He shouted up to Alicia while still keeping his eyes trained straight ahead.
“Alicia, Get the Fuck down here.” Adding quickly, “Now!”
Chapter Fifty Seven
What the hell is he shouting at now?
Alicia kicked the box with her foot that she had tripped over whilst she was that busy paying attention to the books she was packing along with underwear and her lotions. Throwing her pink messenger style bag over her shoulder she casually walked down to where the roar was coming from.
Xavier didn’t turn when he heard Alicia behind him, but instead said in a slow, steady voice, “Do you mind telling me what the Hell that is, and what is it doing in your damn basement?”
“Ah duck. I forgot about him!”
Alicia tilted her head then shrugged her shoulders as she casually walked towards the male that was in stasis.
“I’m starving!” Without turning to look at Xavier her fangs started to extend as she mumbled, “He’s Belcastro’s heir.”
Turning his head almost in slow motion, until he was looking right at Alicia, he mouthed the words she’d just uttered, but before he could verbalise a response, she had passed by him and was leaning over the catatonic male restrained to the chair in the middle of the room.
Xavier’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he realised that she was feeding from the male, right in front of him.
His wolf was baying for blood, and his fists had clenched into tight fists making the veins in his forearms bulge, and the tic in his jaw was more pronounced as he clenched his teeth. This was a development that he neither expected nor liked. She was feeding from a male — and it wasn’t him.
Unfuckingacceptable.
This would not be tolerated. The small noises she made as she fed started to make his blood boil as his wolf howled in his head to get her the fuck away from the other male. Without realising it, Xavier had crossed the room, and had grabbed the back of Alicia’s hair, yanking her backwards. Her fangs ripped through the other male’s throat, his blood spurting out and splashing both of them.
“You do not feed from him, we clear? Sweetcheeks, I said are we clear?” His breathing was ragged and his nostrils were flared, as his narrowed eyes staring her. Alicia looked up at him, at first confused and then angry, but Xavier didn’t give a shit. All he knew was that she would not be feeding from another male again.
“What the fuck did you do that for, you prick?” Alicia raised her pink boot and kicked Xavier in the shin. “I will feed from whom I want, when I want Mr. Bodyguard, or are you offering to be my donor?” Alicia wiped the blood from her lips as she stood beside Xavier.
“This is your fault…that I forgot him.” Alicia was counting in her head at the amount of times Xavier’s brows would be creasing, his nostrils would do this little flaring thing and his fist would be balling before he spoke to her. Not that she paid any attention to him any way what's so ever.
Grabbing her by the elbow and walking her a few steps away from the male, Xavier tried to regain some control of the fury that was threatening to overtake him.
“What the fucking hell do you think you’re doing? Keeping Belcastro’s son as your own private blood donor? In your basement? Are you fucking crazy — no, no don’t even answer that! Jesus fucking wept, Alicia but you seriously have a death wish, you do realise that, yeah?” Letting go of her elbow, he walked back over to Belcastro’s son, checking his vitals, and tying his belt around his neck to stop the blood flow.
“You mind filling me in on this shit, Sweetcheeks? I’m at a loss as to explain this one. The robberies were one thing, but kidnap and imprisonment?” Xavier’s voice was almost strangled with the effort of remaining calm enough to talk to her right now. Every time he thought he was making some sort of progress with her she threw him a curveball.
Every fucking time.
Moving to the side, Alicia jumped up and perched herself on a wooden workbench, her legs swinging like as if she didn’t have a care in the world.
“I have wiped all of Belcastro’s family out over the years, he and Junior there are the last of the line. I was using him to get information out of him and as bait but then you and your grouchy ass came here, kidnapped me and I forgot about him.” Her hands raised slightly as her shoulders shrugged. “I don’t see the problem here. But he does taste vile! Drugs course through him.”
Xavier was pretty sure his jaw had just hit the floor.
