Page 38 of Spiteful Heart

“Yes, Daddy,” I purred out, giving him a smirk. “Anything else?”

He stepped away from the door, bringing his hands to my hips, beneath the leather jacket. “Yes,” he whispered, pulling me close. “Be careful. Don’t do anything reckless. We all want him dead, but we want you alive more, Lola.” He waited a moment before adding, “I love you.”

The way he stared down at me, with how tightly his fingers held onto my sides, I knew he wasn’t lying. Sylvester Luciano loved me. It still sounded weird in my head, like even now I thought I didn’t deserve it.

“I love you, too,” I whispered back, and he lowered his mouth to mine, kissing me gently. An odd type of kiss for us, but today wasn’t exactly a normal day. The kiss was just another reminder of that.

When Sylvester pulled his mouth off mine, his gaze dropped to the necklace I wore. One of his hands left my side, going to touch the skull pendant. “We won’t be far from,” he said. “So if you need us, don’t hesitate to call us, okay? If you can’t take him down by yourself, then we’ll help you.”

As annoyed as I’d been with Sylvester for keeping his existence a secret from me before, it was sweet, in a way, him offering to help me kill him. Gals, get yourself a boyfriend who’ll want to share in your interests, whether your interests involve knitting, resin-crafting, or killing.

“I’ll be fine,” I said, not for the first time. I’d have my phone in the jacket’s right pocket, along with a few knives. Small little daggers, tucked neatly away in my jacket, along with two in my boots. Oh, I was as ready as I’d ever be.

I grabbed my mask from my bed, and then it was a waiting game.

We didn’t tell Harvey what was going on. He was still stationed to watch over Newton tonight. Sylvester was going to drop me off at the edge of the warehouse district, the part of the city that had been abandoned long ago, and from there I’d walk to the meeting spot. I figured the guys would hang out somewhere nearby; close enough to be there should I need them, but far enough that the killer wouldn’t see them.

I was ready. I was as ready as I’d ever be. This had been a long time coming, and after tonight, one of us would be dead.

Eleven forty-five rolled around, and that’s when we got going. Sylvester took me to the old industrial area, and I slid on my mask. Neither one of us said anything during the drive. My hands were in my pockets, heavy with small silver daggers and my phone.

My mask felt heavier than ever before, almost as if it carried the weight of tonight with it. My breathing echoed in it, the lower half of my face hot, but I didn’t mind. This was the Night Slayer’s mask now, and tonight I would unleash her true batshit craziness. This guy thought he knew what he was walking into, but he was wrong. I was gonna go full Rambo on his ass.

The drive took longer than I thought it would—we arrived at the edge of the warehouse district just before midnight, and I looked at Sylvester. We shared a long, lingering look before I got out. I shut the door behind me, staring off at my destination. When I heard him drive off, I started walking.

The Beast had some territory here, but where I was going was our turf. We had a warehouse we used for some fun times, although those fun times had been pushed out of my mind the night we found all those bodies arranged for us, including Tina’s headless corpse. Whoever this guy was, he’d been watching us this whole time, watching me.

Well, soon enough we’d meet face to face, and I’d put an end to the questions.

I walked with my head held high, unbothered by how dark it was, how eerie the atmosphere was. If I was anyone else, I might be tempted to be afraid of all of the shadows. The only light came from the moon and its silvery hue lit up the puddles on the ground.

I went straight to the place the killer had told me to meet him: where we put our bodies in the river. No one else was around yet; I was alone, and so I stood at the edge of the concrete border, my gaze on the river ten feet below. The current was just as strong as ever, the perfect current to carry bodies away.

How many corpses had been tossed into this river? How many people had been eaten by the fish that surely gathered here, waiting for their next meal? If the bodies ever washed up somewhere, I didn’t know.

The night was silent, save for the sounds of the river and its current. I stood there for a minute, listening to it, and it was as I listened that something hit me. Something I hadn’t thought twice about, because it was impossible. It… was impossible.

But that voice… his hatred for me and everything I stood for, his hatred for Newton…

I heard the sounds of footsteps, but before I could turn around, something sharp suddenly poked me in the ass. I reached around my backside, feeling something sticking out of me, something sharp enough to have gone right through my shorts.

I pulled it out and brought it to my face, studying it in the moonlight as I finished turning around. “My ass, really?” I asked, but just like that, the world got a little blurry. Everything grew hazy and I got a case of the dizzies. My feet felt wrong, my knees wobbling, unable to keep me upright. “You mothahfuckah.” I couldn’t even say the word right, my tongue too heavy for my mouth.

I struggled to remain upright, and I pulled out my phone to dial Sylvester. I couldn’t keep standing. As I fell to the cold, damp ground, my fingers let go of my phone. My face was turned toward the sky, and struggle as I did to keep conscious, whatever was in the dart was too much for me.

My eyes rolled back and I was out.

Chapter Nine – Sylvester

After dropping Lola off, I drove to a nearby alley and parked my car. It was out of sight to anybody who’d drive by on the road. I turned off my lights but kept my car running; had to be ready in case I had to jump into action.

I texted the group chat I’d created earlier. Maddox, Viper, and Big Mike were all stationed at various places nearby. Technically, Lola did go to meet the killer alone… we were less than minutes away.

Come on. Like we were really going to let her walk off and do this completely on her own.

My gun rested on the center console, ready to be used. I couldn’t lie; I felt the need to use it, to bury some lead in the skull of the sick fuck we were looking for. It’d been a while since I’d put somebody down. When you were a Luciano, killing was just part of the job. It wasn’t like I got off on it, not like Maddox did—or Lola. For me, it was a job, something that must be done occasionally to rule a city like this.

I thought back to how restless Lola had been today. I wished I could make her feel better, wished I could take the burden of this off her shoulders, but I couldn’t.

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