Page 28

CHAPTER 27

X ander

“Have you ever stopped to think about the fact we should be labeled as serial killers?” Wilder asked the question, and it wasn’t as if it was completely out of the blue. He was a sick fuck that way, often inserting aspects of his twisted humor within the worlds of a game.

“Did you ever stop to think while asking such questions in public there could be those poor, slovenly souls who buy your lines of bullshit?”

He burst into laughter. He was the kind of killer who threw it all out there, leaving crumbs of clues sprinkled along the way. While I’d never cared in the beginning whether I was hunted down like a beast or not, once I’d started enjoying living my way, I’d learned to become much more careful.

“Come on. Haven’t you ever wondered what your moniker would be? Let me think.” He rubbed his fingers across his face and it appeared he’d lost track of his razor. “The Butcher from the Eastside. No, that’s too long. The Chicago Slicer? Sinner is just too… ordinary.”

“Do you really get off on talking about this shit?”

“You’re in a mood tonight.” He scooted his glass back and forth from hand to hand. “You used to enjoy playing God.”

“I still do, but I don’t need to go into detail about it.”

He grumbled under his breath. “Fine. So much for general conversation.”

“Where the hell is Zach? Wasn’t he supposed to be here?”

“I think he’s eviscerating a member of accounting for stealing from us.” When I didn’t take the bait, he rolled his eyes. “Elizabeth wanted to talk to him about something. I doubt he’ll show.”

“Then why the fuck are we here?”

“Can’t we just be together as friends?” There was mischief in his eyes as there always was when pretending we should be close. We would never be close friends under any circumstances, but we did have the same sick blood running through our veins.

I checked my watch, shifting my thoughts to my lamb. Jessica brought constant surprises to the table.

The passing of time was annoying when you were waiting for an event to occur. I’d made a promise to myself that I’d leave Jessica alone prior to the festivities on Friday night. But here it was Tuesday evening and I was fucking going out of my mind.

Including drumming my fingers on the bar table.

“What the fuck is going on with you?” Wilder demanded in his usual nasty tone.

I half growled in response. “What the hell does it matter?”

“Whoa. Someone is touchy tonight.” He threw his hands up and turned his attention elsewhere.

“Why did you ask me here for a drink?”

“Because you’re fucking around with the contestants. Or I could say, one of them. I don’t need to explain to you how dangerous that is.”

“What if I am?” My thoughts drifted to Jessica. After likely breaking her trust, she’d all but passed out on me. Not from drink but from the hangover of a heady rush of adrenaline. I’d seen it before. Fear was a powerful tool in every case.

With her, she fed off it, but had succumbed to the greatest fear she’d had. Of dying by suffocation.

I’d gathered that from the questionnaire results I’d gone over in more detail after our night of passion. It had felt like I’d missed something about her.

Now I was glad I’d contacted Zach, obtaining his assistance in retrieving her vehicle, which I’d driven back to her house. As I’d seen by being in her home, she was a clean freak, everything completely and perfectly organized. The attribute was usually kept by those who felt as if they couldn’t get a firm grasp on other aspects of their lives. With Jessica, it was a way of keeping a lockdown on her twisted fantasies. I was very much the same way.

“Because the last thing we need right now is exposure for a reason other than our recent release,” he pushed.

I yanked the glass of whiskey into my hand. “Who the fuck cares?”

“Me for one. You act as if you can just go off halfcocked doing whatever suits you at the time. We run a business. We have employees counting on us, stock owners who expect the best.”

“Wow. I never knew you suddenly became Mr. Corporate America.”

Wilder exhaled. “You know what I mean. The three of us wanted the same thing all those years ago.”

“Does that mean we’re different people than we were ten years ago? Fifteen?”

He shook his head. “I’d like to think so, but you’re right. We’re not. We’re the same cold-blooded killers society turned us into.”

“Do you really believe that?”

“Does it matter?”

I thought about his question. “Not in the least. What does matter is that we agreed together we would continue living our lives the way we wanted without selling out to fame and fortune.”

“Fame and fortune? Oh, please. You’re acting with your dick for the first time since we found each other.”

Laughing, I had to admit I couldn’t deny it. “I’ll repeat the question. So the fuck what?”

“What’s really going on with you? Why is she so special to you? Call it none of my business, but it’s almost like you’re unraveling around her. It’s fucking weird, man.”

Weird was putting it mildly.

Answering him would mean admitting my obsession with her. I’d begun to wonder if my need to possess her was even fair. Or was I projecting my continued anger as well as grief for what had occurred more than a dozen years before? I’d never had a real conscience up to this point. Why now? Was I getting soft in my older age?

“Her name is Jessica Waldrop. She works for Sindom.”

“O-kay. Wow,” he muttered, taking a few seconds to reflect. “So that’s your angle. You’re just trying to continue taking out the competition. Maybe I like your style after all.” He lifted his glass.

“Yeah, that’s not why. I couldn’t give a shit about Sindom. They are lightyears behind us.”

