Total pages in book: 18
Estimated words: 16796 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 84(@200wpm)___ 67(@250wpm)___ 56(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 16796 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 84(@200wpm)___ 67(@250wpm)___ 56(@300wpm)
“Get up, Natalie. Now,” Larry shouts.
The shrill screech chills me to the bone, and I do as told.
“Bend over the desk.” He points to where he wants me. And even though everything inside me screams no, I do as instructed.
“I’m going to spank this bullshit out of you. Do what your folks should’ve done a long time ago. And I’ll do it every time you step out of line again until you learn your lesson,” Larry whispers with sickening delight.
Tears start rolling down my cheeks. And in my fear, my thoughts roam back to Dante and his offer to stay at his place. Sure, if I did stay, I would only be solidifying whatever fucked up relationship we were building, but I’d be safe.
“Dante will kill you for this.” The words suddenly spring to mind. I saw the fear in his eyes while he spoke to the Demon, and maybe it was enough to scare him again.
“Is that why you’re here instead of his penthouse? Waiting tables and shoveling shit while your hero is off doing God knows what?” Larry snickers. “See, I think you two had a falling out, and that’s why you’re back here. He dropped your ass, crashing back to the real world. And that makes you—”
A knock comes at his door, silencing his disgusting rant.
“I’m in a meeting. Come back later,” Larry says with his usual pasted-on pleasantries.
No response comes, and with it, Larry continues whatever he’s planning.
“Now, where were we?” he asks, leaning in until his breath tickles my ear. “Ah, that’s right. I was about to beat the Demon out of you.”
Before he has a chance to do anything, a thunderous bang comes from the door. The same barfly I slapped comes barreling through it with a bloody, bruised-up face, and he tumbles straight to the floor in an unmoving mess of limbs.
Looking back at the door, I see him standing there. The same way he stood while trying to convince me not to leave. Begging me to talk instead of letting my anger dictate my decisions. My man. My monster.
The Demon of Delta County, with a deadpan gaze focused on Larry Kissinger.
I’ve never felt more relieved knowing someone was going to get so hurt.
11
DANTE
“Mr. Vitorri, w-what are you doing here?” he stutters on every word before snapping his attention in quick succession between me and Natalie. “This isn’t what it looks like. I can exp—”
“I thought you’d have learned your lesson, Larry.” I enter the office and slam the door shut. With the broken locking mechanism, it dangles loosely in a mostly closed position.
Natalie breaks away from the table and sprints into my arms. She latches onto me, burying her head into my chest while tears roll freely down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry. Please don’t be angry at me.”
“I never could be,” I whisper, pressing a delicate kiss atop her crown.
I don’t move from her hug. Natalie’s my first priority, and I’ll be her support in this time of dire need. I will give it all to her no matter how badly I want to kill him.
“Thank you,” she whispers as she pulls away from my body.
“You should go now, Natalie. You should never have to witness what I’m about to do to this man.” I take my first step in his direction.
“No.” She sounds scared. “I want to watch.”
Her statement reaffirms my belief that she’s an angel sent from heaven to protect these poor, mortal cunts. Had Natalie not wanted to stay, I’d have left Larry Kissinger a crucified corpse on his office wall. A statement of finality to any and all who think one miscommunication-induced argument could cause my affection for Natalie to wane.
Not that Larry would know any of it, of course. But I like to think this is a way for me to release some stress about our spat.
“If you insist,” I say, cracking my neck from side to side.
“Come on, Dante. We can work something out,” Larry pleads. He’s not carrying any weapons in the office, it seems—a deduction I made while Natalie hugged me. If he had a gun in here, he would have taken it up while I soothed her aching soul.
“Can we?” I close the distance between us.
Larry’s cowering against a filing cabinet. His hands are raised above his chest, insisting on surrender. He can’t look me in the eye.
“Yeah, of course we can. Your boss likes money, doesn’t he? I can give you a whole lot of it.” He nods, satisfied with the response.
I scoff at the blatant arrogance. “Good God, you’re a real piece of shit.”
“Huh?” Larry’s brow furrows.
“What makes you think Don Lione wants anything to do with you?” I thrust my hand forward and wrap it around Larry’s thin throat. I squeeze until he’s choking out, and my knuckles turn white. “You’re not weaseling your way out of this one. It’s been a damn long time coming, and I’m going to enjoy it.”