17. Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Sixteen
Giana
“ I just don’t understand why I have to stay here with them .” Disgust laced Sophia’s tone. A disgruntled man’s grumble echoed in the background of the phone call before a door slammed, abruptly cutting the sound off.
I chuckled despite myself as I glanced out the window, keeping an eye on our surroundings as the guys scoped out the area. “You know why.”
“But it was fine before.” Sophia huffed indignantly. “I would literally rather be anywhere but here right now.”
“I know,” I said placatingly, not believing her for a second. “After the fire, none of the guys are able to stay at the house right now.”
While we did have a patrol at the house, I needed someone I trusted with her at all times. If my men couldn’t be there, Zane and Sebastian were the next best thing, especially after the way Zane had stepped in front of her when I burst into the office last night. All the Devil’s Demons were out on patrol, safeguarding our strongholds or preparing to go out on a hunt of their own. There were five coordinated teams scoping out the usual hangouts where the Barones’ men could be found. Once they were in position, we would strike, providing the distraction they needed to catch them off guard.
Sebastian had kept his promise, instructing his guards to go out with a few of our members while they continued holding off the teams shaking down the local businesses. His records also checked out when our tech guy went through the devices and files, ensuring it was only sent to one person and that the file was no longer on any device or cloud storage.
“Fine.” She sighed, the soft plunk on the other line leading me to believe she’d slumped onto a couch somewhere at the club owner’s mansion. “But promise you’ll still come over. I’ll go crazy if the only company I have are the two of them .”
“We’ll meet at the club next week,” I assured her, my attention broken as Spade leaned over, his arms wrapping around my waist, pulling me closer to him. “I have to go, Soph. I promise I’ll call you when we’re done tonight.”
“You better,” she warned, her tone betraying her nerves. “I’ll talk to you later. Stay safe.”
“I’ll talk to you soon,” I promised and hung up the phone.
“How am I supposed to focus when you look like that, sugar?” Spade dragged his lips down the column of my neck.
“The same way you always do.” I huffed in amusement, pushing out of his grip before he distracted me too.
The driver turned onto the next street and cut the engine.
“We’re sure this is the right spot?” Merrick directed his question toward the driver, yet he couldn’t take his eyes off me.
“This is a block from where the group was last spotted, sir,” the diver confirmed before Merrick thanked him tersely and closed the partition window.
“Are we sure—”
“Don’t finish that question.” I cut him off, lifting an eyebrow in challenge. “You know I can do this.”
“I never doubted you.” Merrick sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. “I’m just worried.”
“We have her back.” Kellan clapped his friend on the shoulder. “We won’t let anything happen to her.”
“Agreed.” Spade looped his finger through my hair, playing with a few loose strands that had fallen out of my braid.
Merrick nodded stiffly, his hazel eyes hardening in resolve. “Let’s do this, then.”
I gently pulled my hair from Spade and pinned the braid to my head, making sure not a strand of my real locks could be seen as I covered it with a long platinum blonde wig.
“I miss your hair already.” Spade pouted.
“I thought you would’ve liked the fact that we’re matching.” I chuckled, ruffling the fake hair to make it look as real as possible.
He eyed me skeptically before shaking his head. “Nope, I love my sugar just as she is.”
I couldn’t help but give him a beaming smile, softly grasping his hand in a show of appreciation before I readied my weapons, sliding my dagger into the harness on my thigh, doing my best to cover it with the short, skintight, red dress I’d picked out for tonight. My Glock was safely hidden in the crossbody bag I flung over my shoulder, the chain strap thick enough to restrain or strangle someone if needed.
“Be careful,” Merrick warned. Before I could get a word out, his arms were wrapped around my waist, tugging me across the divide and onto his lap. “Your safety is the most important thing to me, little devil.” He placed a chaste kiss on my forehead, his lips lingering there, as though he couldn’t bear the thought of letting go.
“I will be,” I assured him, caressing his cheek before I pulled away. I knew he wouldn’t hold me back, wouldn’t stop me, wouldn’t hide me away like his instincts screamed to do.
“Then, give them hell.” Merrick slapped my ass as I stood, a devious grin spreading on his lips as he holstered his gun to his hip.
“Oh, I will.”
T he cool evening air whipped around me, and I tugged the hem of my skirt lower, my heels wobbling on the sidewalk as I attempted to keep my balance.
“Hey, sweetheart,” a man drawled, his smarmy tone making my skin crawl.
I jumped, pretending I hadn’t noticed them there, and gave him a little wave with a half-hearted smile. Pretending I wanted to flee from the group of men standing a few feet under the overhang of a local pub, I increased my pace.
My pulse pounded in my ears as I passed them, pasting a friendly smile on my lips while keeping my head ducked low, like I was hiding from their attention.
It didn’t work, just like I knew it wouldn’t. The group of men whistled as I walked past, the leering eyes sticking to my skin like a bucket of slime had just been dropped over my head.