There weren’t many times in his life that he was rendered speechless, not that he was a great conversationalist, but he usually had some smartass comments lined up internally for any given situation. Not this time. Standing, listening to Alicia, his blood thundered in his ears, and small flashing lights were swimming in his eyes.She was going to drive him to a fucking coronary, he was convinced of it.
“You have been wiping out an entire family? Is this some sort of hobby of yours?!” Trying to make sense of the whole situation, Xavier stood rooted to the spot, his face incredulous that this little female was turning out to be some sort of serial killer.
“You’ll swallow wasps there soldier boy.” Alicia smirked as she saw the expression on Xavier’s face, his green eyes were dark and staring at her. “Yes Xavier, I have picked them off one by one, all such tragic and misfortunate events, but none the less they all died. Why did I do it? The Belcastros took my father and brother from my Madre and she died of a broken heart and alone. The heists and killings were all part of my master plan, avenge my family, it’s rather quite simple.”
Alicia had raised her legs so her arms were hugging them. Not that she was upset, she failed to see why Xavier had an issue with this. She hadn’t killed them via her teeth like the predator she actually was. No, the killings had been as if a mortal had signed their death certificates.
Opening her palm to Xavier she offered, “Lolly?”
Wiping a hand over his face, he processed the information. She hadn’t killed for sport or fun.
She had been avenging her family.
Xavier looked over at Alicia, as she sat almost innocently, recounting to him the horrors of her history. It struck him just then how strong and brave she was — not because she was a female, fuck some of the fiercest warriors he had ever faced in battle had been of the so-called ‘fairer’ sex. No, it was the way she conducted herself, the determination and intelligence she showed with the planning and execution of her revenge. She was cunning and ruthless, but not at the expense of her own humanity or character. Alicia didn’t speak as though she was bitter and twisted, or act like she was some sort of victim.
No, she was merely re-paying in kind what had been done to her and her own.
He admired that above all the other qualities he had come to respect about her. After an elongated silence, Xavier walked over to Alicia, his fingers threading through her hair, as he tilted her head up to look back at him.
“I had agreed to a partnership to go after the Belcastros after they issued a death warrant on you for the thefts, and I found out just what their business dealings consisted of. We had a mutual enemy in them. However, after what you have said to me today it changes everything. Will you allow me to assist you in exacting your revenge, for the murder of your family, Alicia Carberletti? It would be my Honour,” his voice was sincere as he let the silk tendrils fall from his fingers.
“You would do that for me, help me I mean?” Alicia saw Xavier in a different light for a moment at his revelation of offering his assistance, for once she didn’t want to piss him or fight…she actually wanted this, his help.
Jumping down from the bench, Alicia stood in front of Xavier, looking up at him she offered him her hand. “Play time!”
Xavier’s wolf was triumphantly howling as he held her delicate hand in his rough, huge one, his fingers wrapping tightly around hers.
“I take it you are wanting to give a message to the old man Belcastro via him,” he said tilting his head to the side, indicating Belcastro’s son still slumped on the chair. “T
hen I propose we get creative!” Grinning down at Alicia before reluctantly letting go of her hand to take off his jacket and t-shirt.
As he caught her eye, he laughed, “I don’t want to get them even bloodier now, do I?” He wondered for an instant whether she would do the same with her top, but then chastised himself. Whatever happened to him being a gentleman?
“Huh um ha? Oh yeah, of course, bloody clothes. Right!”
Alicia darted her head away quickly before she was caught staring at the perfect sculpted torso of her bodyguard, the dog tags sitting perfectly in front of the sandy blond hair that covered his chest.
“I want it filmed and the message delivered that his bloodline is gone! Any ideas Commander?” Alicia’s arms were snaking behind her neck as she grasped her hair into a ponytail and secured it in a band that was on her wrist.
