Lethal Sin (Dangerous Games Book 1)

by Jennifer Bene

  “What? Are you irritated by that?” She moved close to him and his hands itched to touch her. “Does it bother you to think about me climbing on top of Callah–”

  He grabbed her and shoved her against his chest of drawers, his fingers digging into the flesh of her shoulders. “Yes.”

  “Yes, what?” Her blue eyes flashed fire and he knew she liked this side of him, this violent side, and he loved not having to hide it.

  “I don’t want to think of anyone touching you. Especially Callahan.” Mateo knew his voice held a growl in it, but he couldn’t suppress it. She made him feel primal, possessive, and he’d been around her only a little more than twenty-four hours.

  “I can handle myself,” she whispered, and he felt a sharp prod high on his inner thigh. He looked down to see one of those pretty little knives angled dangerously close to his cock.

  “You wouldn’t use that on me,” he spoke softly and she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, biting down. Reaching up he tugged it free and then leaned in to kiss her, but he didn’t rush it. This was exploring, memorizing the feel of her lips against his as if they had all the time in the world. She tasted like his toothpaste, but somehow she still smelled like her, even after using his soap. There was nothing more that he wanted than to take his time with her for once, to lick every inch of her and figure out every little noise he could draw out of her. To know her well enough to call them out on command – but they didn’t have time for that, and time wasn’t just running down for them, it was running down for the kid too. He ended the kiss with a simple press of his lips to hers, and when he backed off there was color in her cheeks and the knife dangled from her loose grip. “See?”

  “You’re crazy, you know that?” Her eyes searched his and he shrugged.

  “Maybe. Maybe not.” With a grin he pressed his switchblade into her side a little and she twitched when she felt it. “But you’re not the only one good with a knife.”

  “Dick.”

  “I’m good with that too, doll face.” He laughed and she playfully shoved him back. They both tucked their knives away and then he walked them out to the car. The tarp he had stapled to the broken window was messy, as was the sheet he’d thrown across the floor to hide the blood on the tile, but both would work if someone decided to poke around. Once they were inside his car he flipped on the heated seats and he watched as she ran her hands over the dash.

  “Nice car.”

  “Much better view than you had your first time in it.” Mateo grinned when she flipped him off, and then they left. Using his phone they started navigating towards the kid’s house, and they filled the time with idle chatter. Favorite country they’d been to, favorite weapon, favorite knife, favorite restaurant in the world. Hers was in Milan, his was in France.

  As he kept driving, all he could think about was how much he’d rather be driving her to an airport to charter a plane to either of those places. Sitting at a nice table waiting for the fourth course of a meal sounded a lot better than going up against one of the bigger monsters on the Eastern Seaboard – but she was tethered to Patrick Callahan with an iron chain that she wouldn’t let go of.

  The car rolled to a stop and he hated having to park more than a building away from the kid’s. Not only was it too far for her to force a struggling teenager, but it meant he would draw attention if he moved towards them too quickly and he might spook the kid. “Let me go to the door with you.”

  “No, I need you in the car.”

  “What are you going to tell him?”

  Camille flinched a little and leaned forward to stare out the window towards the kid’s building. “I’m going to tell him his mom fell at the hotel she works at and she’s headed to the hospital.”

  His eyes widened and then he nodded at her, impressed. “That will work.”

  “It’s a low blow.”

  “Better than a bullet to the head.”

  “Or a drill bit anywhere,” she muttered and took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m going. When you see us come out just drive up with the car, and play along.”

  “Sure thing. Call me if he runs.” Mateo held up his phone and she waved hers back at him.

  “I won’t be long.” She opened the door and stepped out, her legs making him think all kinds of inappropriate thoughts as she headed confidently towards the building and climbed the steps to press a button and wait. His shoulders ached from the tension and he gripped the steering wheel tight as she leaned forward to press the button again.

  Come on, kid.

