Chapter 17
C H A P T E R1 7
Nemesis and Her Dark Prince
Cade
The Past - 3 months ago
J ustice was supposed to be blind, but in my court, it was purely poetic.
If karma didn’t deliver fast enough, I liked to take matters into my own hands and bring it forth, making sure that the perpetrator walked away with the lesson entrenched deep in their bones.
Or didn’t walk away at all, in this case.
I busted Kian Wilson’s legs to a point where he would never walk again. The only way he was leaving this warehouse was in a body bag.
“Please, please, please,” he whimpered. “Just stop!”
Spending the last three years in the city’s underworld, I became immune to traitors’ tears and begging.
Kian’s face was a cracked map of blood, salt water, and mucous. His left eye was swollen shut, his voice had gone hoarse from all the screaming, and his weak body was shackled with chains hanging from the ceiling, his stance a pathetic genuflect before me.
As though I were the very God from whom he sought penance.
Unfortunately, there was no mercy in my court either.
Kian signed his death warrant the minute he stole from us and touched my girl.
And as the fixer, it was only fair that I teach him one final lesson before sending him off to Hell.
“What’s that, Kian?” I tapped the shell of my ear with a condescending expression. “I don’t think I heard you.”
Ella cackled, an evil laugh that incited my own malicious smile.
I loved when we were like this—relentless and vicious until we reached our end goal.
She was my Nemesis for tonight, holding scales of justice that slowly rebalanced as we settled the score, and I, her favourite dark prince, reigning over our dominion.
“I’m sorry! Please!” he cried like a beggar down on his luck. “Let me go! I’ll do anything!”
“Louder, Kian.”
He kept alternating between pleas and apologies.
The sound was grating, but slightly entertaining. Though if Kian thought there was an option where he walked out of here alive, I wasn’t doing my job properly.
Well…If you observed the white canvas I laid out on the floor, decorated with splashes of his blood in a symphony of violence and vengeance, I might just give Picasso a run for his money.
Just kidding. But Uncle Vance would be proud of my work. Enough to maybe display this canvas in one of his art galleries for the next showing.
Too bad Kian wouldn’t be alive to see it. He was a few blows away from having his light snuffed out permanently.
“Do you think I should spare him, princess?” I asked the love of my life.
Ella circled Kian like he was a sculpture at an auction and she debated placing a bid. A sensual, dark aura accompanied every roll of her hips as she tapped her lips in thought. “Hm. Very good question.”
My smile stretched to a grin. Dropping my baseball bat, I assessed the small table to my right, housing a plethora of torture tools. Usually a gun did the trick, but I was feeling fancy tonight. I picked up a butcher knife and juggled it between my gloved fingertips. “What’s the verdict, Ximena?”
She skipped over to me, wrapping her arms around my torso from behind, while resting her cheek against my shoulder. The front of my white T-shirt was coated in Kian’s blood, yet Ella stared at me with stars in her eyes.
Like I wasn’t the villain, but the knight in shining armour in her story.
I loved it.
I loved her .
My goddess Nemesis, the Bonnie to my Clyde, the gun moll to my gangster.
She never had to doubt my devotion. No matter the time or day, I’d always deliver on my promise to protect and fight for her.
“I think,” Ella whispered in my ear. “That you should show him why no one messes with you, Killian.”
Translation: she wanted me to kill him. Good. I would have done it regardless, but I liked knowing she was on board with the idea.
All notions that she may not fit into my life after learning about my family business were smashed to smithereens years ago. This girl truly was the other half of me.
Anarchy, dark excitement, and now sweet revenge joined the mixture of tonight’s concoction. It swirled in the air, feeding the sanguinary fires raging in my soul.
“Your wish is my command.” We shared a grin and she kissed me openly in front of Kian, making sure to flick her tongue against mine in a bold display.
Kian, having now understood that death was the only outcome, started screaming for mercy with renewed energy.
I sighed, annoyed with him. “All right, sweetheart, which hand did he use to touch you?”
“The left one.”
“Then that’s the one I’ll start with.”
Kyan was squirming like a fish out of water, bellowing as I neared him, knife in hand. “No, no, noooooooo!”
“Aww, poor little Kian.” Ella pouted, cocking her head. “Are you scared?”
“Shut the fuck up, you psychotic bitch!”
My nostrils flared. No one was allowed to call her a bitch.
Before I could shove my knife in his jugular and end the torture session early, Ella grinned deviously and picked up the discarded baseball bat.
