Prologue

brOOKE

Iwalk into the dimly lit bar, smoke wafting in the air, looking for the guy I'm meant to meet. He's sitting at the bar, a glass of whiskey in hand, his phone in the other. A smirk dances across his lips as he taps away on his phone. To look at him, he seems harmless enough. In actual fact, he's a pretty good-looking guy. Dark eyes and hair that sits messily on the top of his head. Well, dressed in jeans, a polo shirt, and a blazer. He looks up and spots me, smiling and waving me over. I smile back in a flirting manner before walking to him, making sure I sway my hips in a sexual way to catch his attention.

I went full out tonight. Dressed in black leather pants and a dark top that ties around my back. Showing off my figure and wearing a pair of heels that give me an additional four inches. I reach up around his tall frame, giving him a hug.

"Wow, Jessie, you look…there are no words."

I giggle softly, giving him a kiss on the cheek, his stubble grazing my lips as I do.

"You look pretty good yourself, James." I run my hands down his muscled arms. "So, are you going to stand there looking at me all night or buy me a drink?"

He chuckles—it sounds light and fun. You could almost believe that this is real.

He calls the bartender over with a wave, ordering another whiskey for him and a Chardonnay wine for me. Eye roll. He didn't even ask me what I wanted. Instead shooting me a smile and telling me that classy girls like me must drink this. I give him a smile in response, but it's killing me to hold it. Anticipation burns through my body, wanting to get this over with, but I have to have patience.

"You know Jessie… Who would have thought when you bumped into me in that coffee shop last week, you were meeting your future."

God, I think I just puked in my mouth a little. So cheesy. I giggle at him, nudging him in the arm in an attempt to keep up with my role as dumb girl.

"Oh, is that right, babe? Skipping a few steps ahead, aren't you."

He smirks at me, pulling me close to him as his hand plants firmly on my ass and squeezes it. "You know it, baby. Play your cards right tonight; maybe we will take the first step into our future… After all, this is our first official date." His hand pats my ass, and it takes everything in me not to slap him right now, but instead, I lean forward, my hand around the back of his neck as I pull his head down to me and whisper in his ear.

"You have no idea what's going to happen tonight, baby. I swear you're going to die."

He laughs as he pulls back when the bartender places our drinks on the bar. He gets his card out of his wallet, making sure he flashes all those bills sitting in it as he pays. His hand moves to my lower back, and he leads me away from the bar and into a private booth. He lets me slide in first.

"What a gentleman."

He slides in after me, placing his hand on my inner thigh. For a second, I freeze, hearing that voice in my head, "Do you want me to slide my fingers higher, Brookie…" I push it out, leaning into the guy in front of me instead. Placing my hand on his chest, I curl my fingers against him.

"So, tell me, James…what do you do?"

He knocks back his whiskey, giving me a smile that shows me all his pearly white teeth, like a shark ready to attack.

"Well, baby, you could say I'm in acquisitions. My clients have very specific tastes for exquisite things, and I help acquire those things for them."

"That sounds exciting and like hard work," I retort, trying to keep my voice a little even with stars in my eyes.

"Hmmm, surprisingly, it's pretty simple. Exquisite things seem to fall in my lap, just like you, Jessie."

Oh God, he really is full of it.

"How about you? What does a beautiful creature like you do?" he asks, stroking those fingers along my thigh.

"Me? I'm still a student, but I'm taking a gap year to travel. I made the decision a little in the moment and ended up here."

"Guess I'm a lucky guy then."

I nod. "Or maybe I'm the lucky one?" I move in closer, placing my thigh over his leg. "How about we get out of here, baby?" I nip his ear with my teeth, and he verbally groans.

"You haven't touched your drink yet?" He nods toward the wine on the table.

And I'm not going to. "I had a few before I left…nerves." I shrug, smiling coyly at him.

He pauses for a second, looking at me as if he's analyzing if he should make a move since I didn't touch the drug swirling in my drink that the bartender left in it. He looks for a few seconds at me, assessing how small I am and coming to the conclusion I couldn't possibly fight him. Big Mistake. "Let's do it."

He slides out of the booth so gracefully, holding his hand out to me. I take it as he slips his arm around my waist, leading me out of the bar.

I see him lock eyes with the bartender briefly. A smile exchanged between them. Don't worry, you're next.

We walk out into the cool air, and I take a deep breath.

"Back to mine, sexy?" he asks me, and I nod sweetly at him. "My car's just at the end of the street."

Oh, I know. I already broke into his car and removed the Taser that was in his door pocket. I also removed the gun hiding in the glove compartment.

I nod, biting my lip at him. "Sounds like a plan."

We walk quietly to the end of the street. His phone buzzes as he hides it from me, quickly tapping out a text and giving me an effortless smile as he looks back at me.

"You're really special, Jessie."

"How many times have you used that line?"

He snickers. "Caught me—a few…did it work on you?"

