Page 66 of Crescendo (Beautiful Monsters #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Dante

Stacatto’s bitch is still a thrill-seeker, touching pointy objects with no idea as to what damage they might cause.

It’s easier if I believe that—easier if I ignore the practiced confidence she wields that knife with.

Her beloved “Vinny” has molded her well.

I don’t think she even realizes just how much she enjoys the tendrils of fear she inspires in the prick lying beside her.

“Dante.”

I clench my jaw at the way her accent caresses the syllables of my name; I liked it better when she didn’t call me a damn thing.

“Would it hurt much if someone cut a man’s cock off?”

Her tone counters the shock of hearing those words come out of that prissy little mouth. She doesn’t sound like she’s bluffing. She’s thinking. She’s curious. Would it hurt?

“Yeah,” I grunt. “It might.” Standing above her, I see the way she seizes her lower lip between her teeth, those hazel eyes thoughtful.

“Would it hurt more if you used a butter knife?” One of her hands slides down the man’s beer gut, and two slim fingers dance over the hem of histighty whities.

Even I have to flinch in sympathy. “Damn right, that would hurt.” I flex the hand holding the knife. “It will be messy,” I admit, though even I hear the excitement dripping through my tone.

The girl shrugs, her bare shoulders flashing like ivory in the light of a chandelier dangling from the ceiling. “I could find a towel.” She starts to rise as if she’s eager to do just that, and the man moans out a stream of words.

“Fuck...little bitch... Kill me... He’ll kill...”

I frown, taking a step closer. I tower over him now, and he has to make himself cross-eyed just to avoid looking at me. “ He’ll kill you,” I repeat, stressing that single word while I nudge his side with the toe of my boot. “You wouldn’t mean Stacatto, now would you?”

The girl flinches, withdrawing her hand as if stung, and the bastard seems to realize that he said too much.

He shakes his head while sweat beads over his brow. “No...no...”

“And this little video,” I add, making my voice as level as I can. “You wouldn’t have been planning to take the girl for yourself after you were done...‘directing’ it, now were you?”

The sharp jerk of his chin gives me my answer.

Bingo . Trust fucking Mack to walk right into a trap.

..and trust Vinny Stacatto’s little princess to spring it.

I don’t know if it’s admiration I feel when I glance over at her or just plain irritation; a wolf doesn’t like to be out-foxed by his own prey.

Though I was the one who voted against the damn plan in the first place.

For all I knew, Stacatto could have had a legion waiting to rush in if this fucker didn’t check in with the girl in tow.

For a second, I inhale shadow and see red.

I almost don’t recognize the cool sensation that falls over my fingers until I glance down and see her hand there, gingerly brushing the one holding the knife.

Clarity comes back, but it’s almost too sharp. Colors are brighter when she touches me. Her eyes are green and gold, swirling around two black holes. I shake my head, jerking my hand away. Then I raise the knife and eye the dull edge.

“Come here,” I tell the girl, and she rises to her feet, taking a step toward me.

She doesn’t fight when I pull her closer. Her bare back hits my chest, and my hands cage her in. I slip the one holding the knife beneath her arm and raise it, allowing her to clasp the back of it. Then I snatch up the fingers of her other hand, manipulating them one by one.

“Hold the knife like this,” I tell her, showing her the proper grip—at least if she was going to enter the cage.

She copies me like an eager student, her fingers flying to the proper positions as I guide them there.

Only then do I remember what she said about playing an instrument .

Cello. I don’t know too many musicians, but she has the hands of a dagger-thrower I met once, quick and slim.

They’re not fit for pounding and smashing the way mine are.

She’s a fluid little assassin, and I’m the animal.

“Hold it tight,” I explain, showing her how.

When I yank on the blade, she doesn’t slack her grip and something that might be a smile tugs at my mouth.

Once again, she proves to be a fast learner.

“Now when you cut him—” I glance over and find that the bastard is watching every bit of this little lesson .

“When you cut him, he’ll fight a little, but once the blood loss sets in.

..well, it will be like carving a slice of birthday cake. ”

“Okay,” she breathes out, but there’s no ounce of disgust in her voice. She’s memorizing every word, watching my fingers move with hers. “Cake.”

“The first cut will be the trickiest,” I explain, shifting closer so that I have a clear view over her shoulder. I flick my wrist sharply, slashing the blade through the air. “You need to get it in as deep as you can.”

