Sweet Venom (Crazy in Love #1)

by Kirsty-Anne Still

  He drags me toward the edge of the stage, around the hordes of greedy men and to the stairs, waiting for my cue.

  “Bryce,” I argue, struggling to get my hand free.

  If it weren't for shock, my fear would be abundant. Instead, I feel like a weak morsel, struggling to get free.

  He doesn’t react – or release me.

  “Mr. Bryce Rainey has brought us our next donation. Ashley has been by Mr. Rainey’s side for the best part of a year, but he’s willing to allow her to go to a good home.”

  With a solid push, my first foot is on the steps. I look back, and Bryce gives me a stern look. Slowly, I start to take the stage, lifting my feet robotically until I’m on the stage with the commentator. He stands ready, the gavel in his hand, the microphone in his others, declaring my arrival. He gives me a subtle guidance to continue forward until I’m walking passed him. I stand center stage, all eyes on me. I look at Bryce; he’s now at the bar, glass of his favorite red in his hand. He lifts the glass up, giving me a nod of the head before taking an indulgent sip.

  “Bidding on Mr. Rainey’s donation will begin momentarily,” I hear the commentator say as he steps up to my side. “As said before, bidding will start after all girls are presented,” the commentator announces. “For this lady, the bids start at a minimum of a solid eighty grand.”

  He drops away from my side leaving me on view like the other girls before me. Every man is gazing at me, sitting casually like this is a part of normal life.

  I start to blot out my surrounding, trying my hardest to not think about what the evening holds. When I finally make it from the stage, Bryce is by my side once more, guiding me to the bar.

  “I have a man in the crowd who’s willing to outbid every other man here,” he tells me, handing me a glass of red wine.

  “It won’t work,” I challenge him, throwing that idea at him. The fog that descended while in front of all the men has started to lift. “This doesn’t end with money.”

  “It does for me,” he states sharply. “I’m about to show you that this doesn’t end with one of us six feet under.”

  “I’ll see you in the morning, Bryce,” I counter.

  “We’ll see,” he says, total denial in his voice. “You stay by my side until I have my money, got it?” he questions and his eyes narrow.

  “Got it,” I say, taking a sip of the cheap red wine he’s brought me. “For a man who’s so sure he’s about to get rid of a problem your drink order is still pathetic.”

  “You see that’s the thing,” Bryce starts to say, settling in beside me, now facing out to the club. He raises his glass to someone, but there are a few looking our way that I can’t tell who he’s gesturing to. “I never wanted you, never needed you. I never gave you the best in this life because I chose not to. Now I’ve paid that man to make you disappear into the furthest corner of the earth, Ashley.”

  “Who?!” I exclaim, turning away to face Bryce. “You’re paying a man to use your money to buy me?”

  “Essentially,” he says, giving me a shrug. “I had to make you disappear somehow and this way I have sole control over you disappearing into whatever hole I want.”

  I let his words sink in. There is all manner of men in this room from crooks to billionaires. I’ve lived among them enough to catch a bad guy and bad rich guy out.

  “Who did you choose then?” I ask, looking out at the men in the room, making me want to know all of the details.

  “Brendan Frost,” Bryce gives me that piece of information before taking a sip of his drink. He turns on the spot, using the bar to prop himself up as he now faces me. “He’s done time for rape, spent more time not convicted for them, mind you. He’s known for battery, too.”

  “You chose the worst of the bunch,” I state and while inside the fear is growing, I remain calm.

  “No, I chose the man with no conscience,” Bryce tells me, giving a quick look out at the club. “Although there are men of all types in this room, some have a point in which they stop. They wouldn’t even dream of buying a girl from a man like me. I had to find someone who was guaranteed to follow through.”

  “And Brendan’s the man for the job, huh?”

  “Yeah,” Bryce muses, smirking as his reaches out to play with one of the tendrils of hand sitting over my shoulder. “He loves a petite brunette.”

  I gulp, closing my eyes against the thought.

  “I always believed I could learn to love a girl like you, but you’re more trouble than you’re worth.”

