The first person that breaches the entryway is Michael, and I almost laugh when he slides his gun from his holster and points it at me.
Jeff and Gary follow behind, with another one of my men, Baron, taking up the back.
“What is going on here?” Gary exclaims, the two old men pausing and backing up the moment they spot us.
I lift a hand in a hello gesture. “I’ve come to turn myself in, Gary. Why else would I be here?”
“Turn yours-what on earth are you talking about? Who are you?”
“Ah, terribly sorry,” I say, grinning. I reach over to the seat beside me, grab my mask, and hold it over my face. “How about now?”
It’s comical how quickly they pale, and their eyes widen, recognizing my mask from my television appearance.
Tossing it to the side, I tease, “Did you like my presentation? I was really nervous.”
Gary sputters, unsure how to respond. I stand, and they immediately back away, two bumbling idiots that bump into Baron in an attempt to create distance, but the mercenary is like a brick wall.
Jeff turns to Michael, his face now beginning to redden. “Why aren’t you shooting him? Shoot him!”
Michael just stares at him blankly, causing his face to purple. Then, he drops his gun, smiling when Jeff begins to sputter incoherently.
“I see you’ve gotten comfortable behind the smokescreen,” I observe. “Content in shouting demands, and secure with no one ever knowing who you are.”
“Laziness,” Addie tacks on. Her body is relaxed now, and in place of her anxiety-ridden stance, she’s a suave feline, her claws extended and ready to slice some throats open.
The prey becomes the predator.
She’s the most beautiful creature I ever did see.
Gary trains his glare on her, lasers shooting from his eyes, but if he expects that to intimidate her, he’s sadly mistaken.
“And who the hell are you?”
She turns to me, a silly smile on her face. “I really wanted to say something cheesy right there. Your worst nightmare,” she mocks, eyes widened comically as she faces Gary again.
He snarls at her, clearly unamused. I, on the other hand, am smiling like an idiot.
She waves a hand casually. “No, really, I’m the diamond you all are so fond of. I’m kind of offended that you don’t recognize me. Especially because you guys are on my ass so damn much.”
Jeff’s face drops, clarity surfacing now that he realizes who she is.
“Obviously it was Claire’s brilliant idea to go after my parents, but did either of you have anything to do with that, too?” Addie asks, a darkness slithering over her features. Gone is the lighthearted humor.
Gary can’t even hide the sick triumph on his face. Addie catches the look immediately, and without saying anything further, she raises her gun and shoots him directly in the kneecap, face blank.
The old man’s eyes pop, and he instantly collapses in a fit of screams and blood. Jeff bumps into Baron again, sweat gleaming from his receding hairline as he stares down at his partner with an ashen complexion.
“You fucking bitch!” Gary exclaims. Anger licks at my nerves, so I shoot his other knee, eliciting another pained scream from his throat. Michael and Baron shake their heads, staring at the pair like they’re the dumbest people alive.
I’d have to agree.
“Now we’re going to have to carry you out, Gary. You’re such an inconvenience. So, here’s how it’s going to go. You’re going to come with us, and we’re going back to Seattle and to a nice, secluded location where I am going to be tied up and gagged. Maybe I’ll let my girl get a few punches in on me, too. Addie here will be tied up as well, but no one is touching her.”
Even in his state, Gary looks up at me with incredulity.
“Then, you’re going to call Claire and let her know that you’ve captured Z and the diamond. Tell her to come to you instead now that we’ve been apprehended.”
“Why on earth would we do that?” Jeff asks, his face twitching from a mix of emotions.
“I think it’s time Claire comes out to play, don’t you? She’s been hiding long enough.”
Jeff and Gary glance at each other, the latter sweating rivers down his flaming red face from the agony.
“I don’t want any part of your scheme,” Jeff starts, but I raise a hand, cutting off whatever useless shit was about to pour from his mouth.
“That’s the thing, Jeffrey. You don’t have a fucking choice.”
Jeffrey still thinks he has a choice.
The entire flight and drive to the location in Seattle, he pleads his case. It was all Claire’s idea. They just endorse her business ventures and help her with logistics and money.
Blah, blah, blah.
It isn’t until Addie crawls from the passenger seat to the back and presses her gun into his knee that he finally shuts the fuck up, clicking his dentures so tightly together, they just might become permanent.
Michael drives us to an abandoned wine distillery corroded from nature. It reminds me of Parsons Manor, almost. Scrawling with overgrown vines, threading up the side of the gray stone walls. And a lone building in a field of grapes and tall green grass.
The van jostles from the uneven dirt path, nearly swallowed by the plant life surrounding it. Gary is on the floor, cradling his bloody knees, growing paler with each bump. Baron wrapped them up to stem the bleeding, but he looks on the verge of passing out. Once that happens, he won’t live much longer.
If he dies, he dies. We only need one of them anyway.
Michael parks the van outside the building and jumps out, going ahead of us to break down the boarded doors, while Baron helps me carry Gary’s useless body out of the van.
The inside of the distillery is just as haunting as the outside. The vines have infected the interior walls as well. Weeds poke through the cracked foundation, their own stems stretching across the floor.
It’s a massive open space, some of the machinery left over, rusted and pockmarked. Exposed pipes are threaded through the ceiling, and a few of them are beginning to break and droop.
I drag Gary off to the side and position him directly under a hanging pipe, letting Jesus decide if he wants to send that heavy piece of metal crashing down on his head. If he pisses me off enough, I might even shoot it down myself. I drop him unkindly, ignoring his curses while Baron escorts Jeff inside, having him stand beside his crippled partner.
Addie’s carrying three metal chairs in with several ropes wrapped around her arms. I’d offer to help, but she’d have my balls for it. I’d gladly hand them over anyway.
She’s grown into her strength and independence so much since she survived trafficking, and there are times my chest physically aches from both pride and the need to fuck her.
She glances at me, a carnal smile on her face as she sets the chairs down and opens them up. I stalk toward her, delighting in the way her little body tightens with need. A black and blue ring stains her throat, and every time I see it, the beast trapped in my rib cage thrashes.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’re excited to hurt me,” I murmur, desire flaring as I watch her round hips sway.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.