Devil to Pay

SANTINO

She moved through the crowd,following the lieutenants with her eyes to ensure they didn’t go anywhere as she crossed to them. I swept through the crowd which parted naturally for me. She was nearly there when she stepped through two bodies and almost collided with my chest. She stumbled back, her face screwing up into a scowl.

“Excuse me.” She said sharply, turning to try and go past me, but I only stepped back in her way.

“I saw how you play pool …”

“Listen,” she said, looking at me finally and stopping short for a moment. I smirked, seeing it in her eyes. She found me attractive. My eyes flicked to her shirt, watching how her nipples hardened, and she shifted on her feet in a tell-tale way of squeezing her thighs together. But, the most telling of all things was the scent of lust that wafted around her.

I waited, patiently listening for whatever she was going to attempt to tell me, but her brain had completely stalled like she’d forgotten where the clutch was.

“Listen?” I prompted, raising an eyebrow to ask her to continue silently.

“Yeah. Listen …” She wasn’t nearly as cold and to the point as before. “I’m here on business …” The words were sticky on her tongue, like it took way too much effort to get them out.

“I’m here on business, and I'm not interested in whatever lame pick-up line you were going to attempt on me. So you need to fuck off because I’m busy.”

“Well, that’s rude,” I said with bemusement as she peered around me. Turning, I followed her gaze to the two men packing up and getting ready to leave. I looked back down at her.

“Maybe, but it’s also presumptuous of you to come over here and make some cringe-worthy statement about how if I’m so good with balls and I’m welcome to play with yours.”

“And who said I would let you anywhere near my balls? Do I look like I have a death wish?” Her eyes finally flicked back to me, and I smirked.

“No …” She said dreamily, another frown forming in the middle of her forehead. “I have to go …” She protested weakly.

“Mmm, I’m sure you do.”

“I do.” She insisted, tearing her eyes away. “Now, get the hell out of my way.” She tried to shoulder me out of the way, but it was like slamming her shoulder into a rock, and I barely moved.

She attempted another escape, slipping around a different body and following the lieutenants out the door. Looking around the room slowly, I determined no one else here had the same kind of untapped darkness in their hearts and decided to follow her.

The men led her to the parking lot and toward their truck. By the look on her face, she didn’t have a vehicle of her own to keep up with them as she glanced around, trying to figure out what to do next.

Moving quickly through the parking lot, she pulled on the door handles of a few vehicles before finding one that opened to her. She searched for the keys quickly before moving on to the next. As she worked, she kept glancing over her shoulder at the two men who were beginning to leave the parking lot.

Growling in frustration, she hopped into the car she was working on and pulled open the box under the steering wheel, working on hot wiring the car. From the tail of the vehicle she sat in, I watched as she fought with the wires before, finally, the car sprung to life. By now, the two men had pulled out of the parking lot, so she had some distance to make up.

I followed along, transporting myself every block to the corner, watching as she tailed them through the city. She knew where they were going, taking shortcuts to chop up the distance between them.

When the truck pulled up to a building not far ahead, she parallel parked, hopping out before running across the street into the shadows. She watched from there as they parked and quickly jogged closer. Slowing down, she slinked back into the darkness, so they didn’t see her, pausing when she was close enough to catch her breath.

She ducked into the nearest alley as they came around the back of the truck. As she leaned her back against the wall and closed her eyes, I finally got closer.

When her eyes opened, she tried to scream. My hand flew up, clasping her mouth to stifle it so we didn’t alert the lieutenants around the corner. She grabbed my wrist, and I let her when she tried to push me away.

“What the fuck! Are you following me?” She narrowed her eyes and moved around me, peering around the corner to see if the lieutenants had heard us. When she decided we were safe, she turned back to me, crossing her arms defensively.

“Yes,” I said lazily, like I was bored, “I’m intrigued by you.”

“Intrigued?” She asked incredulously.

“Yes. Not many women … resist my charms.”

“Well, stick your charms up your ass, and I hope you choke on them.”

I laughed as she walked out of the alley and moved toward the truck slowly. “What are you doing?” I remained right behind her, my breath hot on her neck. She didn’t bother looking at me.

“Looking for something,” she said with annoyance. I nodded, my chin bumping her shoulder, relishing her body flushed against mine. It felt sinful. I couldn’t wait to get it naked under me too.

She took a deep breath through her nose before moving toward the truck. She withdrew a knife from its sheath carefully.

“Ooh, a knife,” I whispered. Her expression was dark as she twisted and pushed it against my throat. My heart throbbed with excitement, hoping she would do it—my little hellion.

“Listen, I don’t know what your problem is. I don’t know why you’re ‘intrigued’ with me. I don’t know why you’re following me. And I don’t know why you’re still here, but I’m going to count to three, and if you’re not gone, I’m going to slit your throat.”