Chapter 13
ADRIEL
Her eyes are soft, endearingly gazing at me as she watches me finish cleaning.
And me? I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t know what these feelings are or how to process them.
What is it about Kayla Jenkins that makes me want to keep her safe? I’ve never worried about anyone before. Not once. But with her, it’s somehow different.
There’s something stirring within me, something that’s tethered to her, and the more I’m around her, the stronger that feeling gets. And the harder it’ll be to let go of.
I can’t make sense of it. I don’t know if it’s sympathy for her plight or this notion of protecting her, but something is hidden beneath the rubble, and it’s aiming for her.
This obsession is more than just physical, it’s spiritual. I can feel it deep enough where I know it’s there, waiting for something I can’t yet name.
I’ve tried to fight it. I’ve tried to keep my distance, but every time I did, I found myself watching her all over again.
I can’t seem to stop.
And I’ve never been the kind of man who couldn’t control his urges.
But after what she showed me, that back covered with scars…
fuck…the need for vengeance, to scorch the earth with the ashes of her enemies grabbed hold.
Desire to find every last one of her transgressors took root until it grew into something stronger.
Palpable. And it spreads with every second I look into her eyes.
My heart…it beats a little faster, my anger raging out of me at the thought of someone hurting something so beautiful.
They will pay. I will find every last one of them. I will steal their breaths until they’re burning with their demons.
The things she’s endured…
Those scars were all over her back. Like someone had fun carving her up.
My nostrils widen. Prison won’t stop me from killing every single one who hurt her. And I will give her that. I will give her their hearts, and she will know I did it all for her.
While I start to roll the dead man into the tarp on the floor, she plays with the hem of her shirt.
Why do I feel this way? Why do I want to be the one to wash away the blood from her broken body, to erase the evidence of our sin, to clean her and dry her and dress her? I want to do all those things.
But I can’t. I can’t let her see my face. Know me. It’s never been part of the plan. I must resist the temptation.
The nuns would approve.
I force myself to focus on the body before me.
The furnace waits for this child molester, one of many that have known the flames. Casius comes to mind. The way he screamed. The way he begged. It’s too bad I had to drug this one, or he’d have begged too.
There’s something fascinating about hearing them scream like that, knowing you’re doing it to them. There’s power. Power stripped away, power given. A mutual exchange.
The news of Casius’s disappearance has begun to spread, but the police haven’t found a body, nor will they.
And no body means no crime. It’s beautiful how the system works.
His friends have told the authorities that Casius had begun gambling again, that he may have owed the Albanian Mob a lot of money. And those guys don’t like it when you don’t pay them back. They take more than just a finger. They take your life, and it seems like Casius was next on their list.
What a shame. He had his whole life ahead of him.
If only he hadn’t been such a piece of shit.
I finish with the body and start on the few rug stains she left behind when she kept stabbing him, probably seeing the faces of the men who hurt her instead.
I get it more than she realizes. Sometimes, as I’d kill, I’d envision the nuns who beat me, the families who took me in for short periods of time, swearing to take care of me before they turned to monsters too.
My scars may be different, but they’re just as deep.
She clears her throat, her arms around herself, her silky hair draped over her shoulder. I long to feel it. Want to get lost inside her. To own every inch of her. To know that there’s a way to feel more…more of the feelings she brings out and less of the rage I’ve been born into.
“Are you sure you don’t want my help?” Her mouth flutters.
“No.” I shake my head. “Don’t want your DNA anywhere.”
Nodding, she says, “Thank you for helping me with this.”
Her eyes are doleful and down right sweet. She’s tempting me even as she does nothing but stand there.
I grow hard again at the sight of her, my cock throbbing and heavy, wanting to feel her pretty cunt clasp around it.
But I can’t fuck a woman who’s gone through what she has.
I can’t be the man to give her that. I can’t give her anything.
Nothing but my undying promise to always stay one step behind in case she needs me.
But then I realize she’s going to have a future. She may not know it yet. But she will one day, and I’ll still be there, watching.
