Aaron: Book Three (Scars 3) (7 page)

I held my
breath, waiting for her to grip it tightly and dig her nails into my flesh. I
must have flinched as with an agonizing calmness, she lifted her head to look
up at me. “What do you want me to do right now, Aaron?” Her voice was so soft;
it was so wrong.

“I want you to
stop acting like a whore.” The harshness in my voice only served to make her
seductive and nasty little smile widen.

She shook her
head. “I don’t think so. I think you like the whore. You keep telling yourself
that it’s the Madonna who you want but it’s always been the whore who has
attracted you. You couldn’t have the Madonna, the good girl, the virgin,
because she would turn to stone under your hands.”

I let out a
laugh. “Been reading the Bible?”

“I know you,
Aaron. Now, tell me what you want?” Her voice was as hard as her eyes and I
gazed down at her for just a moment before answering.

“I want your
mouth on my cock.”

“No,” she
snapped. “Don’t say want. That’s not good enough. Say ‘need’. Say ‘I
need
your
mouth on my cock.’” 

I laughed again.
“It would be a lie, though. I don’t need you, honey.”

She gently moved
her hand along my hard dick and it was difficult not to let out a groan of
impatience. “I think you’re the one whose lying, Aaron. Just say it. It won’t
cost you anything,” she coaxed.

We both knew
that wasn’t true though.

We kept staring
at each other, until finally she lowered her head and I thought that she would
cover my cock with that mouth of hers, but she didn’t. She let go of me and
stood. “I need a shower,” she muttered as she turned away. I opened my mouth to
call after her but then closed it again.

I made sure that she was asleep before I
went to bed. If she moved or spoke, I probably would have held her down and
tormented her body until all she wanted was my dick inside of her. But I
didn’t. I just slid in beside her sleeping form, careful not to touch her,
although it was hard not to.

As I lay there,
staring up into the dark, the woman took up most of my thoughts. I imagined
killing her and seeing her collapse from a gunshot wound that she didn’t see
coming. Stupid bitch. Didn’t she realize that I was her God? Her life and that
of her sons was in my hands and at the mercy of my whims. They would die how
and when I chose…

What are you
waiting for, Aaron?

“Shit.” I thrust
the sheets aside and swung my legs from the bed. It was time to talk to Antony.
I dressed and left the house without waking Rachel. When I drew up to his
house, the men standing guard outside gave me a nod before letting me through.
It was late, but Antony was still entertaining.

It was a red
head this time. Large breasted and with a generous ass, she was spread over his
sofa wearing a skin tight dress while Antony sat opposite her, drinking in the
sight.

“Got a moment?”

His head twisted
toward me. His eyes were wide with surprise. “Aaron. Crap. What the hell are
you doing here?”

I looked at the
woman. “You need to go.”

She sat up,
looking pissed and pulling her dress up at the front before looking expectantly
at Antony, who sighed. “Sweetheart, why don’t you go upstairs to the bedroom?
I’ll be there soon.”

“Fine,” she
huffed, as if she thought that she would be anything more than a one night
stand. She teetered past me in her stilettos, leaving a trail of sickly perfume
in her wake.

“What is it?
It’s late.”

I didn’t take a
seat. “I went to take care of your little job today.”

He raised an
eyebrow. “Yeah? I thought you said that you were taking care of it next week.”

I took a step
closer to him. He was drunk, although he was doing a good job of hiding it.

“I was just
doing a little reconnaissance. I found something out though. She knew that I
worked for your family. She knew why I was there.”

He looked sick
for a moment, paling, and then he slung the rest of his drink down his throat
and let out a chuckle. “How did you let her get that close to you? You must be
losing your touch.”

I stayed still.
“Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”

He shrugged. “You
don’t need to know that. You just need to get rid of her. Make her disappear,
the boys too. It’s what you’re good at.”

He was
dismissing me, and my lips flicked up into a smile at his gall. “You know what?
I don’t like doing shit behind Luca’s back. It could make things end badly for
me in the long run.”

He pressed his
lips together and his hand tightened on his glass. “They need to be gone. Are
you going to do it or should I find someone else?” The coldness in his tone
wasn’t customary. It was saved for those he was forced to deal with in unsavory
ways.

