I stood alone in the kitchen. Time passed. The scents of the food filled the air.
Gripping my neck, I tried to massage the kinks that had worked into my body. Nothing eased the tension.
“I can’t believe it’s your last night,” Emily said. “And of course you won’t let us cook for you.”
“I don’t mind cooking.”
“I know.” Emily chuckled. “You always have a way of making us feel better, and I don’t have the first clue what to do to help you.”
“Don’t make this hard, or about you.”
“I’m not that selfish, am I?”
I smiled. “You can be when there’s something you want.”
She released a sigh, putting a hand on her swollen stomach. “I don’t want you to go.”
“Well, I want to.”
“Is it so awful here?”
“Not too much, but this isn’t my home. I’m not happy here, and it’s time I started to live my own life, you know?”
Emily groaned. “What about when I give birth? I don’t want you to miss it.”
“I won’t. You call me, and I’ll be on the first plane back. I promise.” I moved around the counter and went to her side, pulling her in against me and pressing a kiss to her head. “Nothing is going to change. You’re going to see that. You were doing fine when I wasn’t here.” I couldn’t bring myself to say his name.
This was a clean slate. A new beginning. One I intended to take full control of.
She tried to stand up, but I wouldn’t let her. “You need to rest,” I said.
“You’re so bossy. When did you get to be that way?”
“I learned from the best.” I gave her a wink and she groaned.
“You make me sound so awful.”
“Not awful. You always knew what you wanted. There’s no harm in that.” I pulled the casserole pot out of the oven, resting it on top of the stove, and removed the lid. A nice wave of steam came out, and along with it, the delicious smells of dinner.
“I can’t believe you’re going to get us to eat an entire head of cauliflower. I’m expecting my guys to moan.”
“It’s going to taste good.” My mouth salivated. “I’m going to set the table.” I made to pass Emily, but she captured me, pulling me into my arms.
“I’m so sorry he did what he did.”
I held on to her. “It’s not your fault.”
“It is. I should have done something to protect you.”
“It’s no one else’s fault I fell in love. This is all on me.” I rubbed at her back. “I love you.”
“I’m going to miss you.”
I gave her a squeeze. I was going to miss her too.
****
Earl
“Fuck you. You fucking piece of shit.”
I listened as Knight spat out the words. I cleaned off my blade from the blood I’d gotten on it. Ashley was out of the country. Landed safely at Heathrow airport, arrived at her apartment without a hitch, and had finished her first day at work. Then her second day. For a week, she’d gotten into a routine, and I knew because I’d been the one to closely monitor her.
As I used her as my distraction, Knight made his move, just as I knew he would.
The shipment of girls he intended to take were fakes. I’d arranged for mannequins to be placed within the cargo hold, and when his men had come to get them, we’d been ready.
I’d sunk the ship with some of his men still alive. There had been cameras on the ship, and I’d made Knight watch as his men drowned.
Some would call me cruel. This was simple payback.
Knight’s attacks had grown in severity and frequency. His patience being tested to the limit and along with it, my own.
I won. Like I always did.
I’d been waiting for Knight at his secure location, which happened to be a beautiful country estate. For the women who had been slaves here, I’d already made the necessary calls to be set free. Their stories would make the news, and Knight’s entire kingdom would fall. Along with it and all stocks and shares, people would be begging for a way out, and they wouldn’t get it. Every single investor would suffer, and just the thought made me smile. Also, I had him tied to the pool table, completely naked as he spewed out his curses.
His body dripped blood. I’d already taken my blade to him, cut him up really bad.
I’d gotten a text alert while I’d been about to take care of his cock. Ashley came first. She’d arrived at her apartment for the evening. I got to watch her for a few short minutes. No sound. Just the way she toed off her shoes, tilted her neck left to right. She’d been struggling with a knot in her shoulders ever since she got to England.
I wanted to help her ease out the tension, to help her relax, but I was miles away. An ocean away.
Closing temptation, I pocketed my cell phone, moved toward the pool table, and clicked my tongue at the man on top. “This isn’t a good look for you.”
“What the fuck do you want? Huh? You want money? You can have it. I’ve got enough to go around.”
“This isn’t about the money, and I’m really disappointed you’d think that.” I ran the tip of my blade across his nipple. One of them was already gone, removed with the single swipe of my blade.
“It’s about the whore!”
I drew my knife back and slammed it into his gut, twisting the handle as I watched him scream.
“No one talks about her like that.”
Knight groaned. “I’m fucking dead anyway. I can say what I want.” He kept on coughing in between each word. I ignored him and looked at his body, thinking about what I could do to him. The kind of damage I wanted to inflict. Part of me wanted to keep him alive. To have him as my own personal toy to torture at will, but once this was taken care of, I had other business to attend to.
Ashley. She was my business.
“You think you can keep her safe? Men like us kill women like her,” Knight said.
I looked at him, and I knew. My grandfather destroyed women, as did my father, and I’d picked up the game because it was what I was meant to do. I’d fought to be different to the men who called me son and grandson, but I wasn’t. I was just like them.
Without another word, I thrust the knife into his neck and stood, watching the life ebb away.
Knight was a good-looking man. A competition for power.
Not anymore. He was useless. Lifeless. A dead waste of space.
And now, no longer my problem.
By the time the press learned of his demise, he’d have been lost in a house fire to which he set himself as he knew the past would catch up to him. The women who’d been used by him would get the chance to tell their story, and no one would care about the billionaire businessman who lost his life.
He was a monster. Killed by me, a beast.
I cleaned off the knife and took a step back. My men were already pouring gas around the building, preparing to start the blaze.
My cell phone beeped again, and I got the single text to say the news headline had started. The knowledge of what he had done would be seen far and wide.
I’d been playing this game in life according to my grandfather’s rules.
It was time to change it up. Time to be the man Ashley needed me to be.