Page 100 of Wicked Intentions (Wicked Games 3)
Capo laughs. After a split-second pause, I hear a scream in the background, high and wavering, full of anguish.
“He won’t last much longer, Mari. Better hurry. Come alone and don’t be followed, or all the blood will be on your hands.”
A click, final as the last nail in a coffin, and he’s gone.
I thought I knew what hell was before, but now I realize that, like the circles in Dante’s Inferno, you have to go through many different layers before you finally reach the center where the Devil waits, licking his lips.
I take a moment to say a silent farewell to my beautiful dream, and to Ryan, the beautiful dreamer who made me believe in fairy-tale endings.
Then I rise, wipe the tears from my cheeks, and quickly dress.
Twenty-Six
Ryan
I stand in the shower with my hands flat on the wall in front of me and my head bent under the spray, letting the hot water pummel and soothe my muscles. I’m calm, my mind focused and clear, my heart like an eagle with spread wings riding an updraft over the crest of a mountain.
I always thought falling in love would be like falling apart somehow. Like losing your mind. Well, there’s that too, I admit with a wry chuckle. But it’s more like…finding something you didn’t even know you’d lost.
I feel like me, only better. Bigger. Turbocharged. With Mariana by my side, I can take on the world and win.
I really hope there’s an opportunity for me to take a shot at Moreno during the op, because a life behind bars isn’t enough punishment for that scumbag.
A bullet isn’t, either, but I’m sure the government would frown on me going full Hurt Locker on him like I want to. Like the son of a bitch deserves.
I shake the water from my eyes and thoughts of Vincent Moreno from my head and straighten. “Angel!” I call out, my voice echoing against the tile. “Water’s gettin’ cold!”
I picture her snuggled in my bed, warm and soft under my covers, her hair messy and her dark eyes lit with fire like they always are when she looks at me, whether pissed off or turned on. My dick gets heavy just from the thought of it.
I smile down at the big guy. “Still got some juice left in you, huh?” Better fix that. “Angel!” I call again, louder this time.
I grab the bar of soap and start to lather my chest, but something stops me. I don’t know what. Intuition, maybe. I cock an ear toward the door and listen.
Nothing. No answering call.
I crank the knob, turning off the spray of water. “Mariana?”
Not a sound.
No. It’s not that. It’s only your mind playing tricks on you. You’re becoming an old woman, worrying over everything. She’s in the kitchen, grabbing something to eat.
Then I remember what’s in the kitchen.
“No.” This time I say it out loud, and firmly, because I’m being an idiot. After what we just shared, after everything she told me, there’s no way in hell she ran out on me again. There’s no fucking way…
I’m out of the shower and into the bedroom before I can even finish the thought.
She’s not there.
“Mariana!”
I stride naked into the living room.
She’s not there.
I run into the kitchen.
She’s not there.
