spiritual experience for me. My version of church.
“A little ambiance to help set the mood.”
If Eden turns out to be a fighter like her mother was…things will get messy. I’d rather keep it contained in one area.
I should bind her wrists, but I’d rather have her follow my orders like the good girl she is. It’s much more satisfying that way.
I wince when my head throbs. Harder than before.
When the migraines start, I know there’s no going back. What needs to be done will be done. It’s a calling. A need I can no longer control.
I run my hand down the curve of her ass. Beautiful.
I think Eden will be better than her mother. She’s courteous and young.
She’s respectful just like my Damien was. I shove my hand down my pants and fist my erection. He got on his knees for me. Bowed before his god and vowed to do everything I wanted him to.
I was going to piss in his dirty mouth, and he was going to drink it all up and ask for more. You can’t fake that kind of devotion.
Perhaps I should grant Eden the same privilege and see how much she loves me. Yes, yes. I think I will.
After moving her panties over, I spread her with my fingers, take a look at her insides. So pretty. Like a blooming flower…right before it perishes.
“Would it be easier if I took them off?” my angel questions.
So considerate. Unlike her mother.
“No, baby. It’s better like this. Just lean over a little more.”
Yes, just like that.
I close my eyes as I brace my dick with both hands. I’m hard as fuck and I’ll spray everywhere instead of my intended destination. I want her to take all of me. I want her panties soaked in my fluids. Her hot pussy filled with my piss and cum.
“Almost ready,” I whisper. Then, “Oh, no.”
Her breath hitches. “What’s wrong?”
“I have to pee.”
She tenses. No, Eden. Stay strong. Take all of me.
“You don’t mind, do you?” If she does, it’s too late. I’m already sticking the head of my cock inside her panties like a hose.
She doesn’t make a sound as it runs in rivets down her perfect pussy, thighs, and legs. She takes my golden nectar like the good girl she is.
“Such a good girl. Cain can’t wait to be inside you.”
This is the last time I’ll ever see her alive. I don’t want her back to me. I want to see her face as I pump inside her. I want to see her neck swell as I put my hands around it and squeeze. I want to see the moment life leaves her beautiful blue eyes.
“Eden, sweetheart. Turn around so I can—”
Chapter 45
Eden
A stream of blood squirts into the air, flashing like lightning during a storm as I drag the curve of the knife along his throat, cutting through tendons and veins.
The best way to make someone pay for their sins…is to strike when they least expect it.
Cain makes a gurgling noise, his eyes widening in horror as I shove the knife into his chest and begin twisting. Drilling a hole right where his heart was supposed to be.
I want to take my last breath looking into the most beautiful eyes belonging to the most beautiful girl I’ve ever known.
A slow smile spreads across my face as he collapses on the floor, clutching his neck.
I should feel something. There should be remorse. A touch of sadness. An ounce of regret…
But there’s nothing.
Because Cain Carter’s taken everything from me…
And the people most important to me.
It was only a matter of time before the evil he projected onto others would catch up with him.
Sooner or later everyone pays for their sins.
I peer at his face as his body goes limp. Watch the venom and poison ooze out of the gaping wound on his neck as his eyes begin to dim.
I no longer see the man I loved. The one my heart beats for.
Because a heart can’t continue to beat when it’s no longer intact.
Vengeance always comes at a price.
And I have every intention of paying it…
I just need to say goodbye to someone first.
Chapter 46
Damien
Adrenaline courses through my limbs as I speed up the walkway, masking the panic burning a hole through my chest.
He didn’t lock the front door behind him. Because he knew she wouldn’t run.
I take a heavy breath, pushing down the dread as I twist the knob.
The house is eerily quiet when I enter…never a good sign.
“Cain,” I call out. No response.
There’s an ominous tug in my gut when I check the kitchen and see the bottle of whiskey on the counter. The cap is off. He was impatient.
Bracing myself, I walk past the living room, following the small beam of light coming through a crack in the half-open door at the end of the hall.
The sick feeling in my gut intensifies with every step I take.
I never should have let her go back to get her dress.
I never should have abandoned her when she was so vulnerable.
Eden wasn’t ready for the truth. She’s strong, but she wasn’t strong enough.
Regret and remorse pump through the organ currently beating like a jackhammer in my ribcage. I should have told her I loved her.
The foul stench of death fills my nostrils as I push open the door.
Tiny hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, and pure shock roots me to the spot as I take in the sight.
Cain’s blood-soaked body lays stiff on the floor of his office. His flaccid cock hanging out of his pants. The tip of the knife I gave Eden is sunk into his chest, straight into his black heart.
I walk a little closer and smile. After she slit his throat.
Pride starts to swell…until the awareness of it all plummets like a boulder in my gut. She killed him.
I check my watch. It’s almost midnight.
If I don’t act now…it will be too late.
A smug smile pulls at my lips. I wish I could have seen Cain’s face the moment he realized his little lamb had officially become the slaughterer…and she was out for his blood.
But as Cain found out tonight, we don’t always get what we want. Sometimes you just have to make the best with what you have.
I quickly survey his office, taking in the surroundings before I zero in on the full glass of whiskey on his desk.
I’ll start there.
After extracting the knife from his chest, I drizzle some of the amber liquid over the wound before doing the same to the gash in his throat. I pour the rest around his body, pausing when I notice a wet spot on the rug by his desk.
I grimace as I inhale. Urine. Son of a bitch.
Swallowing my rage, I remove one of the candles from the mantel and put the flame to the end of my cigarette.
I step back as I take a long drag, examining his body. His brown eyes are fixed and dilated. His body is drained of color and stiff as a board. However, it’s his mouth that draws my attention. It’s hanging open…as if she took him by complete surprise.
The muscles in my chest draw tight. I never should have doubted her.
“She did it, Kristy,” I whisper, emotion lodging in my throat. “She fucking did it.”
Eden took the emperor down.
And now there’s only one more thing left to do.
With a smirk, I hover over his body…and drop the candle.
I take one last drag of my cigarette, smiling from ear to ear as the flames engulf him.
“Rot in hell, Cain Carter.”
I’ll be joining you soon.
My grin grows as I make my way out of the house.
For every action…there is a consequence.
For every transgression…there is an outcome.
For every act of vengeance…a debt must be paid.
I close the front door behind me and drop the knife.
And I’ll gladly pay the price for hers.
Chapter 47
Damien
Eden doesn’t drive. She also doesn’t have any friends or any favorite local hangouts.
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