When I awake, I am alone. The spot next to mine in the bed is cold, and I sigh in relief. There is no way I can handle waking up next to him. My heart is beating out of my chest as it is. I want to see him, but at the same time I don’t. I hate him, but I kind of find him endearing at the same time.

His smirk makes my panties melt, but his cockiness and the way he handles things make me want to turn his gun on him. I can hear the shower running in the bathroom. I need to pee but feel it’s safer to hold it. I take the small amount of time I have alone to think things over.

Alzerro, or Zerro, or whatever the hell he calls himself, told me he would kill me over and over again yesterday. Except I don’t believe him, not even after I watched him kill that man on the floor downstairs yesterday. I can’t help but feel like helping him, yet I hardly know him.

Then there is the fact that I am not sure why I am really here. He didn’t take me last night, in fact, he stayed on his side of the bed and I stayed on mine. I know it won’t last long, though. One way or another, I will have to spread my legs for him. I will have to give him access to who I am.

The water turns off and the door opens, pulling me from my thoughts. I watch him as he walks out of the bathroom with a scrap of a towel covering his lower half. It looks more like a washcloth covering the area, but who am I kidding? All I can think about is the way his mouth felt against mine last night and his abs. God, his abs are beautiful. Each little chiseled marking on his stomach…the dips and planes and that V… That fucking V is something women would kill over.

“Let me give you something more to stare at…” His voice pulls me out of my trance only to throw me back into it as he drops the towel from his waist.

I can’t help my expression. My eyes widen, and my mouth gapes open. A family of flies could have made my mouth their home, it is open so long. I snap it closed, hoping he doesn’t see. He is very well hung. His head has beads of water on it, and he is cleanly shaven.

“Do you like?” he asks, smirking. His hand strokes the base, and I swear to God one of my ovaries explodes. Pulling my eyes from his…cock, moving them to his eyes, turns me into a puddle of mush. I know he just killed a guy yesterday, and he’s all kinds of fucked up, and I am supposed to be paying a debt for my father, but I am attracted to him. I can’t help it, and I am not sure if I want to.

I don’t respond to his question, afraid that it will come out as a moan. Instead, I get out of bed and head straight to the bathroom as I listen to his laughter.

“You can’t hide from it, Piccolo.” His voice has an amusement to it that hadn’t been there yesterday. I sit on the toilet to take care of my business. I am afraid he will come barging in, but also believe he might actually respect my privacy. One can’t tell with him.

“My dick calls to you…” Now he is just being an ass. A smile pulls at my lips, though. As fucked up as all this is, and it is all kinds of fucked up, it’s nice to smile just a little bit, even if I have no clue what will happen to me today since I’m staying with someone who points a gun at people more than he talks.

I wipe, flush, and wash my hands before actually taking a look at myself in the mirror. I feel fine though my cheeks are lightly flushed. My eyes are a warm brown, shining back at me. My hair needs some serious taming, but other than that, I don’t look as if I have been taken by a mafia king into an unknown evil land. The fact that he is still out there, probably naked, reminds me that I should talk to him about getting me some birth control. The man can get me pregnant with one look.

I come out of the bathroom, peeking around the corner, waiting for him to jump out at me. When I spot him sitting at his desk with a pair of jeans on, I sigh in relief.

I tip-toe across the floor, hoping that he is engrossed in his mafia business too much to care what I am doing.

“Come here, Piccolo,” he says sternly. I stop dead in my tracks before turning around to face him. His hair is a mess, water droplets still clung to it, but his face looks less dark though he still seems to have an edge to him. His demeanor seems to warn if you get too close, he will cut you straight down the middle.

“What does that even mean?” I ask, proceeding toward him with caution. He watches every step I take, his eyes going from my feet to the top of my head.

“It doesn’t matter what it means.” I can tell he isn’t going to answer me, so I let it go.

“Then don’t call me that. My name is Bree,” I retort. For some unknown reason, I find my voice. I don’t want to be that weak girl that cowers in the corner because she is scared. I need to deal with the situation. That’s what my momma would have told me to do, grab the bull by its horns.

