Aaron: Book Three (Scars 3) (11 page)

So
many people think that their home is a safe place to be. But walls, a roof, and
even a gate‒they are never enough to keep someone out. If a person wants
to get into your house, if they want to get to
you,
then nothing will
stop them.

Luca’s home‒that structure that
was built to resemble his power or cock size‒had every security measure,
from a bodyguard to alarms and cameras. But Luca underestimated everyone. He
thought that his name alone should protect him and make any man piss himself in
fear. When his family weren’t home, he just had one of his men there. As for
alarms and cameras, they wouldn’t do any good, because I was just going to walk
right up to the front door in the open.

Rachel raised an eyebrow at me when I
said that. She was expecting some kind of covert operation, but that wasn’t how
I worked. Simple was best. She had dressed in dark pants and a sweater that
hugged her figure and made me want to bend her over and take her right there
and then. Her bright hair was fastened back at the nape of her neck like she
was ready for a fight. She wouldn’t have to do anything though. She was merely
there as a decoy. Luca wouldn’t think that I’d bring her with me if I meant him
harm.

He didn’t know me at all.

We parked right in front of the house. I
knew he was home and I knew there was only one of his men with him. I had my
own guy who could hack into security systems. Nothing was infallible. I looked
at Rachel before we exited the car. I could have left her there, or maybe I
shouldn’t have been taking her with me at all. If everything turned to shit,
Luca would claim her as his until he bored of her, and as fond as Antony was of
her, he wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop him.

Shit. I resisted the urge to bang my
hand against the steering wheel. I was being weak again. Never have doubts.
That was my rule. Anything else got you into trouble. Rachel was here. She
belonged to me and she needed to be strong. If I had to be running around
protecting her, then I would be ineffective and pathetic. I wouldn’t let her
suck my strength away.

“Let’s go.” I got out of the car just as
John, Luca’s man, came out to greet us. He forced a smile, and I gave him one
right back.

“Aaron,” he greeted with fake joviality,
“we weren’t expecting you.” The wariness in his eyes nearly gave me a hard on.
He knew not to fuck with me, but he would if it meant protecting his boss. He
was nothing. He was just something that I could squash beneath my foot like an
annoying bug.

I flashed him my best grin. “Good to see
you. We just got back from vacation and thought I’d see the boss man first
before heading home.”

Rachel was just behind me and his eyes
raked down her body like she was a piece of meat. Lucky him. He got to see
something beautiful before he died. Not all men had that pleasure.

“Come on in. He’s in his office.” He
indicated toward the entranceway.

“Thanks.” I casually walked past him and
through the open door. Mine and Rachel’s footsteps were dull on the marble
floor, his were much louder. He had yet to learn the art of walking softly. It
was always better not to be detected until the very last moment. I led the way
to Luca’s study and tried to suppress the excitement that was building in me. I
needed to be cool and calm, but it was hard not to enjoy the buzz of knowing
that I was about to destroy the biggest psycho that I knew.

I laughed out loud and felt Rachel’s and
John’s eyes on me. I just turned and winked at them. John looked worried, but
Rachel, her eyes were unreadable. All emotion had left her. What was going on
in that head of hers? Did she trust me?

I turned away from her as we came to the
door of the study. John moved in front of me to knock on the door. It was a
farce. Luca knew we were there. He pushed it open and then stepped back so we
could enter.

Luca sat there, watching us from under
hooded eyes. His mouth smiled but, as usual, it didn’t reach his eyes. They
moved slightly to my left, to study Rachel in her dark finery that hid her
muscle and her strength.

“Aaron.” His eyes still lingered on her
for a moment longer before switching to me. “We thought that you had vanished.
What were you hiding from?”

My smile was smooth. “I don’t hide,
Luca.”

He shrugged. “Call it what you want, but
I don’t appreciate my men disappearing when I’ve got work to do.”

I wasn’t his man and he knew it. I would
never show the fear disguised as loyalty that motivated all the others.

“I’m here now.”

He leaned forward and set his elbows on
his desk, resting his chin on his hands. “It might be too late. I don’t like to
be disappointed.”

“That was never my intention.” I hoped
that I looked suitably contrite.

“Perhaps it wasn’t, but I don’t like to
give second chances, even for you.” His voice stayed the same, showing no
change in emotion.

Now was the time. He was playing with
me, now it was my turn to join in the game. “I have no desire to end our
working relationship. I’m sure that I could make it up to you somehow.”

“Really? How?”

“A gift.” I reached out and grabbed
Rachel’s wrist. It seemed so thin as I curled my hand around it, as if I could
break every bone there if only I squeezed. I pulled her forward in front of me,
her eyes widened as her mouth twisted.

“Aaron‒” she began, rage forming
on her face as realization struck her. Quickly, I clamped my hand over her
mouth and pulled her hard against my chest, positioning my arms in such a way
that her head was caught. She froze. She understood what I could do to her in
this way. None of the self defense techniques that I had schooled her in would
do her any good.

I lowered my mouth to her ear. “I could
snap your neck in an instant like this and you know it. You’ve been too
disobedient for too long. I thought that I could break you and train you, but
you’re just too goddamned defiant for your own good. You brought this on
yourself, Rachel.”

I let my hand drop from her mouth but
still kept my tight hold on her head. “My name’s Paige, you fucking
psychopath,” she rasped through gritted teeth.

“It doesn’t matter now. None of it
matters.” I looked up at Luca. “Well? She’s fun to play with, I’ll give her
that. She’s got a killer body.” I let a hand run down her like she was meat.
“You should just hear her beg. It’ll nearly move your heart.”

