Page 32 of Cruel Promise

“As I said, Nik. These guns are going to make us a fuckload of money. But I don’t want to share. I’m tired of following orders. I want to be the boss for once.” His grin was savage.

“You’re double crossing me? How fucking cliché can you be?”

He shrugged. “It’s just the way things go in business, Nik. It’s nothing personal.”

“Drop your gun,” Carlos said, appearing by my side with a gun pointed at Anton.

“This just got interesting,” Anton said. “But I’m bored already.” Then he shot Carlos in the head.

I reached for my own gun, but Anton turned his weapon back onto me before I could grab it.

“You know what sounds really fun, Nik?” Still keeping his gun trained on me, he walked over to Carlos’s dead body and stomped on his head. Carlos’s skull crushed under Anton’s boot.

Anton was always one for torture. I tended to give people to him when I needed information, and he always delivered, coming back to me covered in blood.

But he never used his bloodlust against me.

Until now.

Jose was hiding next to the one of the vans, and I didn’t blame him. Jose was just a delivery driver. Not a fighter.

Anton turned his dark smile onto me, taking a dagger out of his pocket. “Now. I want to have some fun.”

Before I could react, he slashed the dagger across my face.

I wake up, drenched in sweat.

That always happens after I dream about Anton. Except it’s not just a dream. It’s a memory.

I stand before the mirror in my ensuite bathroom and stare at my scar. It’s a nasty, brutal thing. Anton didn’t let it properly heal after he cut me. The scar is still puckered and red in many places. It goes from my left temple, across my nose, to my lower right jaw.

I used to be a handsome man. Never had trouble with women. They flocked to me left and right, partly because of my money, partly because of my power, and partly because of my looks.

We all used each other in different ways. Sex. Money. Attention.

Now, when women look at me, they run screaming. I’m honestly surprised Ava hasn’t screamed at the sight of me yet. I just keep waiting for that moment when she does.

I know she hates me. I know I don’t deserve her.

I fucking bought her for fuck’s sake.

But I want her. Fuck, do I want her.

I want to kiss her so deeply neither of us can breathe. I want to put my face between her legs and eat her out and hear her scream as she comes. I want to be the first man she’s ever had inside her.

I want Ava.

The only reason I don’t take her right this second is because I’m not an utter savage.

If there’s a chance I can make her like me, I want that. Fuck knows why I care. I’ve never cared before if any woman liked me or not as a person. If a woman wanted me to fuck her, I did. I didn’t ask whether she was doing it because she liked me for me or because she liked me for my money.

But now, I don’t want to just be a monster in Ava’s eyes.

I just have no fucking clue how to change that.

I run my hand over my scar. The ridges have become familiar to me. A comfort.

Despite this, I can’t look at myself for too long.

---