95 | I don't fucking lose
The forest is a black void around the warehouse. Its rusted walls loom like a tomb. The same place I once broke Aurelia's mother who's now dead.
I didn't want Aurelia here, didn't want her eyes on this filth, this blood. But she insisted. Her voice steady. Her golden eyes burning with a strength that fucking owns me.
So I brought her here.
My hand is on her lower back, guiding her out of the car, and heading towards the warehouse that is protected with bodyguards.
We step inside as the air is cold, but reeking of rust and fear.
Leonardo's tied to a chair, a black gag ball stuffed in his mouth. His face a mess of bruises while blood crusting his swollen eyes.
I feel nothing for him. No pity. Just a cold, burning need to make him pay.
"This is Ciara's dad," I tell her. My hand still on Aurelia's back, grounding her. "Your mom's old bodyguard. The one she loved."
Aurelia's eyes widen, shock flashing. But there's no fear. No pity. Just a hardness. A fire that mirrors mine.
I lead her to a chair as she sits down. My suit jacket slips off my shoulders and I drape it over her shoulders, shielding her from the chill, from this place's rot.
I step back and pull on my black gloves. My movements slow, deliberate, but my eyes are on her. Always her.
"What do you want me to do to him, love?" I ask, my voice a dark caress. Offering her his fate like a gift. "You can tell me to kill him right now. Cut his dick off. Whatever you want. It's yours."
She swallows hard. Her throat bobbing. But her eyes don't waver.
"I want him to feel pain," she says.
And fuck, it's like a spark to my blood. Her darkness twining with mine. Making me hers in ways I can't even name.
I smirk, something dark and vicious curling in me before I nod to a guard.
"Bring the table," I order, my voice cold. Final.
The guard moves, dragging a long metal table into the dim light. And there is Ciara. Her body laid out. Cold. Lifeless. Her white dress stained red. Her blonde hair matted. Her eyes dull. Empty.
Leonardo's muffled scream rips through the gag. His body thrashing, tears streaming, his heart breaking.
And I feel nothing but satisfaction. Because this is for her. For Aurelia.
"You see your daughter?" I ask him, stepping close. My gloved hand gripping his jaw, forcing his eyes to Ciara's corpse. "That's what happens when you fuck with my wife."
He sobs, choking. And I glance at Aurelia. Her face unreadable but strong. She's watching me without flinching.
And I love her so fucking much it hurts.
I grab a knife from the guard. Its blade glinting. And start slow. Slicing shallow cuts across Leonardo's chest. Blood welling. His muffled screams music to my darkness.
"This is for the car accident," I say, cutting deeper, his body jerking. "For trying to take her from me."
I move to his fingers, snapping one. Then another, and another.His cries are hoarse, desperate. But I'm calm, precise. Every act a vow to her.
Aurelia watches as her hands are clenched, but her eyes are still on me. Her love fueling me.
I start to carve his arm slowly, blood dripping to the floor, and whisper, "This is for every time you helped Ciara hurt my wife."
He's breaking. His sobs pathetic in the air.
I step back and head to grab a hammer before returning to him.
My lips curled into a dark, dangerous smile. As I drag the hammer along his jaw, just enough to taste his fear."She cries because of you. You die because of me."
I smash his right knee, the crack echoing inside the warehouse as his body slumps on the chair.
Pain is his only world.
I glance back at Aurelia, my heart pounding, my love a fucking monster.
"More?" I ask her, my voice low. Offering her his life. His pain. His death.Everything.
She nods. A single, sharp motion.
And I grin again. A slow grin spreads across my face because she's mine. And for her, I'll reduce this bastard to nothing but smoke and ash.
I get rid of the hammer, throwing it on the ground and grab a blade ready to cut deeper, to make him beg, to make him nothing, like cutting his daughter's body into pieces.
Because Aurelia is my eternity. My blood. My fucking forever. And no one touches what's mine.
To touch my wife is to challenge death itself. And I promise, I. Don't. Fucking. Lose.