23. BONES

23

BONES

“ R emember what I said when we bought this dress?” I ask Wynter as we head inside the club to meet Luka.

“You say a lot of stuff, you can’t honestly expect me to remember everything?” She’s back to being a little brat again and I love it. Part of me wondered that when she finally gave in she’d change into some quiet little housewife type, but no she’s still my feisty queen.

“I said I’d show you off in it. Take you to a club.”

“Seems you are a man of your word after all.” She practically fucking purrs at me. My poor cock strains back to life again.

There’s a new confidence about her. Killing people really has unlocked her true potential. I knew it would.

“I still can’t believe Luka agreed to meet here. He doesn’t seem like the type of person to go clubbing,” Wynter muses.

When I saw Luka the other day he didn’t tell me much, he never does. But apparently, Doctor Edward Price, the man that Tommaso had inspect Wynter, has been on his radar for a while. He didn’t tell me anything else only that we’re invited to join in with the torture, but the killing blow is his.

“I’m starting to wonder exactly who he is myself.”

Wynter gawks at the interior of the club as we head to the bar. The Angel’s Perch is the hottest nightclub in the city. Chandeliers lit with real candles hang overhead, red strobe lighting filters over the sea of people that crowd around the DJ playing her set on stage. Dancers dressed as angels move around on high platforms, pouring glitter and streams of alcohol onto the people beneath.

“This place is amazing!” Wynter gasps.

I know what Wynter’s financial situation was like before she had me to take care of her, so there’s no doubt she hasn’t been anywhere like this. “We can come back whenever you like. Anywhere you want to go or anything you want to do just say the word and I’ll make it happen.”

She eyes me curiously, but doesn’t say no. I like that she’s not afraid to spend my money.

Once we order drinks, we take them to a standing table away from the buzz of the crowd.

Wynter chews nervously on her lip as she fiddles with the cocktail stick in her drink. "Something wrong?" I ask her.

"I wish you didn't think you have to keep yourself private. You know all of me and I want to know every part of you as well." Her eyes meet mine and guilt stabs me in the heart. "Janine told me a bit about you."

How can Janine know anything? I keep my face an expressionless mask as I wait for her to spill whatever secret she seems to have found out.

When I don't say anything, she sighs. "You could have told me you have ADHD."

My entire body relaxes and I huff out a laugh. That's it. Fuck, I thought it was something else. Something much worse.

"Does that bother you?" I ask her.

"No, that's not what I meant."

Shrugging my shoulders, I tell her, "It's just another part of me. I didn't keep it from you, I just didn't think about sharing it. I was diagnosed as a kid. Most people say it's obvious once they know, but it's never bothered me enough to care. I forget shit all the time and can never find anything to hold my interest. Honestly the drugs and alcohol were the only things that helped."

"And you stopped all that for me?" She frowns.

"My love," I say reaching for her hand. "There are years worth of memories that are lost to me because of my habits. I'm not willing to lose anything I have with you. I want to remember every single second I can. That's why I stopped."

Wynter’s brow furrows as she looks behind me. “Bones?” I look around to see some guy I don’t recognize and turn back to face my girl.

“Bones it’s me, Jonah. We met here—”

“Fuck off,” I say, my tone and posture clearly uninterested as I don’t bother to give him another glance. I don’t remember the majority of the people I’ve slept with and the only one that I care to know about is opposite me. To my surprise, she’s glaring at him. Is that jealousy on my little viper’s face? I bite my cheek to stop myself from grinning too hard.

“But you said we—”

“My boyfriend told you to leave him alone,” Wynter says. Oh, that’s definitely jealousy on her and also possession. She’s staking her claim over me and I fucking love it. I sip at my drink as I watch her stare the man down. He doesn’t utter another word as he scurries off.

Tilting my head at her, I smile over my drink.

“What?” She frowns, shrugging her shoulders awkwardly and taking a drink.

“Thinking about it, I’d prefer it if you didn’t call me that.”

