by West, Sinden
Too late, I figured out that the woman was watching me. I’d parked too close and become complacent by how utterly unthreatening these people were. I could have started the car and driven off. There was nothing remarkable about the vehicle that I’d chosen and it didn’t stand out in this neighborhood. The windows were dark and she wouldn’t be able to see me through them.
It was on a whim that I got out of the car. Something in me wanted to speak to her. I didn’t know why.
Sometimes it was fun to play with victims, like when I’d spoken to Rachel in the diner that very first time. I’d basically called her a whore while she looked puzzled. It was a warning. She didn’t realize that. She could have gotten a friend to pick her up instead of walking, but she’d chosen not to, and the consequence was that I took her that night. I would have taken her eventually, but it would have bought her a little more time.
I removed my sunglasses as I crossed the road to where the woman sat watching me. It was better if people could see your eyes. It was the easiest way for them to trust you. I flashed my teeth at her as I strolled in through her gate to stand in front of where she sat.
I got nothing. No reaction but the staring eyes through the cigarette smoke that drifted upwards between us.
“Hi, you can’t tell me how to get to Haymitch Street, could you?” I kept the smile, made my voice bright and easy. I was all fucking charm.
And this bitch didn’t even crack a smile.
“You don’t have GPS?”
“No.”
“On your phone?”
“Left it behind.”
Still no reaction as I countered her. She took another deep drag of her cigarette before saying, “Never heard of Haymitch.”
I eyed the cigarette packet beside her. “Well, say, do you mind if I…” I indicated toward them. I didn’t smoke, not normally, it fucked with your body and I liked to keep mine in perfect condition, but on occasion, it had its uses.
“Help yourself.” Her voice was cool and her face nothing like the relaxed version that I had observed prior. Her guard was up, but not in a fearful way, more like a resigned way.
I took a cigarette and borrowed her lighter. “Thanks.” I inhaled deeply. “Getting lost in a strange town always stresses me out,” I lied lightly, my friendly persona intact. I’d win her over sooner or later. I hated to lose.
She tilted her head as I passed her back the lighter. “Somehow I doubt that.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
“I know what you are,” she said calmly, and I nearly choked.
“Sorry, I don’t know what you mean.” I grinned down at her.
“You think that I haven’t noticed you driving past. I notice everything, and you don’t scare me.” Her hand didn’t shake and her voice didn’t waver. She was calm. She was ice.
“I really don’t know what‒”
“I don’t run. You tell him that. Which brother is it?”
My smile dropped. “I really don’t know what you mean,” I told her softly.
“Oh, I think you do.” She scooped up her cigarettes from the step and stood. “I know what kind of man you are. I can tell from a mile away. Always could. You might think that you’re big, bad and dangerous, but you’re still just a fucking minion doing the dirty work. Have some self respect, and tell your boss…tell him that he’s a coward.”
She turned and barged into the house, the screen door banging behind her before she slammed the wooden internal door closed.
I stood staring at it. What the fuck was that?
My fingers twitched. I could have kicked in the door and grabbed my weapon and emptied it into her head, but I didn’t. I just stood there, unmoving as her words ran through my head. The smart thing to do would have been to just take her out. She knew what I was. She knew someone was coming for her. I should have just killed her. It could be so simple.
I took a step backward, and then another, until I found myself back down on the pathway and making for the car. I opened the door and then paused, looking up to the house. Was she watching with her gun in hand? But I saw nothing. It was time to go.
As I pulled away from the curb, I called Antony. It went straight to voicemail.
“Call me,” I barked into the phone before tossing it onto the passenger seat.
What the hell was I doing? I’d let the woman notice me. I’d been too complacent. Fuck. I was acting like some pussy amateur. And when she’d confronted me, I should have just shoved her into the house and broken her neck before she could scream. I wiped at my forehead. It was slick with sweat. What was wrong with me? Why the fuck did I care who this woman was? Why was I screwing up what I was good at?
