Chapter 12

ChapterTwelve

Alaric

“You got anything for me, boss?” Azadeh Baran asks, making me nearly jump out of my skin.

The girl is a damn ninja. It’s one of the reasons I hired her. I called her a Persian assassin once. She simply laughed as she threw a blade, hitting the bulls-eye on a dart board before telling me how Persians were the original order of assassins—the Hashashin.

I look up from my desk to see her leaning against the wall, dressed in her usual all-black attire.

“I’m good,” I say, waving the file. “I’ve got everything I need.”

Azadeh beams at me. “Wait, is that it? Is that the ammo you need to finally get rid of that bitch?”

I crack a smile. “Sure fuckin’ is.”

“Good. I know what it’s like to live your life with a damn noose around your neck. No human should live under the boot of another. I can’t wait to sing ‘Ding-dong, the witch is dead.’”

“Me too, Azadeh. Me too.”

“If you don’t need me, I’ll take some time off. My kid sister got into some shit, and I need to take care of it.”

“You need our help?”

“I think I’m okay. My brother can bail me out if needed.”

“Ah, Dariyus. How’s he doing?”

Dariyus Baran, a killer with the heart of a poet. There aren’t many decent people in our world, but Dariyus and his crew are good guys. Malaki is completely unhinged, but he’s kept in line by the other two.

“Happy. Can you believe that? My big brother is all domesticated and shit.”

I lean back in my chair and smile. “I don’t know. There’s something comforting about riding off into the sunset, isn’t there?”

“I was born in Iran after the revolution, joonam,” Azedah says, the Persian endearment rolling off her tongue. “The idea of sunsets died the first time I witnessed someone I loved hung by the regime simply for saying the wrong thing. It’s why I dedicated my life to this shit. You, River, and Asher, you’re good men. You got caught up in messed up shit because of that thing who calls herself a mother, but somehow you all turned out good.”

“I kill people, Azadeh, and enjoy it. I wouldn’t say I was good.”

Azadeh shrugs. “Some men deserve to be killed, Alaric, and there are two types of killers. Those who kill for power and those who kill for need. Besides, if you were a bad man, I’d have slit your neck long ago.” She pushes off the wall and places her hand on the doorknob. “Oh, and the Nevin’s are here. So are your boys and that pretty girl of yours.”

River, Asher, and Ella are waiting on the other side as she opens the door. The guys have shit-eating grins on their faces, but Ella keeps glancing behind her at the girl getting a train run on her. I think she’s at guy number twenty-two, but I rarely pay attention to the debauchery at the club.

“Ella,” I say, reaching out my hand. Ella takes it without hesitation. “I need you to know that what we’re about to do is for you. Please understand that everything we were forced to do was to get us to this point.” I press my forehead to hers. “Remember that you mean everything to me, and I’ll spend the rest of my life making up for all of this. Just trust us.”

“I do,” Ella says. “I just want a piece of Celeste when we take her down.”

“You got it.” I grab my suit jacket from the back of my desk chair, regretting I chose to wear it today. Too bad it’ll be ruined by the blood.

I lead us out of the club to one of the VIP booths where Benjamin and David sit. Both are receiving blowjobs under the table.

David gestures to the girl between his legs. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“No, but she might.” I move aside, revealing Ella.

Benjamin and David quickly zip their pants and shoo the girls off before standing for Ella—a strange gesture for two men who negotiated to buy a slave from my mother.

Ella steps forward, and Benjamin’s hand moves to her back. Before he can make contact, blood gushes from his wrist as his hand falls to the floor with a thump.

Benjamin’s screech transforms into a torturous, animalistic sound as he holds up his handless arm. It’s so exaggerated that it’s almost comical.

River shrugs as he shows Benjamin the bloody ax. “All I did was chop off your hand. You’d think I’d chopped off your dick from your demented banshee screams.” He turns his back on Benjamin to face David. “You should be very concerned about what we’ll do to your father if you refuse any of our demands.”

Asher circles David, putting a hunting knife to his throat. “I’m going to need you to strip.”

“Are you crazy?” David splutters. “Do you have any idea what I can do to you?”

I smirk as I light a smoke and take a haul. “We are crazy, David. You can thank my mother for that. Now, I suggest you do as Asher requests, or this is going to get way worse than we intended.”

“Way worse?” David asks, pointing to his father, who’s still screeching at the inconvenience of missing his right hand. “I’m pretty sure it can’t get worse than that.”

River laughs. “Is that a dare, David? Are you triple dog daring us?” Without prompting, River grabs David’s hand, pins it to the table, and raises his ax.

“All right, all right!” David hollers. “I’ll do it.”

“Atta boy,” River says, moving back.

David strips, removing his creepy white Miami Vice suit and discarding it on the circular booth. River gently taps David’s ass with the bloody ax. “The tightie-whities too, Davey. Naked as the day your momma welcomed you to the planet.”

David hesitates for a second, reevaluating if it’s worth arguing. Asher presses his blade into his throat, causing a trickle of blood to roll down his neck.

Once David is naked, I turn my attention to his father. “Your turn, Pops.”

Benjamin is unable to move, his eyes focused on his bleeding wrist and missing limb. I could be kind and simply blow his brains out with my gun, but I know what he is and what he and his son have done. How many women they’ve harmed for their disgusting pleasure. Benjamin Nevin and his son are going to suffer.

Ella steps toward Benjamin, a sweet smile plastered on her pretty face. I appreciate her slow, seductive moves. She looks like a predator setting a trap to entice her prey.

“Let me help you, Mr. Nevin,” Ella says, making quick work of his gold belt buckle and pulling down his pants. She grips his shirt by the sides and pulls it apart, forcing the buttons to pop off and bounce on the floor. “Isn’t that better, Benji? I think you should bend over so I can make it all better for you.”

Benjamin Nevin shakes his head and backs away from Ella. “You’re fuckin’ crazy. Celeste said we were getting someone sweet, but you’re no such thing.”

Ella shrugs and smiles sweetly as she sways back and forth. “Oh, shucks, Mr. Nevin. I’m so sorry my mommy lied to you.”

Before I register what’s happening, Ella slams Benjamin’s head against the table.

“That’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” River says as he plants a kiss on her cheek. His face transforms from awe to unadulterated derangement as he taps Benjamin’s ass with the ax. “David, I got a question for you. You think I should ax fuck him? Get it? I’m fucking him with the ax, so it’s not an ass fuck, but an ax fuck.”

“We get it,” I say, rolling my eyes at River’s self-amusement.

“David, come here,” River demands.

David steps forward, shaking with each step, before bending over the table so he’s facing his father. “We have a lot of money. We can make you richer than you’ve ever dreamed.”

River pouts as he swings the ax back and forth. “Okay, you’re right. It’s a little crazy to ax fuck your daddy. I think it would be better if he ass fucks you.” He taps Benjamin on the ass with the base of the ax. “Chop, chop, Benji. Get the deed done, and we can all be on our merry way.”