Chapter Four
This was the craziest thing she had ever done in her life. Scarlett knew that there was no way out for her. Even if she went to the cops and begged for protection they couldn’t help her. No one could. In the few hours she had come to know Bain, she’d learned he wasn’t a man to be messed with. He always found his target.
The feel of his lips on hers was such a heady experience, and she closed her eyes, simply basking in his touch. He cupped the back of her head, and his tongue stroked along her lips before diving in.
She whimpered as he held her close. For the first time in her life she felt small, delicate, and her body came to life, wanting so much more. Resting her hand on his chest, she felt the pounding of his heart and suddenly pulled away, staring at him.
There was no way this man was human. He seemed so cold, so callous. How did he even feel? And yet, his heart was pounding, and she’d seen the pain in his eyes.
“Why wouldn’t I do it for you?” she said. “You were hurting, and I’m not a cruel person. You don’t deserve to suffer.” She dropped her hand down on the bed and licked her suddenly sore lips. It had been a long time since she had been kissed like that.
Bain didn’t let go of her head, and she couldn’t look in his eyes anymore. It was just too hard to have these feelings rushing through her. Nothing made a whole lot of sense.
“I’ve never been very good at any of this,” she said.
“What do you mean?”
“Sex. Coping. Understanding. You wouldn’t understand. I’ve never been able to connect, and the men I’ve been with, they weren’t exactly good guys.” He released her head, and she ran a hand over her face and wrinkled her nose. She stank really bad. “My last boyfriend, it was bad, and I finally left him over a year ago. Ever since I was a little girl, I always wanted to be a reporter. One thing after another stopped me from being what I wanted to be. Then this opportunity opened up, but again, if you don’t fit the model, they pass you over. I’m not some twenty-something anymore. I’m not slim, not that I ever was, and I’m not pretty. I’m fat, frumpy, and ugly, trying to make my way in this superficial world. This interview was going to kickstart it.” She smiled at him. “I know you don’t want me to interview you. You’re just waiting to find out knows about where I was.” She took a deep breath. All of her life she had fought these feelings of not belonging. Only her grandma had ever been able to make her feel wanted, loved. Death would be easier. “I told someone. I don’t want you to hurt her.”
“I already know you told someone, Scarlett.”
“You’re a killer. Contracted and all of that. Kill me, put me in my apartment. You can make it look like an accident or something. I’ve got a history of depression.” She saw him frown. “Please, don’t hurt her.”
She saw his jaw clench. “You’re begging me to kill you?”
“Yes. Kill me, Bain. No one has to die because of me.”
“You have a history of depression?”
“Yes. See? I have the perfect out, and you don’t even have to work hard for it. I won’t fight you.” He suddenly pulled away and began to pace beside his bed, and he glared at her. “You know it’s the only way.” She couldn’t believe that she was begging for someone to kill her. Tears filled her eyes, and she climbed off the bed. “Please.”
“I’m not going to kill you.”
“Why not?”
“I want to tell my story. I wasn’t lying to you about that, and I’m not ready to kill you.” He took hold of her hand and turned it over. “You have no previous scar wounds.”
“I was depressed, not suicidal. I’ve not tried to end my life before. Never thought I had the guts to do it.” She shrugged and frowned. “It’s weird how I’m feeling right now. I’ve never felt like this.” She placed a hand over her lips and stared at him. She didn’t like the sadness in his eyes as he looked at her.
“I’m not going to kill you, Scarlett. Now, do you want to bathe? There will be plenty of hot water.” He tugged back on his joggers and flicked on a lamp.
She crossed her arms over her chest. Did she want to wash? Yes, she did. She smelled and not in a very nice way. “I won’t run away.”
“I know you won’t. There’s nowhere for you to run. This place is heavily guarded. I’m not going to hurt you.” He brushed past her going straight toward the bathroom.
Even though this man held her life in his hands, she couldn’t help but admire his ass. It was so tight as he walked. The sweats he wore molded to his ass, and then went baggy around the thighs.
He paused and turned toward her. “Are you coming?”
