20. Chapter 20
E ven in sleep, I could be tightly wound.
Years of training to be a killer had me sleeping lightly, so I could react quickly to danger.
But sleep had come easier and deeper since Luca started sharing my bed.
His body pressed against me had grown to be a warm welcome, yet it was a reminder of my cold and lonely existence.
There was a sliver of thought that I should let him go when the job was done, but I wouldn’t.
Eventually, he wouldn’t need me, but I would need him.
A warmth spread throughout my body, waking me up to the early dawn.
A hard rain pounded on the roof of my one-story home.
At first, I thought the storm had woken me, but the pressure between my legs and a shudder through my body told me Luca wanted to play.
I smiled and lifted the covers off to Luca, looking up at me with those big blue eyes and a lock of curl falling in his face.
His mouth was stretched taut around my cock. Fuck, what a stunning sight he made.
I spread my legs more and grabbed a fistful of his hair. “Keep looking at me like that, Sunshine. You’re so fucking beautiful with my cock in your mouth.”
His blink was slow, but his eyes didn’t waver from mine.
Each time he swallowed me deeper, I thrust up.
He had no gag reflex that I could tell. I tried not to let my eyes roll back into my head when he licked me from my pucker to my taint and straight up to my tip, digging in my slit with his fan-fucking-tastic tongue.
My toes curled as I thrust into his mouth again.
“Goddamn, Sunshine… You suck me so good.”
My cock swelled, and a tingling pressure filled me as my balls grew heavy. Before I got a chance to meet bliss, he popped off and ran his long tongue on one side of my cock and down the other like a popsicle—or a dicksicle—with his eyes never leaving mine.
“Shit, Luca… God, you have an amazing mouth.”
I nearly lost it, demanding he suck me down and let me finish, but it wasn’t necessary because he was a damn mind reader, swallowing me whole again and doubling his efforts, sucking me like a fucking straw and literally pulling the come from my balls.
Then I fell.
I fell further and deeper into the mattress as my body let go of all control.
Everything shut down other than my release, as if it took all my organs to focus on this one task of pleasure.
It hit me like a jolt and pulsed over and over in his mouth.
He swallowed every drop, still never leaving my eyes.
My body floated in its pleasure, with aftershocks trembling through my body. When Luca slipped me out of his mouth, his full lips were wet, red, and puffy. He rested his head on my thigh, giving me a small and shy smile as he traced my flaccid cock with a finger.
Not even killing assholes got my heart racing as Luca did. He reminded me that I was alive. That even I, a murderer, had a chance at happiness again.
“Come here,” I said.
He crawled over and lay on top of me, nuzzling his face in my throat as he was prone to do, like he needed to get even closer.
“Need a release too, baby?”
When I reached for his cock, I found it wasn’t hard.
He grabbed my wrist and shook his head. “Already done. I… made a mess in our bed. I’m sorry.”
I huffed a laugh. “You get to wash them.”
I pulled him into a kiss, sucking on his pouty bottom lip before my tongue plunged into his mouth, tasting my bitter essence. Luca made his sweet noises of grunts and whimpers as he held my face. When we pulled away, his eyes fluttered open, and his smile broadened.
“I love kissing you.”
I smiled back and kissed his head.
He sat up and straddled my stomach. “I’ll make you some breakfast before you go.” Then he climbed off me and the bed and trotted naked into the kitchen.
I lay in bed for a minute with an arm tucked under my head. This would be the longest I would be away from him. Layla sent me an address to a strip club to question two men tied to Luca. Hopefully, I could get some answers. And end some lives of those who hurt my Sunshine.
I double-checked my knives, extra magazines of ammo, and my four holstered guns.
One under each arm, one in my back, and one in my ankle.
I had zip ties, rope, and other instruments of torture in my car already.
After going over the plan in my head several times, I made my way upstairs from the basement to find Luca sitting on the floor in the living room with Cleo curled up next to him.
He was absently playing with her ear as he scrolled through his phone.
“Cleo,” I said. She lifted her big head and immediately stood at attention. I circled a finger in the air, and she trotted off outside to inspect the perimeter again and to stay alert.
