Page 33 of Madness

A day later, the words were still ringing in my ears. Banging around my head. It surprised me to hear as much as it did for her to say.

I don’t think she meant to be that honest with me. To give me more power over her. I was so shocked I didn’t even play with her. We’d finished dinner, and I had Tristan take her home. I’d pondered this new information about her all night.

The little dove wanted to die. She was right; I could kill her. I’d killed more people than I could count. I’d never killed anyone I fucked before, but that was mostly because they’d never given me a reason.

I had the image of my hand wrapped around her throat while I buried my cock into her tight cunt. Her body squeezing as I choked the life out of her. I’d fill her body with my cum as she struggled for her last breath. My cock tightened in my pants as the image burned behind my eyes.

Would she fight me then? Would she want to live when she realized it was over?

Maybe that’s how this would all end for us. Maybe I wouldn’t break her, but kill her. The thought bothered me even as it turned me on. I wasn’t ready to kill her yet. I wasn’t done playing with my new toy.

I thought over a hundred ways I wanted to hurt her, break her, kill her, as I leaned on the railing overlooking the lake. The sun was just beginning to set as I waited for my contact. The waves crashed violently below, mirroring my mind. A violent lake most would drown in. But Kincaid seemed to be surviving for now.

In addition to gathering the weaknesses of all our enemies, I also gathered informants. Some were forced to work with me. Pushed by what I held over their heads. While others came freely. Wanting our protection or wanting to feel our power.

My eyes tracked a man in his late fifties as he walked towards me. He was dressed in jeans and a leather jacket. His hair was graying at the temples, and his face spoke of someone who’d been living this life for too long. He was weathered.

He ran a pawn shop that was actually a place for stolen goods. He also helped connect people. He always had an ear to the ground. To what was happening in the city. It had saved his life a time or two. Most weren’t willing to come after him anymore.

“You have information for me, Mike.” It wasn’t a question he’d called for this meeting.

“There’s a rat in the Vancini house.” His voice was rough from the multiple packs of cigarettes he smoked daily.

A rat? Who would be dumb enough to betray us? It would be the last thing they did. We took disloyalty seriously. It was certain death. Even if they managed to escape us, the other Italian families wouldn’t put up with it. If you could be a rat to one family, you would be a rat to another.

“What can you tell me about them?” I asked, fighting to keep my voice cool, but an inferno raged inside me. My fists tightened at my side, wanting to crush whoever thought they could turn against us. There might be other families and players in the city. But we were at the top. We ran it. To cross us was to spit in our faces. It was a slight. A question of our power.

“They’re close to the inner circle. The information is good. More than a common guard or man for hire.”

I pondered the possibilities. Constantine had been slacking. I didn’t think he was the rat, but I wouldn’t put it past one of his men. He was a weakness. His attention had been split lately, a fact he thought I hadn’t noticed. Nothing slipped by my eyes. I would start with his men.

My monsters rattled inside me. Fury and the chance for violence making them roar to life. We might have a rat, but I would enjoy hunting him down. Torturing him for answers. I would rip him limb from limb for thinking he could outsmart me.

I pulled an envelope from my pocket. Our agreed-upon amount if his information was useful. Mike didn’t dishonor me by opening the envelope to confirm the amount. Smart man.

“I also thought he’d like this.” I handed him the ring I’d cut from my would-be assassin’s finger.

Mike smiled for the first time since he’d arrived. He had a weakness for frogs. It was a weird obsession I liked to indulge for him. If his information was good, I’d often include a little something extra for him. Loyalty wasn’t built on fear alone. It was best to keep him close if I didn’t want him spilling our secrets to someone else.

I turned to walk away when Mike’s voice slowed my steps.

“I heard you took out some hotshot lawyer recently. What did he do to piss you off?”

I smiled at the thought of Kincaid’s ex. Of the pain, I’d caused him. Revenge for making her feel like she was wrong. That her desire for pain should be hidden.

“He kicked a dove.”

Mike’s laugh followed after me.

Darkness started to descend. The sounds of the day fading as the night came out to play. I knew just where to look to find my new toy.

19

Kincaid

Istared at my reflection in my bathroom mirror, trying to figure out who I was. I didn’t feel like the same person anymore. The girl who’d given up her life to have her mom for a few more months. The one who read steamy books in the privacy of her home. The one who dreamed that a handsome, wealthy billionaire would save her.

All that was before. Before Maddox had come into my life. Now I was the girl who was disappointed when a demon didn’t inflict pain and pleasure on her.