5

We ride through the city, and the closer to my destination we get, the higher the buzz under my skin climbs.

Today begins the end of it all.

Soo glances at me, his hands clenched so tight around the steering wheel his knuckles are white. “Are you ready for this?”

Of all the people in my life, only he and my brother could question me without earning a bullet to the temple.

“Do I not look ready?” I counter, staring straight out the windshield.

The familiar upscale neighborhood is where one of the worst crime families in the world hides out. They pretend to stay beneath the radar, but everyone knows the darkness that circles them. There is no hiding evil. It’s best to wear it like a badge of honor.

Soo doesn’t comment on what I look like, so we lapse into silence. The side-gate for a large mansion stretches out in front of us. Two figures dressed in black, one carrying a small form over their shoulder, rush down the driveway. The prospect of getting revenge gives me an all-new excitement; not even the thrill of murdering my enemies gives me this kind of high.

Once Soo comes to a stop, he unlocks the vehicle, and the men bolt through the gate and into the backseat of the SUV. The small feminine body lands in a heap flat across their laps, her arms flayed out over her head.

I gesture at the girl. “Put her in the fucking trunk.”

Mic climbs out and drags the girl, belly down, into his arms. Then he opens the back of the SUV and tosses her inside, none too gently. I’m not particularly happy about it but it’s better than having her on their laps.

Once he’s back in his seat, Soo takes off the way we came. I check the rearview mirror and smile. No one is rushing out. No one seems to be coming to save her—all the better.

Soo remains quiet as we drive. Mic and Archy, if that’s their actual names, aren’t on my payroll, and once we get back to my house, I’ll pay them, and hopefully never see them again. I don’t like the way they were manhandling her or how they tossed her into the back. I can feel the desire to kill them rising with every beat of my heart. I have half a mind to cut off their balls and feed them down their throats when we arrive at the house. Yes, it’s an irrational thought since I asked them to grab her for me, but I don’t care. Rational thinking is for men that care what others think. The only one who gets to touch or hurt her is me… for now, at least.

We make it back to the house before I let my anger ruin a perfectly adequate working relationship. Soo enters the gate passcode, and we drive into the underground garage we’d been in only a half-hour earlier.

Once Soo parks, everyone gets out, and Mic takes it upon himself to gather up my newest possession from the trunk. I narrow my eyes at him, but he ignores me and follows Soo down a corridor and into the basement. I’d set up a little room just for her. We file in, and Mic drops her down onto the mattress. She bounces and then settles; the slip she’s wearing is under her breasts, leaving her panties and legs exposed to everyone.

I grit my teeth hard enough to crack them and march across the space to inspect her. The second daughter of the reigning Ricci family sure grew into a beautiful young woman. Her dark brown hair lies around her head in a halo, some obscuring her features. I crouch beside the mattress and lift the strands from her face, smoothing them away so I can get a better look at her.

Her eyes are closed, and she looks peaceful, like an angel that’s sleeping. Too bad she’s been given to the devil. My gaze lowers, roaming over her creamy flesh. The blood in my veins becomes molten lava when I notice the red scrape on her cheek. It looks fresh. Too fresh.

Gently, as if she is made of glass, I brush my thumb across the wound, lingering where it is flayed across the scar that runs diagonally on her cheek.

Her scar does nothing to hinder her beauty.

Rage already a low simmer in my gut reaches a boil. I quickly cup her head, feeling down her exposed skin until my gaze lands on her chipped fingernails. Blood is caked under two of them, and as my gaze lowers, I notice a bright purple bruise in the shape of a handprint across her thigh, only inches from her lace-covered pussy. My insides burn, and I’ve never felt the need to inflict pain on someone so badly.

I stand casually, a storm brewing inside of me. Soo moves behind me, no doubt attuned to my shift in mood. The two men I paid to bring her to me huddle near the door, waiting for their money.

I approach slowly, a predator sizing up his prey. “I’m sure I instructed you not to harm her.”

Mic speaks up first. “She woke up when we nabbed her. I had to hit her over the head to get her out of the house quietly.”

I turn my attention to Archy. “And you? Did you decide to cop a feel while your partner here subdued her?”

An awareness enters his eyes. He can see his death at my hands, and I let him take a good long look. “In the hallway, now.”

The men precede me, and Soo follows me out, leaving the door open so he can lean casually in the frame.

I force air into my lungs to calm the fuck down before I put my Eagle in their eye sockets and blow their brains out. I’m not bothered by death, and I have no problem killing.

“Tell me what happened. Every single fucking detail, like your life depends on it.”

Mic, of course, takes the lead, his mouth open like a fish out of water. “She was passed out on her bed like we were told she would be. Except when Archy went to grab her, she woke up and started to fight.” He pulls down the neck of his shirt, revealing a set of claw marks across his skin. “She’s a hellcat, if you ask me. I had to knock her out so we could get out of there before she started screaming.” I shift my eyes to Archy. “And you? What’s your excuse?”

His gaze shoots to Mic and then back to me. Obviously, not the brains of the operation here. “I just carried her, Boss. Promise.”

“Promise,” I whisper.

Soo presses the Eagle into the palm of my hand behind my back. Once I have hold of it, he shifts down the hallway. No doubt to get the cleanup crew ready to take care of these dickheads.

I bring the gun out and press it to my temple as if I am figuring out a problem. “So how did she get that bruise on her thigh? Is one of you not getting laid enough at home and need to put hands on what’s mine?” My voice remains calm, but inside, everything roils to waste these idiots.

Mic, suddenly realizing they are in a lot more trouble than he thought, raises his hands up in surrender. “We didn’t know she was yours, Boss. Honest. Archy just wanted to see what she was hiding under her nightgown.”

I glance back at Archy, who stares at Mic like he just got himself killed. To be fair, he did. “I’m sorry, she just… she looked so soft. All I did was touch her a little bit.”

I bring the gun down in front of me with a nod, like visions of their imminent death aren’t pinging around in my head. Call me a monster, but I even give them a grin to set them at ease. “Her skin does look soft. It’s because she’s a pampered princess.”

Both men smile back, nodding, thinking maybe, just maybe, they’ll walk out of here alive.

I continue, “I hear she’s a virgin. I bet that sweet little pussy is going to be so good when I claim it.”