Chapter 5
Cullan
“ E lena. Elena? ”
Dead air. The call has hung up, but Elena’s scream of terror is ringing in my ears.
I step on the gas and overtake two vehicles. The oncoming car blares its horn at me and veers out of the way.
Things have been going down in Fenton for the past few weeks.
There were a series of armed robberies and murders, and strangers are not welcome.
People are out for vengeance. Anyone unknown on the streets is being beaten and thrown back where they came from.
Women are being dragged into dark houses and buildings and being made to suffer like no woman should.
I drive as fast as I can and reach Elena’s last known location.
As I get out of my truck, I grab the gun that’s hidden under my seat.
I spot a pale blue high heel lying in a puddle, along with a fern that’s falling out of its pot.
Soil has scattered across the ground. Her phone is in the road. I pick it up and shove it in my pocket.
I turn on the spot, searching the surroundings for any sign of Elena with my fists clenched at my sides.
Cold black dread is mounting within me. I care about this young woman.
She works for me, and I haven’t kept her safe.
I should have been monitoring her whereabouts at all times with a tracker in her phone that alerted me when she arrived in a dangerous place like Fenton.
I was careless, and now she’s going to get hurt.
From within one of the nearby houses, I hear a scream. A woman’s scream that sounds like Elena.
I charge up the steps and try the front door, but it’s locked. I aim one hard kick beside the lock, and the door pops open and hits the wall inside with a bang.
The house is a squalid mess. I don’t have to look far to find Elena.
She’s in the front room cowering away from the men who have abducted her.
Her clothes are ripped, and her hair is in disarray.
The reason the men are surrounding her and are not on top of her is that she’s got a hold of a large, sharp knife, and she’s brandishing it at them.
Our eyes lock across the room, and hers are very wide, very blue, and filled with fear.
As she looks at me, the fear bleeds away.
Her jaw firms. When one of the men reaches for her, she stabs him in the shoulder, a fast, downward strike.
He reels back with a scream, and she lets go of the knife that’s stuck in his shoulder.
The other two try to grab her, but Elena picks up a porcelain lamp from a side table and swings it at her nearest captor’s head with both hands.
It explodes in porcelain shards, and the man falls to his knees.
Holy shit.
Elena is magnificent.
The man nearest me is reaching behind his back, in the manner of someone going for a weapon.
I point my gun at his head. “Don’t move.”
He puts his hands up. The man who’s been stabbed is focused on the blood pouring down his arm. The one on his knees glares at me with hate-filled eyes for spoiling their fun.
While I have control of the room, I take a good look at Elena. If they’ve hurt her, I’ll hurt them tenfold. She has her hands crossed over her chest because her top is in tatters and falling off her. At the edges of my vision, the world turns red.
They’re going to pay for that.
“Mr. Grant—” Elena has gasped a warning, but it’s too late.
Someone hits me across the head from behind. I stumble forward, the world turning white for a few seconds. The gun is knocked out of my hand. I can’t pass out or Elena is going to die.
I feel a doorjamb beneath my fingers, and I grip it hard. Through sheer force of will, I manage to stay on my feet. Out of the corner of my blurred vision, I see a man coming at me while brandishing something shiny and pointed.
As the knife plunges toward me, I grab the man’s wrist, twist his arm, and snatch the weapon away from him. I overbalance, and we both tumble to the ground, me on top of my attacker. He fights me while I press a forearm to his throat.
Kill him.
I don’t need to kill him. I just need to knock him out and get to Elena.
Kill him.
Elena is screaming. The knife is glinting in my hand.
Kill him for Elena.
The stench of blood is thick in the room.
Why not kill him?
Elena’s not scared of violence.
She wants me to kill him.
Kill them all.
She stabbed one of the men herself. She likes violence. She craves blood.
The only way she’ll feel safe is if all these men are dead.
My pretty girl needs to know how far I’m willing to go for her.
Kill him.
An invisible choker chain that I’ve been straining against all my life falls away, and I can finally breathe. I take a deep, cool lungful of air and grip the man beneath me by the hair. Holding the blade to the man’s neck, I slash him across the throat right under his jaw.
Bright red blood sprays everywhere.
The man makes a choking sound as he drowns in all the liquid that’s pouring from his throat.