  Camille bounced on her toes as she waited. What if Luke had gone out with friends? Or taken a shift at the pizza place? Cursing herself silently she pressed another button on the pad trying to get access to the building.

  “What?” A man’s voice crackled over the old speaker and she leaned close, putting on her peppiest voice.

  “Um, hi, I’m trying to find Max? He’s totally in 4D but he’s not answering. Could you –” The presence of someone behind her made her stutter and she turned expecting to find Mateo’s impatient expression, but instead it was three men and one of them had a gun tucked against his thigh. A van squealed to a stop in the street and she reacted fast, sliding a knife from her thigh before stabbing it into the man’s gun arm. The knife pierced clean through and she jerked it back as he dropped the weapon. He cursed, shouting in pain, and one of the others lunged for her, but she kicked him hard and he slipped and tumbled down the steps – but she wasn’t fast enough for the third guy who slammed her back against the door, the metal creaking from the force of it.

  “What the fuck is going on?” The crackling voice on the speaker sounded nervous and she knew the cops would be arriving soon.

  Shit.

  Twisting, she slashed at the man in front of her, but the knife didn’t cut through and he twisted her wrist sharply until the blade clattered to the ground. “DAMMIT! Grab her!”

  “Fucking bitch stabbed me!”

  “Shut up and grab her!”

  Reaching for her other blade, she brought her elbow towards the third guy’s face, but he jerked back and she caught his shoulder instead. When her second blade was free she slashed at the nearest man, and she watched it tear through his shirt, but the knife scraped against something hard.

  The assholes were wearing vests. Fuck.

  Driving her arm down she slammed the knife home into the man’s thigh and he howled, but that was all the space the other men needed to knock her back and lift her off the ground. Her grip slipped on the blade as it stuck in douche bag number one’s thigh, and she couldn’t help but smile because he was really bleeding now. Unfortunately they all moved quick and she was thrown into the back of the van where a fourth man waited to slam her onto her stomach and pin her there with his weight.

  “Get your ass in here Mike!” They hauled their injured friend into the van and it took off before the door even closed. It slammed shut as they were on the move, tires squealing, and Camille groaned as the asshole on her back threatened to break her ribs with his knee placement. His hands roamed over her but he wasn’t feeling her up, he was looking for – yep, he found the gun. Dammit.

  “Fucking kill her now! That bitch! That fucking bitch!”

  “How bad is it Mike?” The men were out of breath, panting, and she clenched her teeth waiting for them to hurt her in retaliation.

  “He’s bleeding, fuck, he’s bleeding a lot!”

  “Don’t take the knife out. We’re going to have to ditch him at the doctor’s.”

  “Shit, I’m going to die -”

  “Callahan said to bring her immediately -”

  “Mike is going to bleed out if we don’t -”

  “Knock the bitch out, Danny! We have to go!” At those words she renewed her struggles, but she could feel her ribs creaking between his shin and the metal floor. An instant later a sharp prick in her neck made her gasp, and then she felt that sinking feeling that came from a medical grade sedative. It was impossible to struggle against,
and it felt vaguely like drowning, and then there was nothing but empty black.

  Chapter Eight

  For the second time in two days Camille awoke slowly to the sensation of being tied to a chair. Only this time it wasn’t the lingering ache of a stun gun that bothered her, but the horrible dry mouth that came from a sedative.

  She hoped she had fucking snored and irritated all of them.

  Keeping her breathing as steady as possible she tried to listen in around her and the first sound that hit her ears was the sniffling and quiet crying of someone in front of her. Raising her eyes through her loose, blonde hair she saw the one thing she had hoped to never see – Luke, tied to a chair, with a bloody lip.

  Shit, shit, shit.

  “You awake, C?” A man’s voice was the only warning she had before her head was wrenched up painfully by a fist in her hair. The kid winced and stared at her, terrified. He had blue eyes too, dammit.