“I will call you whatever the fuck I want. Now drop your pants and panties and sit on the edge of the desk.” His finger points to the exact location my butt cheeks need to be. Instead of doing as he wants me to do, I glare at him, willing ice daggers to come out of my eyes and stab him.

“No,” I say in the same cold tone he had given me. A fire ignites in his eyes, and I wonder if that’s what gets him off—killing people and sex.

“No?” he questions, eyebrow raised.

“No. As in N.O.” I repeat again, spelling it out for him in case he isn’t aware. I don’t want to have sex with him, not yet. Not that there is shit I can do about it. I will still try, though.

“Okay…” he says smiling. It is a dazzling one, you know, the kind that makes you go all weak in the knees? Yeah, that one. I’m so caught up that I don’t notice his body moving, or that he is within a breath’s distance from grabbing me. Picking me up, he pulls my pants and panties down to my ankles and places my ass on the cold wood of his desk.

“No!” I shriek out, holding my legs together. If he wants something from me, he will have to take it because I am not giving him anything.

He smiles again, pulling my pants and panties from my ankles so my legs can be moved freely.

“Yes,” he growls his hands gripping my upper thighs.

“No,” I counter back with the same amount of intensity. “I refuse to have sex with you.”

His hands skim up my thighs and up my stomach until one is tilting my chin up to him, and the other is playing with a lock of my hair.

“I won’t fuck you yet,” he says softly, his breath tickling my face, and it is then when we are nose to nose that I can really see gold flakes in his eyes. They almost make him look like a lion.

“What will you do then?” I am not naïve. I am young, still very much a virgin, but I am not stupid. I have made out with boys and let them feel me up, but it never went as far as I am now—naked from the waist down.

“I need to release some tension and instead of calling a high-class whore I figured I have you here, so why not use you…” Use me. The words make acid build up in my stomach. He leans forward, his teeth nipping at my bottom lip.

A spark of pain and pleasure shoots straight to my core. He is fire to my insides, igniting something inside of me that I have never felt before, even though it feels wrong and being used is something I don’t want. His lips feel right. His hands on me feel right. Our hearts beating as one feels even more right.

“Let me...” he begs, his kisses on my neck cause my chest to feel feverish. I can’t tell which way is up or down, and a burning feeling is settling into my core, all I can do is nod my head in response. He lays me back down, kissing a small path over my neck before lifting my shirt and blazing a fire of kisses across my stomach.

Once I realize he is going further south, all the fuzzy feelings leave me. I have never had that done before, and I am not sure I want to try it now. I clam up, but my insides are still burning with need. I don’t know what to do because there is no way my legs are spreading. At this moment, I hate being so inexperienced.

Zerro obviously notices my hesitation as he pulls away, his eyes seeking mine.

“I haven’t ever…” I trail off, completely embarrassed with myself and lack of sexual conquests.

He smiles, and I’ll be damned if my insides don’t jump up and down. “It’s okay. I will be careful, I promise I won’t hurt you. Just let me in…” His breath is deliciously hot against my skin. I know, even if he doesn’t say it, this is part of the agreement, I came with him for this.

Spreading my legs, just the slightest bit, I bite my lip hard to stop myself from crying out. The simplest movements have me on the edge.

He looks down at me, a hunger so deep and primal within him, I wonder if he has changed into an animal.

He lingers over my lady bits before bringing his eyes back up to mine.

“You’re beautiful and untainted… You really are mine in every…single…way.” His fingers separate my folds before I hear him drop to his knees. All I can feel is his hot breath on my entrance. I close my eyes as confusion and lust fill every pore of my body. I can’t help but feel like I am betraying myself. I want him, I admit, but to want him this badly after all he has done, after only knowing him a short time… Is it wrong?

I am not given the chance to answer my own question. His tongue slips between my folds as he gives me a full lick from bottom to top. Biting my lip hard, I try my hardest not to let the moan escape, but it echoes throughout the room loudly.