“You’re not killing me?”
“I said I wasn’t killing you. You’re easy to talk to.” He shook his head. “You’re fucking confusing me. Just get your ass in the bathroom.”
She stared around the bedroom and wondered what the hell was going on. One moment he wanted to go to bed to sleep, now he wanted her to wash. Nothing made any sense, and tonight was totally illogical.
Entering the bathroom, she saw him bending over the bath, adding some scented bubbles.
Scarlett smiled. “I never imagined you having bubbles in the bath.”
“This one offers to relax muscles, and I need to relax these tired muscles as much as I can. I’m not getting any younger.” He stood tall, and she heard his back click, at which she winced. “I’m no spring chicken anymore.”
“I know that feeling all too well.”
“I’ll be at the door. I’ll give you enough privacy to get in the bath so I don’t see anything.”
She watched as his back was to her, and then she removed her dirtied white blouse, followed by her skirt. As soon as she was naked and in the bath, she let him know. He took a seat and leaned back, arms folded over his chest.
“How is your head?”
“It’s fine. Whatever you did, it eased the pressure, and I can think now.”
“I’m glad I was able to help. Migraines can be the worst.” She ran her hands through the bubbles. Everything was somewhat surreal to her. “Do you have any family?” she asked.
“No. None. I would say in the entire world I have one friend, and I think ‘friend’ is even pushing that description. We’re colleagues.” He ran a hand over his head. “We were captured, and he was one of the hardest people I’ve ever known. Some of the kids the people took off the street, they were lambs heading to the slaughter. They didn’t make it a couple of days, let alone weeks. His name’s Viper.”
She nodded. “And he was a child soldier of some kind? Like you?”
“You could say that. We were given jobs even at a young age to prove our loyalty. The moment they took us, any sense of a childhood was destroyed. There was no time for playing around or games. There was no Christmas or birthday parties. It was work, training, practice. Over and over again. Everything else faded away.”
He was opening up to her, and she found his voice soothing. It was hard and gruff and hypnotic at the same time. Licking her dry lips, she turned so that she was facing him. The bubbles gave her some semblance of modesty.
“What happened to the kids who couldn’t do it?” she asked.
The pain in his eyes along with the disgust cut her to the core. “Their bodies mounted up until they burned them. If you couldn’t do what they wanted, you weren’t good enough to keep around, and if you weren’t good enough to keep around, you were only useful for one thing, and that was training.”
She covered her mouth as she watched a single tear slide out of the corner of his eye, and he moved fast, wiping it away as if it was never there. Sucking her lips into her mouth, she closed her eyes and couldn’t even begin to imagine.
“It’s like something out of a horror film,” she said.
“To a lot of people it probably is. It was no picnic. My story doesn’t end with a happily ever after, Scarlett, but for a lot of kids, it ended in pain, suffering, and death. Those assholes didn’t give a shit about anyone or anything.”
“Killing has become your life’s work.”
“It’s all I know, and it will always be what I know.” He pointed at his ink. “You think I didn’t fight for them? That I didn’t take beatings every single day to try and save them? None of our captors would listen. Some of the kids were no older than five, and they had no right to be there.”
“What about their families?” she asked. “There had to have been searches. People don’t just allow kids to be taken.”
“They don’t allow kids from good families to be taken, Scarlett. The world isn’t full of good people. Kids come and go, and no one gives a shit unless their parents do.”
The thought of those kids, alone and dying, broke her heart. “How old were you?”
He stared at her for the longest time, and with each second of silence her heart broke. “I was around ten years old. I was one of the first kids they took. We’re done talking tonight. I need you to finish washing.” He stood up, walking away. She looked at the vacant chair, and her heart broke for the boy he had once been. He was the oldest boy, and yet he’d been taken at such a young age.
“Bain?” She called his name, needing an answer to her question. He appeared in the doorway holding a pair of boxers and a really long shirt. “What happened to the people that took you?”
“They’re dead. Viper and I, together we made sure they were fucking annihilated.”