“In Greece, where I’m from, there’s an alcoholic drink called Raki. It’s like absinthe, but can be more effective - do you have any?” Grinning at her, he started inspected the tools she had laid out on the table to the far end of the basement. Cleaning a blade on his thigh, he looked over his shoulder. “I think a little slice and burn for starters, yeah?”
As Alicia went to get the bottle of alcohol, Xavier found the camcorder. He spent a few minutes figuring out how to set it up, getting a few good shots of up his nose and close ups of his groin, before setting it on the tripod in front of Belcastro’s son. When she returned, wiggling the bottle in one hand, he took it off of her.
“You’d best wake up sleeping beauty there, so we get the full effects.”
“I knew it! I thought he was Greek.” Not aware of her little outburst, Alicia grinned. “Can I wake him up or would you like to do the honours?”
Giving a wicked smirk, Xavier bowed over-dramatically and then started to remove Belcastro’s son’s shirt as Alicia released her hold on him and he woke up, cursing and shouting threats at them.
“Seems like the canary likes to sing, Sweetcheeks. Shall we see if he can do Soprano?”
The blade in Xavier’s hand had barely touched the flesh of the male before he started screaming in pain. Hesitating he looked over at Alicia.
“This one is definitely a screamer,” he said before laughing again and inflicting several strategically placed small slits in the torso and upper arms of Belcastro’s son. Taking the Raki, he took a swig from the bottle, winked over at Alicia and then started to carefully pour some over the small wounds, watching as the alcohol ripped them apart to gaping wounds and the howls of pain coming from Belcastro’s son.
Alicia looked over at him questioningly, so he explained.
“You see, there is an art to torture. The cuts?” He shrugged, “Small, minor and insignificant on their own, but pour Raki on them and the alcohol and ethanol makes the skin tear open, and the fresh blood feels as though it’s on fire! Want to try?”
Holding the blade and bottle out towards Alicia, Xavier took a step back to give her room.
Alicia gave Xavier a huge smile, the first time that he saw her dimples properly. It was the first genuine smile that he in fact saw from her, her eyes were shining as she took the blade and the bottle from him.
“Just so we’re clear, I’m not drinking it...yeah?”
Laughter filled the air as she mimicked his word. Throwing his head back, laughing, Xavier was enjoying himself. His face seemed younger, his worries dissipating as he watched Alicia at work. She had a playful glint to her eyes when she looked at him, and he wished that they had met under different circumstances.
He may be her bodyguard, but what he would do to guard that body with his all night long....
Xavier was finding it increasingly difficult to keep his sordid thoughts to him and his wolf, who had decided to hang around for the show, and in the process seemed to be magnifying his need to be with her at any cost.
“You never know, Sweetcheeks, you might develop a taste for some Greek liquor.” Arching a brow, hoping that his double entendre hit its mark, he picked up a set of car jacks and a battery, placing them on the floor. “Do you have a basin?”
As Alicia nodded and pointed her finger, he strolled off in the direction indicated and returned with a plastic basin filled with tepid water.
Removing her leather jacket from her shoulders, Alicia then secured it around her waist, her black vest top untouched of any blood spray from her captive. Flicking her wrist gently so her bracelet slid up her arm a little she walked silently around the chair a couple of times, her small pink boots having been customised to remove all tread marks.
Belcastro Jr was screaming and shouting as he tried to wriggle around in his seat.
This merely amused Alicia as she stopped her movements to still. She may be smaller than the average mortal but she had her vampire strength and in a swift motion, her slender arms were hooked around his neck as she tilted him backwards looking down into his eyes.
“Xav… he’s hurting my ears here, please make him shut up will you?” Alicia slowly ran her tongue over her fang as she stared down at Belcastro Jr. “Now, my bodyguard here is going to teach you a lesson, one sound from you will only make it worse capiche?” Alicia kept her hold around Belcastro Jrs’ neck as Xavier made his way over to them.
“Best get him ready for his big scene in front of the camera, Sweetcheeks. We want him to do his best when Daddy watches, yeah?”
