The only other thing he could do was kill Xander and I wasn’t about to let that happen.
Who I saw though, sitting in my armchair, drinking from the cup Ma had brought for me for my sixteenth birthday, was a man I didn’t know.
Built with shoulder length black hair and a scar running down the side of his cheek, the man reminded me of a tough guy character from a video game or someone from The Matrix. Again that was my cousin’s influence. He watched too much TV and got lost in far too many video games. As kids he’d dragged me into it too.
This man wore a cool looking, slick Armani suit. He was dressed up like he had some sort of event to attend.
It was a contrast to him as the person. Leather looked like it would be more his thing.
I’d never seen him before in my life and on the regular, I’d assume this guy had a death wish for entering my home knowing who I was.
That was on the regular. Today not so much.
This man reeked of power and control. The vibe beamed from him as he snapped dark brown eyes that almost looked black to me, but what enhanced the vision of him was the way Xander looked.
I’d seen him look angry, I’d seen him look enraged to the point of losing it, I’d seen him happy, I’d seen him look sad and defeated. What I’d never seen before in his eyes was fear.
Fear became terror when he saw me enter the room.
“Who are you?” I directed at the man.
He smiled and tipped his head in reverence, the way most Southern men did.
“I am Balthazar Kane,” he replied in a thick Southern accent that fit his mannerism. I wasn’t surprised to hear it.
“What the fuck are you doing in my home?” I threw back.
“Jia, please,” Xander cut in. Caution filled his tone and spiked my nerves.
If he could look and sound like that, I needed to calm the fuck down.
“No, Xander please the lady has a valid question. I like her.” Balthazar nodded. “You sure like your women ballsy don’t you?”
The comment was a dig that didn’t escape me. He’d known someone else that Xander had been with.
Xander raised his gun higher. “Balthazar, what the fuck do you want? You direct your answers to me. Why are we seeing you?”
What an odd thing to ask.
“Not for the reasons you think, old friend. Or, maybe it’s half and half. Nothing is happening just yet. I just came to look at your weakness. See where she lives.” He laughed and a shiver ran down my spine.
“Leave her out of this.” Xander cocked the trigger back on his gun. It clicked and my heart squeezed.
“No, no. I simply couldn’t resist the opportunity to screw with you, especially when you’ve been looking for me for so long.” Balthazar laughed a wicked laugh. “When I realized you were with this beauty I just had to make my presence known, just to screw with you. Thought it might conjure up various memories. The bad kind. Looking at you now, I see I was right. This is going to be very interesting.”
“I said, leave her out of this!” Xander shouted.
Balthazar only laughed though. “Xander Cage. I’m not sure how it is you’ve known me for this long and you never learn. You just keep thinking you can get me. Stop me. Really now? Xander come on think, do you seriously believe I’d come here today dressed up like this without backup?”
“I will shoot your fucking head off before you get the chance to think about harming her,” Xander balked.
Balthazar smiled again but answered the question by swiveling his finger and pointing at me.
“Look. Better to look,” he stated and we both looked.
I saw it first. A red dotted light hovering just under my cleavage. A laser light. A target mark. It was something I’d seen too many times. Not on me though.
Someone, somewhere was holding a gun… a rifle and they’d shoot me.
“Jesus,” Xander winced and lowered his gun immediately.
At least he could talk. I could not. I couldn’t even breathe.
I couldn’t even breathe and I was pretty certain that all the blood inside me had seized up in flow, for fear that any sudden move could take me out.
“Stop it you bastard,” Xander cried. “Fucking stop it. This doesn’t concern her.”
“But it does. Like I said she’s your weakness. Every man has a price and she is yours. I needed to be sure of it because Xander Cage, I think you know something I don’t and it’s something I need.” He switched his gaze to me. “Jia Marchesi, it’s only fair that you get the full rundown of what’s going on. Your father got himself into deep shit. That’s the best way I can put it, sugar. Greedy. That’s what he is. Greeeedyyyyy. He’s one greedy son of a bitch. Fuck. Couldn’t say no to a deal with the devil who was using him. He stole some blueprints my people need. He’s keeping them somewhere and I think your boy here knows where, or has a pretty good idea of where I can find them. Xander Cage is a would-be agent for the Special Mission Forces. SMF. I love the acronym. It suits. Doesn’t suit him though because he’s not really one of them, but useful. Like me. Unlike me though, he allows himself to be used by whoever for whatever. His skills got him hired big time. He can dress it up to look like whatever he wants but really he’s just a professional thief.”
I was listening. I was really listening.
Balthazar cleared his throat and continued. “Your boy is only here to steal the prints himself from your father. That is why you two met. That is how you two have met. Xander Cage, I don’t know what it is you think you can do, but regardless of what happens, my visit today was purely to let you know you won’t win. You won’t stop me from getting my hands on those prints. And you won’t stop me either, from getting my hands on your weakness.”
“You evil bastard.” Xander hissed.
“Yes. I sure am one evil bastard. The kind who likes women a little too much. They make great pets when they aren’t dead.”
I actually felt the moment when my blood started running through my veins, but …cold. So cold it froze my heart.
There were enough sick bastards around for me to get the gist of what he was saying.
Balthazar stood up and walked over to me.
He came right up to me, touched my cheek and allowed his gaze to drop to my breasts.
It was different when Armand made his advances. I got a different vibe altogether from this guy.
“Xander Cage, you did well this time. I’ll be sure I fuck her a good few times before I kill her.”
Click -Clack.
The sound of the trigger pulling back rippled through me.
I looked to Xander and saw that he was once again aiming the gun at Balthazar.
Balthazar wagged his pointer and grinned from ear to ear.
“One more time agent. Pay attention.” He pointed at the laser light on my chest. “She’ll be dead before you get to pull the trigger.” A cold hard chuckle resonated from his chest.
To add to the helplessness of the situation, he turned back to me, leaned forward and planted a kiss on my forehead. The gesture made my skin shriek away from him although I wasn’t moving.
“Soon,” he whispered and walked out of the room.
I watched him go. He walked through the sitting room door and moments later the front door clicked closed. It closed but there was no relief yet, the laser light was still on me. It was still there on me.