At least the disguise worked. A different hair color might not have been enough to disguise me from most of the Barones’ men, but I’d had a little makeover from Eve earlier this afternoon, and honestly, I’d barely recognized myself when I looked in the mirror after that. She’d lined my eyes with thick black eyeliner, along with giving me a dark smoky eye and dark red lipstick.
The look wasn’t something I’d normally wear, but for tonight, it was working.
Just like I had hoped, the men didn’t stop me in front of the bar—of course not, why would they want witnesses for what they wanted to do to the clearly unwilling woman striding past them?
As I’d suspected, one set of footsteps echoed behind me—the one who had catcalled me already had undoubtedly decided to give chase.
Heady anticipation flooded my veins, and I suppressed the urge to grin, needing to keep playing the part just long enough to get him—
The echo of shoes on pavement pounded behind me, his pace quickening as I rounded the corner.
“What’s a pretty thing like you doing all the way out here so late?” His hand wrapped around my bicep, urging me to a stop abruptly as soon as we were out of eyesight.
“I-I’m just trying to get home.” My lip quivered as I looked up at him, a fly caught in his web. Or so he assumed.
“Dressed like that?” His lecherous eyes scanned my body, his mouth practically salivating as he took in my curves as though I was his for the taking.
“P-please.” The word tasted vile rolling off my lips. I wanted to cut his eyes out of their sockets for looking at me like that, but I had to play the part a little longer. “I was just out with friends.”
“I don’t see anyone else.” His beady eyes bored into me as he tugged me closer. “They must not be such great friends to let you walk home by yourself this late at night.”
A grin curled on his lips, one that would’ve sent a shiver of fear down most people’s bones. His intentions were clear in that look alone—he thought he was the predator, and he had just caught his prey for the night.
“I could be your friend, you know?” His voice was smooth as he tried to lure me into his trap. “I’ll walk you home.”
“That’s okay.” I tried weakly to pull my arm from his grip, but his fingers only tightened around my skin.
“I insist.” His eyes devouring me as they slid down my body, he bared his teeth in a feral grin that had me making a mental note to scrub any trace of that look and his touch from my skin. “Besides, you shouldn’t be going anywhere by yourself. With an ass like that, who knows what someone will do with you once they get a hold of you.”
It took every ounce of my willpower to stop myself from rolling my eyes. It had to have been enough time by now, right?
Fuck it.
A feline smile spread across my lips as I dropped the act, my finger slowly gliding up the arm that was holding mine until his grip loosened. Suspicion glinted in his eyes for a moment before excitement took its place.
“You know, I’d usually rip out a man’s tongue for speaking to me like that,” I purred, eyeing his mouth as I traced my thumb over his chin, nearly grazing his bottom lip.
He shuddered in response, leaning into me, his mind only registering the touch and not my words.
“On second thought,” I murmured as his lips parted, his tongue darting out to lick them. I wanted to laugh. Did he seriously think he was getting anywhere near me?
Before he could catch on to my intentions, I grasped the knife at my thigh, and in one fluid motion, I grabbed his tongue in my firm grip. Surprise and intrigue lit in his eyes, but that fascination was quickly replaced with horror as the glint of my blade flashed toward the slimy, vile appendage.
The blade sliced through it with ease, and I quickly dropped the half of his tongue I held as blood sprayed from the severed body part, the hot, sticky, crimson liquid coating the front of my dress as he stood there, frozen. His eyes were wide as he slowly processed what had just happened before the panic set in.
His hand released my arm completely now, and he wildly grasped at his mouth, his brain still trying to catch up with what I’d done. Blood spurted from between his fingers, his muffled screams now becoming garbled and wet from the amount of the vital fluid now flooding his airways.
“What was that?” A man’s voice echoed from down the block, the words barely audible over the predator’s best attempts to scream without his tongue.
“Look what you’ve gone and done.” I sighed as he collapsed to his knees, his hands falling from his face as he barely kept himself from face-planting on the sidewalk. “You just had to go and ruin my fun.”
I glared down at the repulsive man, who surely would have forced himself on another woman if I hadn’t come along tonight. Who probably had countless times while under the protection of the Barones.
I kicked him in the face, grimacing as he cried out again and blood soaked my legs.
He finally lost his balance, the blood pooling around him as he rested his face against the cement. It wouldn’t be long now. There was too much blood spurting from his mouth for him to remain alive much longer, but he deserved every agonizing second until hell reclaimed his tattered shred of a soul.
I quickly cleaned my blade off on his suit jacket and re-sheathed it as footsteps echoed on the pavement. Ducking behind the corner of the next building, I ditched the shoes, not wanting my movements to be heard as his friends rounded the corner.
“What the fuck?” one of them exclaimed, undoubtedly taking stock of the state his friend had been left in.
Pulling the gun from my bag, I pressed my back against the wall.
Hopefully, I hadn’t killed him too quickly—
“He still has a pulse—barely, though,” another from the group said, cursing under his breath. “Call the medic team and get the rest of the teams over here now.”
