“A mistake of this magnitude needs to be made up for somehow,” I replied, fully turning to him and pointing to the screen. “They are all dead so they can’t pay for it. You picked them so you will pay. My sister wanted death by suicide… You will give her what she wants. In doing so, you will remind the rest of these men that the next time they are given an order and fail to complete it because they’ve decided to take it upon themselves, as my sister said, to compare dick sizes and protect your unless pride, you’ll all remember you are gambling with your own lives as well.”
“Sir—”
“Boyle, you can die her way or mine. Believe me, her way is kinder,” I said, turning from him and moving to the elevator. “Drink bleach if you must, I don’t care, but you better be dead when I check in again.”
Stepping inside, the silence was heavy. I’m sure all the men liked Boyle but they weren’t here to make friends or take it upon themselves to deal with situations as they pleased. They were meant to be robots; when they were given orders, those orders needed to be completed as instructed. If not… They were broken and I needed to get new ones.
“Oh, Dona.” I exhaled when the doors closed.
I thought the ticking would stop, that the bomb in her had at least been partially defused…but apparently it had only quickened.
She really did have the power to bring this all crashing down and she couldn’t be fucking rational anymore because of Gabriel. He’d either drive her to destroy us all or maybe…hopefully…redirect the blast somewhere else.
I didn’t like either option.
It left my choices up to a man I knew nothing about.
If she had killed him…it might have been better.
At least my hands would be cleansed of it.
GABRIEL
I could have taken a longer shower, I thought as I sat on the edge sofa waiting, twisting the knife in my hands around slowly as I stared at the ceiling…finding it kind of odd that the
re was a ceiling fan in any room in a mansion so modern as this. Everything else was automatic; even the curtains closed themselves in the evening if you left them.
“I never thought I’d need a lock for my room.” I heard her voice as she came inside.
Glancing over to her, I smiled. She was beautiful in dangerous sort of way, glaring at me with those fearsome green eyes. “You shouldn’t have been so upset. You aren’t the first woman to fail to kill me.”
“So, this happens often to you.”
“It’s a tragedy really. Being as handsome as I am yet surrounded by women who prefer power instead.”
“Power instead?” she replied. “You speak as if you are better than having power. What can you do that my gaining power can’t?”
“I can keep you warm at night?”
“I’m rich. I can afford a blanket made with the fur of polar bears to keep me warm.”
“Witty conversation?”
“The voices in my head provide me with more than enough of that,” she replied and I laughed at that. She was funny…good. I might count on that humor in the future.
The way she stared at me sent shivers down my spine. How could any man not want to tame such a fearsome beauty? To have this…her, that fire on their side?
“Stop fighting me Donatella and you’ll—”
“Can’t you see?” She smiled up at me as she spoke. “All I know is fighting, Gabriel. And it’s a shame, because if you weren’t here trying to force my hand, I’d actually find you attractive. I’d be turned on by how well you fight. And how fearless you are. But you are here trying to force my hand, so I will fight you until you give me a reason not to. I’ll fight you in every way I know how and with everything I have. Because you aren’t being honest with me. You’re hiding something very big…no, not hiding—you’re waiting. Like a wolf under the cover of darkness, I feel you watching and waiting to strike at me.”
I wanted to touch her. It was as if she were fire drawing me closer to her brightness, but I could only get so far before she burned me.
“You’re right,” I whispered in the space between us. “But I’m not waiting to strike just you; I’m coming for everyone,” I replied, lifting her chin and kissing her lips hard, only to be slapped across the face with such force that my lip cut on my tooth. Licking the corner my mouth, I told the truth, “The kiss was worth it.”
“Fuck you.”
“I want you to give me a time and a date,” I replied.