“Then what?”

Why I was hesitating seemed odd to me. My brother couldn’t care less about my past and I felt the same way about his. We were different yet the same, our needs mirroring each other. It was the same with Zachariah. Perhaps the memories were painful even for a man like me.

“Jessica is the daughter of a man I once considered my best friend and no, I had no clue at first. The last time I saw her, which was only for a few minutes, she was merely a gangly teenager.”

“Oh. Ouch. A little taste of the forbidden,” he said, laughing until he realized just how complicated the situation truly was. “Was this that dude you were telling me about when you were living in what, Baltimore? A guy you connected with?”

I nodded. “An unlikely pairing given he ended up becoming a doctor and I could easily provide him with material to work on or dissect at any given time.”

“So he knew about your penchant for collecting bodies.”

“Let’s just say he provided some assistance on two occasions. It’s something he stopped talking about and even denied his participation.”

Wilder grinned. “Some men can’t take the heat of acting on their dark proclivities.”

“True enough.”

“That’s interesting. So you’re getting back at him for abandoning you by taking his daughter?”

I powered back the rest of my drink, immediately needing another. “That wasn’t my intent and keep in mind, I had no clue. Even worse, I was dating Jessica’s older sister at the time.”

“Double ouch. You’re a bad boy.” He was laughing at the situation while I was still uncertain what the fuck I was doing at this point. That was so unlike me I’d remained on edge for three days. That usually made me sloppy and right now, that wasn’t acceptable.

“Yeah, well, Jessica figured out I’m Sinner.” Not that I actually minded. We were still a game with each other, pretending as if we had two distinct personalities.

He spit out a portion of his drink. “How in the hell did that happen?”

“Because she’s the best gamer I’ve ever come into contact with. We sparred with each other for months. She knew what I was capable of, although until recently she only believed while hiding behind a computer screen.”

Wilder leaned forward on the table, narrowing his eyes. “Oh, my God. You also had an experience with her in real life. Didn’t you?”

The gaming talk had become annoying.

Sighing, I glanced into the restaurant portion of the bar we frequented. The place was jammed full even on a Sunday night. I continued to find it interesting I had no use for the typical enjoyment while spending time with friends. Getting drunk held no appeal.

“She needed protection against a thug. I provided it. Then I played a little.”

“Because you have such insatiable desires.”

“As if you don’t,” I bit back.

I could tell he wasn’t certain whether to burst into laughter or chastise me, as if he could dare do that. I’d bailed his ass out of a situation he’d gotten himself into less than six months before. He’d underestimated a man who’d betrayed us and had almost gotten himself arrested.

I’d been the fucking executioner as well as the goddamn cleanup crew. The entire situation had been messy.

And while I appreciated blood, spilling my share of it over the years, I preferred my kills neat and tidy. Wilder wasn’t like me in that way. Maybe he truly had an affinity for being labeled a monster.

It was funny how in just about everything else we were exactly alike.

“Okay, I gotta ask. What happened to the sister?” Wilder wasn’t even looking at me at this point.

A waiter presented us both with another drink. We came here often enough he knew what to expect. I took a deep swallow before answering. The memory had been one I’d tried very hard to ignore. “She drowned.”

“Well, shit. Did you have anything to do with it?”

“No. She had everything to do with her own death.” A tragedy that I blamed her father for.

How had I been so fucking stupid or blind with Jessica? I had no clue what Michael had told her, but whatever it was, Jessica blamed me for Shanna’s death. Just like the man I would have died to protect. The memory tore at me, but I couldn’t lose the hunger I felt, the need for possession of the woman who’d awakened me from the death.

“Well, shit. Has Jessica put the pieces together?”

“Obviously she had long before she arrived in town. Thanks to whatever her father told her.”

He took a deep breath. “Well, holy crap. You think she’s worked with Sam Carter on infiltrating our operation?”

“The jury is still out.” The thought had crossed my mind, but I wasn’t convinced. Her actions and sadness had indicated her hatred of me was completely personal.

“You really dug yourself an early grave. Depending on how this plays out, you might have put a death sentence on the three of us.”

I snorted. “We’ve survived much worse than a beautiful woman with the need for revenge.”

“Maybe so, but the company is still beholden to stocks and sales. That’s something you should keep in mind.”

“Always, brother. Business first. Right?” I looked him directly in the eyes and he shook his head.

“Beware harboring so much anger, Xander. You just might lose not only your freedom, but your sanity as well. I’d hate to see that happen.”

“Coming from a man who used an icepick on his foster brother.”

Wilder had admitted the incident after the single night the three of us had been driven to a bottle to confess our sins. He’d threatened me before never to mention the act again. He’d even sworn it had been in self-defense. I knew otherwise. The darkness might be lying dormant in his system more than it was in mine, but he was no different.

He threw back a solid half of his drink before leaning over the table. His eyes were flashing in the same rage I felt on a daily basis. “We all had our reasons for leaving the state of decency, Xander. I suggest you remember that.”

