Page 29 of That Sik Luv

My eyes peer towards the cooler on his desk and his follow. I look back at Al with raised brows and a lopsided grin, living off of his fear.

“Have I ever let you down, Al? Have I ever actually dropped the ball when it came to following through with our arrangements?”

He shakes his head quickly, his eyes bulging as the fat beneath his chin trembles above my grasp.

“Well, then I’d advise you to let the man who dirties his hands for you continue along with his work.”

Nodding while gurgling noises echo throughout the room, he falls forward when I release his neck, his hands stabilizing him against the desk as he gasps for air.

I wink at his assistant, whose face is now wet with tears as I walk towards the door, leaving.

“W-wait!” Alastor calls out, still wheezing from the chokehold.

Pausing with my hand on the door frame, I turn to face him.

“Aren’t you going to...” He points to the cooler. “What am I supposed to do with...”

He’s flustered. Terrified. Scared. Everything that I can’t be in order to do what I do. He wants to intervene and play hitman for a day? I’ll let him clean up his own mess for once. This man couldn’t handle a day on the streets if he tried. These people, they’re greasy, greedy, and money-hungry. More than ready to throw some money for crimes they think can’t touch them. I’m the gloves covering his filthy fucking hands, but he’s the one with dirt beneath his nails.

“Figure it the fuck out,” I say, before turning to leave.

Chapter sixteen

Forgiveness

Mybodyaches.Mymuscles are tired. After cleaning up the destruction from the aftermath of the games Aero played, I took a long, steaming hot shower, before finally crawling into my bed and falling into a disoriented sleep. One in which I couldn’t tell what was reality and what was simply my mind playing tricks on me.

I may have dreamt it, but I could’ve sworn I felt the bed dip next to me. I was almost sure his fingers were traveling down my cheek, drawing a line down the curve of my body before hearing the intake of a breath near my neck.

Was I dreaming? Or did he really come back?

Either way, I woke up to a new page of the bible. This one is torn from Ephesians 4:32.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

In red ink over the passage was his message.

FORGIVENESS -Aero

Placing it in my nightstand drawer along with the others, I run my hands down my face, wondering if and when these games will end. I continue in my groggy state, getting dressed and ready for teaching. Pulling my underwear from the drawer, my brows lowered at the sight of ripped fabric.

Holding a piece up, I realize what I’m looking at.

All of my underwear has been destroyed.

When Aero ran up the stairs, he clearly went through my underwear drawer, taking a knife to each one of them, stripping them into nothing but shards. I try on a pair, but the large gaping hole in the crotch exposes all of me beneath my skirt. Screaming in frustration, I throw the outfit to the floor.

Skirts are the set uniform for women at the Academy. Aero knows this. It’s more than obvious by his game. He also knows that I can’t wear a skirt if I have nothing to wear under it. I groan, grabbing a pair of black slacks I’ve had for years in my closet, but never worn. Sliding them on, I tuck my Covenant Academy shirt into it, peering at myself in my mirror.

I’ll get reprimanded for this. Setting myself up for a meeting with the bishop after school in the office; time I was hoping to slip in a nap before Mia comes over to get ready for the Governor’s Ball with me.

Quickly tying my hair back into two braids, I make my way out of the door and into the passenger seat of Saint’s newly fixed Jeep.

“Rough night?” he asks, looking over at me with a playful gaze, eyeing my pants a little too hard.

“You have no idea.” I groan, leaning my head against the glass of the passenger door.

His expression turns serious. “Are you alright? Feeling okay?”

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