ZERO(The Skulls, 6)(21)

“Fine.” Zero glared back at her.

She heard the snickers around the room.

“I like her,” Tiny said. “It’s about time someone put him on his toes and bossed him around a little bit. It’ll save us a job.”

Zero raised an eyebrow at her, smiling. “She’s the only woman I’ll ever let talk to me like that.”

“You couldn’t stop me even if you tried. I’d kick your ass,” she said.

“Remember who taught you how to hit. I let you win.”

“In your dreams, asshole.” Prue remembered Zero spending his afternoons teaching her how to defend herself. In school some of the guys had taken pleasure in bullying her over her weight and the fact she had large boobs. Prue hated it and refused to let her parents get involved. She could fight her own battles and often did. Zero wouldn’t let her out in the world. Between him and Trevor, she learned how to hit back. Once she started defending herself, the bullies backed away.

“We’ll see.” He leaned, over ruffling her hair, and she slapped his hand away.

“Stop it.”

She stared at him as the others started to talk. Zero was smiling at her, and when she felt heat pool between her thighs, she was so shocked that she turned her attention back to Eva. No, she wasn’t going to let her feelings go there. Zero was her friend. He would never be a man in her life.

Staring down at her lap, she felt his gaze on her, and her nipples tingled in awareness. She would fight every response her body demanded.

****

“Please, let me go. I won’t say anything. Please.” The woman begged and pleaded for her life. Alan had her tied to a cross in the center of the forbidden warehouse. The economic downturn was good for something as it created available buildings for him to do whatever the fuck he liked to do. Staring around the room he listened to the woman snivel. He hated the sound of females moaning, begging. They were all whores, and he was tired of dealing with the low-lifes of this world.

Picking up the chef’s knife, he’d sharpened it with a knife-sharpener, making it a deadly weapon. It was amazing how many weapons people could buy in any ordinary shop.

“You fucked Zero from The Skulls?” he asked, keeping his back to the woman.

She whimpered.

“I suggest you answer me or I’ll make it far harder than it needs to be.” He held the knife up to the light.

“Yes, I was with him.”

“You fucked him?”

“Yes, I fucked him.”

Alan smiled. He always loved the power he held getting what he wanted. Looking in the far corner of the warehouse he thought about the woman who’d pulled him out of the burning building ten years ago. He’d treated her like the treasure she was, taking care of her until she died a year ago. Clara hadn’t been a whore. She’d been a good girl, a good woman, unlike this piece of trash in front of him.

Through his recuperation, the surgeries, the physiotherapy, Clara had been the only one by his side.

When she died, he buried her and then set about taking back what was his. Clara didn’t care about his face or the damage done to him. It was a good thing Clara couldn’t see him now. She didn’t think getting his revenge was worth it.

Alan had nothing else to live for. The woman he loved was dead, and he had a select few men who stood by his side. By the time they were done, he was going to have everything back. Zero had taught him something ten years ago. He knew the other man had no intention of walking away and was prepared to die. There was nothing left for Alan. This game was going to be fun, and if he was lucky, by the end of their time, he was going to be dead along with Zero. Touching his face acted as a reminder to Alan. Zero was the first man to make him beg for mercy. The game was turned. Alan wasn’t going to make Zero beg. He was going to make the bastard suffer, picking off the others around him before finally taking out the man himself.

He nodded to one of the men, who moved toward the bound woman, the nurse he’d taken from the hospital. Alan had a lot of eyes and ears. He looked forward to taking his time with this game, taking out everyone near Zero before finally killing him, himself. When Alan couldn’t get around, he paid people to do his work. There was always someone willing to do something for money.

Thinking about Prue, Alan smiled. She was going to be so sweet to finally break. The love between the two was strong. He’d seen the way Zero was with her, and it wouldn’t be long before he destroyed the pair of them.

The sound of fabric tearing and a feminine scream filled the air.

Turning toward the woman, the whore, the slut, he pressed the blade to her skin. Alan didn’t care anymore about the blood. Revenge would be sweet.