Chapter 8
Alexander
Failure.
I’d felt the strong emotion once in my life, quickly squelching it because no one from the Durante family ever admitted failure to anyone.
Sadly, the stark cold shifting through me brought the ugliness to the forefront all over again.
Daniel had been right. Dahlia had tried to kill us not as a professional assassin, but all on her own for very personal reasons.
Hired killers had no emotion of any kind about their marks, let alone any remorse.
The lovely girl with striking dark blonde hair and eyes the color of lilacs that could drive a stake through a man’s heart was walking a thin line, inching closer to the edge of a cliff but she didn’t seem to care.
She had no real disregard for her safety, but her conviction remained strong.
There wasn’t a muscle in my body that wasn’t tense.
My cock was also hard as a damn rock, aching to the point I needed to shift it in order to find some sense of relief.
What I’d prefer doing was vile, exactly what a man like me would be suspected of doing, taking her like some freaking barbarian.
“How long are you planning on keeping her hanging there?” Daniel snarled as he walked closer.
“The last time I checked, dear Daniel, you agreed to the different booby traps. This one in particular was your idea.” I could sense he was close to the edge as well, unused to the antics we’d performed on a regular basis years before. The man had cleaned up his act, turning into a viable citizen.
“We aren’t leaving her there all night,” Brogan insisted.
I turned my head toward him, more surprised at his reaction than Daniel’s.
“I have no desire to leave her there for long, gentlemen. I only want her to begin to understand what a predicament she is in. We are her only hope of getting off this island. Once she becomes compliant, the booby traps can be shoved aside.”
“You’re assuming she’s going to obey us, providing whatever information we ask. I have my doubts.” Brogan moved closer to the edge of the trees, folding his arms and taking an aggressive stance.
“If she doesn’t, then she’ll be punished continuously.”
My answer obviously pissed Daniel off. He shifted to move in front of me within seconds.
“We’ve done a lot of shit in the past I’m not proud of, but torturing women was never one of them. We’re not going to start now. Do you fucking hear me?”
I locked eyes with his, nodding once. “Do you really believe that’s my intention?”
“I wouldn’t put anything past you, Alexander. I thought you were monstrous thirteen years ago. You’re worse than before.” Daniel huffed and walked away, cursing under his breath.
“She has viable information that we all agreed we would find out from her. Need I remind you that at least two of us were threatened prior to attempts made on our lives?” I laughed softly.
Daniel shook his head. “I searched my personal phone. I also received the same message. This is definitely about Garrison.”
“She’ll talk. It’s all in how we handle her.
We need to find out her connection to Garrison,” Brogan snarled.
While his idea was understandable, I doubted she’d confide that information to us any more than she would her name.
Perhaps she’d been a girlfriend we weren’t aware of.
No, that didn’t make any sense either. She was far too young.
“Then we will. However, she needs punishment for what she put us through,” Daniel said with a slight growl to his voice.
I laughed, although the sound was hollow. “Yes, she does.”
“You said the car she used was a rental?” Brogan asked, turning his attention to Daniel.
He nodded as he rubbed his jaw. “Yeah. That much I was able to find out, but she used the name of Dahlia Black to rent it.”
“Which means she found a way to obtain false identification, which sounds like a pro or a girl who’s read too many crime novels.” I mused over my own thought. “And you found nothing else in the car?”
“Not a thing, which was why I had one of your goons take it to whatever location they could find in order to search it thoroughly. I doubt she’s from DC. The reason is because the GPS was set in the car, the origination coming from somewhere close to the airport.”
I nodded several times. “I’ll have my… goons report. If she was from out of town, she stayed in a hotel. At a minimum, she needed somewhere to stash her plane ticket.”
“Unless it was all done electronically,” Brogan suggested.
“Maybe, but I’m going on the assumption she planned on laying low, spending the night then flying out in the morning. I’ll have them check the hotels near the airport. Someone has seen her.” I yanked out my phone, glaring at the screen. “I need to get back to the house in order to make the call.”
“I’ll remain with her and when I decide she’s had enough, I’ll bring her back to the main house.” Brogan’s offer was laced with more need than I’d seen in his past. He liked the girl, maybe too much.