“Tell me, does this feel good?” he questions, his thick finger entering me slowly, so slowly that it almost hurts.

“Ahhh…” Is all I can manage as he slides in and out of me, so slowly I would much rather have him put that gun to my head again.

“Or this?” His tongue dives in as he pumps in and out of me. He sucks my clit into his mouth while nipping, tenderly. I am on the very edge, but he somehow stops me from coming.

“Please…” I pant out. My hands go straight to his hair. It’s soft and makes me want to do so many more things than what we are currently doing.

“Am I a monster, Piccolo?” His voice is just above a whisper. When I don’t answer him, I hear his growl and feel his assault on my clit.

“Yes….Yes…Yes…” I scream. I am so close to getting my release. I feel myself growing wetter with every slip of his finger inside.

“I am?” he questions with amusement in his voice. He is enjoying torturing me, and that alone makes him a monster. His finger withdraws from me only to be replaced by his tongue. He swirls it around, dipping it in and out. Never giving me enough…

“I’m dying…” I groan. I feel as if I am dying since my body is on the verge of climaxing, but he won’t let me get there.

“Death, Piccolo, wouldn’t be nearly as peaceful or pleasurable,” he purrs against my clit, giving it one last tug before he inserts two fingers inside me. He pulls his face away as he places one hand on my lower abdomen and uses his other to plow in and out of me.

“Fuuuuuck…”

“Yes?”

“Yes… Yes… Yes…” I feel my ass cheeks sliding across his desk. The intensity of his thrusting with me pushing against him pushes me over the edge. My insides clench and the burning consumes me as a deep warmth radiates gloriously throughout my body.

I feel myself falling back down to earth. My eyes are heavy, and every part of my body feels as I have been through the wringer. I smile blissfully. He may be an evil man, someone who kills people with his hands and guns, but he definitely knows how to pleasure a woman. He can cause you extreme pain or bring you to great lengths of pleasure.

“Coming back down to earth, Piccolo?” he teases, his tongue running across my stomach, dipping into my belly button. I tense as my body is still reeling with aftershocks. I can’t handle anymore, and I whimper as I pull my legs together.

“You are a monster…” I growl, sitting up. I take in his messy hair and the dashing smile on his face. His eyes twinkle with darkness, need, and even a want deep within. I smile smugly to myself as I realize I affected him this way.

“I am. This, I already know. I possess the tools to kill someone with pain or pleasure.” His words are like silk to my insides, melting me over and over again. He doesn’t even have to touch me. This is dangerous; he is dangerous.

The papers that were on his desk have fallen to the floor. I gaze down at his jeans. They are undone, but his cock is still tucked inside. I can see the outline of it bulging, begging to be released. I have given a blowjob a time or two in my day, nothing compared to what he has probably already received, but it feels wrong to receive and not give.

Slipping from the desk, I drop to my knees. The plush carpet against my legs makes me shiver. His smile slips as I tug his jeans down and release him. His cock springs free like a caged animal.

I bite my lip and then lick him from base to tip. He smells of soap and pure male. It is enticing and makes my blood sing. I have never been bad, never done anything wrong in my life, but this man has me wanting to cross off a whole list of bad things.

“Take me…” he rumbles, his hand-wringing into my hair as he pulls it tightly. It stings, almost painfully, but at the same time it shakes me to the core. I watch him carefully as my lips slip over his cock, taking almost all of him into my mouth. My tongue swirls around the head. His teeth grit, his jaw clenching under pressure.

I can’t help but reach up and trace the planes of his stomach. His muscles constrict with every lick and suck from my mouth.

“Sei e’ angelo.” His words are a whisper, and though I am not sure what he’s saying, it sounds beautiful. I take him deeper into my mouth until he is hitting the back of my throat with precision. His hands clutch my hair tightly, keeping my face directed up to his. We stare into one another’s eyes until I feel his balls tightening and his movements become jerky.

