“Amor, why are you crying?” I asked, as she took my outstretched hand and stood.
“No reason. Umm, Tony meet Elis,” she said, with a tight smile.
Elis, her ex-boyfriend Elis? Rosie had just killed a man she had loved. I understood the emotions she was dealing with. Tugging on her hand, I pulled her to me.
“Vamos a buscar a su prima,” I said, tucking her into my side.
We needed to move on to the next room. I caught a glimpse of Nico and Sergi ahead of us as we made our way down the hallway. Sergi looked as if he had been shot. There was blood seeping onto his shirt from a spot along his side. All of a sudden Nico stopped walking. I could hear a scream coming from the hallway to the left. Rosie and I had just turned toward that hallway when we heard another scream coming from the other direction. Signaling to Nico, for Sergi and him to go toward the second scream, Rosie and I went towards the other.
16
Rosalina
I don’t know what came over me as I plunged that knife into Elis. I was alright one moment and the next I could feel the tears forming. I like to believe it was because I had finally found out the truth of my parents’ death, but I think it was the finality of that chapter of my life.
We can hear someone screaming from inside the room we are standing in front of. Slowly turning the knob, it opens easier than it should in a place like this. As the door opens fully, I take in the scene before me. Amalia is standing, pulled flush against a man, I’m guessing he thinks she would make a good human shield.
“Polozhite pushki vniz. Polozhite pushki vniz,” the man screeched, all while Amalia smiled.
Guessing that meant to put the guns down, I lowered my weapon doing a small curtsey as I did just for her. In the corner of my eye, I could see that Tony was confused by my actions.
Calling Amalia, ‘Your Highness’ was something I had done during our childhood when I approved of her ideas and was letting her take the lead, and from the look in her eye, she had something planned. I was hoping she knew what the curtsey was for.
“Just do it. Trust me,” I muttered, loud enough for Tony to hear.
Looking towards the man that still had the knife against her throat, I held up my hands and waited to see what she was planning. I didn’t have to wait long at all. He was confident with our guns on the floor, so he lowered the blade. Amalia acted as if she was going to make a run for it. Instead, she threw her head back hitting him across the nose. While he clutched his hand to the dripping mess on his face, the knife clattered to the floor. Amalia acted before anyone else could move. Dropping to her knees, she grabbed the knife and turned wielding the blade, and drove it straight up under his chin.
Looking over at Tony, I shrug my shoulders. The dead man must have done something to her. I barely have time to grasp what is happening before I hear a gunshot. A grunt from the other side of the room lets me know Tony hit his target. Both Tony and I walk over to the man he shot. I know that Tony can aim better than he did so there must be some reason this man is still alive.
“Pozhaluysta, don-don’t,” he rasps out, trying to stop the blood oozing out of his side.
Pressing his boot into the man’s side, Tony leans down. I have no clue what he’s doing, but I don’t say a word. Smiling wickedly, Tony pats the man’s face. I think I just saw the side of him he keeps locked away, The Reaper himself.
“Amalia, did they tie you up? Beat you? Rape you?”
Amalia must have noticed the change in him too. She seemed wary when she replied, “Si.”
That word alone has sealed his fate, even the man lying in his blood knows that.
“Amor, you won’t want to see this. Take your prima, and find the others. I’ll be along shortly,” Tony says looking between Amalia and me.
“Vamos,” I tell Amalia, grabbing her hand to pull her along.
Entering the hallway, Amalia and I make our way towards the direction I last saw Nico. I hear the cries of pain before we even make it to the room. Rushing into the room, I see Sergi on the floor, the blood surrounding his body like a halo. Sergi isn’t the only dead body in the place though. I count a total of four others, but none of them are Nico. He is carrying a woman in his arms away from chains that wrap around a metal pole going from floor to ceiling. Looking around for Amalia, I see that she is standing by the door, shaking as if she is terrified of this room.
Turning back to Nico, I ask, “¿Quién es ese?”