“Good.” And she meant that, deep in her soul. She was pleased those evil bastards were dead.
She finished washing her body and her hair in the scented soap. When she was done, Bain held out a towel. She stood up and took it.
“I thought you said you were shy.”
“I lied.”
****
The following day, Bain stood in the center of the apartment, keeping a safe distance away from the balconies. Lunch hour was fast approaching, and he’d already opened the door. This wasn’t the first time he’d thrown someone off a balcony, and it wouldn’t be the last. The furniture in the apartment was modern, black leather and abstract art. Not his style.
Sucking on his lollipop, he checked the time to see that he still had five minutes before the mark came walking through the front door.
There were going to be plenty of witnesses to the death, which was exactly what Boss wanted. Bain’s thoughts were not on the easy mark though. They were on the woman he’d stored in the trunk of his car after giving her a sedative. He could have left her home, but he couldn’t risk her causing a problem. He liked his place, and he couldn’t stand mess. She’d probably trash the whole house.
He didn’t trust Boss either.
Bain wasn’t an idiot and figured Boss would find a way into his house and deal with Scarlett himself. People thought Bain was a cold and ruthless bastard, and yet they didn’t have a clue who Boss was. That man was a cold fucker. He’d stab you in the heart while laughing at one of your jokes. Even Bain was cautious around the owner of Killer of Kings.
The moment he thought about Scarlett, the image of her naked with bubbles running down her body filled his mind. She was sexy as fuck. Her curves were meant for a man’s loving. Her hips were wide and her ass plump. He didn’t know what he loved most, those big breasts with the large red nipples, or her thighs, which he could imagine wrapped around his waist as he fucked her hard.
She was the first woman that had ever affected him this way. He was trained in all kinds of seduction, taking women to new heights. When he was younger he was shown how to please a woman in every way. He’d been forced to practice on so many different women. Their faces had all blended together until he got no enjoyment from it at all. All pussy was the same. It was either tight or loose.
Since becoming a man, he’d taken plenty of women, but it had been on his own terms. Scarlett was different. Her lips last night had awakened him in some way, and a little part of him was freaking out.
One kiss from her, and his night had been filled with thoughts that an average teenage boy should be plagued with, not him.
He was past wet dreams and shit like that. When he’d woken up this morning, she had been wrapped in his arms, and his cock had been too fucking hard to deal with, the tip wet from his pre-cum. He’d been unable to resist running his hands up and down her glorious body, and yet that hadn’t been enough for him. Where was his unbreakable control? He didn’t have a clue what was happening to him.
Now he had to focus on the task and put those memories to rest. The sedative he’d given Scarlett before they left would start to wear off soon. He had timed it so that he’d be back at his place by the time she began screaming. Tick tock.
His cell phone went off, and he cursed. There were only a couple of minutes left, and he didn’t want to lose his element of surprise. Answering the call, he saw it was Boss. “Are you for fucking real right now? I’m on a job, and you think it’s the right time to call?”
“I missed you.”
He rolled his eyes. “What the fuck do you want?”
“I want to know if you ended your problem. You need to. If she’s reported missing, she becomes a big fucking inconvenience.”
Bain rubbed his eyes. “I’m handling it.”
“You need to handle it soon. Cops will start looking, especially if her friend lets them know exactly where she was going last night, and there are a lot of dead bodies there. When she’s not there, they’re going to want to know where the fuck she is. Time’s ticking.”
He heard the key in the lock.
“I’ll handle it.” He hung up the phone before Boss could say anything more. The door opened, and the mark was alone, talking on his cell phone.
Everything went according to plan. The guy ended the call, dropped his suitcase off, and then headed toward the balcony, which was when Bain struck. The mark went over the edge, and Bain didn’t stay to watch as chaos ensued. Leaving the room, he kept on sucking his lollipop, heading toward the parking garage. He checked to make sure no one was around and opened up the trunk of his car. There she was, safe and sound, still dressed in his clothes. She was going to be so pissed, but he liked her fighting.
He didn’t like it when she’d given up last night and begged him to kill her. There was more fire in that sexy body, and he was determined to deal with it.