I put my foot down on the gas abruptly and screamed off into the streets. I was going home. I was going home to fuck Rachel senseless. Shit. Was she the reason I was acting so weird? Was it that stupid dream?
I couldn’t get home fast enough and sped all the way, weaving in and out of traffic and daring anyone to fuck with me. I was in the mood for a fight.
As I screeched to a halt in my own driveway, I was confronted with the sight of Antony’s car parked right there. Slamming the car door shut, I pushed through the front door violently, letting it crash against the wall.
She was laughing as I entered. It was on odd sound‒sweet and light. She stopped abruptly as I entered, instead taking a sip of her wine. My anger died abruptly at the sight of her.
“Aaron.” Antony raised his glass to me. “Come join the party.”
“A party with just the two of you? Really?”
“It’s three now. Although,” he got to his feet, “I gotta get going. See me out.” He winked at Rachel. “See ya, Paige. Thanks for the drink.”
“No problem,” she said, smiling at him.
I walked him to the door and he leaned in close. “Did you get a chance to look at the stuff I gave you?”
“Yeah. I’ll take care of it soon.” A million questions burned for me, but I didn’t want to talk to him right then. I just wanted Rachel.
“Good.” He nodded, looking at the ground. “That’s good.” He didn’t make any move toward the door.
“What’s this about?” I asked finally. I didn’t ask questions. It was none of my business who needed to die and why, but the way he was acting was disconcerting. If this was going to be trouble…
His phone rang and he answered, sounding cheerful and smiling once more. “Hold on,” he told the person on the other end. He reached out and patted my arm. “I’ll talk to you later,” he told me, still in the jovial tone, before he opened the door and let himself out, still continuing his conversation.
I reached for the bottle and poured myself a glass before looking to where Rachel sat. I settled myself down beside her on the sofa, putting one hand on her warm, bare leg and rubbing at her skin.
“Take your clothes off.”
Her eyes slid to mine and for a moment I thought that she would refuse, but she stood up in front of me. “What’s wrong?”
I reached out and placed my hands on her hips, before leaning forward and pulling up her t-shirt to reveal the flat stomach that it hid. “Nothing.” I kissed her abdomen, just above the waist of her jeans. She smelled delicious. “Just take your clothes off. Please.”
She paused, then did as I asked, removing each item slowly, not as some tantalizing strip tease, but more like she was unwrapping something special. The t-shirt dropped to the floor, and then her bra fell, releasing her full breasts with their nipples hard from the cold. Next were the jeans, and then the panties. I stopped her before she could remove the latter, pressing my hand against her mound through the cotton and kissing her just above, on her skin. “Beautiful. You should show your skin all day,” I murmured against her. “If I could keep you naked all the time…”
She stiffened. The hands that had begun to run through my hair froze just as I realized what I had said.
I lifted my head up so I could look her in the eye. Her own head was bent down with her h
air hanging around her gorgeous face. “You need to get over that.” I sounded like an asshole, but I didn’t care.
She crouched down so she was eye level with me. “How?” she asked in a low voice. “How would I ever get over what you did?”
“I don’t know.” Once more I took hold of her, kneeling down on the floor beside her, I gently pulled her down onto the rug so she lay on her back, naked but for the panties. Her legs were bent at the knee and I scanned my eyes down her perfect form. “I had a dream about you last night.”
“What happened?”
“You were…you were bad, and so was I.” My hands traced down over her stomach now, my fingers twitching for the top of her panties. I dragged them down, grazing over her skin as I revealed her in her entirety. I could feel her eyes on me as I dipped my head down to in between her thighs and inhaled her scent. I knew why. I knew why they were always so spellbound by her. She was intoxicating, she was addictive…
I inhaled again deeply before placing my mouth on her. I heard her gasp and her hips move as I took her clit in my mouth, sucking on that sensitivity like I would never give it up. My fingers moved to dig into the strong, muscled flesh of her thighs and I smiled against her as I heard her moan. My cock strained against my pants, but I ignored it. I wanted her to scream in pleasure for me. I wanted her to moan uncontrollably. I wanted her to be all mine for just that moment.