"I'll let you know."

He opens the car door for me like a gentleman before he walks over to his side, opens the door, and sits down.

He suddenly pulls me in to kiss him. I open my eyes as our lips meet, watching his hand moving behind him. He pulls back his eyes wide as his fingers grasp air, and he feels something press into his side.

"Looking for this, James?"

I press the Taser into him and turn it on as he shrieks in pain, but I don't let go, instead pressing it harder as his body shakes and his eyes close. He actually looks sweet as he lies there unconscious. Who would have thought there was a psychopath, demented and twisted to his core, underneath that exterior. I reach over, pulling his phone out of his jacket pocket, checking the text that was sent to him.

"Happy hunting."

I glance at the name of the sender. Sam…the bartender. I send a reply to him.

Want to have some fun before?

OMW

God, he can't even be bothered to spell it out properly. I jump out of the car, taking the gun and Taser with me, and wait for him as I sit on the trunk. Very quickly, he comes around the corner, and I lean back on my hands. "Hey, cutie." I smirk playfully at him as he approaches.

"Where's James?" he asks nervously, slowing down. Clearly, he didn't expect me to be conscious.

"Gone to get a bottle or two. I mentioned how I like to be railed by two guys at once and how hot you were, and he told me you were friends and might want to join us tonight?"

His face eases as he grins at me. He leans his hands on the car trunk.

"Mmmm, is that right? I didn't peg you for that kind of girl."

I reply with a smirk of my own. "What kind of girl is that?"

"One that's trouble…"

I laugh because he has no idea. I remove the gun from behind me, shooting it quickly downward, and it hits his knee cap. Thank god this gun had a silencer on it. He crumples to the ground.

"You…you shot me… You fucking bitch, you shot me." He cradles his knee to his chest as he looks up at me. His expression is a mix of anger and shock.

"How many girls did you drug for him?"

His eyes widen as he realizes I know.

"What? No… I."

I shoot again, this time in his thigh. "You're crazy," he screams out.

I laugh a little manically. "Maybe, now how about we try this again. How many girls have you drugged for him?"

He swallows hard as his eyes widen in fear.

"That many?"

It doesn't surprise me. The boys are so focused on catching Asher's sister's rapists that they haven't thought this through. This is bigger and more organized than a couple of frat boys. The moment I was in that nutcase's hands, and he mentioned "his boys," I knew. We were just gnats to his organization, and he came there to swat us all. I slip off the hood before walking over to him slowly. He tries to back away, crawling on the asphalt, but it's hard to do when your kneecap is in pieces and you're bleeding out from your leg.

"Please, they made me. I didn't know."

I raise the gun to his head, a cold smile spreading over my lips, ready to end this once and for all. "Everyone has a choice, you did, you made the wrong one. Actions have consequences, and yours is to burn in hell." I squeeze the trigger and let off the final shot into his forehead, and his whole body slumps.

I stand for a few seconds, watching the blood soak the dark concrete around him. Nate's blood soaked the ground like that. I remember it so clearly as he lay dying in my arms. This guy deserved it, but not my Nate. I turn and open the trunk, grabbing a can I stored there earlier before I throw the front door open wide, buckling James's seatbelt around him before pouring gasoline over the unconscious body in the driver's seat.

He starts coughing as I rain it over his face, coming out of his unconsciousness. He splutters as he tries to jump out of the car, but the seat belt pulls him back. He's panicking now, screaming curse words at me. I shoot him in the gut as he howls in agony, cradling his wound with his hand like that's going to do anything.

"You fucking bitch" he screams as I stand there with a zippo lighter aflame.

"Your friend just said that. You guys aren't very original in your insults, are you?"

"I'm going to kill you, you fucking whore."

I smile at him, so original. "Not much better, but okay…and I told you earlier what would happen, remember? Tonight, you're going to die."

I throw the zippo lighter on his crotch, watching the flames erupt over his body as he screams in what I can only describe as unimaginable pain. His screams stop quickly as I burn him alive in his car and watch.

I calmly walk over to the idiot bartender on the ground, pouring the remaining gasoline over his body before setting it alight with another lighter I have stored in my bag. The smell is unbearable, if I'm honest. I try to hold in my retching as I turn to the car, hoping the fire will burn all traces of me away. I stuff the gun and Taser in my bag, not wanting to leave them behind. I know enough about fingerprint and DNA evidence from all the shows I've watched before. I coolly walk back onto the main street with the gasoline can in my hand and away from the chaos and burning flesh behind me.

I slip into Nate's truck, throwing the bag in the backseat and pulling his hoodie over me, breathing it in. It's starting to lose his scent, and that breaks me. For the first time in four weeks, I cry.

That's four off the list. The other two I couldn't find.

I'm sorry, Nate, I'll keep trying, I promise. I'll make sure every one of these fuckers pay, and then when I'm done, I'll make your brother pay too.