I grinned, the simple command music to my ears. That was exactly what I wanted. That waste of space was good for something, at least.
“Who the fuck did this to him?”
“It was obviously one of the Demons,” one of the men said. “Fuck, how do we keep him from bleeding any more? I don’t want to stick my hand in his mouth.”
“Maybe some clothes?”
“No, that will suffocate him, you idiot.”
“Figure it out,” someone else barked. “I have a feeling we might at least have a witness hiding around here.”
What?
I glanced down, searching for what might have tipped them off when the red splatter of bloody shoe prints caught my eye.
Dammit .
With my gun at the ready, I took a steadying breath as footsteps slowly, softly, echoed on the pavement. Was the idiot trying to sneak up on me when I’d clearly just heard him? I rolled my eyes.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are.” His singsong tone had me swallowing back bile as he crept forward.
Seriously?
I timed the footsteps, waiting as they got closer and closer. “Don’t be scared, little bunny. We’re here to protect you.”
I nearly lost my concentration as I fought hard not to laugh. Was he fucking serious?
By the time he turned the corner of the red bricked building—his black coat flashing before me as he lunged forward, his sinister grin lifting his lips, as though he was the cat who just caught the canary—my gun was already aimed for his head.
I didn’t hesitate. I pulled the trigger, and the bullet pierced his skull. His features quickly shifted from twisted enjoyment to shock and horror as his life slipped away. He took a few steps closer, hands outstretched like his brain hadn’t caught up, like it was still sending messages to the rest of his body before his legs gave out and he slumped to the ground with a thud.
“What the fuck!” his friends shouted, footsteps clamoring toward me, but judging by the crack of gunshots that followed, they were too late.
A grin curled on my lips as I strode from the alley and surveyed the carnage my guys had left in their wake. The five other men that had rushed to check on their buddy were strewn across the sidewalk, blood pooling around their lifeless bodies as my guys stood there like avenging angels under the streetlights.
“Sugar.” Spade beamed, his eyes roving over me as he took in my blood-splattered clothes.
I tucked my gun back into my purse as I surveyed the sidewalk, confident now that all of the Barones’ men had been taken care of.
A cool wave of relief washed over me at the sight of my guys and the heat that coursed through my veins at having their gazes on me, instead of the lecherous one of the man missing his tongue.
“You got creative with this one.” Spade crouched by the man in question, marveling at the blood coating most of his face before poking at the severed stump where his tongue used to be.
“I almost wish I’d gotten to cut off a different part of him.” I sighed. That would’ve been the perfect punishment for what he’d wanted to do to me, and what he’d undoubtedly done to countless others. “But time constraints.” I shrugged.
“My ruthless little devil.” Merrick grinned, yet I didn’t miss the way he winced at the thought.
Kellan’s phone was pressed to his ear, and he was nodding along to whatever the person on the other end was saying. “Let’s dispatch clean-up crews to all the locations, and once we’re clear, we’ll meet at the bar. This was a huge win, but let’s not let our guard down too soon.”
Excitement buzzed from me like an electric current from the snippet of the conversation I’d heard. “We did it?”
“We did it.” He smiled as I launched myself into his arms, uncaring of the blood that was now coating him too as he spun me around. His lips found mine, the two of us colliding in a scorching kiss that sent a current of heat straight through me.
“My turn,” Merrick grumbled as he tugged me from Kellan’s grip, my legs automatically wrapping around his waist as he pressed me into his hard muscled chest like he needed to feel my heartbeat against his. His mouth was on mine in the next second, devouring me completely as that heat built up to an inferno.
The adrenaline that had been coursing through my veins quickly turned to lust, my body realizing the perfect outlet to expel all the pent-up energy accumulated inside me.
Spade pressed his chest against my back, wrapping one arm around my waist to hold me steady while the other curled under my chin, pulling my lips from Merrick to steal them away, replacing them with his own so swiftly, I wouldn’t have noticed the switch if I didn’t have every detail of them memorized.
Where Kellan’s sent a warm, comforting wave through me, Merrick’s scorched a blinding light to my soul, and Spade, his kiss was like a drug, leaving me craving more.
Merrick cursed under his breath, and I could tell by the bulge pressing against me that it wasn’t because he was angry.
The screech of tires pulled me from my lust-filled thoughts before we could get any further. The three of us untangled.
“It’s the crew,” Kellan said, clearing his throat. He was beside us now, clearly having closed the distance, ready to join in.
Merrick grumbled something under his breath, turning away from the white van to compose himself while Spade and I watched with amusement.
“You’re a troublemaker.” I giggled, leaning into Spade as he clutched my hand.
“I learned from the best.” Spade winked, placing a kiss on the top of my hand, uncaring of the dried blood that still coated it. “You got to have all the fun today, though.” He glanced down at the tongueless man and kicked at the lifeless corpse.
“Don’t worry.” I squeezed his hand, drawing his gaze back to me. “We’re just getting started.”