The Skull Crusher

by Penelope Sky

  I stared into her eyes, seeing the disappointment as well as the fury. I never realized the truth of her words until I was forced to confront them. I did have two identities. Before I met her, I was only the Skull King. I was only the killer, the conqueror, and the nightmare. But when it was just the two of us hidden away from the outside world, I was soft, kind, and gentle. I wrapped my arms around her and protected her. I turned into a man and forgot I was a monster. She softened me, made me weak. I didn’t realize how far I’d fallen, how much this woman had changed me for the worse. Slowly, she’d corrupted me. Slowly, she’d turned me from a king into a man. I hunted down her ex and made him suffer because she had sunk her claws into me so deeply. She had a dangerous hold on me—and I had to shake it. “The Skull King. That’s who I am.”

  27

  BALTO

  I sat on my throne and overlooked the men as they drank at their tables. I’d just finished a meeting with Brutus and Thomas, and we went over the taxes we’d collected for the month. Everyone paid in full—including the Cardello brothers.

  But I hadn’t really been paying attention because my thoughts were back at the compound, back to the moment when I walked away from Cassini. She made me realize how weak I’d become, how far I’d fallen. I was a strong man who refused to let anyone penetrate these walls, but she snuck by.

  I shouldn’t have let my guard down.

  How could I have let this happen?

  Heath sank into the chair beside me. “You look like a gargoyle.”

  My eyes shifted to his face, full of annoyance.

  “You’re hunched forward like you’re about to jump on someone’s head. Your eyes are all beady. Your jaw is clenched so tight—”

  “I didn’t ask you to elaborate.”

  “Whatever,” Heath said. “I’m guessing the conversation didn’t go well.”

  “No.” I watched Denise move through the tables and serve the men their drinks. Her tits had two piercings through the nipples. The jewels sparkled in the dim light from the lamps that hung from the ceiling.

  “It probably didn’t go well because you were an ass.”

  “Irrelevant.”

  “What’s the big deal? You have a beautiful woman who wants you home with her. God, I feel so bad for you.” He rolled his eyes.

  “She told me that I’m two different people. Sometimes, I’m the Skull King. And sometimes, I’m Balto, the gentle lover. I realized that I couldn’t be both, that I never should have been both. So I left.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It doesn’t mean anything. But when Lucian calls, I’m handing her over.”

  Heath gave me a disappointed look but didn’t make an argument.

  “Don’t try to change my mind.”

  “I didn’t say anything.” He brought his glass to his lips and took a long drink. “Do whatever you want.” He watched Denise move around to the different tables, her nipple piercings catching his eyes. “Why don’t you call Lucian and make the offer, then? Speed up the process.”

  “That gives him all the power. He needs to come to me.”

  “Coming to him first does give you power. It makes it seem like Cassini doesn’t mean anything to you. If that’s the case, you really do have the upper hand. You took his wife, slept with her, and now that you’re finished with her, you’re ready to hand her back. You’ve made your mark.”

  That wasn’t how I viewed her.

  “No matter what you do, you have the upper hand. You know he wants her back if he sent those men to take her. You’ll be in the position to make all the demands. You’ll be able to get that diamond back along with his cooperation, easily. It’s amazing that you met Cassini by mistake, just randomly in a bar. Because she solved all your problems.”

  When I spotted her in the bar, she stole my entire focus. With an elegant posture, beautiful eyes, and a tongue that could lick those olives so well, she was the kind of woman that gave me a hard-on the second I laid eyes on her. My only ambition at the time was getting a drink in my hand, but once I saw her, all I could think about was getting laid.

  Then I fucked her—and wanted her again.

  Our relationship wasn’t just hot because she was sneaking around behind her husband’s back. It was hot because she was such a good lover. She wanted me more than I wanted her. She made me feel like a god when I already knew I was a king. My dick stayed in my pants, and I became monogamous with a woman for the first time in my life—even though she was still sleeping with her husband.

  But I wanted her so much that I didn’t care.

  Now we stood on the precipice of the end. I would hand her over—and she would have a violent death. “Yes…she solved all my problems.”

  IT WAS five in the morning when I walked in the door.

  Cassini wasn’t on the couch like I expected her to be. She stayed in the bedroom, probably her own bedroom because we left things so poorly.

  I stepped inside and flicked on the lights, realizing how alone I was.

  I shouldn’t have expected her to wait up for me, not after the way I’d treated her. Balto was dead, and the Skull King was there to stay. I never should have been so affectionate with her in the first place, not when it meant nothing. I gave her false hope about our relationship, made her expect things from me no one should ever expect. Getting rid of her was the best solution to my problem.

  She’d been in my bed long enough anyway.

  My phone vibrated in my pocket with a phone call. I pulled it out and checked the screen, surprised to see Lucian’s name.

  He read my mind.

  This conversation was inevitable if he wanted Cassini back. I knew it was only a matter of time before he caved. He finally had the balls to contact me and concede the race.