  That comment forces me to open my eyes, finding myself looking straight into Bryce’s dull eyes.

  “Mr. Rainey?” we hear from behind us, and one of the bar staff stands eagerly. “It appears a gentleman would like a word with you outside.” He then looks around Bryce, his gaze meeting mine before reverting to Bryce’s. “Alone.”

  “Stay,” Bryce orders. “I’ll be back. I don’t want to miss this final evening together.”

  He gives me a kiss, catching the edge of my lips with his before he leaves me alone at the bar. I twist the bracelet on my wrist, casting a gaze at the entrance just as Bryce disappears through the beaded curtain. I wonder who would need him outside and without me. In all the time I’ve been in Bryce’s life, he’s never let me leave his side.

  I don’t obey.

  The decision boils from a part of resentment, knowing that Bryce has been done with me, the idea of not knowing what will happen, and the fundamental feeling of total abandonment. I look around, setting my glass down before following Bryce’s steps toward the exit. As I walk, I notice the guard on the door is now inside, getting himself a drink and I carry on until I’m climbing the steps to lead toward the alleyway.

  Reaching the door, I open it slowly, not knowing what I’ll find and I escape into the shadows, trying to find the man who betrayed the man who wanted him so badly and me. I spot them as they stand a little further down the alley and I keep to the shadows in silent hope that Bryce is getting some sort of comeuppance for one of his dastardly deeds.

  “You see, Rainey,” the dark-haired guy in front of Bryce starts. “People like you think you’re damn invincible.” He lunges forward, Bryce makes a guttural noise, and I’m clueless until I see the stranger withdraw a blade from Bryce’s stomach. “Until their lies and deceit catch up with them that is.”

  I gasp, stepping back further into the hold of the shadows. I notice they look, but they don’t look too worried by the noise. Instead, they resume, and I struggle to hear what the entire altercation is about. I cover my mouth, trying my hardest to keep my cover a secret.

  But as the sound of a gun goes off, I jump, and I lose my footing. I start to stumble, unable to find anything that could catch my fall. I hit the floor with a thud, my head slamming down harder under the momentum and the world starts to swirl around me.

  I barely make out what’s happening in front of me, but I’m aware of someone coming toward me, stalking closer, but it’s no good.

  Before I speak, I allow everything to fade to black.

  “Check that out!”

  My order comes bellowed. I’m not in the habit of keeping witnesses, and while I’m sure we’re safe in this alleyway, I’m not taking any chances that someone saw me kill a fucker like Bryce Rainey.

  I look down at the dead form before me, blood still pours from the wound in his stomach, while his face looks a mess from the bullet I ended him with.

  I always hated this man. I never had direct dealings with him – well, not until tonight that is – but I heard stories, from men I knew would never waste their time on idle gossip.

  Twisting the blade in my hand, letting my fingers tighten around the handle as adrenaline races to consume me. My other hand nurses the smoking gun I used to finish the job. The heat of their feat rushes through me, allowing me to stare at my latest work.

  Slowly, I exhale, my breath causing a featherlight smoke in the cold air around me. With the next inhale, I allow the ice to travel down my thro
at, seizing my lungs. The icy sensation sends a small smile to creep onto my lips as I stand as cold as the body before me.

  The perfect end to a perfect kill.

  I slowly ease the gun back into the waistband of my pants, flicking my jacket and shirt out to help conceal the weapon from prying eyes. I do the same with the blade, hiding it from any onlooker.

  “Hey, Boss!” Liam calls out to me. “Might want to get here!”

  I turn on the spot, gazing backward toward the club opening, trying to spot Liam moving in the shadows. I hear him speak, but it’s not aimed at me.

  “What is it?” I ask, going over. “Some huge ass rat?”

  “No, Boss,” Liam says retreating from the shadows with a form in his arms. “It’s a girl.”

  “Fuck,” I mutter under my breath.

  “She’s alive, just passed out.” He looks down at her; her body is slack across his arms, her head fallen back. “Think the little lady must’ve hit her head pretty damn hard.”

  “We can’t have witnesses,” I state, looking at the girl with deadly intent.

