Chapter Nineteen
Kay
One week later
“Mr. Danes, we have a tight schedule. I am sure you can understand that,” my demon drawled as he walked around the man—my rapist—tied to a chair with acid ropes.
It had been a week since Boston, a week since Collin and I made love and I laid my heart out to him.
The next day, he took me to Salem, a place I’d always wanted to go.
He spent the day with me, learning the rich history of the town.
He took me to dinner, and then Nick drove us back to our hotel.
My Col made love to me, and then the next morning, he was gone.
I thought that was it, and I couldn’t even begin to describe the devastation I felt when I woke up to an empty bed.
But there was a note—a letter, actually. I'd carried that letter with me since. I was only alone for twenty-seven hours with Nick at my door.
During those hours, Collin killed them.
The worst night of my life occurred over ten years ago, and after years of therapy, I felt like I could see him.
Face to face. After that night, it was as if my sex drive shut down.
Part of me feared I wouldn’t be attracted to anyone.
I questioned things about myself, wondering if I would ever enjoy sex again.
Maybe, if I acted like nothing was wrong, they wouldn’t suspect anything.
No one could know.
That’s the kicker, isn’t it? The shame that comes with your nightmare.
It was easiest sticking to a routine. Work, school, work, friends, bed. Gwen and Haley. I drank with them, but never too much, unless it was at Sullie’s. I felt safe there.
After moving to my expensive apartment, my therapist told me that maybe dating would help me find my libido again.
It didn’t.
I tried everything. Hot guys, older guys, one girl…nothing. My body just didn’t react… until my demon waltzed into my life.
Now, I was here, with Col in one of my rapist's offices.
The smell of burning flesh made me want to vomit, but I suppressed the feeling.
I sat perched on my rapist’s desk, dressed in a blood red pencil skirt, a black lacy bralette, and a black blazer.
My ponytail was high and tight on my head.
Collin and I were currently in the big man’s office that overlooked the coastline.
Luckily for us, his floor was cleared out, and I knew in my gut Col had something to do with that. I didn’t ask questions.
After doing some digging, Nick discovered that the vile man had run off to Florida, hiding from his crimes.
His father was the original owner of Danes shipping, which had been used by the mafia to ship out drugs, alcohol, money, and even people. Collin was unaware of the flesh trafficking until a few weeks ago, and now, he was shutting it down from the inside out.
Within the last week, we had been traveling together, hitting all the major cities and ports on the coast. While my demon earned his loyalty, I was leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for James Garner.
When I ran into him in Boston, I gave him the information on the shipping container, and the next morning it was all over the news.
Over fifty women and young girls, saved.
According to the newspapers, the victims were dirty, beaten, starving, and nude when they were found—but they were alive. With each breadcrumb I left, a breaking news story followed.
Did he know I was leaving breadcrumbs?
My stomach soured because I was betraying him…
He was a smart man, and it wasn’t like I was hiding it…He had given me an untraceable phone, but I had Gwen’s number…
He didn’t say anything, and neither did I.
We worked together, shutting down the evil the mafia had been spreading, city by city. Over the course of our time traveling together, I watched Collin kill. It didn’t bother me, and that should have scared me, being unbothered by ruthless killings.
However, I was content with being by his side. This was his form of justice.
He was taking over Romano’s kingdom.
He hadn’t told me everything yet, but I hoped that, in time, he would. We would spend our days traveling, influencing, he would kill, and I would watch, but every night…
Every. Single. Night. He fucked me.
Then.
He made love to me.
His demon got a turn, and then once his darkness is satisfied, my Col appeared.
“Look at her again and I will perform an enucleation right here, Mr. Danes,” he hissed, gripping my rapist’s jaw, tipping his face up so his right eye could meet the edge of his blade.
My eyes looked up to my demon as he came to face the man who held me down all those years ago.
The man was crying, shedding more tears than I had when he used my body.
A new feeling of satisfaction rolled through me as I stared at the man, knowing that he faced the same fate as his little friends.
All my other rapists were dead.
All except for Mr. Danes.
“Col,” I said softly.
He twisted his head so I could see his profile.
“Make it hurt,” I said, keeping my eyes on him. Only him. The monster in the room didn’t deserve my fucking attention. My statement caused my demon to turn fully to me, his eyes the coldest I'd ever seen them.