But as long as she’s not wanting to fuck that bodyguard, I’ll be okay.
“Fucking liar.”
“What?” she asks, a puzzled look on her face.
Jesus, I’m talking to myself now.
“Nothing,” I mutter. “You should go home. He’s gonna be looking for you. I’m sure those pills you gave him won’t keep him down too long.”
Her body tugs back and she straightens her spine. “How did you know I gave him pills?”
When I don’t answer, she blows an exacerbated breath.
“You could make a woman crazy with your silence.”
“I’ve got news for you, babe. You’re already crazy.”
She scoffs, and for a moment, I think I’ve hurt her feelings, but then she bursts out laughing.
And I would die a thousand times over just to hear her laughter all over again.
KAYLA
He called me babe. My stalker called me babe.
Most girls would run, but me? I want to go back inside instead and ask him to call me that just one more time. I stayed as long as I could. Until he was practically done. Nothing left but getting the body into his car.
With a sigh, I walk faster. I’m almost back to my place, hoping Chris is still there sleeping, or I’ll have a lot of explaining to do.
Reaching my door, I find it quiet as I step inside. Nothing out of the ordinary. Relief washes over me. He would ruin everything. He’d tell Michael, and Michael would eventually tell Elsie that I’m up to something, and then my parents would find out. That would be the end of it all.
But I can’t quit this. I need it.
Reaching the bathroom in the hallway, I quietly flip the light on and shut the door. Staring at myself in the mirror, I barely recognize the woman staring back at me. How did she become this?
I’ve killed. And yet I want to do it again.
They may not be my enemies, but they’re someone’s. They’ve left behind victims just like me. Just like all the other women and children who were held like I was. Like Elsie and Jade were.
I do this for all of us—getting rid of those who should never have been born. All they’ve done is ruin the lives of those who did nothing to them, and now I take their lives away. And I’m not sorry about it.
Needing to force myself to get some sleep so I can actually wake up for classes tomorrow, I head toward where Chris is sleeping before I head upstairs to my bedroom.
But as I pass the sofa, my heartbeats explode.
Shit.
My eyes drown over the empty spot, the blanket lying haphazardly on the edge. He’s not here. But his car was. What the hell?
“Chris?” I call, my voice simmering with fear.
Nothing. I have no idea where he could be.
Quietly, I start to climb the stairs, the old wood groaning beneath my feet as I listen for any hints as to his whereabouts.
Wouldn’t he have called me? Tracked me? But there’s not a word from him.
Reaching into my duffel, I grab my phone and press a button to ring his number.
It goes off immediately.
From upstairs.
My body breaks in a shiver. The place is dark except for a small sliver of light coming from the outside window.
Once I make it up, I head for my bedroom, hoping that maybe he’s in there, but when I peer inside, I find it empty.
A series of small noises I can’t pinpoint comes from the bathroom, causing every hair on my body to rise. I turn toward it.
“Chris?”
Nothing.
Oh my God. What if A did something to him?
But how? He wouldn’t have had time to hurt him this quickly.
But we’re talking about A here. He is capable of anything.
I grab the door handle. But as I try, it flies open and Chris is there, hair damp, a towel wrapped around his hips, a simple white t-shirt over his chest. But even through it, I catch the way his abs contract.
A slow-growing smirk makes it to his lips, and when I look back at his eyes, the way I should’ve been, his smirk deepens.
“Hey there, Kayla. Where have you been?”
My stomach somersaults.
Think!
“I, uh…”
That’s not helping!
“Um, I went for a…walk. Needed to clear my head, and you were sleeping so soundly, I didn’t want to bother you.”
The words tumble out quickly, and I force a trembling smile, even though from the look of him, I don’t think he’s buying any of it.
“Mm-hmm…” He chuckles.
He doesn’t believe me.
Of course he doesn’t, ’cause he’s not an idiot!
“I woke up a bit ago and found you gone,” he explains with amusement flanking his features. “I did track your phone and you were close enough for me to come and get you if I needed to, so I let you be for a little bit. But next time, wake me. Okay? If something happens to you and I’m not there…”
He grabs my jaw, eyes boring into mine so intensely, all I want to do is look away. But I’m lost within them, not knowing why.