I watched in fascination as she swung it high and thwacked Kian across the face.
The chains holding his body ratted loudly as he was whipped to the ground in a heap of groans. Blood arched out of his mouth and sploshed across the white canvas, adding another stroke to the unholy masterpiece.
“Talk dirty to me, Kian,” Ella growled playfully, fisting his hair and jerking up his head. “I fucking like it.”
His lips slackened, a mixture of incoherent threats and curses coming out of him.
“What’s that, Kian? You want another hit?” She introduced her six-inch stilettos against his jaw with a feisty kick. “My fucking pleasure, cutie .”
More blood. More cries. More begging as his body recoiled back from being smacked like a whack-a-mole game.
“That’s my girl,” I praised warmly. “Give him hell.”
Ella struck him a few more times. I let her get it off her chest. She earned it, after all. My only regret was not having a glass of whiskey to accompany the show. Pride and joy coalesced in my system at witnessing her in her avenging glory. What a fucking stunner.
I was clearly the luckiest man on earth.
With a huff, Ella dropped the baseball bat and stared down at Kian’s limp body, fighting for his breaths.
It was a fitting end for a thief and assaulter.
“My body is a temple.” She pressed her foot against his throat, holding him to the ground while he whined like a battered dog. “You do not lay your hands on me without permission, let alone shove your fingers in places they don’t belong.” The heel of her stiletto pierced his skin as she dug deeper. “Women are not puppets for you to use as you please, you nasty bastard. Let this be your final lesson, Kian: hell hath no fury…like a wrathful queen.”
In that moment, she was the embodiment of the goddess of revenge, looming above her slain offender. Black hair tousled from battle, expression wild with gratification, chest heaving with satisfactory breaths, and a victorious smile blossoming over her glossy lips.
Glimmering eyes met mine and I smiled back in encouragement.
A vigorous heat pulsated in the connection that bound us. She felt it too, based on the way her lids lowered and her lips parted, sucking in a slow inhale. Ella had never looked sexier to me. I cherished her in all her forms but when she was like this—angry, ruthless, and powerful?
She was a goddamn force to be reckoned with.
I adored it.
The energy escalating between us demanded to be purged.
Once we finished this job, I was stealing my princess away so we could celebrate with dirty words and hard lovemaking under the stars.
“Did you get it out of your system, baby?” The thick quality of my voice was laced with so much want for her.
Ella shook her head and grinned. “Not even close.”
I advanced towards her. Grabbing the nape of her neck, I planted a rough kiss on her lips. “You will, before the night is over.”
She liked hearing the reminder of my promise. Smiling, she said, “Your turn, Kill.”
I nipped her bottom lip and withdrew to crouch down next to Kian. He still made noises. Still refused to give up. “Hold him down, sweetheart.”
Ella stepped on his neck again.
I dragged the tip of my knife over his forearm, slicing him open slowly before arriving at his wrist. “I bet you never would have touched her if you knew she was my girl, huh, Kian?”
He didn’t say anything, watching me with a glassy, half-dead look in his eyes.
“Guess we’ll never know.” I smirked and brought down the knife, chopping his left hand.
Kian cried out again, a horror-stricken yell.
I plucked up his severed hand and dragged off the silver watch. Under the light, sapphires encrusted into the bevel gleamed impressively. It must have cost a pretty penny. I whistled. “Sweet watch. Is this what you bought after stealing from us?”
His response was more tortured yells.
In the background, Ella casually popped a gum bubble and stared at her nails as if this was just a casual Friday and she was at the salon, deciding on a new colour.
“Tell you what,” I hollered louder than him to ensure he heard me. “I’m a man who values equality—just ask my girlfriend—so as a result, I’ll chop off your other hand too.”
Not waiting for his reply, I held his right hand down and chopped it with my knife.
His screams of agony faded into the distance as I watched a spray of blood hit Ella’s ankle.
“Oops. I’m sorry, baby.”
“Killian,” Ella chastised like a spoiled diva. “Be careful. You dirtied my new heels.”
“It’s okay, sweetheart. I’ll buy you another pair.”
“Promise?”
I winked. “Promise.”
Grabbing my loaded gun, I rose over Kian’s frame.
Ella sidled up to me, wrapping her hands around my arm.
I aimed my gun at his crotch and fired. “That’s for my girl.”
His body jolted, a muted sob escaping him.
Now I aimed for the area between his eyes. “You were a mere pawn, Kian. Not a king. You forgot who runs this side of the city, and it certainly isn’t you. So let me remind you one final time.”
