FOR ALMOST SIX months, I was Victor’s bitch. I was Suicide Angels on wheels, making good on my passport stamps and frequent flier miles. I didn’t have time to think about my plans. I spent too much time watching my back while frequenting the bowels of shit the world had to offer.
I did everything Vic asked of me. Every second, I placed my life in situations more dangerous than I ever had before. Victor made sure I did them and he never gave me a moment alone with him again. I never had access, or time to get to a phone to contact Dom or Nikki.
I was Vic’s prisoner, repenting, making him believe I was the man he wanted me to be. And for many months, I was.
But when I came back into town, it all came crashing back to me, and the part of me that I had to shut down to get through came alive again.
Victor had set me up with a room at his place, but of course, he wasn’t there.
CLEARING THE STEAM FROM the bathroom mirror I checked out my jaw, preparing to shave, and grateful for my first decent shower in months.
Within five minutes, the bathroom barely looked like a bathroom anymore. My hands were bloodied and I knew I shattered a few bones in my fingers. I decided against shaving since I fucked up my hand.
I slunk back to my bedroom and crashed back on the bed. Couldn’t close my eyes. Couldn’t think. All I could see was her. All I could hear was Nikki’s voice.
It was a problem. I needed to be clear because the house of cards was on the brink of coming down. After all, it was what my months of working with Vic and obeying his every whim were about—getting closer.
There was one thing I couldn’t do. No matter how many whores I was “treated” to, my cock belonged to one woman. Only got hard for one woman. Only craved one woman.
I heard the beat of bare feet against the hardwood. The bed dipped, and a pair of soft hands slipped around the waistband of my fleece pants.
Wrapping her hands around my flaccid dick, she worked it like an orange juicer. Eventually, I felt her warm mouth surround the head. I took my forearm from across my face and looked down. All I saw were Nikki’s doll eyes staring back at me. Immediately my dick throbbed, hardening for the first time since she touched me.
I grabbed her by the back of her hair and tossed her back on the bed. I spread her legs, near to entering her. I halted as I continued to stare down at…Nikki.
“What are you waiting for, handsome? A condom?” She held up a foil packet. “Done. Now, fuck me.”
My vision cleared, revealing who was really underneath me. It didn’t matter who she was; she wasn’t Nikki. I rolled off her and shielded my eyes with my forearm. Grinding my teeth, I shouted at her, “Get out!”
“I don’t think you really want me to.” She started to fist my cock and moved to cover it with her mouth once more.
I grabbed her by the hair again. Pulling her back, I stared at her. It was a channel switch, flipping on and off. I kept seeing Nikki’s face, then whoever she really was. Ejecting out of bed, I pulled up my pants and headed toward the door of the bedroom.
I yanked open the door and nodded to the nearest minion available. It couldn’t have been a more perfect scenario. Jeff, the asshole bodyguard who couldn’t keep his fucking mouth closed, was within my reach.
“Jeff, right?” I gave him a warm smile, pretending he was in for the time of his life in less than one minute.
He straightened his shoulders, shooting me a glance as though he thought, wrongly, that he was bigger and badder than I was. “Yeah?”
I gestured with my fingers, inviting him inside the room. “Kill this bitch.”
He looked around, lost.
“First fail.” I folded my arms, curving a brow at him. “You never hesitate. Are you new to this? Do you remember how easy it was for me to lay you out? Do you want a reminder?”
“But Vic—”
“Vic won’t miss her,” I interjected. “Trust me. The moment she goes downstairs without walking knock-kneed, Victor will have her killed. You know it. You know how he works. Don’t you want to get into his good graces by being proactive? Don’t you want to get into my good graces?”
Swallowing hard, the dumbfuck started to remove his gun from the holster.
“Are you kidding? Too messy. Choke her.”
“Please,” she begged from behind me, “don’t. I’m sorry. Please.”
Jeff pinned her against the wall with his hands clenched around her throat. I leaned forward, watching every slight and severe change in her reaction while she thrashed against the wall, fighting for her life.
Jeff pulled her up by her throat leaving her feet to dangle a few inches from the ground. Through the fear and pain in her eyes, she continued to struggle. Her pending death made me feel what I needed to feel.
A moment before her body responded, preparing to shut down, I told Jeff, “Stop.”
As expected, he didn’t. I slipped the loaded gun from his holster, turned off the safety, put it to his head. I shot him in the temporal and partially the parietal lobe. The grey matter, skin, flesh, and blood splattered slightly onto the woman he was holding. He dropped to the floor instantaneously.
She wouldn’t stop screaming and staring at Jeff. His brain matter and fluid made a beautiful mess that stained the rug beneath him. I started to feel the part of me that I needed to awaken come rushing back to me.
“Would you shut the fuck up?” I growled, glaring at the woman who turned into a blubbering mess on the floor.
Her face full of horror, she scampered away, covering her mouth. Crouching down, I took in the expressions on her face, getting high off her reaction to me.
“What the fuck happened in here?” Pete questioned, coming into the room.
Standing upright, I glanced over my shoulder at him and shrugged. “Entertainment.”
“Have you lost your fucking mind?” Pete squawked.
“No, my boy, he’s found it,” Victor said from the hall. Sauntering into the room like a king approaching his throne, he grabbed my face and gave me a slap.
Well, I’ll be goddamned. He was here after all, and five men served as his protection. Too many to allow me to end his life. The waiting continued. “Welcome back to the fold. We have…work to discuss. But first, you need to further prove your loyalty before we move forward. I need to believe you’re in this completely. Can’t do that unless you get rid of the one thing that’s holding you back. You said to me that you wanted to be the one to finish her. My wait has gone on long enough. Am I right?”
Sneering, I lifted my cold eyes to him. “Without a doubt. I’m not close to Charlie anymore. I can’t get near her yet without his men impeding on my plans.”
“Don’t doubt me, my boy,” Victor assured me. “I know exactly where she is. It’s time. First the bitch shrink she spilled her guts to, then her. Make it quick.”
Shaking my head, I slanted my chin down with a dark look. “Fast won’t do.”
“My boy,” he said with a broad smile. “Glad to see you found your brass balls again.”
“Don’t shortchange Charlie,” I began. “I need to do something to get his attention. Something that might give me an in with Nikki as well.”
Vic’s eyes flickered, waiting for the punch line.
“He needs to think I’m still playing both sides, so I’m taking a little vacation. I think I’m due. I’m thinking about visiting a place you lost a stray bitch who can’t be trusted. I believe you know her well. She used to work for you and stumbled upon some information she shouldn’t have. I bet you wish you could save the pocket change and stop payment on the hush money.”
“Well…” Vic’s eyes whirled in their sockets, looking as if the idea had never dawned on him.
It made me wonder why Trisha was special.
I finally understood. Vic always rewarded blind loyalty; Trisha never stopped working for him, even when I thought she had.
“If you think it will help, who am I to argue?” Vic slapped my face again, his grin broadening. “I’ll give you a week to solve that problem. No more. Pete will go with you. I want that bitch Nikki taken care of straight away when you come back.”
“Got it, Vic. But Miami is an alone kind of deal. Having a babysitter would slow me down.” I gave him a crooked, cocky smile. “Or don’t you trust me? How is it you want me to work for you, if you don’t trust me?”
“Three days,” he said with a scowl. “Then you need to punch my time clock.” He slapped my face one last time and disappeared with Pete.
Something was in Pete’s eyes when he glanced at me. It was clear he knew something other than what I spoke about was afoot. Good, report it to Charlie.