  I purposely let it ring a few times before I answered. I stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window behind the dining table and looked out at the lights of the city. I knew exactly where his estate was located, so I stared in that direction as I took the call. “Couldn’t sleep?” I loved toying with this man because it was so easy. Lucian possessed book smarts, being able to build weapons through math and science. But he lacked street smarts, something I excelled in.

  “I never sleep.”

  “Because of the nightmares?” I teased. “That tends to happen after you see a skull get crushed like that. Sorry about your men, by the way. But you know how business goes…” I’m sure those men had families, people they left behind. And Lucian’s paychecks probably never made the job worth it.

  Lucian didn’t respond to the taunts. “You have what I want. I have what you want. You wanna do this or not?”

  “You’re a terrible negotiator, you know that?” I slid my hand into the pocket of my jeans.

  “I can’t be that bad. I got your skull diamond, didn’t I?”

  The hair on my arms stood on end. “And I took your brother’s life. Would you say that’s a fair trade?”

  Lucian turned silent.

  “Not to mention, I’ve been fucking your wife around the clock—and she likes it.”

  He stayed quiet, but his rage was palpable over the phone.

  Lucian was my most obnoxious enemy because he was untouchable. I had to keep him alive in order to find the diamond he took from me. If I barged into his compound and executed him, the diamond would be lost forever. It was the greatest life insurance policy he ever could have bought.

  “Cassini for the diamond. We have a deal?”

  “No. You know what else I want.”

  “And what would that be, exactly?”

  “Play dumb with me all you want. I want your explosives.”

  “They’re very expensive to make—”

  “You want your wife or not?” I hated calling her that because it didn’t feel right. Even when she still lived with him and snuck off to my place, she never really felt like his wife. Just his prisoner.

  “I’m willing to give you a specific number. But I’m not willing to commissio
n the product indefinitely. Cassini isn’t worth that much.”

  But she was worth a billion-euro diamond? “I want a hundred bombs.”

  “You’re being greedy.”

  “You were greedy when you took that diamond without upholding your end of the bargain. This deal isn’t just about the present. It’s about the past. Give me a hundred bombs, or we don’t have a deal.”

  Lucian sighed into the phone. “Fine. The skull diamond and a hundred bombs in exchange for Cassini.”

  I bartered until I got what I wanted, and now that it had happened, I didn’t know what to do. I’d just agreed to hand over Cassini and never see her again. I should feel good about the deal, but instead, I felt my heart contract painfully. Was it guilt? Was it pain? I didn’t know. “Why do you want her back so much?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “I’m curious.” I stared across the city, seeing the lights illuminate this beautiful town. Lucian lived just on the outskirts, not more than thirty minutes away. Would I be able to look out this window again and not think of her? Would I be able to sleep in that bed and not feel guilty for what I did?

  “She and I made a deal. She broke that deal, and now she’ll pay for it.”

  “Like you’ve never had an affair.”

  “That’s different. I own her—she doesn’t own me.”

  “You’re willing to give up so much just so you can hurt the girl?” I asked incredulously, finding that disgusting.

  “Money is just money. I have plenty of it. But this is my wife. She humiliated me in front of the entire world. I will punish her accordingly. And then I’ll pin her to the concrete next to the pool, and I’ll stomp on her skull until it cracks.”

  28

  CASSINI

  I stared at his backside as I heard Lucian’s voice in the silence.

  I’ll stomp on her skull until it cracks…

  I covered my mouth to hide the gasp that wanted to emerge from my lips. My eyes watered with tears I refused to shed. I pictured myself on the terrace with the enormous pool, the place where I used to relax while he was at work. Now it would be the place where I would die, his boot slamming into my head until it finally gave in to the pressure and cracked.

  Oh my god.

  Balto hung up the phone.

  I tiptoed back into my bedroom and got under the covers just in case he checked on me. It was impossible to keep my breathing calm and pretend to be asleep, so hopefully he would just ignore me and go to bed.

  When I heard his heavy footfall enter his bedroom, I knew I’d been spared.

  Now I could lie in bed and absorb the conversation I’d just heard. After Balto and I became close, I assumed he wouldn’t give me up to Lucian, but now I realized how wrong I’d been.

  I never meant anything to him.

  I’d always been a prisoner, even during the nights when I felt like something more.

  He didn’t say when he was going to make the trade, but I knew it would happen in the next few days.

  What would I do?

  Should I kill him in his sleep?

  Should I try to run away?

  Should I ask my brothers for help?

  I had no idea what to do.

  But I couldn’t go back to Lucian. That wasn’t an option.

  Was I stupid for not being able to sleep when Balto wasn’t here? Was I stupid for actually feeling safe with him? Was I stupid for not understanding just how vile he was?

  Yes. I was so stupid.

  IT WAS easy to ignore him because he assumed I was angry about our recent fight.

  He had no idea what the real reason was, so he never asked questions.

  I went into the kitchen and grabbed something to eat before I walked back to my bedroom.

