The deadliest sin series.., p.80
The Deadliest Sin Series Complete Collection, page 80
He arches an eyebrow and narrows his eyes on me. “What the fuck, Kat? Why did you do that?”
“Because I have a plan.”
He releases a deep sigh. “Why do I have a feeling I’m not going to like this plan?”
“Because you definitely won’t. I'm not even sure I do. But I don't have a lot of options left.”
ROSE
The last trickles of daylight disappear below the clouds building on the horizon as I step from the SUV onto the street corner.
Cutter glances out the still-open door at me, then at the street beyond—toward my destination. “You sure this is where you want me to drop you?”
I can’t go back to the compound that is no doubt crawling with police after the firefight we had, and I'm not about to give Cutter any information about my other housing in the city.
“This is as good a place as any.”
He shrugs. “Your fucking neck, not mine.”
I slam the door before he speeds away from the curb, leaving me alone on the sidewalk while dusk settles over the city and rain threatens.
Two days.
Valentina kept me locked up down there for two fucking days. Anything could have happened in that time.
How many fates may have been sealed in deals done in back rooms during the time I was locked in a fucking basement?
“You know where to find me…”
I look up at the club and scrub a hand over my face. She had to have known I would come for her. That the moment I was released, this is the first place I would look. If she values her life at all, she won’t be here. But still, I have to try.
Even from outside, the deep, rumbling bass from the music inside fills the night air. I step forward and pull open the door. The bass vibrates my feet through the shoes Cutter gave me and into my chest.
Seems the renovations have been completed because what was once a dirty, disgusting cesspool of sex and filth now feels almost classy. I have to hand it to Kat—the woman knows what she's doing.
The eyes of the man working the bar fly up, and as soon as he takes me in, he glances back at another guy standing by the door that leads down the hallway to Kat’s office.
He locks eyes with me and approaches. Several patrons glance our way but seem to understand this isn't something they should be watching and quickly avert their eyes and at least pretend to focus on the girl on stage. She may be as naked as the day God made her, but I don’t spare her a single glance. Only one woman occupies my entire focus right now, and it isn’t her.
I close the distance between us and stop just short of him. “I need to see Kat.”
He shakes his head. “She isn’t here.”
¡Ay hijueputa!
“Where is she?”
He scowls at me. “What the fuck makes you think I'm going to tell you that?”
After most of our men were wiped out at the airport, either this guy is brand-new, or he is so low on the totem pole that we have never met before. I would definitely remember this asshole.
“Do you know who the fuck I am?”
He nods. “Yep. I'm still not telling you where she is.”
I fist my hands at my sides, fighting the urge to swing at him. Any other time, I would, but I’m unarmed, in borrowed clothes, and still weak from the events of the past week. “Then let me talk to Genti.”
He'll know where she is, and he'll tell me.
The man shakes his head. “Not here, either.”
Fuck. And of course, I don't have my phone, so I can't even call him.
“Call him and tell him I'm here, looking for her.”
The man sneers at me but reaches into his pocket, pulls out a cell phone, and dials. He brings the phone to his ear, though how he thinks he'll hear over the music in here is beyond me. “Rose is at the club.” His eyes never leave mine. “Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Got it.”
He hands over the phone, and I press it to my ear and take a step away from him and toward a corner of the club I’m hoping is a little less noisy.
“Genti?”
“Yeah. It's nice to see Valentina didn't finish what Valerian started.”
I snort and shake my head. “Well, it’s nice to know someone gives a shit about what happened to me. Want to tell me where your boss is?”
Silence comes from the other end of the line, and Genti releases a deep sigh. “Look, I’m in a shitty position here, Rose. You know where my loyalties are.”
“To the woman who treated me like dirt and tossed me to the wolves?”
He mumbles something that sounds like it must be a curse in Albanian. “It’s worse than that.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“I can't say anything else. Just know I don't agree with everything she's doing right now.”
Well, shit.
“I need to be watching my back?”
He chuckles low. “Shouldn’t we always?”
“True.”
“But seriously…I think you should be watching your front, too. Don't trust anyone…and I hope we both make it out of this alive.”
The line goes dead.
FUCK!
I dial the number Sofia set up for emergencies and wait as it rings and rings and rings.
Come on, mija. Pick up.
Finally, a male voice answers. “Hello?”
“Who the fuck is this? Where’s Sofia?”
“Mr. Rose?”
“Who the fuck is this?”
“Emmanuel.”
One of the few men who didn't die at the airstrip and who I assumed was taken out by Cutter’s crew at the house when they came for me. At least someone else survived that massacre.
“I need you to come to get me at Kat’s club.”
“I'll be there in twenty minutes.”
I end the call and toss the phone back to her goon.
Twenty minutes…
Good. That gives me time for a few stiff drinks.
I march over to the bar, slide onto a stool, and wave over the bartender. “The twenty-five-year Macallan.”
He raises his eyebrows at me and opens his mouth to argue.
“Yes, I know how expensive it is. Give me the whole bottle. I'll pay you when my ride gets here.”
