Page 13 of Bound By You

"You're a pathetic little boy, not realizing who you are dealing with. Christian is a puppy compared to me." Abby chuckles. She, Juan, and Colin are the only ones who have seen this side of me. For the five years I lived with my father, I had to hide behind my mask, the quiet, shy girl that I used to be before I lived with Athena, and she, with the help of the Spanish Don, Juan Garcia, who happens to be my uncle, and whom my father didn’t know about when he married my mother. Juan turned me into a lethalkilling machine. However, I can't really call myself a killer…until recently.

I never had any practice because myyia-yiapassed away, then my father took me back, which means I hadn't killed anyone until three months ago, when I walked outside of the library where Abby was supposed to meet me, and I heard screaming. I ran around the corner just in time to catch two dickheads trying to attack her. One held Abby while the other was undoing her pants as she tried to kick out at them. I grabbed my knife from my boot, and I ran toward them, stabbing the guy who was trying to undo her pants. The other guy paled when I slowly looked up at him; he held his hands up and backed away before taking off. I got my small pistol from the back pocket of my jean shorts, and shot him once in the back of his head.

I expected Abby to scream and run away from me, instead, she nearly toppled us to the ground while hugging me and crying. Nobody ever found out that I killed them, thanks to the technical skills my uncle taught me. As it turns out, several women came forward after seeing those men’s faces plastered on TV, claiming rape. The police didn't really try all that hard to find their killer. It makes me smirk every time I think about it, and now Abby trains with me every week. We do Judo on Saturdays, with a mix of martial arts and boxing, then we shoot at the shooting range one town over on Sundays, much to my Uncle Juan’s happiness.

I contacted him after my first kill, and he decided to tell me all about the human traffickers. He said he was waiting for me to be ready, and hearing that they are now picking up children to sell, it was a no-brainer. He's given me over thirty-five targets in three months, and I've had perfect kill shots each time. They call me the Angel of Death, because, apparently, someone noticed I was a woman because of the shoes I was wearing when I went after a cartel drug runner, who had gone rogue trying his hand attrafficking. He tried to snatch a five-year-old little girl, and I had to do something to make my uncle proud. The person noticed nothing else about me. Some people say I need catching, and others are praising me because of who I kill.

But back to my grandmother's money and estate. I did offer my uncle half after I learned about it because it is more his than mine, but he declined, stating I earned it. He is the only other person I trust. I used to trust Sergi, but I know his loyalty would be with Alex, and that's why I haven't contacted him. The same is true of Sofia, no matter how much I miss them.

In front of me, standing beside the emergency exit, Oliver pales, and I sneer at him.

"You're one of the richest people I know, thanks to your parents' good luck in the real estate business, and yet you want to stealmygrandmother's hard-earned money?" I smirk. "And I'm guessing it's because they won't approve of you two," I snarl, the fucking, lying piece of shit. I leave out that myyia-yia’smoney is mainly blood money, but he doesn't need to know that.

"Here's what you're going to do."

He tries to speak, and my knife slices him a little. Blood starts to drip from his neck, and he whimpers, causing James to sob. I roll my eyes, pussies the both of them.

This was the guy I was going to fuck Alex out of my system with? Geez.

"You're going to tell Christian that he was right; I'm not pure." Abby snorts, knowing it's bullshit. "Then you're going to request a meeting with him, and you're going to ensure that my father, Basil Adino, and Damian and Alexandr Volkov are present. You'll tell him you've gotten ahold of my inheritance. Do you understand?" He whimpers, most likely recognizing the names, and doesn't want to meet them. I roll my eyes again. "You're not actually going, you idiot, I am, but you're not to tell them that, got it?" He nods fast, causing him to cut himselfmore, whimpering in pain. I remove my knife from his throat, and James quickly grabs a hold of him and looks at me.

"We're sorry, Phoebe. We just didn't know what else to do."

I tilt my head, and as Abby states, "You were supposed to confide in your friend, and she most probably would have given you the money. Instead, you tried to manipulate her, ruin your friendship and trust, and use her. Now, you're on your own." I nod, agreeing, while both men's faces pale, realizing they fucked up because, before Oliver tried to be more, he was a good friend.

Abby grabs my hand, ready to pull me away, and I state, "You have twenty-four hours to get me the meet-up information. Betray me, and it won't be my knife next time, it'll be a bullet. They don't call me the Angel of Death for no reason." Their mouths drop, and they look ready to pass out.

Abby and I turn around and head out.

"Let's go home, yeah?" Abby says, and I nod, squeezing her hand. Yet another person betrayed me but, at least this time, I didn't drop my mask like I was starting to with Alex.

six

Alexandr

I'm sittingin my office at Volkov & Co., going over our stock portfolio to ensure we're still on top, when my brother enters my office just as my phone rings. Damian sits on the couch along the opposite wall as I answer the phone.

"Alexandr," I answer. My eyebrows shoot up when I hear Basil on the other end, and my heart skips a beat. Maybe he's found her? Fuck, I hope so. I have some making up to do.

"Alexandr, how are you?"

I clear my throat. "I'm doing alright, Basil. What can I do for you?"

Damian's eyebrows shoot up as I talk. I put the call on speaker.

"I had an interesting call from Christian Baciu; we have been requested for a meeting with him and Damian in forty-eight hours at the old, abandoned warehouse on 9th Street. Apparently, some unknown person has managed to get a hold of my daughter's inheritance."

I shoot up from my seat while Damian's face goes stone cold, which would scare away the meanest criminals.

"Basil, it's Damian. How exactly did he manage to get a hold of Phoebe's trust?" he demands in a cold voice, and I clear my throat as a worried lump forms in my chest.

Damian can see the worry in my eyes.

Does this person have her?

If he does, I will fucking gut him.

"Apparently, a man he employed managed to trick her into falling for him; they were lovers, his words, not mine." I growl loudly as he sneers the sentence out, clearly pissed that his little girl has slept around. Someone else took what was mine, then again, if what Selene said was true, she’s been doing this for years! Hypocritical, I know, but I don't give a fuck; her virginity was supposed to bemine! Her body was supposed to bemine!

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