  He sat at the dining table, eating his boring breakfast in his gym clothes. “Not talking to me, huh?”

  I stopped and turned to him. “It’s not like you want to talk to me either.”

  “I never said that.”

  “Not all things need to be said.” I walked into my bedroom and ate lunch in the living room. I didn’t have much of an appetite, but I forced myself to eat because these were the last few days of freedom that I had. I might as well eat something good while I could.

  I looked out the window and tried to decide what to do first.

  Should I call my brothers and tell them?

  Say goodbye?

  Or would that make them do something stupid and get themselves killed?

  I didn’t know how I could possibly get on the phone and tell them what was going to happen. That was a conversation I just couldn’t bear. I’d cry so much that I wouldn’t be able to get any words out.

  I ate my donut and tried to enjoy it, but I barely could.

  The door opened, and Balto walked inside, wearing a white t-shirt and sweatpants.

  Would he tell me the decision he’d made? Or would he try to catch me off guard?

  I didn’t look up at him as I nibbled on my donut. “What?”

  He approached the couch then stared down at me.

  I looked up, hatred in my eyes. “What do you want? I’m not in the mood for sex right now. But I suppose you could just make me…that’s something you would do.” I shouldn’t have expected Balto to do anything besides what he did—especially since he warned me about it. But I was disappointed in him. Was I stupid for thinking we actually had something? Maybe it wasn’t love, but it was definitely something.

  “When have I ever made you do something you didn’t want to do?” He slipped his hands into his pockets and stared down at me.

  He was about to make me do something I didn’t want to do. “You’re the Skull King, right? You’re just a tyrant, not a man. That means you’re capable of anything, including rape.”

  His eyes flashed with anger. “I deserve more credit than that.”

  “Do you?” I hissed.

  His eyebrow rose.

  “Get out of my room and leave me alone.”

  He continued to stand there. “I don’t understand why you’re so upset—”

  “Because I thought I actually meant something to you.” I tossed my plate with the donuts onto the coffee table. Invigorated because I had nothing to lose, I rose to my feet and stood up to this cruel man. “I didn’t think you loved me, but I thought you cared about me. I thought we had something here. Maybe it was just passion and lust, but I thought it was something more. I thought we were friends. I thought we…felt things. When you rescued me, I never felt so safe in my whole life. I lost my parents, I was taken from my family because of a stupid decision I made, and then I came to you…and it felt like I belonged here. I’ve been a prisoner without any rights, but this place still feels like home. You don’t fuck me like a whore. You move inside me with your lips locked to mine. You actually look at me. Ever since that night we met at the bar, it seemed like something was here. But now I realize…it was just me.” I turned my gaze away because I could barely look at him. “I’m not a person to you. I’m just a product, something valuable that will come in handy eventually. I’m basically a pig being prepared for the slaughterhouse. The sex was just sex. The conversations were meaningless. All of this was meaningless.”

  29

  BALTO

  Lucian and I decided to make the exchange at his estate.

  I’d drop her off, get my diamond, and the men would pile the explosives into the back of the van.

  Straightforward.

  I was bringing enough men to rival the military, so it would be stupid if he tried to screw me over again. If he did, I was prepared to kill him this time. Whether I got the skull diamond or not, I would be forced to put him in the ground.

  Cassini and I didn’t speak for the next few days.

  She stayed in her room and ignored me as much as possible. She didn’t want anything from me—not even sex.

  It was like she hated me.

  She would definitely hate me once she realized what was about to happen.

&nbs
p; When it was time, I stepped into her bedroom and found her on the couch in her living room. “Come with me.”

  She slowly turned her head and looked at me, vibrant pain in her eyes. She didn’t give me smartass back talk or tell me to leave her alone. The look she gave me was full of disappointment, like she despised me with every fiber of her being.

  “Don’t make me ask again.”

  She turned off the TV then rose to her feet, her eyes still lacking that innate light she always possessed. She approached me with her gaze averted, like looking directly at me was too much.

  She didn’t ask where we were going.

  I didn’t want to tell her anyway.

  We stepped inside the elevator and hit the bottom floor. My men were already ready to go, so I climbed into the black SUV that she and I would share privately.

  She got into the passenger seat, buckled her safety belt, and then looked out the window.

  It was unlike her not to ask questions.

  I pulled onto the road, and the men followed behind me.

  With one hand on the wheel, I kept thinking about the deal that was about to go down. All I had to do was hand over this woman, and I would finally get what was mine. That skull diamond never should have been his in the first place. It was a mistake to sell it to him.

  Just like Cassini shouldn’t have been his in the first place.

  We drove through the city in silence, and she still didn’t say a word.

  I used to be annoyed with her back talk, but now, her silence was much worse. She was indifferent to me, like I wasn’t even in the car with her. I was just a ghost. “You don’t want to know where we’re going?” A part of me wanted her to fight me, wanted her to demand her freedom. It wouldn’t change my mind, but at least she would be returning to Lucian with some fire under her tail.