Trigger (Pericolo #3)

by Kirsty-Anne Still

  “Ry-leigh,” I pant, my hand coming to grip her hair. “Fuck!”

  I grunt loudly as she tightens her mouth around my cock and digs her nails in a little more. The pain only adds to what it is I’m feeling and I feel myself getting ready to ejaculate. And just to add even more punishment, she uses her fucking teeth!

  “Oh, fuck,” I say, as I feel ready to blow the moment she drags her teeth up my shaft, her tongue working the underneath. I’m alive with stimuli, even more so as she pushes down and I can’t withhold it. As she deep throats, I bring both hands to grab her hair and hold her as I come, releasing a full load into her mouth.

  She gags and I release her, allowing her to spit, but she doesn’t. Instead, she swallows and wipes at that pretty little mouth of hers. I swear I have never seen anything hotter than the things this girl is willing to do.

  “Does that feel good, baby?” she asks, falling against my thigh tiredly, kissing my skin.

  She moves ever so slightly, kissing my shaft again, even lowering her mouth to kiss my balls, suckling on them, showing she’s not quite done with me yet. Her hand comes to play with my balls, and I swear I’m about to burst into flames.

  What my girl fucking does to me is unexplainable.

  “You’re gonna kill me,” I groan slumping some under the showering water.

  “Not yet, I’m not. You’ve got to survive round two,” she vows, moving back, her hand encompassing my cock again.

  “Okay,” I breathe, gearing myself up. “This time you aren’t swallowing, though.”

  “I’m not?” she asks, looking up at me as her hand moves up and down my cock, not relinquishing any attention to pleasuring me. “Why the hell not?”

  “Because I want to come all over your face, all over your tits... I want you to see what it is you do to me,” I tell her, the thought causing me to grin. “I want you to see it all.”

  A wicked grin graces her soft lips and she shrugs. “Whatever you want, king.”

  That catches me off guard while also making my balls fucking tingle more than she’s already making them.

  “What did you just call me?”

  She shrugs, keeping a playful look on her face.

  “If I’m your queen, then you have to be my king,” she says but says no more as she engulfs the tip of my penis once more.

  Fuck, yes, I’m her king!

  If that’s what she wants to call me, then she can call me it all fucking night long because, after this, I’m not letting her sleep. I want her screaming my name as every fresh hour rings in. This time, Ryleigh doesn’t actually touch my ass; she keeps one hand circling the base of my cock, the other tugging ever so slightly on my testicles, and I can’t resist it. I feel myself building again, climbing higher as I feel myself ready to come, and just as she flicks the tip of my penis, darkness consumes us.

  “What the fuck?” I growl, looking around.

  I feel her pull back completely, stunned by the sudden rush of darkness we’ve been plunged into. I put my hand behind me, shutting off the water, only to reach for her.

  “You okay, cara?” I ask her, seeing her move ever so slightly in the dark as my eyes adjust.

  “Yeah,” she says, reaching out for me. “What’s going on?”

  “No idea. It could just be the breaker,” I tell her, not letting her know that the pit of my stomach is blackening with dread. “I want you to stay in here or the bedroom. I’m going to go and get the lights back on.”

  “Dante?” she asks, clearly sensing my distress.

  “Just a simple flick of the switch,” I tell her, taking her hand in mine. “Plus, I need to release my load, and I’m not fucking waiting that long for you to do it.” I pull her out of the shower, feeling her entire body shake as she giggles. “Think you can behave while I go sort this?”

  “Possibly,” she murmurs, not sounding all that sure. “But I was just getting started.”

  “Keep that thought,” I tell her, but I release her to rush from the bathroom to find out why the lights went out.

  I hear a noise just as I make it to the kitchen. I look through where the breakfast bar is, waiting to see movement in the barely lit room, but I see nothing. I hear the noise again and stand completely still. As I hear muffled voices, my hand searches for the knife stand. I grab the knife at the back, willing to brutalize it if I have to.