Luca stood, walked over to me, and wrapped his arms around my neck while resting his head on my chest. “I’ll miss your heartbeat.”
“I’ll be back before you know it. Are you sure you wouldn’t rather be at your mother’s house?”
He shook his head. “I’ll be fine here.”
“You know where the video feed is. If anyone approaches, you can watch them on the screen. I don’t care if they look like a granny carrying a cake, do not let anyone in.
If they look dangerous, sic Cleo on them and call Sid.
His number is plugged into your phone under the contacts.
I’ll have my phone off, so don’t try to call me.
If you go outside to practice your archery, make sure Cleo is with you at all times. ”
He rested his chin on my chest, looking up at me. “Okay.”
I leaned down and kissed his nose. “And do not leave the property for any reason unless you have no other choice.”
“I won’t.”
It seemed I was more nervous about him being alone than he was. As I turned away, he pulled me back by my hand. “I love you, Angel. Be careful.”
I gave him a quick nod and left.
Before, I didn’t care if I lived or died.
I always went into a job expecting the chance to not come out of it alive.
Granted, I didn’t want to die, but I wasn’t afraid of it.
Now, I had someone to live for. Malik wasn’t wrong about being with someone you cared about.
Having something to lose put both Luca and me at risk.
I couldn’t afford to make mistakes, so it would take all my willpower not to worry about him while I was gone and to trust Cleo to protect him.
My worries would be a distraction and detrimental to my health.
I parked down the street and walked the last two blocks to the old strip joint in Dupont Circle, set in an old brick building. The place wasn’t much to look at on the outside, but I was familiar with the place and knew that looks could be deceiving.
I wore a suit with a loose tie, making it look like I had a rough day at work and needed pussy, something I’d never had or wanted in my entire life. I hated the suit, but I couldn’t waltz in there wearing my combat gear.
A large Russian stood sentry at the door with meaty hands clasped to the front of him, eyeing his surroundings with ever-watchful and suspicious black eyes. When I approached, he gave me a cursory glance, then ignored me, assuming I posed no threat.
A blast of air conditioning hit me, sending a chill through my body as I squinted my eyes at the purple and pink neon throughout the club. I had no idea how people working there could stand it. It made me want to gouge my eyes out.
I arrived before everyone got off work, so the crowd was minimal, and there was only one dancer moving around to the poppy beat.
Her hair was long and dark, trailing behind her as she swirled around a pole.
She actually wasn’t too bad with a strong core as she did the splits upside down while holding herself using her arms. The only thing she wore was a thong, but I was sure she planned to remove that soon enough.
Trying to fit in, I sat at the bar and ordered a vodka straight as I inspected the place, looking for signs of weakness and threats.
There was another Russian sitting at the end of the bar, keeping his eyes on the small crowd of lonely men, not that there was much going on.
He didn’t worry me, but those who couldn’t be seen did.
After scoping out the place during this time of day before, I had only counted five Russians working here that weren’t strippers, bartenders, or servers.
Once I finished the job, Layla would tap into their system and erase my presence. Everything during the job, she would keep the feed on a loop, but there wasn’t much she could do at this moment without giving me away.
I downed my drink and headed toward the back, where the restrooms and offices were located.
Stepping into the restroom, I made sure no one was in there and pulled out my gun, screwing on the suppressor.
I turned off the safety and chambered a bullet.
Then I double-checked the fabric in my pocket I planned to use as gags.
After leaving the restroom, I headed back through the kitchen, ignoring the cooks, and kept walking as if I belonged there, keeping my gun tucked inside my jacket while my finger was still on the trigger. I reached another door and counted from five to calm my heart and breathing.
I recalled the faces I needed to interrogate. Sergey Popov was big and fat, but he was young. He would be strong, so I’d need to take him down quickly. Evgeniy Ilyn was shorter and thin but fast and deadly. I couldn’t waste a second before incapacitating him.
When I walked into a room, three men were sitting down playing cards at a round table.
I recognized the two men I needed to interrogate, and before they could react, I shot the man I didn’t know in the head.