His jaw tenses, and he exhales deep from his nostrils. “Go to bed.” He straightens. “I’ll be on the sofa, and I’ll be up all night. So don’t try anything again.”
“Like what?”
“Kayla…” His tongue slips out and strikes across his bottom lip. “Do you think I don’t know when I’ve been drugged?”
Shit.
My pulse kicks up. “What? I—I didn’t—”
“Stop.” His tone is unforgiving, and I think his cock jerks beneath the towel, but I’m too fearful of his harsh expression to really notice. “I know you did it, and I’m not mad. Not really. I expected it.”
“You look kinda mad.” I grimace.
His laughter is like nails carving me on the inside. “Trust. Me.” He punctures those words. “This is me not mad. But I swear, you pull that again, and I’ll tell Michael to assign a second guard to your detail, then you’ll have more than one of us to deal with.”
That’s the last thing I need.
“Fine. I’m sorry, okay?” I throw a hand in the air. “I needed some time on my own. I hate being suffocated by people. Like I’m caged again. But I know what I did to you wasn’t right, and I am sorry.”
He nods, sighing deeply. “I get it. But don’t ever fuck with me like that again. If you want to be left alone, just tell me.”
“And you’d just be a good sport about it. Right…” I arch a brow.
“I’d take it under consideration, depending on where you’re going and if I’m able to track you, because that is my job.”
“Track me. Yes, of course. I always forget that I’m a child who needs tracking.”
“Kayla…”
I throw a palm up to stop him. “Don’t say anything else. It’s fine. I’m tired. Going to bed. Sorry for drugging you. Hope you slept well, at least.”
“Slept like a fucking baby.” He grins.
I turn on my heels and head for my bedroom. “You’re welcome.”
He laughs as I shut the door, pressing my back against the wall and calming my racing heartbeats.
I got away with it. He’s not mad, and he doesn’t know where I was and what I was doing.
Maybe I can do this. Maybe no one will know.
Or maybe I’m only fooling myself.
I guess we’ll find out.
ADRIEL
The next day, my mind is still racing with all things Kayla.
Watching her take the knife to that man’s body, feeling her in my arms, feeling her blood racing through her veins, knowing her heart was beating faster the more I held her…
it did things to me. Things I never even knew could exist for someone like me.
But her pain, I understand it. I feel it like it’s my own.
The things that were done to her are unforgiveable.
And if there was a way to bring them all back from the dead, I would.
Just so I could make them a sacrifice. For her.
I’d set her on top of her throne while they bled before her feet.
It’s what she deserves. But not all of them are alive for me to do that.
As for the ones who are? Well, they’re going to wish they weren’t.
Right now, one of my clients who has a brother in prison is passing him the names of four men who were part of the ones arrested for trafficking women.
Two of them are the same ones who took Kayla and her friends off the road.
The other two are businessmen who were caught using the club for their sick pleasures.
See, the thing with having the kind of business I do is I know a lot of people. And not all are clean. In fact, most are dirty. It’s why they want my products. To use them on their enemies. But having some of my most loyal clients in prison…well, it comes in handy.
Like now.
My cell rings. Just in time.
“Yeah?” I greet. “Is it done?”
“It is. Four days. He will deliver.”
I grin. “Good. Thank you.”
“No. Thank you. The added investment into the charity was a welcome surprise.”
“I do whatever I can.”
“That you do.” He laughs before ending the call.
I dial my friend Abel at the morgue next.
“Hey. Is it set?” he asks.
“It is. Expect it in four days.”
“I will see you then.”
He doesn’t question me before he hangs up. He knows what I do. He used to do the same. It’s how we met, aiming for the same target. But he gave it up a few years ago when he started working at the morgue. I think he still dabbles from time to time, just doesn’t tell me.
My mind focuses on why I’m doing this.
For her.
The play’s in motion. Now I sit and wait.