Teach Me: A Bad Boy Professor Romance (The Me Series Book 1)

by Penelope Marshall

  "Come in," a deep voice filtered through the door.

  Angelo pushed the door open, and shoved me in, and then took a seat in the chair situated in front of the large desk. My gaze shifted to the leather chair behind the desk, which had already begun to spin around.

  "Ari," Torello said.

  I opened my mouth, but no words seemed to want to come out. Maybe they were just as afraid as I was.

  "Cat got your tongue," Angelo said, chuckling.

  Torello chuckled along with him, and again I smiled to appease them both.

  "Sit. Sit," Torello said, pointing to the chair next to Angelo.

  I made my way over and sat down. The tension was so thick in the room, the moment could've been cut with a knife.

  "So, tell me again that you don't have her," Torello ordered, sitting back in his chair, pressing his hands together as if he were praying.

  I shook my head. "I don't have her."

  "Then who?"

  "I..."

  "Before you finish that sentence, Ari, just remember who you are lying to," Torello warned.

  I thought about it for a minute. I knew if I lied I wasn't going to get out of here alive, and if I told the truth, Hunter would pay. It was a no-win situation, but I warned Hunter, and he didn't listen. It's not my fault he was going to have to pay for being a stubborn asshole.

  "My friend, Hunter, has her in his house," I divulged.

  "Hunter?" Angelo asked.

  "I've never heard of a Hunter. Who does he run with?" Torello asked.

  "He doesn't. He's a good guy—just got caught up last night," I replied.

  Torello stood and banged his hand on the desk. "That's not what I asked, fucker! I asked who he ran with."

  "He works for Citadel," I replied.

  "Citadel, huh?" Torello asked, sitting back down.

  "Yeah, Citadel," I echoed.

  Torello pulled open a drawer, producing a Glock 42 .380 automatic pistol.

  Oh, fuck!

  My heart fell into my stomach, as I readied myself to die. He laid the gun on the desk and slid it over to me.

  "I want you to get her for me, by whatever means necessary," Torello said.

  "Get her for you? Whatever means?" I asked, grabbing the gun.

  "Are you deaf?" Angelo asked sarcastically.

  "No. I…" my words trailed.

  "Get her!" Torello yelled.

  I bolted out of my seat. "Yes," I said, stuffing the gun in my pants, and began to walk back toward the door.

  "Wait, one more thing," Torello called out.

  I turned and walked back to him, standing behind Angelo's chair.

  "I need to know you're loyal, and that you are invested in me. Otherwise, how will I know if I can trust you?" Torello explained.

  "Yeah, you need to be loyal," Angelo chimed in, glancing over his shoulder at me.

  "Loyal. Okay," I stuttered, knowing whatever he was going to ask wasn't going to be good or for my benefit.

  "I don't like failure. It's a sign of weakness. Failure only makes the group as a whole look weak, and I cannot afford that right now. I need you to take care of someone for me," Torello said, looking at Angelo.

  I looked down at Angelo, who sat up straight in his chair, then turned to look at me. "But, boss…" he said, turning back to Torello.

  Torello looked at me, then tilted his head toward Angelo. "Show your loyalty."

  "Boss!" Angelo yelled, and then turned back to me, grabbing his gun as he twisted.

  Fortunately for me, I already had my gun out and pointed directly at his head. The minute his forehead touched the muzzle of my gun, I squeezed the trigger. Instantly, his head flew back, and a gush of blood and brain matter exploded out the back of his head and onto the wall. He fell on to the desk first then dropped like a rock to the hardwood floor. Some blood and brain matter got on Torello's suit and cheek, which he wiped away with the handkerchief from his suit, and then casually tossed in the trash.

  Angelo laid there, his eyes still open, and a pool of blood collecting on the floor underneath him.

  "Do you see what happens to failures?" Torello asked.

  I nodded.

  "He was my right-hand man, and I loved him. I went to his daughter's birthday just last week. So, just think how much less you matter to me," Torello explained.