  I see a figure moving through my apartment, so I take my chance. I slip into the shadows, following him while gaining speed. I creep up behind him and don’t think twice about striking. I step in behind him and while one hand slams around him, holding him tightly in place, I stop his next move by pressing the blade across his neck, pressing it against his windpipe.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” I whisper into his ear, pressing the knife further into his throat. The overwhelming stench of stale cigarette smoke lingers on his clothes masked by an intensely cheap aftershave that makes me want to gag. “What are you doing in my house, cunt?”

  With every word I speak, my tone lowers, darkening with every syllable.

  “Well?” I ask, resting the blade. “I’ll count to five to give you the chance to respond. If I were you, I wouldn’t let me get anywhere close to five to answer.” I lean in closer, pressing the knife in. “One,” I whisper, keeping my voice to the same level. “Two,” I say and laugh at his bravado. “Three. I bet your blood will match the decor perfectly.”

  “I was sent.”

  “Obvious fucking answer, asshole,” I ground out, unforgiving as I feel him hiss beneath the blade’s edge. “Who sent you?”

  “I won’t tell you,” he tells me, keeping his loyalty alive. “He said you’d kill us either way if you caught us. I’ll die staying true to my boss.”

  “You better hope you don’t have any family,” I state, forcibly exerting my anger. “They’re nothing to me, and after this, they’ll be nothing to you.”

  “No,” he whispers, shaking his head, regardless of the blade. “He said they were protected. He said if I do this, he’d look after them! Don’t kill my family! We’re doing this for the money!”

  “Too late to beg,” I say, preparing to run the blade through his throat. “I don’t play nice with bastards who decide to take me on in the middle of the night. I, especially, don’t like fucking cunts who disrupt my girl from going down on me.”

  However, he throws his arm back, preparing to punch me in the gut, but shame on him. I hold onto him regardless and drag the knife into his throat, cutting deeper and deeper. His fight dies as I cut him from ear to ear. Blood sprays and he slumps to become a dead weight in my arms.

  What a way to go – killed by a naked Italian with a semi-erection. He drops down in front of me, and I wipe his blood from my cheek. I give him one final glance, kicking him to check he’s really a dead cunt and not hanging on by a thread. I notice that I’m still erect and I can’t help but smirk. It’s the first time a kill like this has turned me on, but I guess there is a first time for everything. I can laugh over this later, but first I need to find out if Ryleigh’s okay. After all, he said ‘we,’ meaning he was sent with someone – which explains the voices I heard.

  “Ryleigh!” I scream out, as I start to run through the dark apartment, worried about what I’ll find.

  “I’m okay!” she yells back, killing my panic almost instantly by just hearing her voice.

  I run after her voice no less fast, and she looks up at me, clearly shaken by the intruder as she stands in the middle of our room. In the moonlight, I see she’s still holding a letter opener, still completely naked, her wet hair dripping down her body, as blood pools at her feet. I cast a quick look at her and see the blood splattering her skin.

  “I just grabbed what I could,” she tells me as I rush to her side. “They wanted me.”

  “What do you mean?” I ask, dumb as fuck.

  “I hid,” she starts, her eyes going wide. “He was calling for me. He was fucking mocking me. He knew I was here. He knew I was here and wanted me
to go with him.” She creases her brow, trying to make sense of the first real glimpse of the world she’s entered. “I saw the letter opener you left on the dresser this morning and I went for him. I slammed it into the side of his neck over and over. I didn’t even give him a chance.”

  Putting my hands on her face to try to snap her out of her shock. She stares down at the body at her feet – the first time a murder’s rocked her. This one wasn’t presented to her, it wasn’t even planned. I don’t blame her for reacting a little shell-shocked.

  “You did the right thing,” I tell her, trying to reassure. “They were sent for you, Ryleigh, so you did what you have to in this life.” I watch, waiting for her to respond, but all I get is a nod. “I’ll be right back. I’m turning the damn lights back on, and I’ll be back.”

  I leave, rushing back through my apartment, ignorant of the dead cunt in the living room. As I flip the switch, throwing the breaker, the apartment illuminates with lighting once again. I see my phone is still sitting to the side, so I grab it, dropping Barney an urgent text. I tell him that I have two bodies for him to come and clean up, but not to tell anyone. Someone sent them and while I have my suspicions, I want to keep this among people I trust – Barney is as far as it goes.

