Chapter 10
ONYX
"Crazy bitch!"
I stalked after the man as he turned a corner and ran further into the maze of the warehouse.
He didn't know the layout of his own place, but I did.
The art gallery was massive, but behind it, in the storehouse, were things people had to pay extra for.
Stolen art, pilfered artifacts, and if you paid a lot , people.
Didn't matter the age, it didn't matter who they were.
All you had to do was fill out a sheet and they would find what you needed.
After that, it was shipped and delivered gift wrapped to your trunk, back door, or meetup in the middle of the woods.
The truly wealthy, like dear Max, had no limits.
Organs, sex, necrophilic fantasies; they were all on the menu.
And for someone like me, they were my food. What I craved more than I needed to breathe.
"Max, come back here," I whispered. "I got a little ahead of myself, baby," I crooned. "See, I wasn't supposed to punch you in the face, but I have all this pent-up energy. The knife wound to the achilles? Well, that was just foreplay." I grinned. "You like foreplay? I do. I like it a lot."
Something thumped and then crashed to the ground.
I spun on my heels, glad I didn't break my neck on the sky-high Louboutins he had insisted on, and raced toward the sound.
When I arrived, he was on the ground, bleeding and dragging his body across the concrete floor.
Blue eyes flickered up to meet my gaze, and true fear lingered in those depths as they widened and his breathing picked up.
He tried to slide away, and I followed him slowly, teasingly.
"S-stop," he gasped, holding his hand up as if that would fend me off. "I can pay you. Whatever you want, I'll give it to you."
I moved closer and he whimpered. Laughing, I crouched down and bounced on my heels. I tilted my head at him.
"I'm already rich, Max. What more could you offer me?" I mused. "The only reason I do this is to kill you sick fucks that think you can do whatever you want without any consequences."
"But... but you usually marry them first, right?" he asked, lip trembling. "You're the Black Widow of New York."
My grin cracked wide. "Guilty," I mused.
"And marrying people is… complicated right now.
" I sighed. "My husband is seriously cutting into my margins by refusing to get a divorce.
It's really pissing me off. How am I supposed to give back to the less fortunate, when I can't steal all your cash after I kill you? Useless."
"I—I have cash," the man said, not listening to a word I said. Typical man. "And I can give you a name. I know someone, a real sick fuck. Likes extreme shit, you know?"
I barked out a laugh. "More extreme than you?"
"Yes," he gritted out. "Even I'm not that sick. He loves killing exotic animals, has whole parties around it. Tortures them. I went once and got sick."
I stared down at him like he was stupid. Really? He got sick, but not over other human lives, over children. No, they were just livestock to him. And the animals? Those touched his dead fucking heart.
"You're a real sick fuck, you know that?" I said slowly. "I love animals as much as the next, but the fact that you think that women and children are less valuable than them? It's fucking disgusting."
I stood and kicked him in the ribs. Something cracked. He screamed and I moaned.
Fuck, I love that sound. Screams were perfection.
I bit off the cap to my syringe. The liquid glistened in the dim, overhead lights, and I grinned. It was time for the main event.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
I groaned and reached into the purse that I had slung over my shoulder. The black sequined dress swished as I rooted around, found it, and pressed it to my ear. When I saw the number, I scowled.
"What?" I snapped.
"You haven't been home in three days," Lucero said, his voice soft. "Are you upset with me?"
I groaned. My body wanted to sag against a wall, but I forced myself to get it together.
"Why are you calling me?" I asked flatly.
There was a slight pause. "You are mad at me."
I sighed, exasperated. "I am at work ," I snarled. "So, either tell me what the fuck you want or I'm going to come home and stick my size eight-and-a-half's right up your ass."
"You're coming home?" he asked, sounding like he perked up.
My fingers pinched the bridge of my nose way too hard. As I spoke, Max had rolled over and tried to drag himself away. I stabbed the sharp heel of my shoe into the crack of his ass. He screamed.
"Lucero," I said slowly. "You want to know what I really hate about men?"
"Yes."
"I hate when they don't listen. When you say one thing, and it goes in one ear and out the other with no fucks given. Do you understand? You're being a horrible husband right now," I said, aiming for the heart.