Sergey got a bullet in the knee, and I quickly shot Evgeniy in his hand as he was drawing a weapon from his holster.
“Pull out all your weapons, nice and slow, and toss them to the ground.”
When they didn’t move fast enough, I shot out Sergey’s other knee. He clamped down on a scream as he bled out while I fired another round, intentionally grazing Evgeniy’s shoulder.
“I won’t tell you twice.”
Both men removed their weapons with trembling hands, but their faces only showed anger, probably visualizing my painful death.
“You have a death wish. Do you have any idea of who you are messing with?” Evgeniy asked in his thick Russian accent.
“Yes. Now, grab your friend and drag him down to the cellar.”
The man did as he was told, but when he hesitated, I could see him making plans to fight me, so I aimed my gun and fired another round into Sergey.
“Fine!”
He lifted the bigger man up by his armpits and helped him hobble down the steps to the cellar. As I headed down with them, keeping my gun trained on them, I did a quick glance around, satisfied there were chairs where I could tie the men up.
“Drop him and pull out two chairs into the center of the room, then place Sergey into one and bind his hands to it with zip ties, and then bind his ankles to the legs of the chair.”
“So, it’s information you want? How much are you being paid.”
I said nothing as I tossed him a few zip ties from my pocket.
Evgeniy had a look that could kill, but he kept doing as he was told despite bleeding out all over the place. Sergey was sweating profusely, and his greasy black hair was plastered to his forehead. He panted from the pain, but he kept silent with his icy blue eyes on me.
Once Sergey was bound, Evgeniy hesitated to sit, I shot his thigh, and he dropped to the ground. “In the chair.”
When he pulled himself up to sit in it, I holstered my gun and quickly tied him to the chair. Once the two men were secure, I quickly headed upstairs before the body was discovered and dragged him downstairs, unceremoniously dumping him into a dirty corner.
I pulled out several bandanas, wadded two of them up, shoved them into the men’s mouths, then tied another one around their mouths, so they couldn’t spit them out.
Couldn’t have them screaming and drawing attention.
They would eventually be missed, but when their comrades came looking, I’d be ready.
“Let’s get this party started, shall we?”
The only thing I expected, for now, was their disdain and glaring eyes, sending imaginary daggers at me.
“I’m going to ask several questions. When you’re ready to talk, nod your head, and I’ll remove the gag. Scream, and you lose a finger every time you do. Clear? Good.”
I pulled out one of my blades. It was small, but it cut cleanly enough to sever said finger without resistance. I flipped the blade around between my fingers, just like Sully enjoyed doing, making sure both men saw the sharp glint of steel.
I pointed the blade directly at Sergey. “You see, I have a friend. Someone I care about, and it’s come to light that you not only were in charge of watching over him, but you raped him.
Is your dick so small that it can’t feel pussy, and you have to shove it into a boy?
” He answered with a glare as the sweat poured down his fat face.
“You see, I don’t care where you put your tiny dick…
unless it’s in little kids who can’t defend themselves. ”
I stood and paced behind both men. Their bodies were tense, wondering if or when I would attack.
“You have a choice, Sergey. You can choose to die slowly and painfully. Or quick and easy. The fact is, I can’t allow you to live.
I’ve been paid quite well to take you out.
If you refuse to answer my questions, your friend here will watch me dismember you, piece by piece. ”
I let that sink in while I placed a hand on his flinching shoulder. “Eleven years ago, you brought a boy somewhere. Mr. Davenport, the banker’s son. Misha Koslov purchased the boy from him to save his bank. Where did you take the boy, and who were all the men involved?”
There was no way he’d answer. At least, not yet.
I dragged my sharp blade down his cheek, just deep enough to cut, but not deep enough for stitches.
To have a little taste of what was to befall him.
Before he could react, I yanked his ear and sliced it cleanly off.
His screams were muffled, and no one could hear him other than me and Evgeniy.
Blood streamed out, coating my hand. I shook it off as it splattered everywhere.
His ear fell to the ground, so I bent to pick it up and tossed it onto his lap.
The other man was stoic and watchful. He had yet to react, but he would soon enough once I finished with Sergey.