Dark knight, p.5
Dark Knight, page 5
“What if I told you that I know why you were running?” I add.
Her head snaps up and her eyes meet mine. Fear crosses her face.
“I think you saw something you shouldn’t have seen that night, and it made you run scared as shit. You saw a man being murdered. And not only that, but someone also saw you and wanted no witnesses and so they chased you.” I state.
Aurora leans back in her chair stiffly. I know I have her right where I want her.
“He chased you through the market and you saw the bus as the quickest way to get away. And you ended up running in front of my car,” I continue.
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She attempts to get up and I reach out and grab her hand.
“Don’t make a scene, Aurora. Sit,” My voice is laced with warning.
She looks at me for a moment, seeming uncertain and scared, then slowly sinks back into her seat.
“I know it’s some scary shit, sweetheart. Welcome to my world.”
Her eyes fill with tears, and observe the perspiration that has broken out on her upper lip. Her hand is trembling, and I grab it, interlocking our fingers. I use my other hand to fish into my wallet for a hundred-dollar bill. I slide it underneath my empty coffee mug as I squeeze her fingers between mine. “I need you to tell me what you saw, Aurora. That man that was killed was my cousin. And I need to know what happened and who did it. If you saw something that made you run the way you did, you’re in danger.”
“I lost the man who was chasing me, and he doesn’t know what I look like.” She gasps, her eyes widening as she realizes what she just admitted, and I smile at her fumble.
“So, you do know what I’m talking about.”
“P-Please,” She pulls her hand from mine, “Just let me g-go. I swear I won’t tell anyone-” the tears continue to brim and are on the verge of spilling down her cheek.
I tsk softly,“You may think that you lost him, but that’s not the way my world works. We have our ways and means of finding people, Aurora. I found you. what makes you think they won’t find you too? And when they find you, they may not be as conversational as I’m being right now, especially since they want you silenced. So tell me the truth and everything Aurora, what did you see?” I question.
She bites her lip to keep it from trembling and I note the sheer panic in her eyes.
I shift slightly, leaning in as she begins to speak. “I-”
“Get down!” I shout when the first shot of bullets ricochet off the metal table, inches from where I had just been leaning my arm. Instantly my gun is in my hand, and I literally haul Aurora into my arms overturning the table as I do. Dmitri moves like lightning and get down behind a post and together we fire back in the direction from which the shots came. Screams flood the coffee shop as more shots are fired and glass shatters. I crouch behind the table, keeping Aurora behind me.
“Oh God!” Aurora cries, scrambling to her knees.
“Don’t fucking move!” I snap and put my empty gun into my waist and reach to my ankle for my other piece. I fire a few more times until I realise that there is no more return the fire. I keenly scan our surrounding and see Dmitri running down the block. I stand and pull Aurora up as well, keeping her well behind me. I can feel her body shaking like a leaf pressed against me.
I keep my eyes on the opposite side of the street as I haul her out of the coffee shop. I hold her tightly to my side and clamp my hand over her mouth. Police sirens sound from the distance and a crowd of bystanders across the street whisper in panicked conversations but I am not interested in what they have to say neither do I care that I still have my gun out. I just need Dmitri to get here as fast as he can.
Chapter 10
Aurora
I cannot stop shaking as I scream against Adrian’s palm over my mouth. The sound is muffled, fear engulfing me. My ears are still ringing from the loud explosions of gunfire. ‘What the fuck have I gotten myself into?’ is a question for which I have no answer. The tears which have been so close to falling are now flowing like a fountain. I twist and squirm in his arms, trying to get away. But he has me in a vice-like grip and struggling is useless.
“Stop it!” Adrian growls in my ear.
“Mmmmm!” I continue to push at him, thrashing but he holds me even tighter.