She nods and deftly pries the knife from my hand. She wields it just as well as any cage-fighter, pointing the blade at the sky. Then she jabs, ripping into her enemy. “Like that?” She sounds breathless. Eager. Ready.

I take a step back and steer her so that she’s facing the man on the floor. “Like that,” I tell her, my mouth near her ear. “But it will be messy.”

I can’t see the motion fully, but I...know she licks her lips. I can feel the wet slick of her tongue. I hear her throat work as she swallows. I sense her smile.

“That’s okay.”

My hands move to her shoulders, guiding her like a coach leading a boxer to the ring. We only manage to take a step closer before the man begins to thrash.

“All right! All rrright!” He practically bucks in an attempt to get away, and a stream of words and letters shoot from between his lips. It takes my brain a second to process what they are: addresses.

“Pen,” I snap, scanning around for one.

The girl’s already on it. She lunges across the room, grabs a customary pad and a pen from a desk, and scribbles until the man finally goes silent.

“Is he waiting for you?” I demand while the girl tears a page from the pad and crumples it in her fist. “Stacatto?”

The man grunts, shaking his head. “No... Gonna sell her.”

“Ah, I see.” I rub my chin as the fucker’s plan becomes clear. “You were going to use her to try and weasel your way back into Stacatto’s good graces. The video was your insurance.”

The man says nothing as his eyes struggle to focus. The girl gave him Mack’s best; he won’t come off cloud nine for a long, long while. The true extent of his fuck-up won’t even sink in until then.

I rove my gaze over to the camera. A red light’s flashing. It’s still recording. I don’t take my eyes off it when I reach for her and jerk my chin toward the lens. “Say hello,” I tell her. “Your fiancé is watching.”

She stiffens. Her eyes delve into the camera, and I doubt that her entire soul fully comes back out.

She takes a step forward without seeming to realize it as she processes my taunt.

Say hello. She turns to me, and I see the knife slash through the air.

I don’t know why the hell I don’t fight.

Why I don’t even flinch when the blade grazes my cheek as she hooks that same hand around the back of my head and draws me in.

Her lips meet mine—that’s what I know. Warm.

Wet. Soft. I move against them solely out of fucking instinct.

Before my teeth come into play, that is.

Whatever this is...it’s solely for his benefit. I tell myself that while I lash at her lips with my tongue. Pry them open. Shove my way inside. Bite her. Claim her. Kiss-the-living-fuck out of her.

It’s for his benefit, but that doesn’t mean I can’t put on a damn good show. That I can’t draw on her lower lip until she moans. Crush her to my chest with one hand against her spine and cradle her ass with the other.

Stacatto may be watching.

But that. Doesn’t. Mean. Shit.

For five seconds, she’s mine. I taste her. I own her. I make her bleed.

It’s five fucking seconds I know she never gave to him.

And it’s only five fucking seconds I have to save myself the same way I starved my veins of heroin and spent those first weeks writhing in agony while in the Pen. Withdrawing from her brings its own irritation, but I ignore it when I shove her back and wipe at my mouth with the back of my hand.

“You won’t say a fucking thing.” I direct the threat at the man on the floor and wait until he nods.

“You say a word to Stacatto and I won’t only show him this video”—I gesture to the camera with a wave of my hand—“but I’ll find you.

I’ll bring her with me. And next time...

I’ll teach her how to cut a man’s dick off using nail clippers.

It’s not very efficient, but I’m sure it’s doable. ”

“Though messy,” the girl pitches in, shaking her head. She sounds so deadpan that she could be serious—though, fuck it, maybe I am as well.

I’d take her with me to hunt the fucker down. I’d show her a brand-new way to inflict pain and watch her get off on yet another way to get back at Stacatto. It’s more tempting a thought than I’d like to admit. I grit my teeth and curl my hands into fists, willing back the heat that creeps up them.

“Understand?” I demand of the man.

He nods again, and ignoring him, I spot the girl’s clothes—or what little she wore in—across the room.

“Get dressed,” I tell her. While she does, I head for the camera and rip it from the tripod. “How many men do you have?” I ask the man as the girl heads for the door.

A rich businessman with a hard-on for Stacatto, planning to kidnap the man’s fiancé from an asshole like Mack on his own? Bullshit. No man would form a plan that fucking stupid without sufficient firepower.

When he doesn’t answer, I take a step closer. Then I lift my boot and slam the sole of it down on his chest, applying just enough pressure to make him wheeze. “How many?”