Wynter’s face pales. “Oh, I thought we were—”

Leaning my elbows on the table so my face is closer to hers I quietly say, “I’d much prefer love of my life, fiancé, future husband, husband-to-be, or even just husband.” I raise a finger for each one.

“You’re such a dick!” She laughs, swatting my hand down. “I’ll stick to boyfriend, if I’m feeling generous, otherwise it’ll be asshole.” With a smug smile curving her pouty red lips she drinks her cocktail.

“You don’t want to know who that guy was?” I ask her.

“Why would I? Neither of us knows how many times I’ve been fucked and I’m not about to disclose the ones I do remember. I’m pretty sure you’d kill them if I told you,” she chuckles and she’s not wrong.

Changing the subject she asks, “Do you do this a lot? I know you still get rid of people that aren’t on my list.”

How does she know that? Reading my mind she says, “I can tell when you have. Sometimes I can smell the blood on you, other times you give it away with how hard you fuck me. After you’ve killed someone there’s this ferocity to you.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

She nods and smiles serenely at me. Fuck, my heart can’t take it when she looks at me like that. It makes me feel like even more of an asshole since all those kills she’s referring to have been for Dmitri. I’ve not taken on an actual job since killing Tommaso.

“Do you hang out with your friend like this? The one that helped save me.”

I'm pleasantly surprised by her questions tonight. This is the most she's ever wanted to know about me. “I used to. Until he got his girl. It would be nice for you to meet them both, but the guy barely leaves the house these days.”

“Why not?” She frowns as she sips at her cocktail. It’s blue just like her eyes.

“He’s tied up in her. I don’t blame him really. It took him a while to get her to come around to him, so he may as well reap those rewards now.”

“What are you talking about?” Shit, that may have been an overshare . “She’s like me isn’t she?”

“Technically no, but also yes. She didn’t really move in with him because she wanted to. But,” I hold my hands up, “she wants to be there now.”

Wynter chews on her lip, clearly not happy with the situation, but it’s not like she can do anything for the girl.

“I need to find the restroom,” Wynter suddenly says and starts walking away. I follow after her and she puts a hand on my chest. “Alone. I’m not going to run away, remember?” She motions to her back. I’m reluctant to let her go, but she’s right.

“Fine. But if you’re not back in five minutes I won't hesitate to kick down every stall until I find you.”

She taps my chest and smiles. “I know.”

My cock springs to life as she walks away, her hips looking perfectly grabbable in her tight dress. Then I see the way other people are looking at her. At what’s mine.

“No cleaning my come off!” I shout, marking my territory and her jaw drops wide open. A few people snicker next to her and she pushes past them after flipping me off.

We may not have fucked before coming here, but I like to think that I’ve fucked her so much that my come will always be inside her.

Bringing the tracking app up on my phone, I keep a close eye on it as I wait.

“Bones,” a monotone voice greets me and I look up to see Luka.

“You’re as cheery as ever and I see you dressed for the occasion.” He’s wearing the same stiff shirt and pants as always. I’m surprised he’s not got his lab coat on.

Luka notices the tracking app on my phone and says, “You brought her?”

“Of course. This is about her, not me.”

He shakes his head. “I assumed it would just be you. Edward Price has a thing for young women. Mind her around him.”

“That why you want rid of him?”

“He’s a pain in my ass at work and I need something from him. After you came to me asking if I knew anyone with his description I looked into him some more and found the name Abato on his charts. He was the family physician. I assume that connection is why you want him gone.”

“Bingo. You gonna tell me what he’s done to make you want to kill him?”

Luka looks around to make sure no one can overhear us before continuing. “Edward’s been taking jobs on the side, helping criminals with other women just like yours.”

“Does he work for Dmitri Volkov?” I ask and his eyebrow twitching is the only indication I’ve surprised him.

He nods and I know he’s not telling me something. “Why do you care anyway? What Edward’s doing is basically the same as what you do.”

Suddenly his hand flies out and he grabs my shirt. “Never compare me to him. What I do is nothing like that.”

Prying his hand off me I say, “Alright. Calm down.”

Luka regains his composure quickly and before he walks away he briskly says, “Do not fuck this up for me tonight.”