I hear tyres squealing and hurriedly look up to see a car ride the curb and almost run over the overturned tables. Adrian pulls me close to him and drags me to the vehicle, gun still in hand. It feels like a fraction of a second that he takes to open the door and pushes me in before diving in behind me. I scurry up onto the seat and plaster myself against the other door as the car races off. My eyes dart around wildly, feeling slightly relieved when I see that we are approaching my apartment. My hand is on the door handle, ready to jump out as soon as the car stops. My relief turns into panic when I realise that the car is not slowing down.
“My apartment is right here! Let me out now!” I yell.
Instead, the car speeds up and races past my block.
“Let me go! Please!” I tug on the door handle frantically, trying to release the lock.
“Stop that, Aurora,” Adrian grates as he tucks his gun on his waist.
“No! Let me go!” I begin to kick at the window.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Adrian grabs my shoulder, his hold tight, his fingers digging into my skin. I spin around and start to pound at him with my fists. I kick wildly, pleased to hear him grunt when my foot connects with him.
“Let me go!” I try to dart across to his side, sure that his door opens from the inside. He grabs me and the next thing I know is I am flat on my back on the seat. Glaring at him, I push on my elbows, trying to sit up but Adrian is an unmovable force, he pushes me back, his eyes narrowing in warning. Still, I struggle, gritting my teeth and thrust upward to push him off of me. My legs can barely move, and he has my arms pinned between our bodies. I can feel the heat of his body melting into mine and his hot breath on my face.
“Stop, Aurora,” Adrian rumbles.
“Arghhh! Let me go!” I scream at the top of my lungs. Then, just like that, the screams are cut off as his mouth cover mine.
“Mmmmm!!!”
His lips are warm and firm against mine as he effectively silences me. He kisses me roughly as I try one more time to make some utterance. It is a failure and I close my eyes in defeat. Sensing my surrender, Adrian draws back, his mouth leaves mine briefly. I inhale sharply, my breathing erratic. I glare at him, but he remains unfazed, his fierce eyes piercing into me. For the longest minute, we remain glaring at each other, my heart pounding in my ears. Then he lowers his head again and I feel his tongue caress my lips. Slowly he outlines my lips with the tip of his tongue, and I part my lips for him, closing my eyes. A flutter of nervousness take hold of me when his tongue touches mine. It reminds me of the fleeting touches of his fingers along mine and the electricity that sparked.
Adrian shifts his head slightly and moves one hand to cradle my head, deepening the kiss. I feel a burst of heat as his tongue glides along mine. He tastes intoxicating and delicious. I feel a hardness pressing into my stomach and at first, I think it is his gun, but when I remember that he put it in the back of his waist I know it is another ‘gun’ that I feel. Heat pools between my legs at the thought of his erection pressing into me like this. Not even making out with my one high school boyfriend had we ever gone as far as touching like this. I tremble as I realise that Adrian is no boy but a grown man. He presses into me, and my body responds by arching up to meet him. I feel a rumble in his chest as he groans.
Slowly, he lifts his head and I look up at him, my lips parted and my chest heaving. His eyes bore into mine, glittering hotly. He seems to be doing that staring into my soul once more and I wonder if he can tell how inexperienced I am in being with a man. He has made no attempt to stop pressing his body into mine and goosebumps break over my skin as I feel him throbbing through the thin fabric of my leggings.
“Are you going to scream again?” His rasps, his voice hypnotically husky and deep.
I shake my head slowly. “No.”
“Good girl.” He caresses my cheek and grazes my lips with his thumb before moving to sit. He pulls me into a seated position.
“You’re clearly in danger, Aurora,” Adrian states.
I shake my head, lamenting. “I didn’t do anything.”
“You may not have done anything, but you saw something. Those shots were a warning. They could have killed you if they wanted to. You were in clear view after all. I need to know what you saw so that I can protect you.”
“I don’t need your protection,” I stubbornly say.
Adrian looks at me sharply, “You needed it when you ran into the middle of the street. And you needed it when that man grabbed your ass. I almost took a bullet for you and you’re going to tell me you don’t need my protection?”
“I don’t know anything. Please take me home.” I beg.