My mouth twisted
into a smile. Fuck him. I could match his coldness. He was a fucking child
compared to me. “Oh, no, I’ll do it all right. But the woman’s kind of mouthy.
I might need to teach her a lesson first.”

Antony’s mask
dropped. “Don’t, Aaron. Just let it be quick and painless.”

“Start talking.”

He sighed and
poured himself another drink. His hand was shaking. “She’s Luca’s wife.”

I raised an
eyebrow. That was surprising.

“She was the
first wife.”

“And her sons?”

He shook his
head. “They’re not his. They’re mine, maybe…” He trailed off while I barked out
a laugh.

“Killing your
own children. Shit. You really do have a ruthless side. And sleeping with your
brother’s wife. Well…”

“I wouldn’t be
killing them, though. You would.”

“It’s the same
thing. Not that I care, of course. I just need to know what the implications of
performing this little task will be for me.”

“You don’t know
what Andrea’s like,” he said abruptly. “She’s evil. She manipulates everyone
around her.” He snorted. “She even managed to win over Luca. She played him and
she won. She made a complete fool of him by sleeping with everyone behind his
back and spending his money.”

“Why are you
still alive, then?”

His hand shook
again. “Because he doesn’t know. When she discovered that he knew about her
infidelity, she blackmailed me to help her flee. I’ve been paying her off ever
since. I’ve heard that he’s looking for her again. He goes through these
periods of rage where he’s obsessed with her. The stupid bitch decided to move
close by a few months ago and he’s going to find her unless I take action.”

“What did she
blackmail you with?”

He squeezed his
eyes closed for moment before opening them again. “She threatened to tell him
that the boys are mine. It’s the perfect evidence.”

“Are they?”

“I don’t fucking
know. She’s never had them tested. She lies about everything. She twists
everything around. If Luca gets to her first, she’ll get what she deserves,
but…”

“But he’ll find
out about you and you’re scared of your brother.”

His eyes shot up
to me. “Wouldn’t you be? You don’t know what he’s capable of. He’s crazy.
Absolutely fucking nuts. Violence is like his drug. And when you piss him off,
you won’t know. You won’t know until your guard is down and then he’ll‒”

He threw his
glass across the room. It smashed into the wall and shattered. “That,” he
continued, “is what he’ll fucking do to you…to me.” His shoulders sagged down
in defeat. “Andrea’s a psychopath. That’s why they got on so well. Every day
was a fight. A challenge. The excitement never died.” He gave a mocking laugh.
“That’s what psycho love is.”

I listened as he
rambled on. Killing Luca’s former wife in a humane fashion as Antony wished…If
I got caught, that would officially put me on Luca’s shit list, and that was
somewhere that only a crazy person would want to be.

“Will you do
it?” he was asking. “You won’t tell him. I know you won’t. You’re my friend.
Will you do it?” His forehead was creased and his voice was tinged with
desperation.

“Let me think on
it. Go to bed. Go see your woman.” I turned on my heel and left the room.

When I got home,
Rachel stirred. She opened her eyes to look straight at me and her hands
reached for me, stroking down along my chest and over my abs, to rest at my
groin.

Instantly, I
hardened and she smiled smugly. “You missed me,” she murmured, lightly stroking
along the length of my cock.

“Are you talking
to me or my dick?” I asked gruffly.

“Your penis is
kinder than you…and better company.” Her face broke into a smile as she laughed
at her own humor. Laughter escaped me as well, much to my surprise. Those
moments, where she could be charming and funny, were few and far between. They
made me feel like we were two completely different people.

She continued to
stroke me, gently at first, and then she wrapped her hand around my throbbing
cock and worked me while I just lay there. I didn’t close my eyes once, just
staring at her as her eyes never left my face while her hand increased in
speed.

Finally, I let
out a groan as I exploded into her palm and onto my stomach, a hot and sticky
mess.

She was still
watching me with a soft smile upon her face. “You like?”

“I like.” I
reached for her, pulling her down against me and holding her tightly. She
didn’t care about the mess, and she fell back asleep like that, bound to me.

“Is this psycho
love?” I murmured, thinking of Antony’s words, but if she heard, she didn’t
stir.

The next
morning, I had her slick with sweat as she held up her fists and tried to punch
me.

