Page 21 of Lady Death

She straightened and headed away from him, near the stairs that led to the upper offices. Then Darby started making a loud ruckus, whistling and yelling for the dancers to take it all off. All the attention was immediately on him. From the dining room, Sapphira appeared and the two men she’d been having dinner with made a beeline to Darby. Keres didn’t care about that. Darby could take care of himself. Instead, she watched Sapphira Todd. The woman suddenly raised a hand to her forehead and swayed a little. Putting on a concerned face, she walked over.

“Are you all right, Ms. Todd?” she asked in a concerned voice.

“I-I’m suddenly dizzy.”

“Let me help you.”

Sapphira grabbed hold of Keres’s hand. “Please. Help me to my office.”

Slowly, they traversed the stairs until they reached the top. Sapphira punched the code on her office door and tried to open it. Keres took over and they stumbled over the threshold. Sapphira practically collapsed onto the sofa located along one wall, completely knocked out.

Keres carefully moved the unconscious woman until she lay completely spread out. Then she took her phone out from her bodice and snapped a few pictures before rearranging thewoman’s dress. Down came the top, exposing her strapless bra, and up came the bottom of the dress, revealing her panties. Keres took a few more photos before straightening Sapphira’s clothes.

What she did was despicable. There wasn’t any doubt about that. As a woman who had been violated, this added an additional ick factor, but that was exactly what they needed. Sapphira Todd was the cherry on top of their revenge pie. A final warning to Davorin that all he held dear could easily be stripped away.

Slipping the phone back into her bodice, Keres didn’t look back as she exited the office and headed back down the stairs. She didn’t stop, walking through the dining room and kitchen to leave the club. She grabbed her coat and slipped it on, hiding her sexy outfit and blending in with the foot traffic on the street.

****

The gym was completely dark when she made it home.

Running up the steps, Darby opened the apartment door before she could and looked her over.

“You okay?” he asked.

She noticed his busted lip. “Better than you, it looks like.”

He shrugged. “The bouncer was a tad bit excited to be throwing someone out of the club. You have the pictures?”

Keres took out her phone and handed it over to him. “I’m going to put on clothes that fully cover my lady bits.”

Darby chuckled as she headed to her bedroom. Peeling out of the skimpy satin bodysuit, she threw on some pajamas and headed back to the living room where Darby waited for her.

“Have you sent them yet?”

He shook his head. “Was waiting for you. How’re we going to word this?”

Keres thought for a moment. “Let him stew in theknowledge that he isn’t untouchable.”

Darby thought for a moment then he punched out a message, attached the pictures, and hit “send.” Keres sat next to him as he picked up the hammer from the coffee table, put the phone on the floor, and smashed the device all to hell.

A sense of satisfaction filled her. Even though everything she and Darby had done wouldn’t bring back their loved ones, their killer now felt vulnerable. And that was the best revenge of all.

Chapter Eleven

Over the next few days, Keres kept waiting for the guilt to settle in. Now that she wasn’t blinded with rage, she wondered if the horror of what she’d done would suck her under. She hadn’t let herself relax and reflect until it was done, but nothing manifested. Shouldn’t she feel shame or regret? Was she a sociopath if she didn’t feel anything but satisfaction?

Karma had to be on her side. What goes around comes around. There were monsters in the world, preying on innocent victims, but this time the monster lost. For a year, all she craved was destroying the men who had destroyed her world. Compton, Peterson, Seker. Davorin.

She refused to feel bad for psychos.

“Where did you go?” Darby asked softly.

She blinked, and the gym came back into focus. “Sorry. Just thinking.”

He patted her hand and gave an understanding nod. The door chimed and he glanced at it before smiling and walking away, leaving her to greet and check in the visitor. The rest of the day kept her busy, which kept her thoughts at bay. That night, once the gym closed, Darby hung around to spar with her in the ring.

She didn’t want to think about where she’d be if it hadn’t been for him. He had saved her life, in more ways than she could ever repay. He was her best friend. They only had each other and there wasn’t much she wouldn’t do for him.

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