Page 1 of Hunted Temptation
Prologue
VAUGHN
THREE MONTHS AGO
I havea list that’s at least half a page long sitting in front of me. One name after another of men who clearly need to die. Slowly. Every single one of them. I know that Theron and the others want to drain their accounts. They want to do all this sneaky-ass shit, but I want to kill them.
I want to watch the life slowly leave their eyes.
It’s my therapy.
It’s the only way I can attempt to stay sane in this world, inside my own head. Watching people who deserve to die…die. Knowing that I couldn’t do shit to them back in the day, but I can now. I’m the one in charge. I’m the one in control—me.
Only me.
Not them.
Never them.
Never again.
I don’t even need to hear them beg for their lives or listen to their screams. I just want to watch them die. The visual is what I crave. Death is the only peace I can find when it comes to the dregs of the underworld.
Hell, most would probably consider me one of them, too, but I’m not. Sure, I’m a hired gun. I kill really fucking bad people, so I don’t hurt anyone else. I know that if I don’t, if I let everything bottle up inside me, I’m going to explode one day. This way, my eruptions are targeted.
I’m not from the underworld, though, not like that. My soul may be darkened, but it’s not black, and my heart is not full of evil. I don’t want to hurt any innocent people, just the ones who deserve it.
I’m full of anger.
Justifiable anger.
The desire to have complete control through pain is there. I know it is. I am not a monster, though. Taking my anger out on thebad guysseems like the best thing I can do to keep sane. To keep from losing myself to the anguish of my past.
I only take the jobs where I know the person deserves to die. Which sounds hypocritical, but I don’t give a shit. I’m a hypocrite, then. I’ve been through some of the worst things a person can go through, all the men of Securus have, and this is how I deal with it, how I deal with my internal shit.
This is how I cope. By killing the men who need to die and getting paid handsomely for it. An insurance policy that I quite enjoy watching grow. A once unknown little secret that is now beyond well-known.
Except this list.
This list is personal. I’m doing all of this as a favor, as therapy. I won’t be making a dime off any kill I make for the time being. Then again, I’ve made so much money doing this that Inever have to work another day in my life. I could give away my share of Securus and not even blink at the loss of net worth.
The first thing I do with this list is open the file that Lucille started on the Target. I’ve taken care of a few already, one in Miami and one in Rhode Island, but this one is a haul.
He’s in California.
I’m ready to go and take care of him there. This is a bit different than the others. He’s not a politician, doesn’t own a business or engage in any trade, domestic or otherwise, which has been the case for most of the men. What he actually is—is terrifying. He’s the chief of police of a midsize town.
He’s corrupt.
He’s been trafficking girls on the side. Girls who, no doubt, are being manipulated into being trafficked and are scared shitless. He was on the thumb drive Nadine gave us—associated with her estranged husband and her.
Disgusting human.
Nadine is an angel of a woman, and to be used like that, to be treated that way…
He should die.
They all should die.