  “Yeah, thanks. I believe my wake up call was fifteen minutes ago though, you guys are slack -” Her comment was cut short when he slapped her hard. His fingertips had caught her ear and it rang with the force, her cheek star-bursting with pain like white light behind her eyes. “Fuck, you’re an asshole,” she groaned.

  “Language, Camille.” It was Callahan’s low voice, coming from somewhere to her left, and she turned to find him. The sound of her name in his lilting accent made her shudder, but she did her best to hide her disgust. He was wearing a button down, the sleeves rolled up to mid-forearm, and his cool blue eyes found hers. “So, where have you been?”

  She forced herself to laugh, sitting up in the chair to stretch nonchalantly within the bindings. “Well, since your delightful Irish Wolfhounds decided to go and fetch me I’ve been here.” The sharp smack to the back of her head made her grit her teeth so she didn’t lose her temper too early.

  “Answer him.”

  “I’m sorry, did I not answer him? I think I did. Are you hard of hearing or something?” She could tell the asshole wanted to hit her again, but Callahan raised a hand.

  “Camille, I know that one of Scarpa’s men took you. What did you tell them?” Callahan moved to where she could more easily see him, and it made her chest ache that Luke was visibly shaking across from her.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking -”

  The sharp snap of a stun gun against her side had all of her muscles painfully tightening for a moment and then it released her like a puppet on strings, making her go limp in the chair. Her wrists ached from the strain she’d put on them and she muttered curses as she forced her head back up.

  “Don’t lie to me, or Luke gets the next one.” Callahan nodded slightly and the behemoth next to her walked over to the kid. He instantly started crying harder and she schooled her expression into boredom.

  “Listen to me, Callahan. Yeah, they tried to grab me, but do you think one of Scarpa’s lackeys could take me down? How the fuck do you think I was wandering around? I killed the bastard that got a cheap shot on me, and that’s that. I didn’t tell anyone anything.” Camille kept her voice strong despite the lingering ache in her joints, but she couldn’t do a thing as the electric sound of the stun gun firing up filled the space and the asshole next to Luke pressed it against his ribs. The kid went stiff, the muscles in his neck standing out, and then he sagged, sobbing even harder.

  “Please, please, I don’t know what’s going on. Just let me go, I want to go home, I want my mom, please…” Luke was begging, and he sounded so young. Camille clenched her hands into fists and kept her expression flat.

  “Shut up.” The man next to him slapped the back of his head, but it only made Luke sniffle loudly.

  “Want to amend your story, Camille? My men saw you arrive in a car.” Callahan’s voice was taunting, and she wanted to run a knife through his eye socket.

  “He was a friend I asked for a ride. That’s it.”

  Callahan nodded and his lackey landed a hard punch that knocked Luke’s head to the side, and his shout of pain made her flinch. His cheek was already bright red when he sat up and he yanked at the zip ties holding him to the chair, snot running from his nose as he groaned in pain.

  “We can keep doing this all night.”

  “Dammit, Callahan! I didn’t say anything!”

  “To who?” He asked, lifting his hand to keep the dickbag from hitting Luke again.

  Camille gritted her teeth, dropping her eyes to the ground as she tried to think through everything. Options, there were always options, and the truth wasn’t one of them. “The idiot who used one of those bullshit toys on me when I was leaving the bar. He didn’t see me as a threat, and I killed him. He thought I was a call girl.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me.” Dickbag henchman spoke up and she looked over at him.

  “Oh, you wish, asshole.”

  “Keep up with the smart mouth and I may just take you for a spin.”

  “Go ahead, get your dick anywhere near -”

  “Both of you shut up.” Callahan sighed like a parent dealing with bickering children, and then looked back at her. “Camille -”

  “Would you stop using my fucking name? I’ve been nothing but loyal to you, I’ve done all your dirty work, and this is how you treat me?” She raised her voice, laughing as she leaned back against the chair. “I thought you were a businessman, Callahan.”

  “I am a businessman, which is why I know this will work.” He nodded again and this time the henchman landed a punch on the other side of Luke’s face.