The bartender glances over my shoulder at the man I was just talking to, who inclines his head, granting him permission. Once he’s sure it’s okay, he goes to the back of the bar, grabs the bottle of scotch, and sticks it in front of me.
Before, this wouldn’t have been the kind of place that would keep such expensive scotch for patrons. If it were in the building at all, it would have been hidden away in the office of whoever was in charge at the time, their own private stock. But Kat’s renovation has upped their game—and greatly improved the alcohol selection.
Good thing, too, because I need the hard stuff. And a lot of it.
I pull out the stopper and lift the bottle to my lips, letting the harsh burn of the liquor that's almost as old as me make its way down my throat into my stomach.
There's only one other place Kat would be, only one other place she would go.
You can’t hide from me, mi cielo. Not for long.
ROSE
The light drizzle falling makes the pitch-black of the night even more ominous as I make my way up the long, winding driveway to Kat's Cradle. There isn't any point in trying to hide my arrival or sneak onto the property. I want her to know I'm here, want her to see me coming. I want her quivering in her fucking heels, wondering what the hell I’m going to do to her.
Even the time I took to shower and change at one of my condos before coming here didn’t quell the heat of my wrath. And it isn’t just about her betraying me. Sofia is still out there somewhere—alone and probably terrified. Not knowing where she is or what happened to her has me even closer to completely losing control than the fact that Kat stabbed me in the back. I should have heard from Sofia by now. She should have figured out a way to get a message to me that she’s safe and where I can find her. Yet, it’s been radio silence.
That only angers me more. Because all of this…all of it…is Kat’s fault.
I park at the base of the steps leading up to the main doors and pull my gun from the holster at my hip before climbing out. Not that I want to use it out here where it might draw unwanted attention from one of the nosy neighbors. But if anyone stands in my way of getting to Kat, I won’t think twice about pulling the trigger as many times as I need to.
The two men she usually has at the front door are conspicuously absent—maybe victims of the airport ambush, too—but as I climb the steps, the door opens, and Genti stands silhouetted by the light from the chandelier hanging over the foyer behind him.
He crosses his one working arm over his chest, where the other hangs in a sling, blocking my way. “I can't let you in.”
“Fuck you, Genti. How many times did I save your life in the last week alone?”
He shakes his head. “You know this has absolutely nothing to do with that.”
“I had hoped you would let me in to avoid any more unnecessary pain.”
A deep chuckle rumbles in his chest. “You going to shoot me? After everything we've been through together?”
“Why the hell not? Loyalty doesn't seem to mean anything to you guys, so why should it to me?”
He sighs and glances behind him. “I guess that's fair, considering what she did to you.”
Something about the way he says it gives me pause. “What is it exactly that she did to me? Besides turn me over to Valentina?”
There’s something more. Something he isn’t saying.
He averts his gaze and runs his free hand through his hair. “That isn't for me to say. But heed my advice from earlier.” He holds up a hand to keep me from stepping forward. “I’m still not letting you in.”
I raise my gun and point it at him. “Don't make me shoot you, Genti.”
Resignation drops his shoulders. He knows I’ll fire before he can pull his weapon. He likely knew before I even arrived that he would eventually have to let me see her or suffer the consequences. “You’re going to have to shoot me to get in here, Rose. But if you’re intent on doing that, just promise me you won’t hurt her.”
“You know I can't make that promise. Not after what she did.”
“Let him in.” Her voice carries through the towering foyer and makes me freeze. There isn't any fear there, not even the tiniest bit of wavering. Whatever she's done, she is confident she's made the right choices and is ready to face the consequences.
Genti turns to peek up at her, but I still can't see her from where I stand just outside the front door. He nods at her and steps aside, giving me room to enter. I lower my gun to my side and take a step in, but his free hand lashes out and pushes against my chest.
At least the fucker didn’t grab my bad arm.
“If you hurt her, you know you will answer to me.”
I incline my head. “I hope it doesn't come to that.”
His loyalty to Kat is commendable. She needs all the loyal men she can get right now. I'd hate for him to lose her. But it would be through her own choices. The future of her own making.
Genti moves his hand, and I step in from the cool drizzle that just started to the warm air and bright lights of Kat’s Cradle. My gaze immediately lifts to find her standing behind the banister on the second floor, hands resting casually on it, staring down and waiting for me.
She offers me a tight smile. “I've been expecting you.”
It's time to face the consequences of your sins, Kat. And I know you’re running out of lives.
I ascend the stairs slowly, deliberately, and not just because each step sends a jolt of pain through my leg. Because the last time I climbed these stairs, it was with Kat on my arm, with her still pretending to want to partner while she was working over Michael to serve her ultimate plan. But it isn’t just the memory that slows me. I also want her to suffer waiting.
Each step brings me closer to the confrontation she has to know is coming and must have prepared herself for. Though I doubt anyone could truly be ready for the true force of my wrath.
I may have told her the story of what I did, decimating those responsible for Mama y Papa’s deaths, but really…she has no concept of the things I’m incapable of. She can't imagine the amount of blood, the force of the screams, the things I did to keep myself alive and the Rose Cartel in power over the last two decades.
