Page 54 of Ends of Being

Then jackoff happened, and that’s when the whole world changed.

When that incident first occurred, I wanted nothing more than to completely overwhelm her with my presence, railroad her into accepting me, regardless of how much she pushed back. If it hadn’t been for Tony and Matt talking some sense into me, I probably would’ve tried it. They were right, though. If I had attempted then what I had done now, it all would’ve ended terribly.

And not just because she would’ve run for the hills but also because the target on her back would’ve been more significant than it is now. That’s one thing you learn in the criminal world: having any type of collateral damage against you is detrimental to the possible outcome of the mission. That’s one reason none of us has ever really gotten any emotional attachments. That and the fact that we’re just not emotional people. It takes a certain kind of person to be able to withstand the constant pressure of having a target on your back.

Even now, knowing that she may be safer without me, I would do it. I’ll spend the rest of my life dreaming about her as long as I know she’s okay, but now with her connection to Lilith, she’s double damned.

There’s not a chance in hell Lilith will let it go without the end-of-days bloodbath she’s been longing for. She’s a fucking bloodthirsty hellcat, and she won’t rest until she feels retribution has been met for the great wrongs done to her. Sometimes, it feels like they should be more worried about her than me, but I guess only time will tell on that one.

And here I sit, tied to a chair in another damp, rank warehouse. Definitely not my favorite position to be in, but hopefully, this will be worth it.

They’ve already said they’ll make a deal with me. A deal where Toni can go about her merry way, free and clear, but in order to do so, I have to put on a show where Toni basically thinks that I’ve been working for the other people the entire time.

In theory, I can pull this off pretty easily. One very tiny, small, itty-bitty part of me, though, worries that she’ll see through it. And by she’ll see through it, I really mean that I’ll do some fucking stupid shit thing and blow my own cover. That’s the most likely.

Because I have zero self-control around her.

And, because there’s this part of me that’s beside myself that I’ve never confessed how I feel. And I don’t know if I can go on keeping that information inside because I know if something goes wrong, it will be lights out for me.

I did explain to these assholes that for this to work, she would have to be allowed to bring Tony and Matt with her. I made the two of them swear up and down on everything they ever held dear to them in their entire life that they would not do anything more than accompany her and worry about her. Regardless of what happened and what position they felt I was in; they needed to take her and turn their back on me.

Neither one of them are fucking happy about it, but I got them to promise that they would focus on the mission, and I was not the mission. Lilith, on the other hand, had made no promises and basically rolled her eyes at me and said she’d see me later.

That bitch is crazy. I think that’s my final decision on that matter.

When the crew of assholes finally show back up to tell me it’s showtime, I’m more than a little over the situation. They remind me of the plan for the millionth time, and then I sit there while they give me a rundown of all the terrible things that are gonna happen to me if I fuck up.

I give the big talker a bland look and say, “Yeah, I fucking get it already.”

He glowers at me and snarls, “I guess we’ll fucking see, won’t we?”

It’s all I can do not to roll my eyes. These fucking yahoos really believe they managed to catch me unaware and take me as their prisoner. It’s laughable. They want to own me, for Toni and my people to believe I have given up my life as Darius, and to resume my deep dive into the underground as the beast. Because if I can make it believable to Toni, then she’ll turn her back on me, and since my crew has orders to stay with her indefinitely—regardless of my own circumstances—they’ll have no choice but to abandon me to whatever fate awaits me.

We move to a different part of the warehouse, one that’s almost clean but still smells like shit. We’re kind of milling around, and I have to tell them ten times that they may want to at least pretend to be relaxed, or else this isn’t going to work. They shuffle around some so they’re not crowding me, and I lean against the desk as nonchalantly as possible. It’s pretty difficult, considering I’m kind of pissed off.

I’d like nothing more than to slash the throats of every fucking last one of these idiots. Don’t get me wrong, they’d have maybe a half dozen bullets in me before I got to the third one, but just the satisfaction of knowing I got a few of them would be pretty good for me.

I hear her before I see her. She’s running her mouth spectacularly, just like I figured she would be. At least, this part I’ll enjoy.

They step further into the room until she’s only a few feet from me, and that’s when she notices me hanging out on the side of the bad guys.

Her eyes widen, and she tilts her head at me in confusion as she whispers, “Dare?”

I raise my brows at her and smirk. “Do you ever shut your fucking mouth?”

She looks taken aback, then her eyes narrow as she puts her hands on her hips. “Excuse the fuck out of me, but what the hell is going on here?”

I can practically feel the men that surround me holding their breath, and it takes some serious effort on my part for me not to turn the entire thing into a bloodbath. And I would if I thought for one second the person in charge was in the room, but from the information Lilith gave me, I’m pretty sure that’s not true.

I manage to keep my features blank as I give her the once-over, and she’s full-on glaring at me when my eyes finally track back up to her face. I give her the most arrogant look I can possibly muster as I ask, “Whatever do you mean?”

She stomps her foot petulantly, her cheeks getting flushed as her anger rises. “Quit fucking around, Darius, and tell me whats going on. What are you doing here?”

I snort, my arms crossing over my chest as I respond, “Just wrapping up some loose ends.”

Her eyes narrow even more, and she steps closer to me, so I put up a hand to stop her. “No need to come closer, Toni. You won’t be staying long.”

She raises her brows at me this time, her arms crossing over her chest defensively. “Oh, really? I’m no longer welcome near you? Am I hearing that correctly?”

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