Clamping one set of jacks to the battery and the other to the toes of Belcastro’s son, Xavier threw a piece of wood up to Alicia for her to catch. “Put that in his mouth so he can bite down on it,” he said, giving her a wicked grin as he placed Belcastro’s son’s feet in the basin of water.
As Alicia forced Junior’s mouth open and shoved the piece of wood into his mouth, she stepped away from him jumping back up on the worktable, and pulling out a fresh lollypop, intrigued as to what Xavier was planning. She had never shared this side of herself with anyone before, and yet somehow it felt natural and normal to share it with Xavier.
Xavier’s eyes followed the form of Alicia’s mouth as she sucked and rolled the lollypop, perched up on the worktable. Her hollowed cheeks made her large inquisitive almond shaped look bigger, and he was unaware that he was growling under his breath. Suddenly, he was rudely interrupted by the muted gurgling from Belcastro’s son, and he turned his attentions back on the job at hand.
“I think this asswipe is ready for his close-up.”
Xavier laughed as he repositioned the camcorder to capture the whole of Belcastro’s son in shot. Finally satisfied that he had it right, he switched on the battery and took out a stick of gum as he leaned back on the wall next to the table Alicia was sitting on. Sparks started shooting out from the battery and the water basin, as Junior jerked and jolted, his fingers and toes curling as his face contorted, blood trickling from his nose and the corners of his lips. The force of the electricity was so strong, that Belcastro Junior’s head was thrown backwards as his spine arched almost off of the seat of the chair. The seat toppled to the side, landing the twitching body in a thud on the floor, the upturned water basin soaking the boards underneath him.
Giving a wink and a smirk to Alicia, Xavier chewed his gum and grabbed the handle of a broom, using the wood to turn the battery off, ensuring he kept away from the live wires.
“I guess you could say he has an electrifying personality.”
The air was charged with electricity, which Alicia presumed was coming from the electrocution that had just taken place and nothing to do with the fact that she and the Commander was both standing still staring at each other.
Taking out a melon baller she had found in the kitchen, Alicia went over to the still spasming corpse, and scooped out both of his eyeballs, dropping them into a baggie and putting them in her back pocket.
After composing herself quickly she spun around on her boots mumbling she was going to get towels and that Xavier could help himself to a shower as she headed up the stairs the led from the basement to the kitchen.
&n
bsp; Chapter Fifty Eight
Hearing Xavier switching the shower on, Alicia flashed away to the local shopping mall. He needed fresh clothes and there was no way in hell she was allowing him to sit in just a towel until she took them back to the compound in France. Grabbing various extra-large sized hoodies, sweat pants and boxer briefs before stealing some already packed groceries from a mortal outside the mall, her shopping spree was done, which he should be grateful for! Shopping was right up there with lying as one of the things Alicia detested most.
Xavier was still in the shower when Alicia returned, so she dumped the bags outside the shower room door and headed to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. She was famished for blood since Commander Prick placed her on a blood drinking ban down in the basement, but she would have to feed again soon…maybe he does want to be my donor?
Alicia was roused from her musing by the glorious smell of soap, freshness and all man. He was standing in front of her and her eyes about done the loop de loop. Xavier Raige looked more relaxed than she had ever seen him in all the time they had spent together, which was a lot! The stolen items of clothing were a perfect fit on him, the hoodie would drown her and them some but she made a mental note to steal it when he was sleeping.
What the fuck Ali?
“Let me get you a coffee, take a seat.”
Alicia almost flew off the seat as if it was on fire beneath her ass. Taking a brand new mug from the cupboard and the unopened coffee jar, she pierced the foil with her fang and with a teaspoon levelled four heaps of coffee along with four sugars. She had noticed that Commander Prick liked his coffee strong, sweet and black. Placing the steaming mug down on the table for him, she had to take a few deep breaths.
With an arched brow, Xavier enquired, “You alright there Sweetcheeks?”
The Heist Page 19