I watch Luka with a new curiosity as he walks away to a corner booth where an older man, wearing an ill-fitting tweed suit is sat alone. His beady eyes set on a group of girls drinking shots at the table opposite.

“You didn’t come looking for me.” Wynter comes up to me and I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until I release it now she’s here.

“You sound disappointed. Did you want me to chase you down and fuck you in there?”

She rolls her eyes and laughs, but we both know the real answer to that.

“Luka and Edward are here.” I point towards the booth. “You ready?”

Giving me a determined nod, we go to join them.

“Doctor Vincent! Fancy seeing you here!” Wynter says obnoxiously loudly as she almost falls into his lap. He looks immediately uncomfortable with the close proximity. “How have you been? Oh and who’s your friend?”

She sways in her seat as she smiles sweetly at the older man who looks nervously between the three of us.

“This is my colleague Doctor Edward Price.” Luka’s back to his award-winning public persona now.

“Have we—uh—met before?” Edward asks Wynter nervously and she shakes her head, pushing her bottom lip out.

“No, I don't think so. I’m sure I’d remember someone as handsome as you.”

I snort out a laugh at her terrible acting and she kicks her heel into my ankle which is, unfortunately for her, protected by my boot.

Edward actually blushes as he stares at Wynter, his eyes starting to wander to the rest of her.

“Maybe you recognize my boyfriend?” Wynter rests her head on my shoulder and giggles.

“Everyone knows the Sinclaire family. Or what’s left of them I suppose.”

This fucker’s got less tact than Luka.

Wynter places her hand on my thigh and squeezes.

“Well, I can’t say I recognize you, Doctor Prince,” I exhale with a bored sigh.

“ Price ,” he corrects me.

“How about you get us some more drinks?” Wynter makes a face at me, telling me not to lose my cool with Edward.

“Please, let me get them.” Edward rushes to stand up and has to hold his hand in front of himself to hide his obvious erection. Wynter tries not to grimace while I stop myself from tearing the thing off him.

“Did he rape you?” I blurt out as soon as he’s out of earshot.

“Keep your voice down! No, I don’t think he did. He did the same thing as you and Luka did to me, minus the tracker.”

“You weren't the first,” Luka tells her.

Wynter nods slowly. “I assumed as much. The plan seems to be working.” She sounds so proud of herself. I let her decide how tonight would go. If it were up to me I wouldn’t have her anywhere near the man until I’d already beaten him half to death.

“He wants you,” Luka says with indifference.

I feel Wynter shiver uncomfortably next to me. “He’s not going to touch you,” I reassure her. If he puts a single finger on her he’s dead. No matter what Luka says.

Edward comes back to the table with a tray of drinks. He gives Wynter hers first. “Red to match the beautiful lady’s dress. I didn’t actually catch your name.”

“It’s Wynter and this is perfect,” she says, making her voice sound slurred again. “You’re so sweet.”

She picks her glass up and lifts it to a toast, the drink sloshing out onto the table. “To getting everything we want tonight.”

Edward’s eyes are all over her body again and I can’t stand it. Something akin to a growl comes out of me and Edward shrinks back.

Wynter puts her hand on my lap and starts to unzip me. “What the hell are you doing?” I whisper harshly in her ear.

“Calming you down.” She wraps her fingers around my cock and I have to grab the edge of the table, making it wobble and our drinks spill over.

“Are you al—” Edward catches her hand on my lap and it’s pretty fucking obvious what she’s doing. He clears his throat and licks his lips. This fucking bastard. Wynter grips me firmer and gives me a pointed look. I take a breath so I don’t fuck this up and scare him off. If he does run we could grab him outside and stuff him in the trunk, but the less commotion the better.

“So Edward, you're a doctor like Luka?” Wynter asks, resting one elbow on the table, her tits spilling out over the top of her dress.

“I’m a surgeon.” He can barely stop his eyes from drifting between her cleavage and where her hand is on my cock every few seconds.

