Page 35 of Love and War

“Killian, I seriously don’t know where men get the idea they can just do as they please. But Brandon didn’t show up for practice, I know it’s a lot to ask. But can you, uh… well…”

“Princess…” I smiled into the phone, knowing full well why fucking Brandon hadn’t shown up to practice. He was dead. Or pretty fucking close to it. He wasn’t walking out of here alive.

“I’m sorry. Hi, Popsicle.” I could hear the smile in her voice.

No matter if I claimed to hate the nickname she gave me, I loved it. She’s been calling me it for ten years, and she’s the only one besides Z who truly cracked open my wall.

“Hi, Princess.”

Brandon gurgled in the background. Turning away, I rushed to the door so he couldn’t try and yell for help. Aziza may understand I have this darkness inside me, but she didn’t need to know I also murdered any men who hurt her.

“Meet me at the park?” She said, bringing me back to her question. She knows I would do anything for her. Even if that meant helping her ballet. I’d do anything for her.

“Yeah, give me an hour to finish up here and I’ll be there.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t forget to check your blood sugars, I want to know when I get there.”

“I will.”

After she hung up, I headed back in to finish Brandon. She needed me and I didn’t want to waste time on him anymore.

***

“KILLIAN!” Zane's voice bellowed around the room. Glancing over my shoulder at him, I took in the worried expression. I didn’t know why he would be worried about me.

Not until I looked back at John and the way he no longer had insides on the inside. No, instead his intestines were laying on the ground, his stomach skinless. His legs were completely bent in the wrong way from the bat. His eyes were swollen shut, blood dripping down from his nose and mouth.

He was dead.

More than dead. He was not recognizable.

“Alright, man, are you going to tell me what that was about?” Zane motioned towards the mangled body.

Shaking my head, I tossed the knife onto the table. I truly didn’t want to talk about it. Not because I didn’t trust Zane, or because I thought he would think of me differently. Zane was the enforcer for the Bratva Mafia. He did this for a living, for fucks sake.

But there are things I never told him or Dimitri. The fact that I killed more men than I care to admit. Most of them because of her. She’s my obsession that appeared to be worse than it was before I left her.

Ignoring the stares from Zane I pulled my phone out, calling Taylor.

“Da.”

“Mne nuzhna komanda po uborke.” I didn’t wait for confirmation if they heard me for the clean-up crew. I needed to shower off the blood and get back to Aziza.

“Killian,” Zane snapped at me before I made it to the door. “You asked me to bring him here. I did. All I’m asking is for something here.”

“He touched someone who belongs to me.” It was all I could give him.

He nodded. Even if he didn’t want to admit it, he understood. We all knew he was obsessed with Salem. Granted, she could kick his ass. I liked Salem, but I was also biased because she was Aziza's best friend. The same friend I’d heard about many times before, just never knew who it was.

I rushed through my shower in the backroom. I wanted to get back into bed with her. I knew she probably felt me leave and would want to know why. Only this time I would tell her why.

That I killed him. That I killed Brandon years ago, and that if anyone thinks they can take her from me I will kill them, with a smile on my face.

14

Aziza

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