Page 56 of Fixate
“No! Fuck! Stop that shit! I’m not —”
“Found it,” Ricardo said with a smirk. “You did good hiding it, but even I know better than to leave evidence. Should have fucking carved it out.”
Pharrell tugged on Ricardo’s arm until he stood. “What is it? Explain.”
The pair stared at each other for longer than necessary, a silent conversation happening between them. When Ricardo finally spoke, Pharrell’s shoulders dropped as if he were relieved.
“He has brand on his upper back. There are tattoos covering it. You wouldn’t be able to see it, but it’s there if you touch. One of you should see if you know what it is.”
“No need,” I said as I kicked the rat in the back.
Sure, they hadn’t said I could, but with the news of a brand, I figured they were officially done with him.
“Branding means Bratva.” Pharrell’s voice held no emotion.
“Stasia was Bratva wasn’t she? They put a fucking rat in your ranks?”
At Ricardo’s anger, our boss smiled. “Seems that way. Then again, he could have been here as Stasia’s pet. My late wife had a thing for keeping things she shouldn’t have. It’s a shame her family didn’t call him back. This is going to cause so much more trouble than he’s worth.”
Pharrell’s gaze turned to me. “Can you take care of this? I’m tired and would like to get cleaned up.”
With a smile, I saluted him. “Absolutely, Boss. I’ll have a bit of fun first, if you don’t mind.”
He waved his hand to signal he didn’t care, then he and Ricardo moved as if to leave. I watched them go, curious as to why it felt like something had shifted tonight. Like maybe there were things I didn’t understand but should have.
Who knows?
I shrugged and skipped over to the wall of goodies — aka weapons. Selecting a bat with spikes on the end, I figured a little batting practice would be fun. Granted it would also kill him quickly; it was still gruesome enough to tickle my fancy.
“Hey, batter, batter,” I cried out as I pulled my arm back and then swung. The sound of a fractured skull and brain matter filled my ears. “Home run! And the crowd goes willllllld!”
CHAPTER 21
Pharrell
Things calmeddown since we found the final rat a several nights back. Ricardo had taken it upon himself to get me home that night.
A lot of what happened was a blur on my end. I remembered leaning on him until we got into the elevator. My body was exhausted. I had pushed myself further than I needed to.
My strength hadn't returned since the times I had overextended myself before Ricardo's arrival. And my body was paying the price.
He got me cleaned up and into bed. Since then, he’d been making sure that I don't overexert myself. He'd constantly check in and sometimes it felt like he was the Daddy in the relationship.
I knew it was temporary. I needed time to recover. At the same time, I felt like I should do something for him in return.
Like maybe I should find a way to show him how special he was to me.
I pondered over the idea constantly. So much so that Henri had to call my name multiple times while we were in a security meeting.
"Pharrell," he said, voice exasperated. "Should we meet again later? If something's going on, should we be worried?"
I shook my head to clear my thoughts and replied, "No, nothing like that. There's no reason to worry. I’m just daydreaming.”
"Daydreaming? That's different for you.” The way he said it could have been perceived as accusatory. He saw far too much and yet he missed the things right in front of him.
Such was the curse of Henri.
"What did you want to go over with me?" I asked him.