“Wow! You must have helped so many people. That’s amazing.” She sips at her drink and I can barely keep track of the conversation thanks to the impromptu handjob. I’m sure whatever they're saying is all rage-inducing.

She scrapes her nails along my balls and up my shaft, flicking the piercing on the tip. I grind my head against the back of the booth and bite down on my tongue to prevent myself from making any noise.

“This is an odd ask I know,” Wynter starts, “but I don’t suppose both of you gentlemen would like to get out of here with us?”

Edward looks terrified as he looks at me, and Wynter starts doubling down. “Oh, don’t worry about him. I know he looks scary, but he’s a softie really. He also understands my needs.” She toys with my piercings and I groan, drawing Edward’s eyes back to my lap. “I’ve always had this fantasy about an older doctor. What are the chances I’m ever going to meet two at the same time like this again? I’m sorry it’s so embarrassing to ask, you must think I’m such a slut.” Acting all shy, she presses her free hand to her face.

At that, his eyes light up. “Not at all. There’s nothing wrong with a young woman having a,” he makes a strangled sound in the back of his throat, “healthy sexual appetite.” He looks to Luka who has a face of stone. “Luka, how do you feel about it?”

He looks between the three of us and forces a smile onto his face as he says, “Why not? Shall we get out of here now? We can use my place, it's closer.”

Wynter finishes her drink and I put my cock and blue balls away so we can get up. Luka goes ahead of us, but Edward lingers close to Wynter’s other side. His eyes barely moving away from her body. The switchblade in my pocket is calling to me.

I can only breathe when we’re alone in the car. “What was that about?”

“What?” she asks me innocently as I start the car and we follow the two cars ahead of us.

“Don’t play games you can’t finish, little viper.” Grabbing her by the hair I push her face down to my lap. “Unzip me.”

I let out a groan as I feel her tug the zip down with her teeth. I don’t need to tell her what to do next as her lips are already wrapping around my cock. She stays like that the entire drive. Edging me until I can barely see straight.

When I turn the engine off, she pulls her mouth free. “Did I say you could stop?”

She smiles wickedly, her lips glossed with my arousal. “You can come once we’ve had some fun.”

A growl vibrates through my chest and before I can grab her again she’s out of the car. The little viper.

“This is your place?” I hear Edward ask Luka as I climb out after her. The warehouse he’s brought us to looks grim enough in the dark and I can’t imagine it’s any better in the daylight.

“It’s not my home, but I had it converted for nights just like this.” Luka leads us through a rusted door and down a dimly lit corridor. A large metal shutter waits for us at the far end. Unlocking it at the bottom, Luka rolls it up and a motion-detected light comes on revealing a sterile, white-tiled room.

“Luka. What on earth is this place?” Edward asks nervously as he steps inside.

“My playroom. Well, one of my playrooms,” Luka says lightly, a secretive smile on his face.

“You bring girls here?” Edward circles around the medical table in the middle of the room and looks over the equipment on the counter. The whole place is decked out like an actual hospital. The only thing out of place is the large metal barrel in the corner and the drainage grate on the floor.

Luka huffs out a laugh as he pulls the shutter down. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Look I don’t mind sharing a girl with you, but I’m not into whatever this kink stuff is.”

“Will you just be quiet! You absolute imbecile. Clearly, we’re not here to have sex.” Luka gets heated again. Turning his back to us he washes his hands at the sink then slaps on a pair of black latex gloves. That seems to calm him down.

There’s a large machine to the side of the counter and he pulls the top up and collects what looks like scalpels, placing them neatly onto a metal tray.

Edward looks to me and Wynter for answers. “Noah, if you’re in on this then you best believe you and your father won’t have a leg to stand on when I take you to court. And you, Luka, I’ll have you fired for whatever this is.”

“That would require you to still be breathing tomorrow.”

Wynter laughs as she hops up to sit on a metal table at the side of the room and Edward nervously looks at her, confusion clear on his face.

“May I?” I ask Luka.

“Be my guest.”