His eyes close, and for one tiny minute in time, I get to see a part of him that is peaceful, a part of him that shows insecurity. For a moment, he is stripped bare of all other things that he will be for the day. Right now, he is mine, and I am okay with that.

Hot semen hits the back of my throat, and though it tastes absolutely disgusting, I swallow every last drop.

He smiles at me like the devil who has just stolen my soul. “I underestimated the hold you have on people. On me.” He says the words out loud, but it seems as if he is talking to himself.

“You’re very welcome, Alzerro,” I mock him, coming to stand next to him. His eyes flare with anger and something else, something deep within. I just can’t place the look.

“You should be thanking me.” I cock an eyebrow. Is this man ever not so full of himself?

“I shouldn’t be thanking you. We should be thanking each other,” I respond haughtily. Turning on my heels, I go over to my new closet to find something to wear. Generally, I am modest and shy about my body, but he has already seen my goodies, and his tongue has tasted them…

When I come out with my clothes in hand, he is still standing there staring at me. His finger, the one he dipped inside me over and over again, is in his mouth. He is sucking on it.

“You taste better than some of the finest wines I have had.” His voice is low, and the room smells of sex. I’ll be damned if every thought about not letting him fuck me flies out the window.

“Do I?” I question.

“Yes… And I’m sure you’ll only taste better as time goes on.” Time stands still between us. His words only cause the ache inside me to grow. My body begs for him, but my mind—my mind knows how fucked up this all is.

“Guess you’ll never know, will you?” I am baiting him. This game is fire. He is dangerous, and I know he can go off at any time.

“Don’t play games with me… Get dressed. I have somewhere I need to take you.” His words are a command. I reach for my clothes to get dressed without thinking. He has that much power...

My body hums with anticipation. It had been hours since I’d last seen Zerro. He left me breathless, and hot and bothered standing in his room. My hands drift over the tight satin fabric that clings to my body. When he told me to get ready, we had to go somewhere, I didn’t expect to be dressed up.

I have never looked this sexy in my entire life. My hair is in loose curls that fall softly down my back. The dress is black satin and sparkles in the light. A sweetheart neckline and tight bodice show off every curve.

My makeup is done to perfection. A smoky eye gives way to accenting my eyes. Looking in the full-length mirror, I hardly recognize myself.

“Don’t fret, you look beautiful.” His voice is commanding as it always is, pulling everything in the room to his attention.

Still looking in the mirror, I skim a finger across my chest. It is creamy white, and I worry I will stick out like a sore thumb in this black dress.

I turn around, becoming very aware of his presence. He is standing before me in a charcoal gray suit with a white buttoned up dress shirt underneath. The first couple buttons are undone, and I can’t pull my eyes from that piece of flesh.

“You’re to be on your best behavior tonight. Understand?” He pulls the side of his suit over, showing me his gun. It is a warning. If I act out, he isn’t afraid to use it. The look in his eyes tells me he will.

“I will be…” I murmur.

“Good,” he replies, smiling as he leads me out the door and down the stairs. His men are dressed similarly to him, but they are wearing ties, blood red ties. I don’t find that as a mere coincidence, I’m sure blood will be spilled this evening.

We all assemble to the black SUVs. Zerro and I are ushered into the middle one while some of his men get in the others. Mack joins us, his eyes clinging to me, making me feel beyond uncomfortable.

Zerro seems cool and collected as he stretches his limbs and slides into the seat next to me. It is as if a mask slips onto his face. I am starting to understand there is a difference between business Zerro and pleasure Zerro.

“Mack, let the men know we are on our way.” His voice is firm and assertive.

“Yes, sir,” Mack simply responds, never questioning him. I sit in my seat fidgeting with my hands, unsure why I am going with them. Is there a reason? Is he going to whore me out to his friends? Kill me? Fear trickles into my stomach, eating away at all the warm fuzzy feelings he inspired this morning.

His phone rings in his pocket, and I look at him as he reaches into his pocket to pull it out. He swears under his breath before pushing a button on the screen.