I lifted an eyebrow while holding up my glass in some crazy aspect of solidarity. We were three fucked-up men living a lie. However, doing so had suited us well. Still, I wondered whether Jessica had been brought into my life by a cruel act of fate.

After all, Shanna had walked into the lake because of me.

I was to blame and it had nearly gutted me.

What was to say the same thing wouldn’t happen with Jessica?

Yes, I knew Shanna’s stage four cancer would eventually end her life, but I never anticipated her ending it herself. Maybe I was fooling myself after all. Back then, I had thought of myself as God. Her death had proven otherwise, sending me onto a different plateau. I was lucky I hadn’t burned down the entire city in my months of grief.

Or killed everyone in close range.

We sat in virtual silence until our drinks were finished. While we often didn’t need conversation to connect, tonight we were a continent apart. Wilder was making a solid attempt at keeping a more normal hold on life while I was pitching myself further into the demons that had captured my soul a long time before.

“I have an early meeting in the morning,” he said as he rose from his chair.

“And a busy week,” I added.

“The men are secured for the event?”

I nodded and sucked on the remaining ice cube before shoving my glass aside. As I stood, I noticed commotion out the front plate glass window from the corner of my eye. “Locked and loaded.” Which meant full background checks had been run on them as a matter of precaution, as we did every year in the weeks leading up to the Obsidian event. If our activities leaked, all hell would break loose.

“No outsiders this year. Correct?” he asked.

“Not the year for it. We don’t need any outside interference.”

“Good.” He grabbed his jacket and turned toward the door, stopping almost immediately.

“Just say it, Wilder.”

He tipped his head so he could look me in the eyes. “We need to find out more about our parents.”

“Why the fuck bother? And why are you mentioning it now?”

“Because we need to know the level of evil residing in us and what we can expect in the future.”

“Planning your will?”

Sighing, he turned his head away before answering, but I could hear his words. “Planning my death.”

If truth be told, that’s what all three Blackwell brothers were doing. It was only a matter of time before we’d be forced to face our depravity for a final time. Death was inevitable.

I was right behind him as he walked out of the entrance onto the sidewalk. The moment we stepped foot on the concrete, we were bombarded by reporters.

“What do you have to say about the accusations written in the article?”

“Is the Blackwell Group involved in aspects of racketeering?”

“Is there any truth to the statement made the Blackwell Group has been involved in intellectual property infringement?”

The questions came fast and furious. While we’d been involved in accusations of scandal early in our operation given our fast rise, the questions were laughable.

“And where in God’s name did you hear such drivel?” Wilder asked. Ice ran through our veins so keeping control around hungry reporters was child’s play.

Yet the timing couldn’t be worse, not just because of Dark Nights just releasing, but also because it could be a potential threat to the Obsidian Society.

I swiveled the thick ring on my finger as I directed my attention from one reporter to another.

“There’s a report an article is being released in Game Today Magazine tomorrow.”

Game Today Magazine . While it was the number one magazine in the world highlighting every aspect of the industry, I’d never cared about what was said in the reviews. Those writing them were always subject to influence from every direction.

Including for personal gain.

Zachariah had been the one who’d gone after one of the reviewers. To hear his side of the story, the fucker writing the article had spent five minutes on our beloved masterpiece before trashing every aspect of it.

Zach had eviscerated him the way the man had our game… He’d even taken pictures. There was a first for everything.

His motto had always been no risk, no reward, something I’d spouted off to Jessica. Zach enjoyed fucking with the police more often than seemed appropriate.

All three of us had preferred methods and preordained choices in how we handled opposition.

Tonight was all about remaining collected. This kind of shit happened every day.

“No comment, ladies and gentlemen, other than I think our reputation speaks for itself,” Wilder said in passing and we continued chatting as we moved through the group. While there were always some tenacious reporters insisting on getting in our faces, most knew when evil surrounded them and shied away.

“Professional,” I teased.

He shrugged. “Eh, maybe I’m in a good mood. Perhaps your idea of joining in the festivities isn’t bad after all.”

I snarled on purpose. “You leave my woman alone.”

“So possessive.” We both laughed.

Quick falling footsteps were heard at a short distance.

“Mr. Blackwell,” a voice said from behind us. The guy seemed out of breath and far too eager. There always had to be at least one in every crowd to ignore the rumors, certain we wouldn’t bite their head off.

I looked over at Wilder who was smirking. We continued walking. There was no convincing reason to stop our progress.

Although admittedly, I was growing tired of this very scene occurring every single time we released a new game.

“Were you aware that your protégé was Dorn Franklin’s source for the upcoming article and that the information she provided is damning?”

I stopped right where I was. Yet I didn’t turn around, not acknowledging the man in any way.

Even though my blood was boiling.

“I take that as a no. Then let me be the first to tell you that she’s accepted an entirely different position with Sindom. The talented Ms. Jessica Waldrop is soon to be the new vice president of creations.”