  The kid sobbed harder. “Why are you doing this to me? I didn’t do anything, I swear, I swear -”

  “Should we tell him, Camille?” Callahan drew out her name and she clenched her jaw tight. “Should we tell him why he’s tied to a chair? Getting tortured? Should we tell him how that’s all your fault?”

  Luke looked up at her, pain and accusation narrowing his eyes. She swallowed and forced her gaze back to Callahan. “You’re a bastard using this kid like this.”

  “I always get what I want. You should know that by now.” He gestured at the henchman next to Luke and suddenly the man drew out a knife. Luke let out a half-scream of panic just before the blade was held in front of his throat, hovering dangerously close to the terrified teen. Camille felt her hands sweating and she clenched them tight, digging her nails sharply into her palms. “Tell me who had you.”

  She kept her jaw clenched tight for a moment, but then the asshole jerked Luke backwards and the blade got way too close to his skin. “WAIT!” The raw panic in her voice was made worse by the sudden flood of guilt-ridden adrenaline that rushed through her.

  “Yes, Camille?” Callahan asked calmly, and she growled under her breath as a new layer of guilt filled her.

  “His name was Mateo.”

  “Mateo Salvai?” Callahan laughed softly, but her head was busy wrapping itself around Mateo’s last name and the fact that he was familiar to the Irish bastard in front of her. “Tell me, did he hurt you? I hear he has… unique methods for getting information from women.”

  “I’m just fine.”

  “Apparently. Why did he let you leave, or do you want to tell me you killed Scarpa’s top man?”

  “I told him I didn’t know where you lived, and that I’d owe him a favor.” She lied through her teeth, but he just laughed softly over the sound of Luke’s whimpers.

  “Did he fuck you, Camille?” Callahan took a few steps towards her and she hated that she felt the blush creep up her chest and into her cheeks. “Answer me.”

  “Yes,” she growled.

  “And so you want me to believe he just let you walk away?”

  “You have no idea how good I am in bed.” The comment was meant to hurt him, to be a barb in his side that he’d never had her for himself, but the dark look that passed over his face told her she’d gone too far.

  Callahan snapped his fingers and the henchman shifted his grip on the knife and started to press it slowly into Luke’s shoulder. His scream echoed
off the walls of the large room they were in, but she knew begging them to stop would only make them hurt him worse. Suddenly, the asshole pulled the knife back and Luke slumped, sobbing so hard that he started coughing. Two men entered the room from a door to her right and she immediately recognized them from earlier.

  “Mike is going to be fine, sir.” The anger in the man’s voice as he stared at her felt like a physical presence in the room.

  “Ah, yes, you did hurt one of my men when I sent them for you.” Callahan’s voice was a new level of cold.

  Camille glared up at him. “You could have just invited me over. I don’t react well when someone tries to grab me, as you can see.”

  “Don’t react well?” He laughed low. “Well, apparently, Camille, you fuck them.”

  “What did I tell you, bitch?” The henchman behind Luke leered at her and she did her best to stare him down, to not reveal the sickening twist of her stomach at the idea of being handed over to him.

  “I’ll kill you if you touch me.” Camille managed to keep her voice soft and steady, and although the man didn’t outwardly change, his gaze flickered away from hers.

  That’s right, dickbag, remember who you’re threatening.

  “Let’s give her a moment to think it over, I want an update.” Callahan waved his hand and they all left the room, shutting the door behind them.

  She waited a moment, making sure their voices faded from outside the door and then she strained to lean forward. “Luke, are you okay?” She whispered harshly, trying to get his attention, but he was crying and probably going into shock from the pain. Frustrated, she leaned forward as far as she could. “Luke! Look at me!”

  “What!” He shouted through his tears, lifting his blue eyes to hers. They were filled with hate and she couldn’t blame him.

  “Listen, I’m sorry. This -”

  “Are you serious? What the fuck is this? Who are you? Why are they hurting me instead of you?” His words were raw, angry, and she swallowed hard.