Beneath my touch, she quivered, trying to thrust up even more as I worked her with my mouth. I kept a firm grip on her. I would control this one thing about her. I would control her pleasure.
She was swollen underneath me and she moaned with frustration, her hands grabbing at my hair.
“I have to…I have to…” she repeated on loop, her body shaking. “God, Aaron.” Her nails dug into me.
That’s when I let her cum, using my mouth on that sensitive bud just the way she needed it. She cried out, arching up as heat covered all of her. I didn’t let up until she finally lay limp on my rug, nude and beautiful. Her eyes were open at half mast dreamy, and her mouth lax.
I lay down beside her and would have slept like that, but she found control of her limbs again and began to touch me.
Her hands were warm and so soft and gentle. Why was she being gentle? I watched. That was all I could do‒watch, mesmerized at her soft touching like she was exploring something special.
But then she pressed her hand against my bare chest, right on my heart. “You’re terrifying,” she said in a low voice that no emotion touched, “yet you’re beautiful. Something, somewhere, went so very, very wrong long ago. You are so…wrong.”
I snatched at her wrist as I rose up on my knees, dragging her up with me, encircling it easily in my hand so she was trapped and I squeezed it, almost wishing to hear her bones break so she would make a cry of pain, a cry of anything, rather than that cold voice. “You’re wrong too, Rachel,” I told her, my voice sharp and menacing. “You’re one hard, sick and twisted bitch. You’re a piece of ice.” My teeth were bared.
Her flat eyes just continued to gaze at me, showing nothing. Then, suddenly, her lips twisted into a smirk. “Sick and twisted…isn’t that what you like about me?” Her voice was almost playful now. “Twisted Aaron of the terrible scars and the blackest mind…and as for ice, well, I haven’t melted yet, have I? Although it’s not like you didn’t try your best…and failed.”
Then she kissed me with sharp teeth that bit and a tongue that ruled my mouth as she fucked it ruthlessly. Her hands pulled at my clothes but all I could process was that tongue penetrating me like she owned everything. My cock didn’t seem to mind half as much as my mind did though as it pressed against my jeans, dying for release and to be in her. I felt her grin, just before my pants were tugged down. Her mouth left mine as she dropped to her knees before me, pulling down my underwear so my hardon sprang free. She was eye level with it, inspecting it, still with that evil smirk on her face. Slowly she lifted one hand to stroke along its length ever so gently.
I held my breath, waiting for her to grip it tightly and dig her nails into my flesh. I must have flinched as with an agonizing calmness, she lifted her head to look up at me. “What do you want me to do right now, Aaron?” Her voice was so soft; it was so wrong.
“I want you to stop acting like a whore.” The harshness in my voice only served to make her seductive and nasty little smile widen.
She shook her head. “I don’t think so. I think you like the whore. You keep telling yourself that it’s the Madonna who you want but it’s always been the whore who has attracted you. You couldn’t have the Madonna, the good girl, the virgin, because she would turn to stone under your hands.”
I let out a laugh. “Been reading the Bible?”
“I know you, Aaron. Now, tell me what you want?” Her voice was as hard as her eyes and I gazed down at her for just a moment before answering.
“I want your mouth on my cock.”
“No,” she snapped. “Don’t say want. That’s not good enough. Say ‘need’. Say ‘I need your mouth on my cock.’”
I laughed again. “It would be a lie, though. I don’t need you, honey.”
She gently moved her hand along my hard dick and it was difficult not to let out a groan of impatience. “I think you’re the one whose lying, Aaron. Just say it. It won’t cost you anything,” she coaxed.
We both knew that wasn’t true though.
We kept staring at each other, until finally she lowered her head and I thought that she would cover my cock with that mouth of hers, but she didn’t. She let go of me and stood. “I need a shower,” she muttered as she turned away. I opened my mouth to call after her but then closed it again.