  Going back into the bedroom, I find that Ryleigh has moved. She’s no longer standing but has sat down on the edge of the bed. She may have killed men before, but not in a fight for survival. She’s still proving to me that she’s one of the strongest women I know, but even strong women have weak moments.

  Taking her hand, I pull her up and lead her back to the bathroom. I place her back into the shower, turning the water back on. I climb in behind her, forcing her to turn so she’s facing me. Gently, I start to rid the blood from her face, and while I can feel myself waiting to shake at the threat placed on us, I feel my ire starting to consume me.

  How dare someone come into my fucking apartment, trespass, and threaten our lives, especially Ryleigh’s, in my home. I don’t even need to think which violation makes me most barbaric – threatening Ryleigh’s life exceeds breaking into my home, but both together and the results are going to be cataclysmic.

  I want fucking rivers of blood for this.

  “I didn’t think twice about killing him,” she speaks, suddenly breaking the silence. “He told me he wanted me, and that he had to kill me. That he wouldn’t get paid otherwise. I just reacted.”

  “It’s called self-preservation, Ryleigh,” I tell her, washing the last remains of the blood from her cheek. “We all have a flight or fight response to these. You fought, cara. You saw a threat, and you handled it.”

  “This is just the beginning, right?” she asks, although I can sense she knows the answer. “I’ve really joined the dark side now.”

  “The moment people come after you, you have,” I say, mirthlessly laughing. “But don’t worry, mia regina, I plan to make a mockery of their attempt. No one will think twice about coming for us once I’ve presented them to the world.”

  “What are you planning?”

  “I texted Barney and his men will come and take the bodies and clean up. I don’t know who sent them, but with Barney’s help, we will make sure people know we’re on to them. We might not have a name, but that means shit to me.”

  “But you do know,” she counters, admonishing my plans. “You know who sent them, don’t you?”

  “I don’t know,” I tell her, defending my thoughts. “I just have my speculations.”

  “Marcello,” she states, the hesitancy causing me to feel uneasy. “He’s starting to set an example of what my life by your side is going to be like, isn’t he?”

  I nod solemnly. “No one is getting you,” I tell her, watching as her shock starts to disintegrate. “My life is yours. Your life is mine. Only over my dead body does anyone get to fucking touch you.”

  “Guess we’ll just have to play the game harder,” she responds, shocking me with her sudden, dangerous poise. Suddenly, her stunned gaze thaws and she returns to me. “He is not winning this time, Dante. He can’t. He can’t keep breathing when he destroyed so many lives.”

  I rest my forehead down against hers, keeping quiet while the intimacy revels with the honesty waiting to escape.

  “From destruction comes the most beautiful of creatures. One day you’ll see that we could’ve only been born from utter devastation.” I close my eyes, praying she’ll see that through her vengeful haze. “That’s all we thank Marcello for in this lifetime.”

  Suddenly, her hands come to enclose my face, our heads still pressed together as she breathes her statement. “Don’t you worry. I’ll be thanking him for you the moment I watch him take his final breath.”

  “It’ll be fucking glorious,” I say, grinning finally.

  What I dream of, she dreams of. That, to me, is a scary thought. Marcello Valentino has not only one ruthless, merciless survivor against him, but two.

  I tilt her head, preparing to kiss her. “We’ll become an empire in our own right on that day.”

  20RYLEIGH

  “What the actual fuck?”

  It’s all that falls from my mouth as I come face to face with a table covered in cash, and Dante meticulously counting it to make sure he’s getting it entirely correct. I just stand before him, casting my gaze across the money toward a counting machine to a large duffle bag that sits open, showing more money yet.

  “Dante?” I question as I drag a pile of money, held together by yet another note.

  “Don’t panic,” he tells me, still counting. “This is just our plan B,” Dante tells me, lining up the final wad of cash. “I’m preparing myself.”