A gleeful feeling bubbles up inside me. I want to savor his last moments, but there’s chaos around me, Elena to protect, and three more warm bodies to obliterate.
I get to my feet and see the man who hit me over the head.
My gun is in his hand, and he’s about to aim it at me.
He’s standing close enough for me to twist the weapon out of his hand, point it at his head, and put a bullet in his brain.
His head snaps back. The light in his eyes goes out, and he falls to the ground.
The man with the head wound from the broken lamp has his arm locked around Elena’s neck, and he’s using her body as a shield as he shouts a warning to me.
He’s panicked and desperate, while I feel calm and cold as steel.
I’ve spent hours at the shooting range, and a target the size of his head at this range is no problem.
It’s a pleasure. I aim and shoot. There’s a bang, and a satisfying red circle appears between his eyes. He releases Elena and goes down.
There’s only one man left, and he tries to run. It’s the man with the knife stuck in his shoulder. He’s bleeding profusely, drops spattering everywhere, and he couldn’t look more like prey as he tries to flee.
I have a gun in one hand, and a knife in the other.
The gun would be quicker, but I really like this knife.
I take two long strides over to him, and plunge the knife into his back.
He screams as I pull it out. He’s hunched over and stumbling, but he’s still trying to get away.
For a moment, I enjoy his pathetic attempts.
I’m filled with the feeling you get when you know an orgasm is coming.
My mind clears, and I’m only attuned to pleasure.
Lifting the knife once more, I yank the man around to face me.
There’s shock and pain on his face, and a whole lot of fear.
I stab him in the chest, a dozen times in quick succession.
Maybe more. It’s overkill, but I’m enjoying myself too much.
The knife punches through flesh and bone. He goes limp, and I let him fall.
I throw the knife aside and my head tips back. Euphoria washes over me. I feel as though I’ve climbed Mount Everest, and I’m looking out from the highest peak in the world. There are bodies strewn around me, and their silence is perfect.
I look down at myself, and I see that I’m splattered with blood. My hands are wet with red. It’s under my fingernails and pooling at my feet. How beautiful. Why did I wait this long to experience such pleasure?
There’s a shaky breath behind me.
Elena.
Shit, Elena.
After what I’ve done, she’s going to start screaming. I turn around and see that she’s pressed herself into a corner. The exhilaration I’m feeling evaporates.
Sometime during the fight, her torn top fell off and she’s standing there in just her bra and jeans. I find the top, pick it up, and approach her. I have to cover her eyes. I can’t let her see me like this. She’s going to think I’m a monster.
But before I can blindfold her, Elena pushes away from the wall and rushes into my arms. Both her arms are tight around me and her face is pressed against my chest.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Grant.”
I stare down at her in shock. She’s sorry?
She looks up at me with desperation in her face. It’s like she doesn’t see the blood all over me, or she doesn’t care. “You’re never going to want me around your daughter again. I was stupid, and I got myself into danger.”
My heart races as I stare into her beautiful eyes. “You’re not stupid, and this is not your fault. Are you all right? Did they hurt you?”
“No, I was just scared. Mr. Grant, are you all right? Your head.”
I reach up and touch the back of my scalp where I was hit by one of the men. I’m sore, but he didn’t break the skin, and I don’t think I have a concussion. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”
She breathes a sigh of relief. “I would have felt terrible if you were injured because of me. Please don’t say that I’m not allowed to look after Rosie anymore because of this.”
Elena thinks I’m going to fire her? These are her thoughts as she’s just seen me kill four men? “Elena, are you sure you’re all right?”
Tears cluster on her lashes. “I went the wrong way. To the completely wrong part of town. I have no sense of direction. Look at what you had to do to save me. ”
Had to?
I don’t know about had to.
Wanted to.
“Elena. You do know these men are dead, don’t you? You know I killed them?”
She gazes around at the blood-covered bodies and then back at me. Her face hardens. “You should have heard what they were going to do to me. They deserved it.”
Holy shit.
My head is bent over Elena, and I cradle her face in my bloody hands. My gaze drops to her lips. My heart pounds as heat and desire pour through my body. The defiant look in her eyes and the scent of blood all around us makes me want to push her up against that wall and kiss her hard.
“I won’t tell anyone what you had to do to save me,” she promises. “Not even Leon.”