Page 23 of Lord of Ruin
“Let’s just call me your savior.”
“I don’t want to do this. You can’t take this away from me. I won’t let you.”
“Understandable but you need to make the choice right now if you want to live or not. And that’s the only choice you get at this point.” The flash of comprehension was immediate but so was her continued anger.
“What about my clinic? What about my apartment? You’re crazy. You’re… a killer.” The last two words were said almost in passing, as if the fog she’d been in had suddenly lifted.
Christos returned with her purse, still staring at me with amusement on his face as he handed Jenna her bag. She continued to try to pull away. The woman was frustrating as fuck and needed a shock of reality. Call me an asshole for doing so but at this point, I couldn’t care.
“Take a look, Jenna. Take a goddamn look at the asshole lying there. See the blood? See the tattoo? That man was sent to rape and kill you or take you to some even worse people where they would have enjoyed toying with you, torturing you in ways you have no understanding of to get what they wanted. Information you don’t have but they were certain you do. He was nothing but a fucking mercenary, a man hired to a do a job with no remorse, no emotion whatsoever. He’s like a fucking machine. But he’s just one in a massive army.”
“Fuck you! Why are you trying to scare me? Why?” she hissed, the girl full of fire and brimstone. However, I had a feeling I wasn’t far off about sending someone else. How she’d been made a target so quickly meant I’d likely been followed.
“Because you need to be afraid. That’s the only way you’re going to understand this shit is serious.”
She cinched her eyes shut, shaking all over. “Serious. This is all about you. You’re a fucking monster, a killer as well. You’re right. I should be and I am afraid. But this is my place of business, my life. I worked so hard.” Her voice started to falter as reality finally tore away at the initial shock. Goddamn it, all I wanted to do was pull her into a tight hold. What the hell was wrong with me?
I rubbed my jaw. I wasn’t used to bringing a captive into my world. Then again, I also wasn’t used to being led into a maze of bullshit either.
“Look, I’ll have my Capo lock up after we leave. It will be okay. Your apartment will be there when you return. Your business will be here as well.” I gave Christos a look and my second in command rolled his eyes. We were both out of our element here. I worked damn hard not to have a civilian get in the way. I’d been careless, allowing my anger to get the better of me.
Goddamn this shit.
As if returning her back to her life in a week or a month would make any difference. She’d been identified as a weakness, someone special to me. The target on her back was huge, but I sensed terrifying her more than I already had would have more of a detrimental effect than helping to make her more compliant. However, at some point she’d need to be told the truth. There was no possibility of returning Jenna to her life, but it was something else I had no intention of breaking to her until I had her safely locked away in my house.
In Philadelphia.
Far removed from her home.
Why the fuck had my luck turned to shit so quickly? And what the fuck was I going to do with her once I had her safely locked away? Suddenly, another light bulb went off in her eyes, another rush of rage that defied all logic.
“Oh, my fucking God. Your Capo. You’re mafia. You’re more of a monster than the other guy was.”
“Very good, sweetheart, but monsters come in all shapes and sizes. Now, we’re getting the fuck out of here before we have company, the kind that you won’t like.” Giving her no choice, I dragged her toward the door. While I didn’t pull out my weapon in case her screams had been heard by anyone else but me, I nodded toward Christos who growled under his breath.
“I need the keys to lock up,” Christos told her.
She furrowed her brow before turning her head in the man’s direction. “Bastards. You’re both bastards.”
I popped her on the butt once to jar her into action. “The keys.” Not a single person had ever challenged me this way. It intrigued me as much as it infuriated me. Maybe I’d been living in a protected environment too long. She was willing to die to protect her hard work. It was insane to me but admirable.
There was something rather adorable about her grumble, the way she cursed under her breath as she dug into her purse. When she handed my second in command the keys, her entire arm was shaking.
Just being here was dangerous, more so than I’d originally thought. The moment I’d suspected who the hell Viktor had been talking about, I’d jumped into the driver’s seat, pushing pedal to the metal in order to get here. My gut had never been wrong. Something had told me I should have taken her the night before. Why the fuck I hadn’t was beyond me.
Other than not once had I been forced to take an innocent person away from his or her life. I was a bad guy, of that there was no doubt, but even I had my scruples. I didn’t broadcast them for the same reason I didn’t want to share my life with anyone. It simply wasn’t a good idea in the world I lived in.
Granted, somehow my brother had made it work, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t worried constantly or didn’t have guards assigned to his wife at all times. What the hell was I thinking? I might be attracted to this woman, but I had the distinct feeling she’d gut me one night in my sleep. At least the thought brought a smile to my face.
After locking the door and handing her back the thick ring of keys, Christos remained in front of us, ready on a split second’s notice to kill anyone who approached. Unfortunately, any one of the hundreds of people on this particular street could be working for Viktor. What I’d learned about the Russians was that they couldn’t care less about the loss of innocent lives when starting a gunfight in the middle of a bright day.
Thankfully, we made it to the SUV without incident, but as soon as my cousin threw open the back door, it was as if Jenna was pulled out of her state of lethargy and shock. She surprised me with her quick actions, managing to jerk away from me with ease. However, my reactions were almost as quick as hers. Before she had a chance to cry out for help, I slapped my hand across her mouth and nose, squeezing until I knew she’d have some difficulty breathing.
I wrapped my other arm around her waist, pulling her against the heat of my body as I nuzzled my face into her hair next to her ear. “Be a good girl, Jenna. I don’t think you’re ready for another round of punishment but I will be happy to provide one to you. Now, you’re getting in without causing a scene.”
The moment I took my hand away by just a few inches, I was certain she was going to bite my finger.
“Bastard,” she huffed but didn’t fight me as I shoved her into the backseat.