But she's about to learn that fucking with me means paying the price.
I reach the top of the stairs, and she turns to face me—a few feet is all that separates us even though it feels like a giant chasm the size of the Grand Canyon has suddenly broken open between me and the woman I thought I was so close to. Who I thought I understood and could plan a future with.
How could I have been so wrong?
Moving toward her slowly, each step gives her a chance to change her mind, to turn and run, or call out for Genti's protection. Yet, she stands her ground, unwavering, not even a quiver in her lip or her body. Her bright-red heels hold solid against the white carpet, and her stark black dress remains perfectly pressed. Not a hair has fallen out of place from her tight signature bun. She's back to being Kat, the ruthless, cold woman I fell in love with. The one who doesn't let her weaknesses get in the way of absolute world domination.
But I know what lingers just under the surface. And she's about to know what I'm barely containing.
I reach out and brush my fingertips over her cheek, then cup it and tilt her face up to mine. The blue eyes I once swam in to find a few moments of peace now threaten to drag me under and drown me. “I hope you're ready, mi cielo.”
The corner of her lip twitches, and she leans in to my touch slightly. “Always.”
ROSE
She says she's ready, and I thought I was. But even knowing what she did, the desire to drag her against me, bend her over this railing, and fuck her until she begs for mercy wars with the desire to wrap my hands around her throat and squeeze until there’s nothing left.
But not here.
Not while we have an audience.
I can feel Genti watching us from below, assessing whether he needs to come to her rescue or not. Even if he tried, he’d never make it up the stairs or get off a shot before I finish what I came here to do.
Because I won’t let him—or anyone else—stop me.
Not now that I’m standing in front of her and literally have her in the palm of my hand.
I slide my hand down from her cheek, across the delicate skin of her neck, over her exposed collarbone, and down to her side. Squeezing sharply, I nudge her and nod toward the hallway to her bedroom office.
She casts a furtive glance at Genti before moving in that direction, my hand pressed firmly to her lower back.
“Where is Jet?”
“Here.” Her steps don’t falter, but her eyes dart up to meet mine for a moment. “The girls have him.”
“You trust them?”
She pauses outside her closed door and turns to face me. “I trust them as much as I trust you.”
That statement could be taken a dozen different ways, but instead of dwelling on its potential hidden meaning, I push open the door and usher her inside the room. She takes a few steps and turns to face me, her shoulders back and head held high.
I close the door and turn the lock. “You know why I’m here, mi cielo?”
She nods slowly. “I do, but you aren't going to get an apology from me. I did what I had to.”
I tighten my grip on the gun still in my hand while my empty one flexes at my side. “What you had to?” Shaking my head, I take a step toward her. “No, mi cielo, you didn't have to do that. You could've warned me. We could've prepared. We could have run. There were a thousand ways things could have gone differently that didn't involve you giving me to Cutter and Valentina on a silver fucking platter.”
“I knew she wouldn't hurt you.”
“Bullshit—”
“You're too important. She knows what a mistake it would be to lose you as a potential partner.”
“And what about you? Is she your partner now?”
Who knows what they discussed when Valentina put the screws to her? For all I know, Kat might have agreed to far more than just making sure I would go quietly.
Kat shakes her head. “No. Felipe is.”
The whole world goes red as the warning Genti gave me flashes through my head.
“Watch your front… It's worse than that…”
Now I understand.
Three quick steps close the distance between us, and I wrap my free hand around her throat and push her until her back hits the wall behind her. “What the hell did you just say?”
Her icy blue gaze stays locked on mine. “I said Felipe is my new partner.”
Hearing his name fall from her lips in that context sends a new fury roaring through me. “You went to my brother?”
She nods, never breaking eye contact, her nerves strong and in-tact despite how easily I could choke the life from her body in a matter of seconds.
I step into her until my heaving chest pushes against hers. “So that's it? That's what you want? Him? Or is it just that you're placing your bets on the horse you think will win this race?”
Her tongue darts out to lick her lips, and a familiar pink blush crawls up her neck and over the cheeks. She isn’t scared. She’s turned on.
“Is that why you want me right now? Because I look like him?” I pull my hand from her throat and shove it between her legs to find her cunt wet and ready for me. My cock twitches between us, and I easily shove two fingers inside her.
She groans, her eyes rolling back into her head as she exposes the delicate skin of her neck even more to me.
“Are you imagining his hand here? His touch?” I withdraw my fingers only to shove them back in harder.
Her pussy tenses around them, drawing them in even deeper, almost as if her body wants to consume that part of me.
“I already know you get off on the threat. The excitement of not knowing if you’re going to live or die.”
She’s proven that over and over again since I met her. The rush she felt is what drew her into this life and kept her here through Aleksander, Michael, me…and apparently, now Felipe. “Is that what he gives you that I can’t anymore? Because you know he's really the one in control and the most danger to you? Is it the knowledge that he can end you in a split-second that makes your cunt drip like this? Because if that’s what you’re after, I'm happy to give it to you.”