“Why are you calling me, Luke?” Zerro’s voice is venomous, causing my heart to shake in my chest. I avert my eyes to stare out the window, not wanting to see the man I met this morning disappear.

“I don’t fucking care! You bring all of them with you. Every single last one. If they don’t have the money, I will put a bullet in their heads. Got it?”

Whatever Luke says calms him slightly, but when I look back over at him, one of his hands is sunk deeply into his dark locks. He is frustrated.

“No. If you don’t do as I say, I’ll have a bullet with your name on it, too.” Luke isn’t given a chance to respond because the phone is thrown across the seat.

“Sir… I can try and figure out what’s wrong.” Mack is trying to be helpful, or so it seems. Concerned is etched into his features, but it seems fake to me in a way. He is tall, dark, and incredibly handsome. His features are very similar to Zerro’s, and for a second I wonder if they are related.

“No,” he says firmly. Mack turns in his seat, his eyes catching mine in the rearview mirror. There is a warning, not the kind that says if you do something, I’ll hurt you, but one that says be careful, tread lightly.

No fucking way will I be shining a spotlight on myself. I want to get out of this alive. The ride couldn’t have been more than twenty minutes, but it seems like an eternity while I am in the car with Zerro. The tension comes from him in waves, and I can tell he is fuming angry. I am terrified of this man.

Everyone pours from the vehicles, and when I get out, I look around. I think we are at some kind of night club. A long line of partyers stands before us, women and men of all shapes and sizes. I am wobbly on my feet as Zerro presses his hand firmly on the small of my back.

“You don’t have to be an asshole to me just because you’re mad at someone else…” I whisper for his ears only, feeling as if I am running to keep up with his pace.

He smiles a tiny one. “I have to be an asshole at all times. Weakness is showing mercy to others. I can’t let these people see that.”

We pass the line of people, and we’re let through by a big, muscular guard dressed in all black. He looks like he fights for a living. He stamps something on my hand, and we are on our way.

Through the doors, I hear the music pounding and see lights swirling in different directions in various colors. Anticipation and excitement build inside me to be in there dancing and singing, but I am pulled in the opposite direction instead. Zerro pulls us to the right and down a long hall until we come to a door.

“We aren’t going dancing?” I ask bashfully. I’m confused, to say the least.

“Business first.” His voice is emotionless, and because the hall is so dark, I can’t see his face. He presses firmly against my back, leading me down the stairs.

“Every one, against the wall!” I hear someone below us shout. My body locks up when my heels hit the bottom step and I take in the scene before me.

People of all ages, colors, and ethnicities stand against the wall of a cold, dank, dark room.

Giving me a soft push, Zerro leads us out onto the cement floor. All eyes are on us, and all I want to do is run to the nearest exit.

“Welcome. I hear many of you have failed to come up with the money that you owe to my family.” The devil has come out to play. I know it and so do all the other people in the room. Their faces morph into undeniable fear in front of me.

“You see, Toni, a beloved salesman of mine, was found stealing from me. STEALING!” he yells, his words echoing off the walls. I find myself backing up with every word that falls from his lips. Instead of hitting the wall, I fall against a warm chest.

Mack. His hands clamp onto my shoulders, holding me firmly in place.

“Do you know what I did to him?” The dim lighting makes it hard to see his face, but as he reaches for his gun, I catch a glimpse of it in the light. It is hard, dark, and cold. Evil, pure evil.

No one says a word. It’s pin-drop quiet. I know this is just the calm before the storm. He will end all their lives, and for that, he has no soul.

“I killed him. You know why?” His gun is being swung in every direction and had Mack not clamped onto me, I would have been running up the stairs by now.

“Because the money was mine. Mine! He was supposed to deal for me and give me the money he made. It seems as if some of you have decided to follow in his footsteps.”

Zerro’s footsteps can be heard crossing the concrete floor until he stops in front of a middle-aged man. His hair is slick with grease like it hasn’t been washed for several weeks, his eyes are red and jittery. He looks as if he is waiting for his next hit.