My bullet pierced through his skin with a sound that echoed in the warehouse like the final nail in a coffin.
We both watched him bleed out like an animal in a slaughterhouse.
I felt no remorse for him. He made a grave mistake and he paid the price.
Uncle Vance always taught me that a good boss did his own dirty work. That’s why he trusted me to see this through. If he were here, he’d slow-clap and ask me where he should frame my artwork.
Now that Kian was dead, I took a deep breath, finally feeling relief.
Ella pressed a kiss to my shoulder. “Wanna clean up and get out of here?”
I nodded, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. “We have a party to attend, remember?”
One organized by my friends to give us an alibi for tonight. My crew was good like that. Always supportive without asking all the whys , whos , whats , wheres , and whens .
“Do we have time to stop by Marnie’s Shack? I want a chocolate milkshake.”
I almost laughed at the absurdity of the situation. Kian’s dead body was barely cold, but Ella had already moved on to food.
Hooking my arm around her neck, I drew her to me for a kiss. “I’ll take you anywhere you want.”
“Yeah?”
“Mhm.”
She dotted little kisses all over my face. And dimples too, of course. “Hey, Cade?”
“Yes, Ella?”
“Thank you for my gift. I’m…I’m glad he’s gone.”
Pressing my forehead to hers, I whispered, “You don’t have to thank me, Ella. All your battles, all your demons, all your pain. It’s mine too, baby. You’ll never have to fight on your own. You have me now.”
I repeated the same words she once told me years ago.
She smiled and brushed the tip of her nose against mine. “You and me against the world, right?”
“You and me.” I vowed. “Always.”
Homicide complete, we cleaned up—I had no choice but to burn my clothes and switch into another pair of jeans and T-shirt—and then locked up the warehouse.
In the trunk of Kian’s old Chevy, we found a torn-up duffel back with wads of cash. Remington money, one thousand percent. Since Ella had been such a good sport, I handed her a cut and Josh, who came over to help us dispose of Kian’s dead body, took the rest home for Uncle Vance.
Now Ella coyishly fanned herself with a load of one-hundred-dollar bills, leaning against my motorcycle, while I doused Kian’s car with petrol.
It had to be burned to ensure there was no evidence of tonight.
From my understanding, Kian was an orphan. Nobody’s son, nobody’s brother, nobody’s father. He wouldn’t be missed in our ranks or on this fucking planet. It was a clean job with no loose ends.
Once the car was dripping slick with oil, I pulled out my trusty Zippo and paused when something occurred to me.
I glanced over my shoulder. “Do you want to do the honours, pretty girl?”
She clicked her tongue. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Slapping the bills against my chest, she murmured, “Hold onto that for me, will you? I’m going to need every cent for that new pair of heels.”
I grinned and handed her the Zippo.
My girlfriend flicked the flint wheel and a small flame appeared, quickly catching onto the trail of petrol licking the ground. The flames exploded within seconds, engulfing the car in a picturesque display.
Ella threw Kian’s watch into the fire.
I gave her the option of taking it to a jeweller to exchange it for something else, but she said it was a bad omen, just like Kian.
The summer night temperature skyrocketed with the rising heat.
I wiped my temples and slipped on my riding gloves…when Ella whirled around and sauntered my way, the blazing fire an arresting backdrop behind her.
Wicked eyes and seductive smirk. Wild hair and glistening skin.
My dark princess.
My goddess of revenge.
My fucking religion.
I wanted to bow down and kiss the very ground she walked on like a worshipper.
I also wanted to consume her whole and not leave a single crumb behind.
Ella Ximena Cordova was the living embodiment of all my fantasies.
And she knew it too.
Wherever you go, sweetheart, I’ll follow. No matter the journey, I’ll always brave it with you. You’re a part of me, you live inside of me, and I would do anything for you. In this lifetime and all the ones to come, you’ll always have all my love and twisted devotion.
She stopped in front of me and trailed a finger over my lips, as though reading all my lustful thoughts and naked truth. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”
I kissed the side of her throat, feeling her pulse shaking madly. For me. Always for me. I swore I’d be six feet beneath the ground before she ever died.
I’d never live without Ella.
There was no me without her .
“That I made you a promise.” I bit her jaw to warn her of what was to come. The beast raging inside of me demanded his due. “One I intend to fully keep.”
The last thing I heard was her girlish laugh as I swung her over my shoulder and headed for my motorcycle.
She wasn’t getting away from me.
The night had only just begun.