He doesn’t answer, Amalia does instead, “Su nombre es Amy. She was here already when they brought me to…where are we?”
Amy, as in Alex’s girlfriend, Amy? No wonder he was so worried about her, they probably already had her when he died. We needed to get out of this house, and soon though. I didn’t want Ruslan to come back with even more guards when we had two unarmed women with us and one of our own dead. Directing Amalia to go to the vehicle with Nico and his friend, I went to find Tony.
17
Anthony
Killing people has always been a messy business. Hit an artery just right, and you were lucky if blood didn’t spray everywhere or your victim didn’t bleed out before you wanted them to. Luckily, I’ve been doing this for long enough that I’m experienced. You shouldn’t be too close to the victim by way of familiarity, so it’s a good thing I didn’t know him at all. I just knew that he hadn’t been the most hospitable to Amalia. Now, I was going to do everything he did to her, to him. It’s only fair that he knows what she felt.
Whistling to myself, I picked up the rope laying on the floor near the table in the corner and placed it on the table. Going over to the man, I dragged his body over and threw him down on his back. I wouldn’t get to have as much fun as I wanted to because of the time frame we had here. I pulled his arms above his head and tied the end of the rope to his wrists, and the other end went under the table to bind his ankles so that he would pull his feet back if he tried to move his arms at all.
Grabbing the knife I had strapped to my calf, I cut his shirt wide open. I slapped his face with the flat side of the blade to bring him back to consciousness. I wanted him to feel every single slice of his skin. Taking the few moments to remove his pants and boxers while he woke up, I could see the confusion on his face as he became entirely aware. I took the blade and ran a path along his rib cage. Grunting in pain, he looked at me with wide and fearful eyes.
“Do you know who I am?” I asked, meeting his gaze.
Shaking his head no back and forth, I leaned down and whispered, “El Ángel de la Muerte.”
I could see the recognition in his eyes when I stood straight. I really do love when they know who I am. It makes me giddy to know that my reputation precedes me. I was going to make him bleed for what he did to her, starting with the raping. I stood between his thighs and rammed his gun into his ass without any preparation. The man shrieked as he tried to twist away. I continued to pull the gun barrel out and shove it back inside. His blood coated the gun barrel, and I could see that he was beginning to pass out from the pain and blood loss both from his side and his ass. Picking my knife back up, I held onto his dick sawing back and forth until I had cut it clean off. I placed his dick in his mouth and turned to walk out of the room. I stopped in my tracks when I noticed that Rosie was standing in the doorway.
“Amor, I told you that you shouldn’t be in here to see this,” I said to her.
“Cállate, Tony. I don’t care what other names you go by. Just like I don’t care what kind of… work you do,” she replied, pointing over to the man.
I began to speak, but she cut me off before I could utter a word.
“I love you, Tony,” she said, so low that I was worried I had heard her wrong.
“You love me? Even knowing that I do this for work? That I enjoy what I do,” I asked.
Nodding her head, she looked at me and quoted me, “Well, we aren’t normal people Tony.”
Rushing to her, I pulled the necklace chain from around my neck. I had bought her a rose shaped diamond enga
gement ring when I had looked for a restaurant, back before all this had happened. It hadn’t been the right time since she wouldn’t even admit she could love me to herself. I felt like this moment was it, covered in blood with dead bodies around us.
18
Rosalina
Engaged. I’m officially engaged, and it happens with both of us a bloody mess. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Taking the hand that Tony offers, we make our way back out of the house to where the others are waiting. It pains me that we can not take Sergi’s body with us. However, that would cause alarm with the pilots. The drive to the airstrip is a somber one, all of us are at a loss for what to say to the woman named Amy and Amalia.
I can tell that Amy is nervous around the men, of course, I would be too if I had suffered the way she had. Amalia has been in a nearly catatonic state since she saw the room we found Amy in. Pulling next to the airstrip, I’m shocked to see Martin standing there waiting, next to a plane. Turning to Tony, eyes wide I ask with an unspoken question, what is he doing here?