  “What do we do with her?” Liam asks, looking away from her serene face to look at me with wide eyes. “We can’t risk lettin’ her go.”

  “I know,” I say, and snap. “Fuck.”

  I throw my hands up, allowing them to fall upon my head to thread through my hair. I pull tightly, allowing the tension to spread across my scalp as I struggle to think of a get out plan.

  But there isn’t one.

  “We’ll have to let my father deal with her. She’s a witness.”

  I watch Liam gulp at the idea. I’m not much more of a fan than he is.

  “Are you sure?” he asks with too much uncertainty in his voice.

  “No,” I grouse, turning to walk toward the car. “Let’s get her in the back seat, and we’ll call for reinforcements.” I stalk off, walking straight passed Bryce. I open the door, allowing Liam to put this stranger into the back seat of the SUV. “We’ll leave when he’s in the trunk.”

  “They were right behind us,” Liam states, coolly, shutting the door on the girl. “I made sure they were on standby.” I watch as he gets his cell phone out and walks off until he’s put a few between him and me. “Yeah, hey, Mac, we’re done. Where do you want to meet?”

  I lean against the car, looking out until my eyes struggle to focus on anything playing in the shadows. I think about Bryce and then about this girl. She’s wearing an expensive dress, one that hugged her body tight and showed a little too much thigh. She looked well kept, her hair cut nicely, her makeup minimal but well applied.

  Taking a deep breath, I look over my shoulder, through the slightly tinted window, and into the back seat. She’s a pretty, little thing with long brown hair and a pale complexion. I notice she has no bag on her, no ID, not a thing to give her an identity I could use to, at least, look her up.

  She’s foiled this evening completely, and I don’t even know why she was there.

  Liam checked the area well while we waited for Bryce to come up. We were in the clear, no one was lurking, and the main exit was covered by a few more of my guys. She wasn’t found in any of the places someone could be found. Which leads me to believe she snuck out from the club when I was preparing to end Bryce’s life.

  “They’re on their way,” Liam comments, breaking my reverie. His New Orleans’ accent always sounds fiercer when he’s in “Mac said if Harrison’s around for us to get goin’ and he’ll meet us back at the loft. They’ll make sure the alley’s clean and get rid of Bryce by morning’.”

  “And her?” I ask, nodding my head backward. “What do we do with her?”

  “Get the doc over and then see how much money she wants to forget what she saw,” Liam muses, shrugging at the idea. “End of the day, boss, we don’t know how much she did or didn’t see.”

  “She saw enough,” I mutter, pushing away from the car. “We’ll take her back to the loft with us, but if she wakes up before we make it, then we’ll question her on the road side.”

  Opening the trunk, Liam heads over to Bryce’s dead form. He gives him a solid kick in the side before leaning down to throw the dead bastard’s arms together. He starts to drag him, and I resist helping just to watch him struggle a little.

  “Stop fuckin’ around getting your kicks out of this and get his feet,” Liam grunts, catching me watching. “You might be the boss, but I ain’t allowin’ you to be some lazy fucker.”

  I laugh, going to his aid, picking up Bryce’s feet to help lift him up from the cold ground. We walk in silence, hurling the body into the back of the car before closing the lid tightly on him.

  “Seems I’m the real hero this evenin’,” I joke, chuckling.

  Liam laughs. “Believe me; I think she’s going to be smitten with you just for this.”

  That’s a sobering thought.

  I leave him to walk around the car, sitting in the passenger seat while Liam climbs into the driver’s side. We drive for a few miles until I hear a noise from behind me. I allow Liam to keep driving so I can turn around to see she’s opening her eyes a little

  “Well, look who finally came back to the land of the living.”

  My comment forces her eyes to open, and the moment she focuses on me she pushes herself up, forcing herself into the far corner of the car.

  “Here,” I say, nudging Liam. “She’s a pretty little thing.” I keep my eyes fixed on her large brown doleful ones. “What’s the name, Princess?” I ask, trying to break the shock.

  I continue to watch her watch me. There’s an element of fear that warps her brown orbs, igniting them with such a chestnut beauty.

