Chapter Four
I stand over Emma’s limp body, lying there on the damp forest floor. I don’t know if the chloroform killed her. I’ve only used it one other time—and it killed the guy within about forty-five minutes. It’s a last resort weapon, and Emma nearly made it up the tree. I couldn’t let that happen.
Pursing my lips, I lean over her. With the same two fingers that were inside her pussy only moments ago, I check her pulse. Her jean shorts are still unbuttoned. My fingers still smell like her, and as my cock grows rigid with unsatisfied need, I feel a faint heartbeat.
“We’ll see if you stay this way,” I grunt as I remove my hand from her neck. I should’ve just finished her when the belt was wrapped around her neck, but the moment she ground against me, I was fucked. She’s not the first to try to seduce her way out of death, but it’s the first time I’ve ever gotten hard in the middle of it.
I reach down and re-button her jean shorts. I dropped my earbud somewhere back in the woods, not liking the sound of Manny’s voice in my ear as I finger fucked Emma. I pull out my phone and alert for the earpiece, not wanting to leave it here. A light pinging noise pierces the night air, and I follow it until I recover the bud. Brushing it off, I stick it back in my ear and return to Emma.
“I still heard some of it,” Manny chuckles. “Turning into a sexual sadist?”
“Nope,” I tell him, scooping Emma up and heading back to the house.
“Yeah, okay. Well, is it done now?”
I hesitate, glancing down at the pale, freckled face of the woman. I know the best course of action would be to kill her now, and get this whole endeavor over with, but…I’m too intrigued. “How many days do we have to finish this?”
“So the answer is no, she’s not dead,” Manny laughs. “I like this new style of yours. What’re you gonna do with her? Should I have the jet ready? Or are you gonna drive?”
“It’s a long drive.” And there are sedatives in the jet.
“I’ll get the plane ready then. I take it you’re bringing her with you, yeah?” The amusement in Manny’s voice grinds against my nerves, but I’m not ready to kill Emma Nightingale yet. I’m still so curious as to what makes the woman tick. And why? I don’t know.
Plenty of hitmen I know play with their targets though, especially when they’re women. It’s just the nature of the hunt, and if it’s not fun, then it’s not worth doing. I don’t even do it for the money. I don’t have to. I have a hefty trust fund. I do this because I don’t know how to function without it. It’s my stress relief. Some people go for a run, and I blow off steam by stealing the light from people’s eyes.
“I’ll be at the airport in about forty-five minutes,” I say, calculating the time as I ease through the trees. Emma had sounded like a large animal when she barreled through the night, leaving an easy trail to follow. But now, with her in my arms, I move silently, the only sound being the occasional snap of a twig beneath my boots.
“Looks like someone called the cops.”
“Shit,” I mutter, picking up my pace. “I still have to carry her to the car.”
“Take hers. I’ll schedule a pickup for the burner car.”
“Good idea. How long do I have?”
“Fifteen minutes. According to the dispatcher, they’re still trying to figure out where the screaming came from.” Manny cackles. “You know they won’t take it seriously. They never do.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t want to be a part of the first time they do,” I grunt, glancing down at Emma’s body. If it weren’t for the pink hues in her cheeks, I’d think she was dead, her body light in my arms. My eyes linger there on her thick natural lashes, halfway expecting them to flutter open. She’s more stunning up close, despite the forest debris tangled in her sunset-colored hair.
Little Red.
I chuckle to myself, and slip across the yard, noting the broken glass on the pavement. “We need to get a clean-up crew here if possible.”
“Yeah, I know. She’s got more rage than I expected. I figured she’d be a dud, and damn, the way she came for—”
“Shut the fuck up,” I bark, a bad taste filling my mouth.
“Whoa,” he draws out. “Someone’s touchy tonight. You don’t have to kidnap her, you know. You can just kill her, and we’ll move on to the next. But I have to admit, I like that you’re trying something new.”
“Trying something new, yeah,” I scoff, shaking my head. I slip inside Emma’s house and shut the front door behind us. Emma still hangs limply in my arms.
My grip on her tightens as I grab her keys from the counter, and head for the garage. Honestly, I just want to break her open and see what’s inside of her mind. She came alive when I chased her through the woods, she turned into a slut when I wrapped my belt around her neck, and then she almost escaped me.
And that’s the first time that’s ever happened.
“Get moving,” Manny chimes in a warning. “They’re dispatching an officer to the address.”
“They won’t be able to get in the gate, right?” I kick open the garage door and make my way to the Land Rover.