“You know something. You were about to say something when they started firing. What did you see, Aurora?” He presses.
“Take me home.” I reply.
“What the fuck did you see?” he grabs my chin and twists my head to look at him.
I feel the tears prick at my eyes again and I go silent. I close my eyes and the tears slide down my face. I freeze when I feel his breath caress my cheek as he leans in closer. His lips graze my ear. “You are going to tell me what you saw, one way or another. And I’m not going to let you go until you do.”
He leans back and releases me suddenly. I scurry away from him, squeezing into the corner against the door and turn to stare at the passing scenery. I feel his hot gaze on me, and I hide my face in the crook of my elbow as the tears flow. I close my eyes. Nothing could have prepared me for this turn of events when I woke up this morning. This morning. It all feels so long ago when it is not yet even ten o’clock.
My head aches from the whirling thought and the tears won’t stop falling. The deadly silence in the car only makes it worse. After a while, the motion of the car makes me drift off to sleep. My eyes fly open with a start as a hand touches my shoulder. At first, I am unsure where I am as I look around at the dark space. I think I am in my apartment and relax. It was all a horrible nightmare with the shooting and being kidnapped.
“We’re here,” A familiar masculine voice snaps across from me and my heart sinks. I turn my head to find Adrian scowling at me.
“Here where?”
“My place,” he replies.
My eyes widen then narrow suspiciously, “Which is where exactly?”
“Manhattan. Let’s go,” He orders.
I watch as he steps out and I step out after him. I look around at what appears to be an underground parking garage.
“This way.” He walks over to a wall which is revealed to be a set of elevators. The doors swoosh open when he punches in a code. He steps in and I follow. The other man follows. I am only now able to get a look at the driver. He is older than Adrian and a little shorter and stockier. He looks like someone’s favourite uncle, and I would never have thought he was a mobster.
Mobster. The term even sounded strange rolling off my tongue.
I watch the floors light up as we ascend. It feels like a sick fairy tale where the villain imprisons the heroine in the turrets of a castle. What on earth is going to become of me now?
Chapter 11
Adrian
I watch Aurora as she watches the numbers. I wrestle with my thoughts as I quench the memory of how she felt underneath me in the car. My imagination had run wild when thoughts of what it would feel like to have her bare skin against mine flooded my mind. The way my dick hardened at her proximity was evidence enough for me that I’m attracted to her. I pride myself on having self-control and it takes a special woman to elicit such a response.
I pull my musings back to the present. What a predicament. When I left home this morning to go have a chat with Aurora, coming back here with her had not been on the agenda. But I would be damned if I am going to leave her in Brooklyn for whoever wanted her dead to finish the job. Besides, I still do not have the information I want from her. I need her alive. The elevator grinds to a halt.
“This is us,” I tell her.
I wait for the door to slide open and Dmitri steps out ahead of us. Aurora gasps softly when he pulls out his gun and I take her hand. We walk silently down the short corridor and stop at my door at the end. There are two other apartments on this floor, but I bought them all to have the entire floor to myself, leaving no chance for suspicious or nosy neighbours.
Dmitri punches in the code and enters ahead of us. I draw Aurora back to the doorway as Dmitri does his sweep. I don’t miss the way Aurora looks around fearfully.
“Be at ease. You’re safe now,” I tell her.
“All clear,” Dmitri declares. I close and lock the door behind us while he heads to the kitchen to his apartment. I move into the living room, leaving Aurora standing in the middle of the room. I walk to the kitchen for a bottle of water and return to find her standing in the same spot. With her eyes swollen from crying, Aurora looks so lost and forlorn, and I am reminded of my sister’s friend some years ago who we had to get out of the country for her own protection. She had returned from school to find her entire family slaughtered like animals. This was exactly how Emilia had looked that afternoon.
I walk over to Aurora, and she looks up at me with her big brown eyes. I note the way her lip trembles and she trap it between her teeth to stop it from trembling. I grab her shoulders and give her a slight shake. “You need relax.”
She blinks a few times.