Then again, what the hell was I thinking? I’d had lurid and vivid dreams of her since the incident. I’d hungered to the point even today my cock ached.
“Remember, Brogan, she did try and kill us.” I could tell my suggestion fell on deaf ears.
“But she didn’t. I’ve known a lot of killers in my time with the CIA. While some are truly accidental, those who plan them are cold and calculated. Dahlia is neither. She’s no more of a killer than the girl next door.” Daniel turned his head toward me, giving me a hard stare.
“And you need to remember that even the girl next door can snap. There isn’t a single person alive who hasn’t treaded near that fine line.
” I shifted my gaze toward Brogan then turned around and walked away.
What I couldn’t tell the other two was that she’d already awakened something inside of me that I believed was impossible.
My balls tightened just thinking about her.
The taste of her lips and the intoxicating scent of her feminine wiles. I’d been the only one to see her exquisite body, to have my cock shoved deep inside and wanted more, so much so that I was willing to forgive her threats and her attempts at ending my life.
I continued walking and all I could do was laugh. Maybe I’d finally met a woman as devious as I was.
Imagine that. A match made in heaven.
Or hell.
* * *
Brogan
We were playing with fire, the kind that would ultimately burn the three of us in the fire pits of hell.
I’d anticipated that happening, only I hadn’t predicted it would be because of a woman so pure and innocent that her aura had a warm glow.
The thought was ridiculous of course considering she had almost been successful in killing me.
I hadn’t been immune to the concept, several attempts made on my life while I’d been locked away like an animal. However, the bastards who’d tried had quickly learning it hadn’t been in their best interests to fuck with me.
My gut told me we couldn’t keep her, but my mind was playing tricks on me, taking me back to another place and time when I’d been at the happiest point in my life.
Then as with anything good that had ever occurred in my life, it had all come crashing down, the ravaging flames leaving internal scars that would never leave.
And they shouldn’t be allowed to.
“Who is she?” Daniel asked, more to himself than to me.
“I don’t know. Garrison wasn’t close to anyone. He hated his father and there was no one else in his family that I can remember.” While my answer was correct, the gnawing at my gut remained. There was something familiar about the girl I couldn’t place.
“No. His father is still alive but had nothing to do with him after his arrest, given it would taint his illustrious career. From what I remember, his mother died before he came to the university.”
“Maybe a pen pal in prison,” I suggested.
“Possibly. Garrison didn’t talk about women. Hell, the kid didn’t talk much at all. I don’t know what that brutal father of his did to him, but it altered his personality. He always seemed timid, caring, but extremely quiet.”
“You forget he turned into a killer.”
Daniel turned and looked at me. “Maybe Alexander is right, and everyone has the capability.”
“You should know that better than any of us.”
He laughed. “Because I’m a glorified cop?”
“Because you were always the good kid. Straight A’s and good reports from teachers. We were the fuck-ups.”
“You obviously weren’t paying that close of attention or choose not to remember what I’d proven myself capable of.” He shot another look through the trees. “I don’t know about you, but I could use a drink.”
“I’ll stay here like I said. I’m not waiting until nightfall. She has to be pretty scared.”
“Maybe that will help loosen her lips. Did she really help you earn a lot of money?”
“Over two hundred K. Of course, I never turned in the voucher.” I shook my head. “Biggest score of my damn life and I forgot to cash it in. Maybe when we return. All she had to do was blow on the dice. I couldn’t believe it. You know, I thought we had a real connection.”
“So I understand from Alexander. Maybe she is nothing more than an excellent con artist.”
Exhaling, I finally nodded. “Maybe so.”
He started to turn away then stopped. “I’m sorry you spent so many years behind bars. I should have intervened.”
“You couldn’t have done anything, buddy. I did it to myself.”
“But a barroom brawl?”
“This asshole was trying to rape a girl in the bathroom. I stopped it. Beat the guy a little too hard.” I couldn’t tell him the entire truth. What good would it do other than further his hatred of Alexander?
“Whew. You’re a free man now. Just remember that.”
I turned my head, watching him walk away. I’d already thought about that. I’d made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t get involved in any shady shit or care about anyone for the rest of my damn life. Yet here I was, attracted to a woman who wanted me dead. I sure knew how to pick ‘em.