  I nodded, still in shock. I had never killed anyone before. I talked a lot of shit and acted like I was about the game, but I wasn't. I was scared to death, and I knew if I didn't deliver Celeste, I was doomed to suffer the same fate.

  "Now go, and bring her back," Torello said, motioning to the door.

  Once again, I turned to walk away when I heard him say, "Tell the guys to come in here to throw this trash away."

  I glanced over my shoulder at Angelo's body one last time. The scene was permanently engrained into my brain. I knew I would have nightmares about those eyes the rest of my life. I opened the door and walked out of the restaurant.

  "Torello wants you guys in there to take out the trash," I told the two guards, who looked at each other and shook their heads before heading in.

  I walked to my car, replaying what just happened. I just murdered somebody, and I was on the hook, now he had me on murder. I guess that's how Torello gained loyalty—through blackmail and fear.

  Fuck!

  I jumped into my car, knowing this was going to be the longest drive of my life. Me or Hunter, Hunter or me.

  Fuck!

  I could feel the cold metal on the flesh of my back, scraping at my skin as I turned up and down the side streets, heading back to Hunter's house.

  Should I call him? Maybe Citadel could fix this?

  Over the next hill, I could see the outline of his house, and I knew that I had to make a decision. The pain from his punch began to throb again, and I took it as a sign that I had to do what I needed to do to survive. Torello wanted his girl back, and if I had to kill Hunter to stay alive, then…

  Fuck!

  I pulled to the side of the road and called him, tapping my finger on the peeling leather wheel as I waited for him to answer.

  "Hello," Hunter answered sternly.

  "It's me," I replied with an equal amount of sternness.

  "Obviously."

  "Lose the fuckin' attitude. I'm putting my neck on the line for you here."

  "What the fuck you talkin' about?" he asked.

  "Torello called me. He wants the girl."

  "Well, he ain't gettin' her."

  "Just give her back, and this shit will all be over," I pleaded.

  "She's not a fuckin' animal to pass back and forth, or a toy on the playground, Ari. This is big boy shit, not the little bullshit you be runnin' on the streets!"

  "Big boy shit, huh? You think I'm not a big boy?" I asked, already pretty irritated with the conversation.

  "I think you don't know what the fuck it means to put others before yourself."

  "What the fuck you mean? I took care of you when we were kids! When your mom was whoring around, and —"

  "You can stop right there, asshole. Leave my mom out of this. That was twenty years ago. Thank you, but I've paid you back for that dozens of times over."

  The anger in me grew, and all I could think to do was hang up the phone.

  I threw it in the passenger seat. "Son-of…" I muttered to myself, laying my forehead on the steering wheel, pondering my next move.

  Twenty years ago? Get over it? Fuck him!

  I remember making sure those bullies didn't beat up that little shit like it was yesterday. I knew he didn't have the best home life, with his mom on drugs, and his dad dead. I felt sorry for him, so I took the little bastard under my wing. Now I was going to have to take his life to save my own.

  I shook my head as I slid the gun from my pants, laying it next to my phone on the passenger seat, and waited, rubbing the sweat from my forehead.

  Fuck! I shouldn't have brought up his mom.

  I knew it was a low blow.

 
"Fuck!" I yelled, slapping the steering wheel with my palm.

  Fuck that. He made me say that shit. It's his fault. Fuckin', Hunter.

  ULTIMATE BETRAYAL

  CELESTE

  "That low-down, dirty, backstabbing, asshole," Hunter cussed as he hung up the phone, visibly angry after the call.

  "Ari?" I asked.

  "How'd you know?" he asked, shaking his head.

  "Just call it women's intuition," I joked, trying to diffuse the situation.

  "He said Torello wants you back."

  "You think he went to Torello? How else would Torello know about Ari?"

  "He didn't stay on the phone long enough to ask, but Ari would never betray me like that."

  "Are you sure?" I asked as the worry collected in my stomach.

  "I'm sure he wouldn't, but we gotta get going."

  "I'm ready whenever you are," I said, standing up.

  "I just don't understand why he is the way he is," he mumbled under his breath as he walked by me.