In three long strides, I have Edward by the throat and in another two he’s pinned to the table in the middle of the room. He claws at my hand as he gasps for air. “If it were just the two of us I don’t think I’d be able to stop myself from breaking your neck like this. But Luka has done a lot for me and who am I to deny him his prey?”

Right on cue, Luka injects something into Edward’s arm and it only takes a few seconds for him to go limp.

“We need him talking,” I say.

“He will be. It’s a muscle relaxant. His speech may be a bit slow and slurred, but not enough to prevent him from telling us what we need.”

I remove my hand from Edward’s throat as Luka grabs a large pair of scissors and meticulously cuts the man’s clothes off him.

His eyes are huge saucers in his head as he tries to see what’s happening without being able to move his neck.

Once he’s bare, Luka switches his scissors to a small scalpel and makes an incision on Edward’s chest. “Please, stop,” Edward slurs out, clearly in pain.

“See, he can still feel everything. He just can’t fight back.”

Wynter hops off the table to come for a closer look. I watch approvingly as she doesn’t recoil at the sight.

“I never took you for the torturing type, what with saving lives and all that,” I say to Luka as Wynter grabs a scalpel and drags it down Edward’s chest. He screams out, tears leaking from the corners of his eyes.

“I’m sure you know as well as any that it doesn’t come overnight.”

As much as I’d love to spend the night squeezing every secret out of Luka, we’re not here for that.

“Can we get started?” Wynter beams up at me and her smile makes my heart soar.

“Go for it, my love.” Taking a step back I watch her as she comes into her own.

“I suppose why is as good a starting point as any.” She holds the scalpel close to Edward’s eye. “Why did you do that for Tommaso? You treated me like I was an animal.”

“Mmmm—money,” Edward slurs out.

The creep knew who she was all night. Bet he was desperate to get his fill of her. I keep my anger in check for now. This is Wynter's time not mine.

“Did you touch me?”

“No.”

“Liar.” I snatch up another of Luka’s scalpels and drag a long line down Edward’s side. Blood pours out onto the metal table and travels down into a drainage hole at the foot of it.

“Did you touch her?”

“I had to touch her to examine her. Tommaso didn’t let me do anything else. He was eager to f-fuck her.”

“How many other girls did you examine for him?” Wynter asks and I cut him again for her. I get him too deep this time and blood pours out at a heavier rate.

“Careful,” Luka says calmly. I expect him to scold me, but he seems to understand my anger.

Luka pinches the cut and staples it shut. More tears leak out of Edward as he sobs uncontrollably.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t counting.”

“Did you have to examine someone called Evie? She was short and blonde,” Wynter asks. This time she holds the scalpel to one of Edward’s fingers.

“I don’t know! I swear I’m not lying.”

Wynter sighs and looks at me. I come around to her side of the table and kiss her forehead.

“What about the girls at Lakeview?” Luka asks. “Did you have to work there?”

How the fuck does he know about Lakeview?

“Y-yes. Volkov paid me to help him out with anything medical when he needed it.”

“Dmitri Volkov?” Wynter’s voice is now brimming with hope.

“Yes. You must understand why I can’t say no to him.” Edward looks straight at me and my stomach drops.

“What do you mean?” Wynter asks.

“You don’t know? Your boyfriend works for the man as well.” There’s a smugness on Edward’s clammy face as he thinks he’s got one over on me.

“No, he doesn’t. Noah. Why would he say that?”

“I don’t—” I start to say.

“I—I saw you there. One of his girls needed treatment. I saw you talking by the pool.”

He was spying?

“Let me go and I can help you take him down. I know who his boss is. You can go directly to him yourself. Make a deal and get rid of Dmitri.”

“Noah, what the hell is he saying?” Wynter’s voice shakes and I take her hand pulling her to the side.

As I look her in the eye, I realize I can’t lie to her anymore. Not about this anyway. “I had to, Wynter. Dmitri threatened you and my father. I had to say yes.”

I’m worried I’ll lose her and we’ll be back to square one, but her frown softens and she wraps her arms around me. “You should have told me. We could have figured it out together,” she says softly.