Climbing behind his wheel, he drove out of the parking lot and headed back home.
His cell phone went off, and he sighed.
“You shoved him off the balcony?” Boss asked. “You could have been seen.”
“I’m a fucking ghost. It was a textbook hit. Job done.”
“That’s why I hired you,” said Boss.
Bain hung up the cell, and drove home.
By the time he pulled into his garage, Scarlett was banging on the roof of the trunk, screaming.
Just thinking of her chest heaving as she yelled and fought him was enough to turn him on. His anger subsided as he opened the trunk.
“You fucking asshole. What the fuck did you give me?” she asked. She was so angry she was even cussing at him. Just hearing the word fuck from her voice had his dick getting harder.
“It was just a little sleeping pill. You’ve been out like a light. I needed to do this job, and I knew if I took you, you’d help the poor fucker that was due to die today.”
“You killed someone else?” she asked.
“I did.”
“What if he was a good person?”
“He specialized in getting pedophiles out of prison. He was a monster protecting monsters. I did a good deed today.”
She closed her eyes and sighed. “I can’t handle this right now. My mouth is so dry.” He took her hand, and she pushed him away. “I really don’t want you touching me right now. I can’t believe you drugged me.”
“For a good cause.”
“Is that what you do? Kill people who are bad?”
He paused. “You don’t want me to answer that. Not yet.”
“You’re right. I really don’t want to know any more right now. I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
He wrapped his arm around her back and held her close, loving the way she seemed to collapse against him. She needed some food, and as he entered his home and led her to the counter, he opened his fridge.
“Another sandwich?” she asked.
“Do you want takeout? There’s a Chinese place that has the most amazing wontons. I love them.” He showed her the paper menu he kept in the drawer.
“I’m confused. First I’m not allowed to eat, and now I get a choice? Why are you being nice to me?” she asked.
“Why wouldn’t I? I’ve completed a job, so I’m feeling good.” Then he decided to test her reaction to the news Boss gave him. “Just so you know, someone went to the cops saying you didn’t make it into work.”
He watched as she froze, her gaze panicked as she looked at him.
“Do you want some decent food?” He had no intention of killing her. Boss wouldn’t let him get away with it, though. There was no way she would ever be able to rid herself of the mark on her head. Boss would kill her to make sure nothing came back to him as leader of Killer of Kings.
“I would love some food.”
He watched the acceptance of her situation take over. She was worried, her mind working a mile a minute.
She tucked some hair behind her ear. “I’ll eat anything. I’m pretty easygoing. I love spicy food, sweet and sour, stuff like that.”
Bain touched her hand, and she pulled back. “You don’t have to be afraid.”
“I’m not an idiot, Bain. I know what this means. Just don’t kill my friend, okay? With me out of the picture, she may just keep her job.”
Bain gritted his teeth. “Do you trust me?”
She tilted her head to the side and shrugged. “I don’t really know you.”
He tapped his fingers on the edge of the counter. This wasn’t right. He didn’t want her like this. He had to show her how he felt in the only way he knew how. Grabbing a knife from the set on the far wall, he slit his palm open, then he took her hand, and gave it a similar small nick. He’d done this many years ago with Viper. To him, this was the most sacred oath he’d ever given.
“What the hell are you doing?” she asked, trying to tug her hand away. He waited for her to calm, then carefully matched their scars together, watching for her reaction.
“We’re blood now, Scarlett. I won’t let anything happen to you. While you’re with me, you’ll be safe, do you understand?”
“I know you’re crazy.”
“I haven’t shared any of my shit with anyone. You’re the first woman I’ve trusted, and this is not something I take lightly. You need to listen to what I’m telling you, Scarlett.” He held her hand firmly in his grip. “When you have nothing to your fucking name, and all you’ve got to share is blood, it matters. I’ve only ever done this once, and I’ll never do it again. Do you understand?”
She nodded, and tears once again glistened in her eyes.
Just once, he didn’t want to make her cry. Was that really too much to ask?