  “For what?” I dare myself to ask.

  “If we need to run, then I want to be sure we aren’t going to struggle. If this game gets too dangerous, then I don’t want you to be involved.”

  “So, it’s not for us,” I admonish, feeling myself becoming angry at the thought. “This is for the moment you think I can’t cope and you want to send me away.” He looks at me, a grave look on his face. “I’m not going anywhere that you aren’t. It’s not a choice, Dante, and you can’t force me.”

  “I’m doing it to protect you!” he replies, rearing up. “I can’t keep you here when they close in. Marcello will use you against me. He’ll use you as my weakness.”

  “Then let him think that,” I reply, crossing my arms over my chest. “It’s not our fault he assumes wrong of both of us, Dante.” I cock a brow as Dante lands a solid look at me. “He thinks I’m your weakness, and I know I’m not. You know I’m not.”

  “Why did I have to pick such a headstrong woman?” he asks, shaking his hands at me in that motion as if he wants to throttle me with his irritation. I just laugh. “You infuriate me, mia regina!”

  “Because I’m always right?” I say, sarcasm becoming me. “You’ll have to just learn to deal.”

  “I’m learning. Don’t you worry yourself,” he replies, shaking his head in dismay as he chuckles. “Marcello won’t know what he’s let in to the family.”

  “Let’s face it. That man hasn’t let me into the family... he tolerates me by your side,” I remark, not withholding the sarcasm from blanching my words. “I saw it the other night. The way he watches me tells me that he believes I don’t fit in with the Valens, but he’d be right because I won’t ever fit.”

  “Good,” Dante replies. “Wouldn’t want you getting too comfortable.”

  I snuff a laugh and decide to get more details on this so-called plan B. I can’t make light of this situation because, right now, everything is picking up momentum and everything seems impossibly real.

  “How much is here, then?” I ask, plopping myself down in front of it all.

  “Eighty grand,” he replies, remaining blasé over the fact. “It’s all I had in the apartment.”

  My eyes bulge so much I feel like they’re going to come out of my head. “This was in your apartment?”

  “Yeah,” Dante admits, chortling
at the idea. “There’s another fifty, possibly sixty, at the other apartment. I want to have a good couple hundred grand waiting for us.”

  “I need a drink,” I say, getting up.

  “Money still makes you uncomfortable, doesn’t it, little wolf?” Dante asks as I walk away.

  I don’t respond; I go straight to the fridge and the bottle of wine I know is sitting in the door. I grab a glass from the cabinet beside the refrigerator and pour myself a glass. I glug a mouthful before turning back to him and prepare myself to really face up to this moment.

  “It’s not just the money,” I state, walking back out of the kitchen with a bottle of wine in one hand and a glass in the other. “It’s the fact that we are getting real with this, now. We’re not planning or playing. This is now becoming make or break.”

  Stepping away from the money, Dante comes toward me as I force myself up onto one of the stools by the breakfast bar. I set my glass of wine down on a coaster trying my hardest to remain calm, but everything in me is waiting for one final push so I can break down into my panic.

  “What if we aren’t cut out to do this?” I ask as he comes to sit in front of me. “What if we don’t need to do this?”

  “What’s brought this on?” he asks. Reaching out, he takes my hand that rests on the granite countertop. “Before, you were all so prepared for this.”

  “I’ve lost people before,” I say, trailing off when I realize he understands.

  “I know,” he acknowledges, keeping his voice light. “But you cannot start to break now, cara. Now is not the time to fret. I am doing everything in my power, with the men under my command, to make sure this is a smooth transition. The problem is there is no backing out for either of us anymore.”

  I nod, knowing he’s right, but I cannot stop the feeling of dread.

  “It’s blood in, death out. You knew this from the very first day,” he tells me, his breaths racing as he works himself up. “You’ve initiated yourself into this life, but I cannot allow you to die in order to be free of it. Since loving you, the death out isn’t an option anymore. No matter what, I cannot and will not be forced to live a life you aren’t in anymore. So I’m preparing the foundations of our life away from all of this. Our life free of Marcello.”