  The hurt on his face was apparent. I laid my hand on his shoulder and coaxed him to sit down on the couch. "You can't expect people to react to situations like you do; especially since you've been trained to handle these sorts of situations."

  He nodded. "You're right," he said, anxiously rubbing his jaw.

  "It's been known to happen," I said with a smile.

  "I'm gonna go grab a few guns from Citadel before we head to Phoenix. The way Ari was talkin', there's a storm coming for you."

  The fear came over me like a roaring wave. "What if they come while you're gone?" I asked, digging my nails into his flesh.

  "I won't be gone long, and Torello still doesn't know where you are."

  "But what if Ari told him?"

  "He wouldn't do that to me," he said confidently.

  "Just like I could trust him when you left us here alone?"

  He frowned. "I'm sorry about that, but this is different, and he knows Torello would kill you. He's not that fucked up."

  I shook my head slightly, not believing what he was saying for a moment. I knew Ari was a snake, and I'd only known him a day. His trust was misplaced, but it wasn't my place to tell him.

  Smiling as he leaned in, he pressed his lips to mine. I raked my fingers across the back of his neck, grabbing a fistful of hair as I went, squeezing tighter the longer, and more passionately, he kissed me.

  Slowly, he pulled away, still caressing my cheek with his thumb. "I'll be right back," he whispered.

  "Please hurry. You don't know what Torello is capable of," I replied softly as I watched him walk to the kitchen.

  "He doesn't know what I'm capable of," he said, grabbing his keys off the table before walking out the door.

  The sound of his car driving off made my stomach churn. I sunk back into the couch, trying to steady my quivering body when I felt something hard next to my hand. He had forgotten his phone.

  "Shit," I muttered under my breath.

  I grabbed the phone and ran to the door, but heard the screeching of his tires zipping out of the driveway the minute I wrapped my fingers around the door. I was too late.

  ARI

  Just outside…

  I knew that if I waited around long enough, Hunter would leave himself vulnerable. My chance came when Hunter took off, leaving Celeste alone in the house. I parked the car, and made a break for the massive living room window, with my gun in hand, I peered in.

  Why would Hunter leave her? Is he planning an ambush or is he just crazy?

  I spotted Celeste sitting on the couch alone. This would be the time to make my move since she wouldn't be expecting me. Making my way to the door, I silently slipped in and crept around the corner, peering into the living room where she sat alone, looking out the window with her back toward me.

  I ran up and positioned my arm around her neck, flexing my bicep to choke her. She struggled against my tight grip, clawing at my arm as I rested the muzzle of the gun on the wildly pulsating vein in her neck. This action stopped her struggling cold in its tracks.

  "You smell like fuckin' sex. Puta," I said in her ear.

  "Ari?" she gasped.

  "I told you to go back. You should've just gone back."

  She begged, "Please, stop!"

  "No! Torello wants you back, and if I don't do what he says, I'm gonna have a bullet exploding out the back of my head." I angrily gritted my teeth. "Where the fuck is Hunter?"

  "No, leave him out of this," she begged.

  I tightened my grip, "Oh, you care about that asshole? You didn't care enough to leave him alone and out of the shit you were into with Torello," I hissed, pressing the muzzle further into her neck.

  She winced, trying to reposition her neck to move it away from the tip of the gun. A large hand gripped my shoulder and yanked me backward, knocking me into a wall. Hunter had come home, and judging by the way his eyes bulged from his head, he was not happy to see me.

  "You're back," she screamed, rubbing her neck.

  "I forgot my phone," he said, holding his hand out for her to grab.

  "What the fuck, Ari?" Hunter bellowed.

  My voice crackled, "You messed with Torello's girl. What the fuck was you thinkin'? You think he's gonna let you two just walk into the sunset?"

  Hunter turned to Celeste. "Are you okay?"

  Coughing and rubbing her throat, she said, "Let's get out of here."

  "Fuck no! I'm gonna kill this muthafucker," Hunter yelled.

  "You ain't killin' no one!" I yelled as I got up and charged toward Hunter while Celeste had his attention.