“Harder. You
punch like a girl.” That angered her enough that she swung wide and I easily
grabbed her wrist and pinned that arm behind her back.  She glared up at me
until I let her go. “You’re not concentrating. And don’t forget, you can kick
as well.”

She ripped off
the boxing gloves and let them fall to the gym floor.

“Giving up
already?”

She just
answered by giving me the finger before walking over to the treadmill. “Maybe I
should join a real gym where I can spar with other people who aren’t
as…lethal.” She started to jog on the treadmill, her hair bouncing around her.

“Nah. They won’t
teach you to fight dirty like I will.” I picked up her gloves and hung then
back in their spot.

“Who wants to
fight dirty? Why can’t I just carry a gun like you do?”

“Because anyone
could take it from you. That’s why. Plus you’d probably shoot yourself in the
foot with it.”

She shot me a
dirty look. I sighed. “You’re not always going to have a gun at your side. Not
when you get out of the shower or any other time that you’re vulnerable. You
need to be able to handle yourself.” I paused, then continued. “The night I
took you, you didn’t even see me coming. You were staring up at the sky like
you were on drugs, even though you were in the middle of an alleyway, some
place where
any
one could trap you and take you. You were the perfect
victim.”

She gave me a
withering smile. “Wow. I’m so lucky that you were the monster that took me. It
could have been so much worse.”

“Yeah,” I told
her straight. “It could have been a hell of a lot worse.”

Her smile
dropped and she brought the treadmill to a standstill. She kept her eyes firmly
on me, waiting.

“What? I’m not
going to apologize again. I’ve already done that. Yeah, I stood by and let him
brutalize you, but I can’t do anything to change that.” I shrugged and walked
from the room, ready to be away from her judging eyes.

“Asshole!” I
heard her call. I kept walking, not looking back.

My cell phone
vibrated and I pulled it out. It was my contact up north. Luca’s ex, Andrea,
was staying put. I was sure that I’d fucked it up and scared her off, but she
had balls; that was for sure. Apparently, life was staying as normal for her
and her sons. I slid my phone back into my pocket. I had to make a fucking
decision. Did I take her out and risk Luca finding out about it? For special
people, he liked to do the dirty work himself, and it sounded like this Andrea
was very special to him.

Or I didn’t do
it, but that would make me look weak and scared, and that sure as hell wasn’t
the case.

I heard
footsteps behind me as Rachel headed for the shower. She didn’t utter a word to
me. Slowly, I found my hand tightening on my phone, my knuckles whitening.

She complicated
everything. Before, if I pissed someone off, it would be only me that they
would come after. But now, there was her.

My heart started
thumping at the thought of her naked in Luca’s bed‒tiny and helpless
against his muscle.

I rested my head
against the wall and closed my eyes. She would survive the best she could. That
was what she was trained to do. Hell, maybe she’d even manipulate him into
thinking that she loved him…

I punched the
wall and felt no pain. The hole gaped at me, like a mouth laughing. Blood
stained my knuckles.

Later, she never
mentioned the hole in the wall. I cooked dinner and then we ate in silence. The
only sound was the occasional clink of the cutlery on the dinner plates.

“I found your
mother.”

She didn’t pause
and kept chewing until she swallowed, before reaching for her wine glass and
taking a small sip. “What are you going to do?” Her voice was so smooth and
calm. Damn, when had she learned to be like that? I liked when she was
irrational, because then you knew that she spoke the truth and that her words
weren’t trapped in a thick web of lies and deception.

“What do you
want me to do?”

She didn’t look
at me. Her eyes were everywhere but on me. I reached across the table and took
hold of her chin to force her to look me in the eye. “What do you want me to
do, Rachel?”

I couldn’t read
the look in her eyes as she stayed quiet. “You once asked me to kill her.”

Gently, she
pushed my hand away from her face and I let her. “Yes, yes I did.”

She went back to
eating, just like I had never spoken. I waited a minute before returning to my
own meal.

But my words did
affect her. She drank more like the information that I had given her had seeped
into her skull, perhaps through the nasty scar that was hidden by her hair. That
was there because of me, because someone wanted revenge on me. If Rachel had
never met me, her only scars would be in the inside‒on her heart, in her
brain, in every fucking artery that ran through her and kept pumping the blood
that made her live.