CHAPTER TEN
KAGE
“What the hell?” she complains as she puts her arms around my neck to prevent herself from falling.
I narrow my gaze at her.
“He will kill you.”
She glances away from me, as I step into the elevator and set her on her feet.
“You will anyway, so why does it matter? Surely you don’t want to keep someone so disgusting alive longer than you have to.”
Raina was not meant to hear that conversation. It wasn’t malicious, and hurting her wasn’t intentional, but it was the truth. My brothers have no problem with me having a little fun with her before I kill her. Bones doesn’t comment on our sex lives, but getting involved with an Abruzzo would never be tolerated. It doesn’t matter anyway, because I’m not the guy that settles down. I don’t do feelings, I’m honestly not sure I’m capable of it. Bones has told me, more than once, that Psycho and I were born without hearts. He might be right.
If I’m honest with myself though, I’ve never seen a woman more beautiful than Raina. She’s the kind of stunning you never get tired of looking at. If she weren’t an Abruzzo, I’d let her live for that reason alone. But she is an Abruzzo. It’s not a choice. She’ll have to die. If I don’t do it, one of my brothers will.
“You’re an Abruzzo. The entire line must die, yourself included. We’re just taking a slight detour.”
She trembles as a tear rolls down her cheek and, fuck, it just makes her more alluring. The woman I should have already killed. Her tight little body calls to me like a siren’s song. My little firecracker is pure temptation. I’m like a dehydrated man staring at a cup of poison. He knows he’ll die if he drinks from the cup, but he can’t control himself. I already know she’s my end and beginning. My destruction and salvation. I know I should never fuck her.
Should.
Yet, it’s exactly what I’m going to do. Not because I want to, but because I have to. I’m drawn to her fire, knowing it’ll burn. I should pull myself from the flames before it’s too late. There’s that word again.
Should.
Knowing the right thing to do, and doing it, are two different things.
I’ll fuck her for a few days, and by then I’ll be bored anyway and kill her. That way, everyone gets what they need.
Except her.
I shrug off the thought, because what she needs doesn’t matter. She’s an Abruzzo.
Grabbing her arm, I pull her out of the open elevator, and yank her through the hallway of the hospital.
“Would you fucking stop?”
She falls for the third time today, and I growl at her.
“Let’s go.”
“I hate you,” she bites, as I yank her off the floor.
Once we make it outside, I hoist her over my shoulder while she kicks my stomach. I open the door to my black Range Rover, and toss her in the backseat where she belongs, before getting into the front seat. I lock the doors so she can’t get any bright ideas, and glance in the mirror at her staring death glares at me. She looks like a wild animal. Wide eyes, her red hair a matted glorious mess.
I adjust myself as I drive, and she scowls at me.
“You’re disgusting.”
I smirk at her.
“I guess we have something in common, Firecracker.”
She kicks at my seat repeatedly, and doesn’t stop until I’m thoroughly annoyed.
“Take a look behind you.”
Raina tries to refuse to look, but curiosity gets the better of her, and she turns and spots the cage in the back.
“That’s right, Firecracker. Keep it up and that’s how you’ll be traveling.”
She turns back around, and sits still with her hands on her lap, as she says something so quiet I barely hear her.
“I must have been a terrible person in my previous life, and I’m paying for it now. After what has been done to me in this one, nothing should faze me. This shouldn’t hurt like it does.”
I don’t respond, but I do wonder what’s been done to her. My information on Raina is limited, even though I made it sound to her like I know every deep, dark secret she holds. The only thing I know about her, other than what I told her, is that her father has been actively trying to sell her to another family for four years, since her eighteenth birthday. Arranged marriages are not uncommon in our world, although it’s something my family doesn’t do. My mother put a squash to that when we were little. She didn’t argue with my father about much, but for that she did. It was important to her that her children marry for love, not power. My father agreed, because if you run your business well, you don’t need to sell off your daughters like fucking livestock to survive. Weak men run businesses that don’t profit. And I’ve never seen a mafia family as chaotic as the Abruzzos. And desperate.
I have no doubt my pretty little firecracker has been through the ringer. She’ll probably be relieved to die.
Glancing back before I turn into my circular driveway, I spot her brushing a tear away. She’s beautiful. A mixture of vulnerability, and brat. I always thought I liked submissive women that do as they’re told, but I like her venomous bite.
I park and immediately open the back door and pull her out of the SUV.
Her gaze is dark, and I spot something I’ve never seen before. Raina’s light is covered with a dark shadow, and I instantly recognize the pain bubbling just under the surface before my little snake coils up and strikes.
She headbutts me, causing immediate blinding pain. I can’t see a damn thing, but as she turns to run, I grab her throat and pin her against the vehicle. Making the mistake of getting too close to her, she bites my lip until it bleeds. Again. I run my tongue over the pool of blood on my bottom lip and grin at her.
“Bad pet. You’ll pay for that.”
Winding her hair around my fist, I yank her to my front door, while she screams beautiful obscenities at me.