Tossing the cigarette in his hand down, he makes his way over to us. Nodding over to Nico, I let him know to keep the women away for a bit. I need to know how Martin knew to be here and why he is.
“Martin, what’s going on?” Tony asks before I can.
Pointing over to Amy, he says, “Vine para ella. Her brother hired me to find her about a month ago when she disappeared.”
Hired? Clearly, I am missing something about Martin since Tony doesn’t seem surprised by this information at all.
“I didn’t know that father was still letting you do that,” Tony remarks.
Rocking back and forth Martin gives a sly grin and says, “Well he doesn’t exactly know about it. Anyway, one of the men she dated had ties to the Russian cartel, so here I am. Since Roman said you were headed to Russia when I called him last night, I took a chance and flew here.”
Signaling for Amy to come over, I motion for her to speak to Martin. If he can get her home faster than us, then there isn’t a reason to stop it. Tony and I walk over Nico, who is holding hands with Amalia. Looking over my shoulder, I see Amy nodding her head and clutching onto Martin’s shirt. That’s settled then.
“Amalia, do you want to have Martin drop you off at your father’s home?” I ask her, but before she can answer me, Nico does.
“No, senorita. Ella va a ir conmigo,” he deadpans.
Glancing back at her for confirmation, she just nods in acceptance. As long as she wants to go with Nico, then I won’t argue. We make our way to the plane since we have a long flight back to Germany and then home. Finally letting out the breath I have been holding, I sit down and smile as I hold up my hand taking in the detail of my ring. I’ve never been one to obsess over jewelry, but he picked the perfect ring. Rose shaped along with the silver band and tiny diamonds that catch the sunlight no matter which direction I move my hand. I hear some mumbling to my right, looking over I see that Nico is talking to Amalia and fastening her belt for takeoff. I’m not sure what that is about, as far as I am aware they don’t know each other. She seems to be comfortable with him though. Right now she needs someone to take care of her, Nico is apparently that someone.
Leaning back, I down the glass of tequila Tony has just put beside me. The copilot lets us know that we are safe to remove our belts around fifteen minutes later, I don’t really pay attention to it though until I hear someone stomping off to the bedroom. Shrugging his shoulders, Tony lets me know that he doesn’t know why Amalia is going to the bedroom with Nico following close behind her.
19
Anthony
Now that we are in the air, and on our way to Germany I can breathe again. Not only is Rosie out of harm’s way in Russia, but her cousin is as well. I just need to deal with the council though. Rosalina deserves the wedding she always wanted, I just don’t think that’s in the cards for us. Our case with the council will go better if we are married already. Otherwise, they will still expect me to kill her. Even they don’t ignore marital bonds.
I pull out my phone and turn it on to see the twenty messages I have waiting for me. All of them are from the council wondering if the ‘Pretty Killer’ is dead yet, except one, that one is from the council as well… they want Rosie dead for defying their orders to stay out of Russia without proof. Time to call them back I suppose, before they send in someone else to do my job. Standing, I hold the phone to my ear as I make the call I have been dreading.
“Hola, soy el ángel de la muerte . Necesito reunión con el consejo. Si, gracias,” I explain when the secretary answers.
I just have to wait for her to contact me back now. Running my hands through my hair, I turn to see Rosie looking at me with worry on her beautiful face. Stalking over to her, I pull Rosie to her feet towards the bathroom at the back of the plane. Since her father owned this plane and he wanted her to use it for long flights the bathroom has a standing shower stall. I close the door behind us and begin to strip her bare. I’m fighting with my own clothes as she backs into the shower pulling her hair out of the braid it’s in. Following her inside, I grab the shampoo and lather her long black hair. I still can’t believe she said yes to me.
Murmuring in her ear, I say, “Te Amo, amor. I wish I could give you everything you deserve.”
