Page 34 of As Devils Love

He releases me and goes.

When I’m sure Tomas is gone, I rush to my door and close it as best I can given that the locking mechanism is broken. I grab my handbag and a few scattered outfits from the piled clothing monster, to jam it shut. Sure, it won’t keep Tomas out if he tries to get in again, but at least I can pretend I’m safe.

“Bruno’s dead,” I hear someone say, while I toss the last of my clothes pile in front of the door.

“What? When didthathappen?” Tomas hisses. I’m sure he’d be shouting if the news wasn’t this alarming. Not that I know who Bruno is, but another man down can only mean one thing:

My stalker is back at work.

“Ten minutes ago. Maybe twenty.” The unknown speaker answers. “Happened in the alleyway while Bruno was on patrol.”

“That means he was here,” Tomas growls. “What about his partner?”

“Missing. Presumed dead.”

I fall back into bed, shaking off what could’ve been had this tragedy not unfurled...

Did my masked monster kill those men to save me from Tomas?

Chapter Twelve

CRUE

You’re letting us down.

There it is again. The monster that dwells in the black spot of my mind, rearing its ugly head to make me feel pathetic. The more I try to fight it, the harder it becomes. I’ve had ample opportunity to plunge my blade inside Fiametta. Finish this gig and walk away like a bandit king.

What did I do instead?

Risk it all to save her from that slimy cunt, Tomas.

It should’ve been his head on my chopping block last night, and not those two low-life nobodies. I made my move as soon as I saw him enter Fiametta’s bedroom, and for the first time in my life, I felt relieved, after I returned to my apartment, to see her sleeping.

And that’s how I know I’m not thinking clearly. Feeling relief at someone else’s peace? I should’ve seen it coming, when the voice in my head was louder this morning than ever before. Especially after a kill. And although the voice's cruelty knows no bounds, I still listen. For it’s my last bastion of sanity, or rather, my perceived sense of sanity.

I don’t think like normal people, and I shouldn’t pretend to be one. There’s no life for me and Fiametta, because she has to die. Playing make-believe with her is going to cause more harm than good, and last night was a prime example of that.

Why should it bother me if Tomas has his way with her?

Nah, that’s the wrong question.

I can’t answer my inner voice as openly as I did the first time it returned. I’m sitting in Matteo Baronne’s office, waiting for a meeting I have no interest in, and I can’t have him hear me talking to myself.

Why haven’t you done it already? You’re dead-set on sleeping with her, so get it over with and finish the job.

I can’t. Well, I can, but I don’t want to. Fiametta isn’t like the other woman I’ve ever been interested in. I don’t want to walk all over her like a doormat and throw her aside when I’m finished. I want to take it slow. Have my fun. Watch her explode.

Her piece of shit dad killed your mom, Sunshine. don’t you want to make him hurt?

More than anything, but why should that be at her expense?

“Crue,” Matteo’s voice comes from the door behind me. I’m sitting in the guest chair at his desk, which is a mistake I usually wouldn’t make. Having my back to an open door, in a house full of my enemies, could lead to a swift death.

But, my Little Flame has me so turned around; I can’t even remember the rules I’ve put in place to stay alive this long.

“Hello.” This is the longest we’ve gone without jumping straight to the point since I’ve met him.

I don’t like it.

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