“Exhale. Breathe, Aurora. You’re safe now,” I say softly.
“How can I be calm when someone is out there trying to kill me?” She worries.
“You just have to trust me when I say you’re safe now. No one will mess with you while you’re under my protection. Come. Let me show you around so you can know where to find whatever you need.”
“I’m not staying here.” She whirls on her heel and heads to the door.
I watch in bemusement as she attempts to open the door. There is no handle. And I would be damned if I was going to give her the code for the keypad. With a frustrated sigh, she turns away from the door and marches to the nearest window.
“We’re forty storeys up and the windows are sealed and bulletproof,” I say coolly.
“This is madness. You can’t keep me here. It’s against the law.” She spins around, her eyes flashing at me angrily.
“Well, when I came to see you in Brooklyn for you to tell me who killed my cousin, do you think I planned to get into a shootout covering your ass and bring you back here? Speaking of which-” I reach into my waist and retrieve my empty gun. I walk over to a cabinet and take out a box of ammunition. I refill it slowly, pushing each bullet into its respective chamber. I feel her eyes on me as I lift my pant leg and retrieve the gun on my ankle and do the same. I put the box in the drawer and lock the cabinet before turning to her.
“I’m not used to this, Mr. Drakos,” She speaks.
“Adrian,” I correct her.
“I can’t do this whole mafia nightmare,” She shakes her head and crosses her hands over her chest.
“Well, you wouldn’t be in it if you didn’t happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, sweetheart,” I reply and start to walk out of the room then halt and glance at her over my shoulder. She is staring at me as if I have grown a second head.
“Do you plan to sleep standing up in the middle of the room or shower there?” I speak.
She shakes her head, hesitating for a moment then decides to follow me. I perceive the slump to her shoulders and know that she finally seems to be wrapping her mind around her new situation.
“This is the kitchen. The cupboards are fully stocked and so is the refrigerator.”
She looks around puzzled. “Where did your driver go? I could have sworn I saw him come in here.”
“He did. He’s my genie. He comes when I call and disappears when I’m done with his services,” I grin and chuckle at her consternation.
I walk out of the kitchen, and she follows. I point to the door at the end of the corridor. “That’s my suite. The other two are guest rooms. You may have whichever one you choose. That other door is my office.”
Aurora walks to the door on the left then turns to look at me. “I don’t have anything with me. And I had planned to have a shower and wash my hair before work. But then all of this happened and-” she trails off, frowning.
“The bathroom is stocked with soap and shampoo,” I say and extend my hand, “Let me have the key to your place, I’ll get you the rest of your things.”
Wordlessly she hands it over. I push her towards the door. “Go shower and do what you need to do.”
As soon as she disappears into the room, I set the wheels in motion. In ten minutes, one of my men collects the key and his instructions for emptying her apartment. I rummage through my closet to find something for her to wear in the meantime. The only thing that seems suitable is one of my dress shirts. I slip into the guest room and place it on the bed, pausing briefly to listen to the shower running. A sweet scent of fruity soap wafts out to the bedroom and I take a deep breath. I feel my cock harden at the thought of Aurora just a few feet beyond, her body naked and wet. My imagination kicks in again as I wonder what it would feel like to take her in the shower, hot water pouring over our bodies as I pound into her.
I retreat hastily. I can break a man’s legs with one well-placed swing of a baseball bat, I can empty my clip into a man’s head without a second thought but this tenderness for women is my Achilles heel. I would not want a man to force himself on my sister or mother and I extended the same courtesy to other women.
I strip and step under the spray in my bathroom. My cock is still hard, and I close my eyes and grip it. Instantly Aurora’s image fills my head. I slide my hand along my shaft, taking the time to twist and squeeze the bulbous mushroom head. I shudder as a ripple runs through my body. I brace one hand on the cool tile of the shower, imagining how tight Aurora would feel on my cock, sliding into her pussy. I had felt enough of her underneath me earlier to know she is formed in all the right places.