Turning around she looks at me in confusion, “Tony, you are everything I deserve…”
Holding my finger over her lips to silence her, I continue, “You should have the wedding of your dreams, but we need to do it fast, so planning something elaborate isn’t in the cards.”
I can tell Rosie doesn’t know why we would need to get married as soon as we can, but she will. Nodding her head, she closes the distance between us and kisses me like it could be our last. Finishing our shower, I wrap her in a towel and brush her hair. I only hope that we have many more moments like this.
“Let's get married in Germany. We can do it at the Cologne Cathedral, have Nico and what’s his name as our witnesses. Think about it!” she exclaims.
I can see the excitement in her eyes, if that’s what she wants, then I won’t say no. Here I am asking her to hold off on something elaborate, and she decides she wants just us, and the other men as witnesses in a cathedral. Agreeing with her sends Rosie rushing to the phone to make plans. Grinning, I dress while she multitasks, putting on her clothes and making phone calls. Hearing a ping from my pants pocket where my phone is, I look for it and open to a message - Location: Solihull, UK; Theatre, Macbeth in two days - well, good thing we are already close to Germany, instead of going home we can detour to the United Kingdom.
I take the time to find out additional information on the theatre. It’s truly amazing what you can find out about locations in just a few keystrokes, in a matter of minutes I have the floorplan and exit routes away from the theatre. I have purchased a private box ticket for both of us, no doubt in my mind that as soon as the one left for me from the council themselves will alert them to my arrival.
20
Rosalina
The entire flight I have been in a rush to make plans for my wedding. My wedding that will happen in less than six hours to the man who has killed beside me. Taking a calming breath, I turn off my phone as we descend our altitude to land. This trip has been a whirlwind, honestly. I had no intentions to marry Tony when we left, at least not until I was forced to, but somewhere along the way, I put my heart on the line. Tony has just told me about our outing to see Macbeth. I’m a bit nervous that this won’t go as planned. As long as we are together though, I’m content with any outcome. Obviously, I don’t want to die, no one ever does. It’s a given in this life that it will happen one day.
“Amalia, do you feel up to staying in Germany for our wedding or do you want to go straight home?” I question, unsure if I will have any family here for my day.
I can tell she doesn’t want to be here really, Nico can too. I see it in his eyes. He has taken on the role of her protector, even though he doesn’t know her. She doesn�
��t say a word, smiling sadly I nod at her unspoken reply.
“Nico, take her to the house in Australia. Amalia knows where it is,” I command.
“Si, Jefa.”
I can see the hesitation at the mention of Australia, but before she can say anything about it, I walk away. It’s best for her to leave anyway. We haven’t been more than mere acquaintances for years now. Meeting Tony’s worried eyes, I plaster on a wicked grin. I know that I’m not fooling him, just like he isn’t me. I know he is worried about our meeting with the council even when he won’t admit it. I understand this could be our beginning and at the same time, it could very well be the end of everything. I refuse to let that ruin this day for us.
All of us go our separate ways as we depart from the plane. Amalia and Nico will be taking a first class flight to Australia while we stay in Germany for a couple of days then fly to the United Kingdom for our meeting. I am having my dress delivered to the cathedral before the wedding so I can dress there. I am ecstatic that I have always had a seamstress take my measurements for alterations. Being as small as I am height wise, all of my pantsuits were specially altered. My wedding dress is a Mon Cheri lace sleeved, floor-length, backless dress, with a red band at the waist. I special ordered my bouquet to include both red and white roses. Tony will be picking our wedding bands in less than an hour while I get ready.
Parking in front of the church, we leave the vehicle and walk inside. Our priest meets us at the altar where we will bind ourselves in marriage later today. I can tell he is nervous. I was explicit on the phone that no one can know of our plans. Both Tony and I would be targeted if anyone found out who we are exactly.
The Reaper (La Asesina Bonita Book 2) Page 5