“No, but they’ll buzz the house, I’m sure.”
I sigh. “Got it.” I open the backseat, and lay Emma down. Shaking out my arms, I wrap the belt around her wrists, and use zip ties for her ankles. It’s probably not a good idea to drive with her like this, and so I move her to the back, covering her with a blanket. For all I know, she’ll be dead before we get to the airport, anyway.
“Go, go, go,” Manny’s urgency intensifies as I start the car and hit the garage door opener. “You’re going to be cutting it close.”
“Shit,” I mutter, smashing the gas pedal and careening backward. I whip it around, and speed down the black asphalt driveway, hitting the gate opener the entire time.
“You through it yet?”
I speed through the opening and take a hard left, heading back to the main highway. “Yeah. We good?”
“Yeah, they’re still two miles away, coming from the opposite direction,” Manny answers, blowing out a sigh of relief. “Glad we didn’t have to murder any cops tonight.”
“We never murder cops.”
“Yeah, damn the luck.”
Relaxing, my shoulders drop. “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing with her. I was planning to leave her.”
“Yeah, well, that didn’t work out so well, did it?”
“No.” I let out a breath and toss my mask to the passenger seat. I wipe the sweat from my forehead. “How many days do we have?”
“Thirty-six to ensure she’s dead, so that means you have thirty-six days to play, tiger. I can’t wait to see her up close. I’m glad you finally gave in. Ivan does this shit all the time.”
I grimace. “Ivan does a lot of things.”
“Yeah, and he’s everything I aim to be one of these days.”
“Hmm,” is all I can say. I hate Ivan—and it’s not because he was my mentor’s partner. It’s because he has no loyalty to anyone, and he showed those cards years ago when I lost the only person I’ve ever cared about.
“I’ll help you move her when you get back.”
I bristle at the offer. “No, I can get it. She might be dead by the time we get back, anyway. You know how well I do with chloroform.”
“Why the fuck did you use that?”
My jaw grows tight. “No other choice. She almost got away.”
Manny cackles obnoxiously. “That little thing? You have to be joking. She’s a third of your size, Luca. You could snap her in half.”
I don’t answer him as the airport comes into view. Manny is always slightly annoying, but tonight I’m frayed. I gifted my prey with an orgasm, and her slinking away from me makes me physically ill—and even more determined to break her apart.
If she survives.
The rural airstrip is privately owned, and because of that, no questions are asked as I pull up next to a black SUV. While annoying, Manny always comes through for me.
I don’t even cut the engine as I grab my shit and climb out, nodding to the sketchy looking man waiting for me. My jet’s engines are already firing, and it’s a good thing. I sling the backpack over my shoulder and walk around to the back of the Land Rover. I pop the back hatch and gaze down at the figure beneath the blankets.
“Don’t trust him,” Manny says in my ear. “He’s a car contractor.”
“Got it.” I sweep Emma up in my arms, leaving the blanket across her. I can’t risk him seeing her—or worse, recognizing her. I feel Emma’s light breaths against my chest as I walk right past the guy. For some reason, her still being alive brings me startling relief.
I trot up the steps of the jet, and slip to the back room, laying Emma down on the bed. “I’ll see you when we get home,” I say to Manny, and then hang up before he can respond. I pull out the earbud and shove it into the backpack as I hear the doors close.
My eyes sweep over Emma, the blanket covering all of her but her face. I think it’s safe to assume that I didn’t kill her, but I’m not convinced that it wouldn”t have been better if she was dead.
She’s going to wish she was when I’m done with her.
My cock throbs as I take in the delicate rise of her cheek bones, the perfectly feminine nose, and the soft expression on her unconscious face. My darkest demons are screaming in my ears to satisfy myself—to tug those shorts right off and take what I want.
But that’s not what I want.
I can get pussy anytime. There’s something more intriguing to this woman than her ability to arouse me. It’s the way she seems dead inside until she’s inches from losing her life. Only then, does she seem to awaken and fight. I’ve never seen a woman so dull in the eyes act this way. It’s as if she’s broken on a surface level, and that’s a phenomenon I’ve never encountered. Is her brokenness a fa?ade? Or is she merely unaware of her own will to survive?
Biting down on the inside of my cheek, I mull it over for a few moments, and then leave her in the bedroom, shutting the door behind me. I won’t show Emma Nightingale any mercy over the next however-long I decide to keep her alive. She might be feisty, cunning, and beautiful, but I still want to fucking destroy her.
And I have thirty-six days to accomplish it.