Chapter 40

CHAPTER 40

KIERRA

W e sit in the back of the car going to see this Bones guy I must admit I'm a little afraid of. We all know the mafia exists outside of movies, but I think it's safe to say most of us never have real-life interactions with them. I try my hardest not to think about what might happen when we get there.

"Do you know how to drive?"

He chuckles, "Yes, baby, I have a valid driver's license and everything."

I stare out the window while my mind keeps running in circles. "What made you buy a casino?"

"Bones needed my help with it."

I turn my head to look at him. "Bones?"

Sin nods. "Let's just say he's my business partner, but not on paper."

"Does he live here?"

He shakes his head. "Not full time. He has many properties, a couple of which are in the Las Vegas area."

With a smirk, he says, "You're asking a lot of questions tonight. Anything else you'd like to know?"

"If I were a cactus, would you still love me?"

Sin bursts out laughing. "Why the fuck would you be a cactus?"

I shrug. "That's not the question."

A delicious grin forms on his face. "Yes, baby, if you were a cactus, I'd still love you. Fucking you would probably hurt like hell, but I don't think I could stay away."

I arch an eyebrow at him in surprise, "Probably? I think it would definitely hurt like hell."

He laughs again. "Well, it's not like I have experience fucking cacti. Now, do I get a turn at twenty questions?"

I smile, "Of course."

"Are you drunk?"

"I wish. No, I'm not drunk. Just nervous."

Sin puts his arm around me and holds me close. "Nervous about what?"

I roll my eyes at him because isn't that obvious?

"The mobster guy. He sounds dangerous. What if he kills me, too?"

He chuckles and leans down, kissing me on the forehead. "Baby girl, I promise you, he will not hurt you. The guys he has are probably already in a lot of pain but you he won't touch. Yes, he does bad things regularly, and he's definitely a little crazy, but he'd never hurt me and he'd never hurt you. Trust me, please. If I thought there was even a remote chance he'd hurt you, you wouldn't be coming with me. I will never put you in danger again. Can you trust me?"

I reach up and touch the heart on my collar. "Yes, Daddy."

He kisses me softly and asks, "When you touch the heart, what are you thinking?"

I look into his blue eyes and admit, "It makes me feel loved, safe and protected. I can't really explain it. When I hold it in my hand, it's like it grounds me, makes me feel like everything will be okay as long as I have you."

Reaching over, Sin undoes my seatbelt and pulls me into his lap. "You are all three things, baby."

He pulls me tight against him, and I place my head on his shoulder.

"I know I failed you before, baby girl. I promise it will never happen again. There were things I didn't know. I trusted someone I never should have. Nobody has access to my home now. Not even Zade and Bones. I will not take any chances with you."

When he told me what Belinda did, I was upset. With her, not with him. How could he have possibly known she would do something like that? I know he blames himself, but I don't.

I rotate on his lap, so I'm straddling him and gently cup his face with my hands. "None of what happened was your fault. Eventually, they would've caught up to me. I knew better than to stay in one place for too long. It's always been a few days, but I couldn't leave because you gave me everything I wanted but never dared to hope for. Please stop blaming yourself. I'm alive."

Grabbing my face, he pulls my lips to his and kisses me with a thigh clenching intensity. Turning my head to the side, he pushes his tongue into my mouth, causing me to moan as he practically fucks my mouth with his.

He pulls back, both of us are breathless and he groans, "Jesus. You drive me fucking insane. Every hour of the goddamn day I want to be inside you. If I could fucking live there, I would."

I giggle softly. "That would make work more interesting for everybody."

The car stops and he says, "If you're uncomfortable, use your safe word and I'll get you out of there. Your emotional safety is as important as the physical. If you need out, you tell me."

I nod, "I'll be fine. My Daddy will protect me."

A soft, genuine smile appears on his face, "Always."

After I get off his lap, his new driver opens the door for us and we get out. I feel bad that so many of his employees were killed because of me, but I know it wasn't my fault. I didn't choose for three madmen to come and try to butcher me to death.

We walk around to the back of a building that looks industrial. It's the only building as far as the eye can see. Sin grabs my hand and interlocks his fingers with mine. "I've got you, baby."

We walk through the side door, and the scene is horrific. It's not what I see with my eyes, but the groans of pain echo through the building. It's haunting. One stops and another starts.

"What's your safe word?" He asks as we move down a set of steep stairs, "Poverty," I whisper while the cries intensify.

When we reach the last step, we walk into a large, unfinished basement. The one wall has shackles attached to it, but there's no one chained there. White walls surround us with gray broken cement beneath our feet. Two men lay on the ground writhing in obvious pain, the one with the dimpled chin and the other with no eyebrows, and I remember them both from the day in Sin's apartment.

I was expecting to have my belongings delivered by one of his employees. Instead, I was greeted by the three men that wanted me dead.

All three men stand staring at me with an angry glare, as if to say that running from them has made this the most exciting game they've ever played. With a grin on his scarred face, the bald guy approaches me with a cockiness that makes my skin crawl, "Well, look what we have here."

My eyes dart between the three of them as I go through my options, which are few. I could attempt to make it to the door and hope to get to the elevator before they catch me, but it's unlikely. Another choice, run to one of the rooms and lock myself inside and hope Sin comes back really soon. Also unlikely. Or I could fight for my life. Do I know I'll never defeat three dangerous men? Yeah, I'm going to die today, but if I can take one of them out, I will. Before this nightmare began, I boxed three times a week so I draw on those skills now. I spread my feet slightly, bend my knees a little. My stance is solid and ready for his attack. My eyes don't stay on him because I have two more attackers. Always be aware of your surroundings, my boxing instructor always said.

"I told you we would find you," he says in a threatening tone as he pulls a dagger from his pants, "And we did and now you die, the hard way."

I don't run because that shows weakness and takes them all out of my eyesight, something I cannot afford. Everything happens so fast. He slices my arm, stabs me in the stomach, then back to the arm, the thigh, with my good leg as the panic swirls inside me, I bring my knee up into his balls while I grab his hand holding the dagger as he groans and I help him stab himself in the throat with his own dagger. My victorious feeling is fleeting as he falls to the floor with blood squirting from the wound as he pulls it from his throat. Two pissed off assholes charge toward me while blood drips from my wounds. The pain burns through me with a sharp intensity. There's zero chance of surviving these other two with daggers in their hands, and matching green, violent eyes narrow in on me. They are angry, vicious, and promise this is the end of my life. Not only do they intend to kill me but they will inflict as much pain as possible in the process.

The man with no eyebrows plunges his dagger into my chest and grins. "You can keep it as a souvenir."

The crushing pain in my chest grows more severe as I get lightheaded. My vision is spotty as I fall to the floor. The last thing I see is the bald man's cold, dead eyes staring at me.