Mario always had thought more of his standing in the world than what it actually was. I shoved my face in his and grabbed his shirt with both hands. “You’re missing something here, Mario.”
“What?” His smugness only fuelled my rage.
“The fact you won’t be around to tell anyone about this,” I growled, and enjoyed watching the smugness slide off his face.
I shoved him away from me. Hard, so he stumbled back into the wall and slumped to the floor. His confidence disappeared, and my darkness surged up as I looked down at him. The demons I forced into hiding most days circled, begging to be let out. Today, they were in luck.
J slammed the front door shut and made sure all the curtains were closed. The house had grown quiet as Ben and the guys dealt with whoever Mario had out the back. “Just you and me now,” I spat at him. “Regretting your greed yet, asshole?”
Fear lined his face. He knew how I dealt with problems. “I’ll forget the debt, Blade. And I’ll leave her alone, whatever you want.” He forced his words out in a haste to stop me.
Too late, motherfucker.
My monsters have already been unleashed.
I slid my blade from its sheath attached to my belt and stepped closer to him. Bending to a crouch, I pressed the tip of the knife to his chest. “Your problem, Mario, is that you just don’t have the fucking brains for this shit. Takes a smart man to handle the dirty work of this world. Idiots are slowly weeded out, and it looks like your time’s up.” I cut the top button of his shirt off. The sound of it bouncing on the floor was the only sound to be heard in the quiet of the house.
His chest rose and fell, rapidly, sweat pooling on his face as he fought to breathe through his terror. No words were said, however. He knew we were way past that.
I cut the next button off and slowly worked my way down his shirt until they were all discarded.
J grunted from behind me. “Did you piss yourself, motherfucker?”
He had.
My monsters roared at the smell of fear in the room.
I trailed the knife down his body, from chest to waist, pushing his shirt out of the way as I went. His skin hypnotised me as I imagined sinking the knife in and drawing blood.
Blood.
I hungered for it.
He’ll never threaten a woman again.
I pressed the knife into his stomach, just deep enough for blood to pool on his skin. The whimper he emitted touched the edge of my consciousness as I concentrated on my revenge. A moment later, the smell of his blood hit my nostrils, and I fought the urge to lift my arm and bury the knife in his chest.
“Blade.”
Ben’s voice cut through my fog, and I snapped my head around to look at him. I glared my question at him. What?
“We need to take him to the warehouse for this.” His voice held urgency.
He was right.
Mario began snivelling as he cowered against the wall.
With one last scowl at him, I stood. Jerking my chin at Ben and the guys, I ordered, “Get him into the back of the van and I’ll meet you there.”
Ben nodded his understanding, and the three of them moved into action.
Nash looked at his watch. “You good now, brother? Or do you still need us?”
I reached behind me and slid my knife back in its sheath. “We can handle this from here. How many are out the back?”
“Two. They’re unconscious.” He gave me the information I needed, and I nodded. They wouldn’t be a problem as they were only men for hire. Mario had no loyalty in his operation.
Nash slapped me on the back. “Yell out if you need us again. Always happy to help.”