Page 92 of Hearts Of Darkness

“Hold out your hands.” He binds my wrists with my discarded panties and pulls the knot tight. “Which version ofmewould you like this evening?” he croons, trailing a slow-moving digit down the center of my body, and through my soft folds before driving it deep inside me. “The devil or the monster?”

“Neither,” I pant, tipping my head back and widening my thighs to accept more of him. “Tonight, I just want you.”

28

DANTE

Just before dawn, I slip from her arms. I don’t sleep much these days. Since Colombia, I see shadows and movement in every dark corner. These last four hours wrapped around Eve’s body have been the longest and deepest I’ve slept in weeks.

Once I’m showered and dressed, I make my way downstairs. I muse on how much I hated this house until approximately ten hours ago when she brought back her spark and made everything light again. Material possessions have never held much interest to me. Like most things in life, they’re to be used and discarded. It’s this mindset that made it so easy for me to slip into obscurity fifteen years ago. Emilio found it harder. He never shared the same discipline.

I find Joseph in the kitchen. He’s standing by the island, hunched over his laptop.

“It’s four a.m. Don’t you sleep anymore?” he grumbles, not bothering to look up.

“Don’t you?” I say mildly, heading for the coffee machine.

“I never sleep.”

We don’t deserve to.Not after the bloody cull we’ve orchestrated recently.

The last six weeks have been tainted with a breathtaking violence, the likes of which we’ve never known before. When I look down, I don’t see my hands, I see weapons of death. My head is filled with the screams of our victims.

Without Eve, my bloodlust ran unchecked. We’ve hunted down and executed all of Emilio’s co-conspirators. Before I visited Sanders’ club last night, I held a gun to my treacherous cousin’s head and pulled the trigger. That was only after I’d extracted Emilio’s last known whereabouts during a protracted five hours.

We took a grim pleasure in our work. Nicolas was the one who gave the order to execute every single man I sent to America. What I did yesterday was in their name, and in their honor.

“I want the details of that horse dealer you know in Montana,” I tell him, picking up my iPad and skimming through the emails. There’s another one from the P.I. team in Colombia… Still no news. This girl is proving as elusive as my fucking brother. Fifteen years I’ve been searching for her, and still nothing. Not even a glimpse.

“What’s wrong with a bunch of flowers?” drawls Joseph, guessing at my intentions right away.

“Just get me the damn number. How are those new coordinates checking out?” I’m referring to the intel we extracted from my pleading, dying cousin yesterday.

“Tomas has instructed a team. They’re on the groundalready. Looks like we missed him. We need to get back to Colombia and flush him out ourselves. He’s running out of places to hide.”

You screwed up, big brother. The gamble never came to fruition. Not even close. Did you really think you’d win this war against me? We’ve executed your allies. Your business is destroyed. Those four walls are closing in on you.

“Who’s the blonde?” asks Joseph, interrupting my triumphant reverie.

“What blonde?”

“The one in the club with Eve. I saw you talking by the front entrance.”

I don’t see other women; I only have eyes for her. I do read her daily security reports, though.

“Some friend of hers… Anna Williams, I believe.”

“Pretty name.”

I glance up from the coffee machine in surprise. I’ve never heard him take an interest in a woman before. He normally fucks to forget, like I used to. Now I fuck tofeel.

“I thought brunettes were more your thing.”

“I’ll take a blonde with a body like that.”

“Why is everything so fucking monochrome in this house,” I grumble, switching my attention to the black tiles above the stove. Eve’s right. The décor in here is shit.

“Hire a decorator then.”

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