With so much information to process, I’m in a daze as Luther, King, Carver, and I are driven to some warehouse I’ve missed the name of. However, it seems very important to the terrifying men surrounding me.
Before my very eyes, Luther transforms into a killing machine set on vengeance. Carver can barely sit still with the anticipation of a deadly confrontation looming. And King presents stoic, yet cold. His gaze calculating.
When we reach the warehouse, it seems more ominous. As though evil deeds take place here, and the lingering specters remain. It’s eerie as we step out of the car, Carver and King leading the way. Luther has a hand on my back as we enter the building.
Daniel stands guard inside with a dozen other men placed throughout the building near windows and doors. A lone chair sits in the middle of the room over the top of a large plastic sheet.
“What’s that for?” I whisper to Luther, though I suspect I know.
“Nothing for you to worry about.” His voice is as cold as the day I met him, and I can’t say I like it too much. He’s always shown a softer side to me. I’m not fond of the murderer part of him.
“Here they come,” Daniel calls from a window.
Luther leads me to a back wall near an exit. Pointing to two guards, he tells them, “She doesn’t leave your side for any reason, or it’ll be your asses in that chair,” before he walks to the middle of the room with King and Carver.
“Two men,” Daniel informs us.
“Keep your eyes open for more,” King instructs.
The quiet in the room has me on edge as the door opens, and I watch Dimitri lead Timothy into the building. He’s bound and gagged as he stumbles through the door. I can’t see his eyes from here, but I imagine they might not be focused on his surroundings.
“Where is she?” Dimitri calls. He has a gun strapped to the thigh that his hand is holding onto.
I attempt to take a step forward to announce my presence, but the two guards Luther has on me each reach a hand out to stop my movement. Forcing me to stay where I am.
“What exactly do you want with her?” Luther demands. His voice holds the possessive growl I’ve missed since we left the estate.
Dimitri sounds exhausted as he says, “To know she’s alright.”
“You fucking tortured her!” Luther yells. “How the fuck do you think she is?”
The man’s sigh is palpable. “Doesn’t mean I don’t give a shit. I’ve been protecting that girl from more than just her father for over ten years.” The room quiets at his confession.
With the bodyguards’ guards down, I slip past them and make my way towards Luther. When my hand slips into his, he shoots me a glare, pissed I didn’t listen to him. I’m sure I’ll pay for it later.
“I’m fine, Dimitri,” I assure him. He wasn’t wrong. He has been protecting me on and off for years. Making sure that none of Timothy’s men went too far when they’d get their hands on me. Making sure Timothy didn’t kill me in one of his tirades when I would act out. He’d never been one to hurt me before that night.
Tossing Timothy forward, he crashes to the ground with a groan as Dimitri says to me, “I didn’t want to do it. My cover would have been blown if I hadn’t, though, and I still needed to get information about the buyers to my bosses.”
“Bosses? Cover?” I ask before the men beside me can.
Pulling something from his hip, I see it’s a badge. “Undercover FBI, kid. Timothy has been on my radar for almost fifteen years.”
“A fucking cop!” Carver yells, pulling a huge knife from behind his back, ready to kill.
King holds up a hand to stop him mid-step. “Your undercover and handing this piece of garbage over to us. You know we’ll kill him. What makes you think I won’t set Carver loose on you now?”
Dimitri smirks. “Because I have no interest in you or your organization. Despite what my superiors say, you’ve been good for the state. I’ve been watching your empire for just as long, and you pile bodies up faster than fireworks on New Year’s Eve. But I have yet to find a reason to lock your ass up.”
King smirks at the man. “You clearly don’t know as much as you think.”
“I don’t care. Like I said, I had bigger fish to fry. I’ve got the names of buyers and sellers in his trade. I’m done with him. Prison won’t be good enough. I figure Carver’s blade will be.”
I’m shocked that he’s a cop. I’m angry that he did nothing for ten years. More than that even. He let all those kids be sold. He let other’s get hurt while being held captive by Timothy and his goons.
“You son of a bitch! You could have done something. You could have saved hundreds of lives! Maybe even thousands!” My breathing is so heavy and sporadic, I feel light-headed. Luther’s grip on my hand tightens, so I don’t charge the man. “I would have helped you! You knew I hated it. You watched every time I was beaten because I didn’t want to set up another buy. You watched as I comforted little kids and told them everything would be alright even though we all knew it was a lie!” I’m so damn angry.
“Ariel.” Luther’s voice holds a warning, and I turn to glare at him. Seeing the gun sticking out of the front of his jeans, I grab it with my free hand and aim it at Dimitri. I’m an okay shot.
“I should kill you.” His hands raise. “I should slice your guts open and watch as you bleed out.” My teeth are clenched so tight my jaw hurts. Hearing a noise emanate from Timothy, I turn to him. “You stupid bastard. There’s a special place in hell for men like you.”
Luther’s arms wrap around me, and at first, I’m afraid he’s going to take the gun from me. I need it. I need to feel like I have some type of control as my mind spirals out of control. Everything’s happening so fast. I only react when Luther takes aim at Dimitri and says pull, and I realize the gun has gone off.
My finger on the trigger.
Luther’s lips on my neck.
My heart beating uncontrollably.
I shot him.
Luther
Dimitri’s confession of being FBI wasn’t as shocking to me as it seemed to be to Ariel. Her grabbing my gun and aiming it at the man with threats of torture was hot as fucking hell. She may think she’s weak, but I see her strength, her resolve to right the wrongs she feels she’s committed.
Sharpening her aim at Dimitri and shooting the man in the shoulder was two-fold. He may not realize it, but he’s done being a cop. He’s given us a man he knows we’re going to kill, so he needs an excuse to give his superiors for losing Timothy. He also deserves the pain a bullet brings with it.
When she pulled that trigger without hesitation, my cock fucking twitched. I’m ready to take her hard and deep. I want her passion to be so fucking strong that she feels the sweetest pain.
“Daniel.” My voice is husky thinking of Ariel spread out naked before me.
“Yeah, boss?” I hear him come forward. Ariel’s arm still points straight with the gun aimed where Dimitri had fallen, so he steps to the side.
“Drop him at a hospital on the other side of town. Don’t linger.” As he helps the fallen man, I walk over to Timothy. Pulling the gag from his mouth, he spits on the ground beside my feet. Had he not been drugged, I’m sure he would have hit my shoes. “Anything you want to say before Carver comes for you?”
As much as I’d like to torture and kill the man myself, Ariel doesn’t need to be around him any longer, and I plan on burying myself in her body for days.
Timothy laughs as he says, “Too pussy to do it yourself? Or are you too wrapped up in the little whore to bother?”
My fist launches at his face repeatedly until I’m leaning over him. Half his face is swollen from each blow. A tooth has been knocked loose and sits beside his head while blood drips from one eyebrow.
“You’re a waste of my time. I don’t feel the same need to kill you as I did before, but since you’ve insulted my woman, I think I’ll bring you to the dungeon and let her show you what she’s learned with my blow torch.” His eyes widen in fear before he quickly masks it.
“Does this mean I don’t get to have fun?” Carver asks from over my shoulder, playing with Mercy–a name he fondly calls his blade–so the light bounces off it.
“Have fun with him. But leave enough intact so my woman can show him what it means to really hurt.” Standing, I walk over to Ariel, pulling her along behind me as King leads us from the building. Timothy’s screams a distant sound as the door closes behind us.