“Is that what you do, Zach?” Zerro questions, his words coming out like a verbal slap.

Zach doesn’t answer, though. He simply stares ahead waiting for his time to come, probably because he knows it has.

“No answer?” Zerro cocks his head to the side, mocking him. It is sick and twisted, and I worry that if I have to watch even one more second of this degrading shit, I will puke all over the floor.

Silence falls before the booming sound of a gun being fired fills the air. My ears ring fiercely as I become slightly disoriented. I watch between blurred eyes as he walks to another person, his gun pointed at point blank range.

A woman in the corner begins crying. Her body is shaking while she says a prayer in a language I don’t understand. I watch Zerro cross the floor and come to a stop directly in front of her. She draws back from him as much as she can with the wall directly behind her. He is truly the devil in human form.

“You cower in fear, yet days ago you came begging to me, pleading that you needed help.” His voice is rising with every word that leaves his mouth. “Yet, here you are now, pleading and begging not to die. People like you will beg and plead for everything your whole life.”

I am not sure how much more I can take. If I can stand idly by watching him tear these people to shreds, what type of person does that make me?

“We have children…families,” the woman sobs. She could be a single mother or a college student. Her mother could be dying, and she could be doing everything in her power to stay afloat. That single thought forces so much anger inside me, causing me to see red.

“Stop this insanity right now!” I scream at Zerro. My voice doesn’t shake, and I am not afraid to stand up to him. I don’t know how, but I am filled with an inner strength that spurs me to try and help these people.

He spins around so quickly, my head is reeling. Mack gives me a harsh shake as if to say ‘shut your mouth, you crazy bitch.’ But it isn’t me who is crazy. Zerro’s eyes zero in on me like I am prey. With precision, he crosses the room, his body gliding across the ground. I should be scared, I should be begging, pleading, crying, wanting nothing but mercy from him. I am not, though. I am standing tall, and I will look him straight in the eyes and tell him what a crazy fuck he is.

His fingers dig into my arm painfully as he drags me out into the center of the basement so all eyes are on us. I don’t even try to stop him since I know it will be useless. His scent surrounds me, making me forget where we are for a second.

All those things disappear the moment I feel the warmth against my skin. The barrel of his gun is pointed at the side of my head, and for one tiny second, I wonder if he will actually pull the trigger this time.

Pain registers in my mind as he grips me harder, twisting me around to face him. His eyes are black, and there is a bleak chance that I will not walk away from this.

“Does anyone want to explain to this girl what happens when someone defies me?” My heartbeat skyrockets, and is the only thing I can hear in my ears. Everything else seems far away as I stare into a pair of eyes that see nothing but death.

The room remains silent, and I don’t dare look away from him. It is as if it is a contest to see who will give mercy first. I have the strength my mother had given to me.

“You cannot kill all these people simply because they owe you money,” I grind out. It is a whisper, but I know he hears me. I know he understands what I am saying.

My words mean nothing to him, though. I know it the moment he throws me to the ground. My body falls hard as my head smacks off the concrete. My vision blurs when the popping noises begin from a machine gun going off. I hear their screams but am in too much pain to get up. Instead, I roll over to look up. What I see causes my heart to break. My stomach coils in pain as I hold back the vomit that wants to escape.

Blood splatters across the walls as bodies sag to the ground. He has shot every single person… My body goes limp as tears spill from my eyes. How can someone be so fucked up? So uncaring? They were human too.

A hand reaches out, gripping my arm and pulling me to a standing position. I can’t respond to anything, I can’t process the cruelty surrounding me. My mind is off in la-la-land, and my body isn’t responding. I feel as if I am outside of my body watching the carnage take place.

“Take her.” I hear his voice but can’t place it. I can’t figure out how I have gotten to this dark and dismal place.

“What do you want me to do with her?”

There is a moment of silence that makes the pounding in my head and heart stop.

“Put her in the dungeon,” he orders emotionlessly. I feel my body being lifted and carried. It means nothing to me. In the end, I know what my fate will be. It will be the same as these people.

Death.