Chapter Eight
I made sure that she was asleep before I went to bed. If she moved or spoke, I probably would have held her down and tormented her body until all she wanted was my dick inside of her. But I didn’t. I just slid in beside her sleeping form, careful not to touch her, although it was hard not to.
As I lay there, staring up into the dark, the woman took up most of my thoughts. I imagined killing her and seeing her collapse from a gunshot wound that she didn’t see coming. Stupid bitch. Didn’t she realize that I was her God? Her life and that of her sons was in my hands and at the mercy of my whims. They would die how and when I chose…
What are you waiting for, Aaron?
“Shit.” I thrust the sheets aside and swung my legs from the bed. It was time to talk to Antony. I dressed and left the house without waking Rachel. When I drew up to his house, the men standing guard outside gave me a nod before letting me through. It was late, but Antony was still entertaining.
It was a red head this time. Large breasted and with a generous ass, she was spread over his sofa wearing a skin tight dress while Antony sat opposite her, drinking in the sight.
“Got a moment?”
His head twisted toward me. His eyes were wide with surprise. “Aaron. Crap. What the hell are you doing here?”
I looked at the woman. “You need to go.”
She sat up, looking pissed and pulling her dress up at the front before looking expectantly at Antony, who sighed. “Sweetheart, why don’t you go upstairs to the bedroom? I’ll be there soon.”
“Fine,” she huffed, as if she thought that she would be anything more than a one night stand. She teetered past me in her stilettos, leaving a trail of sickly perfume in her wake.
“What is it? It’s late.”
I didn’t take a seat. “I went to take care of your little job today.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? I thought you said that you were taking care of it next week.”
I took a step closer to him. He was drunk, although he was doing a good job of hiding it.
“I was just doing a little reconnaissance. I found something out though. She knew that I worked for your family. She knew why I was there.”
He looked sick for a moment, paling, and then he slung the rest of his drink down his throat and let out a chuc
kle. “How did you let her get that close to you? You must be losing your touch.”
I stayed still. “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”
He shrugged. “You don’t need to know that. You just need to get rid of her. Make her disappear, the boys too. It’s what you’re good at.”
He was dismissing me, and my lips flicked up into a smile at his gall. “You know what? I don’t like doing shit behind Luca’s back. It could make things end badly for me in the long run.”
He pressed his lips together and his hand tightened on his glass. “They need to be gone. Are you going to do it or should I find someone else?” The coldness in his tone wasn’t customary. It was saved for those he was forced to deal with in unsavory ways.
My mouth twisted into a smile. Fuck him. I could match his coldness. He was a fucking child compared to me. “Oh, no, I’ll do it all right. But the woman’s kind of mouthy. I might need to teach her a lesson first.”
Antony’s mask dropped. “Don’t, Aaron. Just let it be quick and painless.”
“Start talking.”
He sighed and poured himself another drink. His hand was shaking. “She’s Luca’s wife.”
I raised an eyebrow. That was surprising.
“She was the first wife.”
“And her sons?”
He shook his head. “They’re not his. They’re mine, maybe…” He trailed off while I barked out a laugh.
“Killing your own children. Shit. You really do have a ruthless side. And sleeping with your brother’s wife. Well…”
“I wouldn’t be killing them, though. You would.”
“It’s the same thing. Not that I care, of course. I just need to know what the implications of performing this little task will be for me.”
“You don’t know what Andrea’s like,” he said abruptly. “She’s evil. She manipulates everyone around her.” He snorted. “She even managed to win over Luca. She played him and she won. She made a complete fool of him by sleeping with everyone behind his back and spending his money.”
“Why are you still alive, then?”
His hand shook again. “Because he doesn’t know. When she discovered that he knew about her infidelity, she blackmailed me to help her flee. I’ve been paying her off ever since. I’ve heard that he’s looking for her again. He goes through these periods of rage where he’s obsessed with her. The stupid bitch decided to move close by a few months ago and he’s going to find her unless I take action.”