  Having dropped the gun when I flew into the wall, I only had my fists to use as weapons, and against Hunter, that was never going to be enough. When I thrust my body toward him, Celeste screamed, alerting him to the impending assault.

  Hunter grabbed my wrists as we struggled to the ground, jostling against one another. This wasn't like when we were children, play fighting on the lawn. I knew I was going to have to kill him to save myself.

  "Hunter!" Celeste screamed in the background.

  "Get out of here, Celeste," Hunter yelled, looking back at her.

  I brought my knees to my chest and used my feet to kick him as hard as I could, propelling him off me. I stood up but quickly lost my balance when I backed into a table in the middle of the room.

  Hunter took the opportunity to grab Celeste and flee the house.

  HUNTER

  I ran out of the house, dragging Celeste behind me. We didn't have a weapon or the keys to any of the cars. The sky had turned dark from gray clouds that had rolled in from nowhere. Bolts of lightning indiscriminately shot out from the pouring clouds at the ocean and the beach.

  "Fuck, when did it start raining?" I yelled, looking for somewhere to hide Celeste so I could go back in and kill Ari.

  "What are you looking for?" she asked.

  "Somewhere to hide you."

  "Let's just go."

  "Just run, and I'll keep him busy."

  "I won't leave you. We go together, or we stay together," she yelled over the sound of thunder.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ari approaching, maneuvering past his injuries from the earlier fight and now holding a gun. His face was ravenous and intent on blood…our blood. I shifted my gaze back over to Celeste, cupping her cheeks; I pulled her close for one last kiss.

  "Stay here," I whispered as I turned to run toward Ari.

  "No, Hunter," she called out from behind me.

  I ran toward Ari and leaped on him, shackling his wrists in my grip as we flew to the ground. The gun, still in his hand, was now wedged between our bodies.

  Bang!

  The gun went off, and silence fell over the scene. Even the thunder seemed to quiet itself out of respect for the loss of life about to take place.

  "Hunter!" Celeste screamed.

  ARI

  We both lay deathly still on the concrete; our hands wedged between our bodies. It all had happened so quickly. The waterfall
being released from the clouds slowed to a light drizzle, and just as quickly as the storm had started, it stopped.

  Hunter slowly released his grip from my wrist, staring quietly into my eyes as I returned the honest look. He rolled his body to the right, off of me, and onto the ground. Suddenly Celeste was standing over us, her demeanor frantic, as she picked up the gun, pointing it toward me, wiping the tears streaming from her eyes.

  I wasn't worried about her; she was too scared to shoot a fly. Looking toward the sky, I exhaled in relief, knowing that I had been victorious in the fight, and Torello would be happy that I was going to bring his property back. My body was still filled with adrenaline, and the only pain I felt was in my head from when I knocked it into the wall. I pushed myself off the ground and stood up, poring over Hunter's body, admiring my kill.

  "Not a big boy, huh?" I asked, spitting on him.

  Where's the bullet hole? Where's the blood? Maybe the rain already washed it away.

  Celeste helped Hunter to his feet, and that's when the realization came over me like a tidal wave in the night. Fear filled every cell in my body with a fiery warmth I had never felt before. The sudden ache in my belly called for me to look down, and that's when I saw it—the river of blood that had already made its way down my leg puddling around my foot.

  I hadn't been victorious against the great ex-SEAL. I was the one that had taken the bullet. My gaze shifted back to them, but I said nothing. Wasting my last moments on words wouldn't bear any fruit. Turning to the sea, I walked toward the beautiful waves, holding on to the bullet wound as though that would help.

  My vision blurred, and my head felt light from the lack of blood flow. I fell to my knees as a soft breeze blew by me. My lungs burned as I gasped for every breath, which came few and far between.

  I fell to the ground; my cheek laid against the warm concrete as the world began to dim.

  CELESTE

  I held on to Hunter tightly as we watched Ari die, his eyes fluttering open, then closed. I could feel Hunter's body edge closer to him, and I loosened my grip so that he could be with his friend in his last moments.