“You’re not mad?” I don’t understand it. I’ve kept the one man that she’s determined to kill from her. I’ve been doing his fucking bidding because I’m too scared to lose her.

“Oh, I am pissed. But I get it. No more hiding stuff from me though. You know I’m more than capable of handling it all.” She holds the bloodied scalpel that’s still in her hand up to my eye level and I groan. My cock hardening.

Grabbing her waist, I spin her so her hips hit the table in front of us and I start to pull her dress up.

“Not in here! You absolute heathens. Go find your own place to fuck in,” Luka bellows out.

“Oops,” Wynter giggles and pushes me away. “Sorry doc.”

“I’ll tell you the name if you let me go,” Edward says so slowly I can barely understand what he’s saying.

“Not happening,” Wynter says. “You’ve hurt a lot of girls in more ways than one. You don’t deserve to walk out of here. Luka, I know you want to kill him, but there’s something I need to do first.”

“As long as he can still speak after, do whatever you like.” Luka leans against the counter next to the sink and watches her curiously as he tries to figure her out.

She takes a breath before holding the edge of the scalpel against Edward’s finger right above the knuckle. “I’m going to leave here a very happy woman knowing that every finger that has touched me and all the other girls you examined will be gone.” She leans down on the scalpel and Edward screams as it slices through. It stops as it hits the bone. “This is harder than I thought it would be,” she says with frustration. Standing behind her I place my hands over hers and help her to remove each of his fingers.

Luka cauterizes each one with a blow torch so Edward doesn’t bleed out before he can have his own fun.

By the time we’re done my cock is painful, the head sore from constantly rubbing against my pants and Wynter's ass.

Luka stares at us strangely. “Jealous?” I smirk and he rolls his eyes.

“If you’re done I need to get my own answers before he bleeds out.”

“What about the name of who’s in charge of Dmitri?” Wynter asks. “We might still be able to get it out of him.”

I don’t think there’s much chance of that happening. Edward looks seconds away from death.

Luka gets a syringe from a drawer and uncaps it as he says, “The man he’s talking about won’t help you.”

“How do you know that?” I ask.

Looking between us, Luka thinks his answer over. “Because he’s my brother and he’s dead.”

His face contorts with a rage I’ve never seen on him before and he uses that anger to plunge the syringe into Edward’s chest. He gasps back to life just as quickly as Luka’s anger fades, his mask of calm slipping back into place.

“The man he’s referring to is Nikolai Vyronov. He used to be feared, then one day he vanished.” He doesn’t look at us as he speaks. Instead, he carefully lines his scalpels up next to Edward on the table.

“Vyronov, not Vincent?”

“I changed my name when I moved to America.” Luka shrugs.

I can’t believe he’s been so close to this all this time. If he had divulged any of this from the start we wouldn’t be where we are now. “Dmitri mentioned his boss, your brother, was coming to claim the city. You’re sure he’s dead?”

“He clearly doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I've been to many an establishment like Lakeview, in my search for someone. Imagine how surprised I was to overhear Dmitri Volkov flaunting my deceased brother's name around. He's most likely using it to terrify people into getting what he wants. Now if you’re done I’ve been looking forward to flaying this one.”

“Flay? No dear god, please, Noah, get me out of here,” Edward begs for what little life he has left. Even after having that shot of adrenaline he’s once again fading from the pain.

Grabbing Wynter’s hand she squeals as I pull her to the exit. “Not a chance. Thanks for this, Luka.”

“Bones,” he says coldly as I pull the shutter up. “I have enough on you and everyone you hold dear to bring you all down. Do not breathe a word of this to anyone.”

I look at Wynter, at the reason why I would never betray him.

“I understand. Have fun flaying.”

Wynter runs off ahead of me and I grab her as she reaches the car. Bending her over the hood I’m about to sink into her when she shouts, “Stop!”

I groan in pain and slap my palm down on the cold metal. My balls feel like they’re about to burst. “What’s wrong?” I strain out.

Looking back at me over her shoulder she grins. “I want to show you something.”

“If it’s not your ass, your pussy, or your tits it can wait.”

“Trust me. This is worth it.”