  “Is he dead?” she asks, finally coming out of her daze. She looks around, looking out of every window as she slowly realizes we’re moving.

  “Pull over,” I order, Liam before turning back to face the girl.

  “Did you kill him?” she asks, only a slight hint of accusatory malice hits her tone. “Did you?”

  “Who?” I ask, remaining completely neutral to the matter at hand.

  “Bryce,” she breathes his name and her eyes ignite with fresher fear. “Please, did you kill him?” she asks, her desperation matched by the way she jumps forward to grab my hand. “Please, just tell me, is he dead?”

  “Yes,” I tell her, and it shocks me how she becomes visibly more relaxed. “Was he someone you knew well?”

  “You could say that,” her response is almost instantaneous. Suddenly she sobers, all emotion disperses, and she watches me. “Were you the one he paid?” she asks, her eyes watering. “You’re him, aren’t you?”

  My brow furrows as Liam brings the car to a halt. I have no idea what this girl is talking about, but I can tell whatever it is we saved her from was an uncertain fate.

  “Am I who?” I ask, a greater concern filling my voice.

  “H-he paid someone to buy me,” she admits, her voice cracking midsentence. “He was trying to sell me to the highest bidder.”

  “Well, now I’m fuckin’ positive he was my favorite fucker to rid the world of,” I mutter, more to Liam and myself than this girl. I turn my attention to her, giving her a reassuring smile. “No, Princess, I didn’t buy you. Liam found you after you passed out.” I keep myself gentle, trying not to scare her just yet. After all, I want her out of my life, and I want it done properly. “Are you okay?”

  She thinks for a moment or two, her lips pursing and she embarrassingly lets her guard drop. “My head hurts a little,” she tells me in a small voice, but the next look she gives me is so full of expectancy it worries me. “What happens now?”

  I watch her cautiously look at me with a clearer focus, her eyes drinking in the sight of me while trying to decide if I’m a savior or not. How wrong she’d be to put her faith in me. My life doesn’t have room for a girl like her – one who needs saving.

  “You’ve got a free ride to wherever you want,” I tell her with a polite smile. “Liam and I will see to it you get wherever you
want safely after you’ve signed a few things contractually silencin’ you to what you saw just now.”

  “Silencing me?” she gulps, looking uncertain suddenly. Suddenly, she shakes her head. “It doesn’t work like that,” she says, gulping again this time her nerves making it harder to swallow around the lump in her throat. “It never works like that.”

  “It does,” I argue back. “It’s just a few I’s to dot and several T’s to cross.”

  “No,” she fights back, shaking her head harder. “I’m yours now.”

  I look at Liam; his face is saying everything his mouth won’t. My brow furrows tighter than ever, and I revert my gaze to her. It’s almost full of sorrow for the poor girl.

  “Princess, you hit your head pretty hard. I’m Lawson … this is my man Liam. We’re going to help you get away from here, but you saw something back in that alleyway I can’t afford to let anyone know about.” The nice guy act is waning, read to start leaving me now. “So, you’re going to sign somethin’, name your price and leave.”

  “It won’t work,” she says, her tone becoming monotonous and void.

  I look at Liam, an eyebrow raised. “How hard did she hit her head exactly?”

  “I dunno, Boss, but maybe we should get her to the doc to check her over,” he comments, looking uneasy. “Just to be sure she’s not concussed or somethin’. She’s not making sense.”

  “Look, listen,” I start.

  “No!” she bellows launching forward in her seat. “No, you listen…” she trails off, grabbing my hand. “You killed Bryce, right?” she asks, and I nod. “And it was definitely you?” she asks, and I nod again. “Then I’m yours. It’s how it was written.”

  “How what was written?” I question, alarm starting to invade me. “I killed a man, that’s the end of it.”

  “No,” she says and exhales heavily. “I sound crazy.”

  “A little, yeah,” I respond with a light chuckle. “I killed the man who was trying to sell you in that club. I think it’s a good night’s work. Now, you’re free to go wherever.”

  “I’m never free,” she states, a sadness hitting her words as she sinks backward, releasing my hands.