There was a long pause of silence. "I'm sorry," he said slowly. "I was calling because I missed you. I'm outside, waiting for you when you're done. And I have a cleanup crew all ready to go. About six men."
I blinked. What? I pulled the phone away from my ear and frowned. No, I hadn't heard what I just thought I had. There was no damn way.
"Where am I, Lucero?"
"The warehouse with that art guy," he said. "He touched you too much," he growled. "I almost ran over and broke his neck, but I stayed back. One of my guys got a little hurt though, but I didn't mean to do that," he said quickly. "Sometimes I just forget how strong I am."
I remembered him slamming me onto the dining room table and the air knocked out of my lungs.
Yeah, that much was true. The man clearly had no idea of his strength at times.
My cock twitched, and I scowled down at it.
That moment should not be hot. I ignored his rambling and looked up the tracking app.
Sure enough, there he was. Right outside.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" I hissed. "How did you know where I was?"
"I–I had one of my brother's follow you the other day."
The other day. My stomach clenched, the world tilted. Did he know about Adam? No one could know about Adam. Bile rose in my throat as my fingers sank into my hair.
"Onyx?"
"When?" I whispered. "When did they start following me?"
My heart hammered in my chest waiting for his answer, because the truth was that this would determine whether or not I had to kill him. I had agreed to help him, but when it came to my brother, I would slaughter anyone who posed a threat to him. Even myself.
"Yesterday," Lucero finally answered. "You hadn't come home in two days. Didn't answer my calls or texts, so I got worried.”
"Thank God," I whispered, clutching the dress against my chest.
"Onyx?"
I opened my eyes. The man underneath my heel had been weeping like a bitch the entire time, but I had totally and completely drowned him out. Now, my mind focused back to the task at hand. I could go back to work, and a cleanup crew didn't sound so bad. I hated the cleaning up bit.
"Give me five minutes, and then you can come in the East door. The code is 458726. Cara will erase all the footage from the cameras. Leave the crew until I tell you."
"Yes, bella."
I hung up and put my phone away. Bending over, my needle hovered near the man's throat, but I paused.
Instead, I straightened up and waited. It was exactly five minutes when I heard Lucero coming.
Another sixty seconds passed before he found me without needing to be guided. Huh, maybe he listens after all.
"Are you done?" he asked, his big dumb eyes searching mine before they moved to the man on the ground. "He's still alive? Want me to do it?"
I tilted my head. "No, I'm going to do it," I said. "I want you to see what happens when I kill."
Mostly because I wanted Lucero to flee from me. I wasn't some precious saint, some clean thing. No, I was a wild, feral demon, blood and anger and hatred and… nothingness. Whatever Lucero thought, it wouldn't live up to his expectations. Finally, I would be free of him.
I moved my foot off the man. "Run."
"Please," he begged as he reached out and wrapped his hand around Lucero's ankle. "Help me. He's crazy!"
I snarled. "I said fucking run !"
The man struggled to get up, but eventually, he found his feet. I looked up at Lucero. I took my purse off and heels before I passed them over. "Hold this."
Once I was free, I turned and raced after Max's retreating, limping back.
My feet burned against the concrete, broken glass and bits of splinters digging into my flesh.
I ignored all of it. Usually, I had to be careful.
However, there was a cleanup crew here, and Lucero wasn't going to let any of my blood linger.
How could he? If I was hauled away, who would he have to cling to?
I caught up to the man in no time and leaped at his back.
He went down like a sack of potatoes, his screams and howls enough to make my cock ache.
I rolled him from under me, putting him on his back, and I jabbed the knife into his neck repeatedly until I thumbed the plunger and injected him.
His eyes widened, his body arching off the ground as he clawed at his throat.
I watched him, sitting on his chest, head tilted as he spat and wanted to fight, but had nothing left. I raised my middle finger.
Fuck you, asshole.
Eventually, he stopped twitching. I stood up and stretched, rolling my neck and shoulders. When I turned, I ran into Lucero's chest. I stared up at him.
"Ready to be done now?" I asked. I knew my eyes were empty after, they always were. Adam had said that once, had run from me. The memory stung something in my chest. "Or do I have to kill you next?" I asked.