The ice wasn’t for me, that much I knew.
The man behind him was blubbering, praying for mercy through his gag.
It was funny that Collin would talk to him and expect the man to reply around a mouth full of cloth.
The hitman closed the space between us and gripped my chin with his tattooed fingers, sending a chill down my spine.
His handsome face was set in stone, cold and unwavering just like his eyes.
But it was his voice that had a hint of warmth meant only for me. “Are you sure you want to watch this?”
I swallowed. “I have seen you kill before,” I whispered as he leaned down.
His eyes held mine. “Angel, you've never seen me torture a man before,” he murmured. “And he will feel every ounce of pain he caused you and more.”
I nodded. “I need to see this. I need to see him die, Col.” Maybe then, I would stop seeing him in my dreams.
“As you wish.”
He spun, punching my rapist in the jaw. Once. Twice. Three times. I saw a flash of metal and then heard a grunt of pain. Collin rounded the chair.
“As I said, Mr. Danes, we have a very busy schedule. We shouldn’t even be here, but you decided to touch something that belongs to me,” he growled near the man’s ear before yanking the gag out of his mouth.
He gasped for air, coughing, spitting up blood. “It was one time! Years ago! You should have gotten over it,” he spat, looking at me, but I kept my eyes on Col.
“I am going to enjoy this,” my demon growled, making my skin pebble with goosebumps. I watched as he yanked the man back by his hair and inch his blade into the man’s right eye. His screams alone should have made me recoil and hide.
But I didn’t.
I watched my demon, my Col, as he brought the man near death. A strange feeling bloomed in my chest. If I didn’t love Collin already, I would love him now.
Nothing would be able to stop the fall.
He was doing this for me.
He had an empire to take over, and yet, he was here, avenging me.
The sight of the bloodshed should have turned my stomach.
The snarl on his face as he looked down at his victim should have made me cower in fear.
The thirst for blood should have made me run.
The cold, dark gleam in his eyes should have made me hate him.
His darkness deserved to be hated.
He betrayed me—us, our friends.
He stabbed my brother.
He was the enemy.
He was a killer.
He was Death.
And yet?
I’d fallen hopelessly in love with him. There was no going back. I knew that from the moment he kissed me. With each stroke of his blade against my tormentor’s flesh, the deeper I fell.
He cherished me.
He vowed to protect me.
This feeling consumed me, and even though he plagued my thoughts, he faded away as uncertainty for the future loomed over me. The man’s screams became muffled, and anxiety coursed through me, as if I had been struck by lightning.
What would happen to us when this was all over?
Would we be together? Or was this just a chapter in our lives we would look back on and regret?
No.
I wouldn’t regret him—Collin. I couldn’t. He saw me, truly. He knew I had darkness in me, similar to his.
He was born from darkness, but I was thrown into it.
“Angel? Oh God, baby.” His panicked voice filled my ears, drawing me out of my depressing thoughts.
I was back in the room.
His bloody hands were cupping my face, and suddenly, everything came back into focus. He stood in front of me, bending a bit to get eye level with me. My demon’s eyes were still cold, his face splattered with blood.
“Look at me, Karina. Fuck. Look at me. See me, Angel,” he pleaded, his bloody fingers snaking into my hair.
“What?”
His brows drew together in concern. “I knew I should have sent you away for this. You didn’t need to see this—”
I cut him off with my lips, sealing mine to his in a passionate kiss.
For a fleeting second, he hesitated, but when he gave into me, it was a supernova.
He released a low growl, one of pure, raw emotion, as my tongue slipped through his lips.
The words I wanted to say were on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t—not yet.
I would show him. I would show him how much I loved him.
“Thank you,” I whimpered against his lips, wrapping my arms around his mid-section as he stepped in between my legs.
He pulled away, his pupils dilated with need and admiration. For me. “Never again,” he promised.
He didn’t need to elaborate. I knew what he meant. Never again would I be touched without consent. He was my protector.
“You’ll protect me? Always?” I breathed, pulling away from him. My fear gripped me by the neck and chuckled in my ear, taunted me. He pulled his hands away, turning them slowly so we could both take in the blood-stained tattoos along them.
“I will cover my hands in blood every day, for as long as I breathe on this Earth, to ensure no one but me ever touches you again,” he said, his voice low.