Luca’s face was still and then he
laughed. “I don’t need you to give her to me, Aaron. I can just take her, but I
appreciate the thought. I really do. Now hand her over to John.” He had reached
into a drawer and pulled out his gun. It now rested on the desk in front of
him. I hadn’t brought mine. There was no point. John would have taken it before
I could get inside the house. Not that it mattered. I didn’t need it.

I paused for a moment and then gave her
a push toward the man. John caught her with ease, grinning down at her and
probably hoping that his boss would let him have a go with her when he tired of
her and before he killed her. She didn’t bother to struggle and just stood
there in his hold, staring at me with hate. It was a look that I was used to.

“Come on,” I implored Luca. “Surely this
offer buys me some time. She was special to me. This pains me.”

He chuckled. “Go lock her in the bedroom,”
he told John. “I’ll be there shortly. Actually, get her ready for me. She looks
like a hellcat.”

“Sure.” He dragged her along with him as
he left, casting one last wary look at me before he went. He didn’t think that
he would ever see me again, but he was stupid. I was all about
self-preservation.

“Well, what else have you got to bargain
with, Aaron?” John and Rachel had disappeared through the door and I turned my
full attention to the man in front of me.

I gave him a wry smile. “That’s it, I
guess. She was it.”

“It’s very sad when a man makes his life
around a woman. It makes him weak. It makes him forget to keep his eye on the
prize.”

“Thanks for the philosophy lesson.”

“I expected better of you, Aaron. I
really did.”

I shook my head. “No you didn’t.
Everyone’s disposable and no one’s to be trusted. I know how you think; we’re
the same in that regard. Except I have one thing that you don’t.”

I took a step closer but he didn’t seem
alarmed, such was his arrogance.

“What was that? You won’t have it for
much longer.”

I moved. The knife was out of my boot
before he could even pick up the gun. I slammed it into his throat. The sharp
blade bit into him with ease, stuck there up to the hilt while blood poured
around it like a waterfall.

His eyes went so wide. It was the most
surprise that I had seen in him in all my years of doing his dirty work. Blood
poured from his mouth and he stayed upright as gurgling sounds came from his
throat.

I pulled up a chair and watched as he
just sat there, helplessly, unable to do anything but wait to die.

“You wanna know what I’ve got that you
don’t?” I asked him softly.

But it was too late, he died. I leaned
back in my chair and let out a slight laugh at my handiwork. It was impressive.
I only admired my work for a moment and then I got to my feet. I wondered what
his wife would care more about‒her dead husband or the stain on the
carpet?

I left his corpse and walked down the
hallway, which bedroom would John have taken her to? The marital? It would be
just like Luca to take his latest fuck into the bedroom that he shared with his
wife.

It was a good guess.

John hadn’t even bothered to pull the
door closed. It lay wide open, exposing the imposing suite with its massive bed
and mirrored furniture to anyone who may pass by. Of course, the only thing
that should be hiding would be the girl. A fire burned, its flames reflected
tenfold in the mirrors.

He hadn’t undressed her but had managed
to harness her to the bed, just like I had so long ago. She sat up by the
headboard with her knees bent while her wrists were secured on either side of
her. There was fire in her eyes, and it was aimed at me. John stood awkwardly
at the side of the bed unsure of what to do for his boss next. He didn’t notice
me, but she did. It felt like her eyes were going to burn into me. I sucked in
a breath, almost spellbound by her for a moment. It felt good. It may have been
hatred, but it felt good just to have her feeling for me, and it didn’t matter
if it were good or bad.

The room was dark with only the fire and
lamps to light it.

“John,” she spoke suddenly in a calm and
cool voice. “We have a
visitor
.”

He spun to face me, eyes wide with
surprise. “I shoulda fucking known,” he said shakily.

“Yeah, you should have,” and then I
pounced before he could even reach for a weapon. Quick stabs at his torso had
him falling at my feet in a pool of blood. It would take him a while to die,
but that didn’t matter. He didn’t matter to anyone anymore.

When I turned to her, her eyes were
still firmly fixed on me. “You’re pure evil.”

“What?” I began to cut at her bindings
with my bloody knife. “You think that I was really going to sacrifice you to
get back into Luca’s good books?”

“I think that you’ll always do whatever
it takes to get what you want. It’s what makes you a psychopath.” She pulled
her wrists together, rubbing them before moving from the bed. There was no
point arguing with her. I bent down and wiped the knife clean on the dying man
at my feet before turning and offering it to her, hilt first.

She frowned. “What’s this for?”

“For you. Now’s your chance. If you really
want me dead, I’m giving you the opportunity here and now to give it your best
shot.”

“What kind of trick is this?”

“No trick. You want me gone. Here’s your
opportunity.” I stretched my arms out wide. “Here I am.”

She took it from me, turning her gaze to
it, stroking the bone hilt before turning it to examine the blade. In the light
of the lamps and the fire, her eyes burned. I saw a lust for death, for
destruction, and revenge.

She’d never looked more beautiful. Her
hair hung in graceful long locks to frame her face. She was regal, she was
graceful…she was the maiden of death; the reaper’s wife.

The knife caught the light, reflecting
it so it bounced around the room, imitating the flames of the fire that burned
in the hearth.

With grace, she ran her finger lightly
along the blade. Blood sprouted yet she didn’t even hiss.

“You ruined my life.” Her voice was cool
and calm, deep with beauty. “It’s time for revenge.”

I should have felt fear. The power was
all hers, to take as far as she wished, but all I felt was admiration as I
watched her, mesmerized.

She was ice, she was stone.

Ultimately, she was power.

It took me a moment to gain my voice.
“Bullshit. You fucked with my brain so often that you made yourself mine. This
is what you wanted.”