Page 6 of Dark Encounter
Chapter 3
Erik
Desire raced through my veins as I jogged down the three flights of stairs in the library. The sweet princess on the third floor was playing a dangerous game with a man like me. She thought she wanted a night pressed to the chill of my black silk sheets, but she'd never survive it.
The thought of making her scream left chill bumps all over my skin and my cock rock hard. Pissing her off was almost too easy, which was a warning sign. She'd convinced herself that I was the right man for her and that somewhere in my black persona was a beating heart.
She was wrong. I'd fuck her hard and throw her out.
It was the only way to handle the situation, no matter how badly I wanted love and connection. It wasn't meant to be. Not for a man like me. Not when my father expected so much of me, and often sent me to violate other people and their property. It left danger and death lurking everywhere. It would take one time for my girl to get caught up in the mix and she'd die in my arms. Just like Delaney did every night in my dreams.
I forced my morbid thoughts of my sister away and pulled out my phone to locate Nate. My best friend from childhood had recently joined the syndicate with me, though he hadn't really taken his place beside me just yet. He was pussyfooting around, trying hard to keep his nose clean thanks to being in love with Jenna.
Not that I could blame him.
"Speak of the devil." I turned and walked toward his and Jenna's apartment, leaving my bike at the library. I needed a reason to return later in hopes of accidentally bumping into Grace. I couldn't bring her into my world, not even for the promise of a much-needed fuck for both of us. It wasn't fair, and my father had plenty of whores to keep our balls empty when needed.
Yeah, ‘cause that's what sex should be like.
I growled at myself and walked up the stairs to Jenna's place, knocking twice before trying the knob.
"Just a minute. Fuck." Nate's voice was gravely. He'd been sleeping or fucking. He pulled the door open and gave me a stern look. "What do you want?"
"Did I interrupt something?" I tilted my head a little to the side. He was like a brother to me, and yet we'd been estranged for the last few years thanks to him refusing to help me when I needed him most. He wanted freedom, and I guess part of me was pissed that I didn't have that option. Maybe I was being a selfish prick.
"I was sleeping on the couch." He moved back and lifted his free arm to stretch. "Jenna was somewhere around here."
"In the kitchen." She walked out and slid her arms around my waist, surprising me a little. "I'm going to kill you."
"Oh yeah?" I pulled her arms off of me and stepped back, needing my space. "Almost killing Ashley a few weeks before wasn't enough?" The last few weeks had been a weird transition since Nate's best friend, Ashley tried to kill him and Jenna. The situation spun out of control quickly, and Jenna asked for my help, knowing that I was the son of the only mafia boss in New York City. Not hard to figure out seeing that her father was the DA of the city and had pictures of me and my family all over his desk.
"Not funny," Nate barked and moved over to drop down on the couch. "What smells good?"
"While you were snoozing, I made pasta." Jenna turned and glanced up at me, her warm brown eyes filled with acceptance. It was a rare thing to see in my world. A part of me wanted to put a bullet in Nate's chest and steal his woman while he tried to recover, but I loved him like a brother and truth be told... I wasn't that interested in Jenna physically. She just represented a life I would never have, but one I wanted so fucking bad if I were being honest with myself. "You hungry?"
"I could eat." I glanced down at my watch and shrugged. "I just left the library and don't have anywhere else to be." I followed her into the kitchen as Nate started in on me for being at the library and reading a book. As if there was another reason to go to the damn library.
"Ignore him." She reached into the fridge and pulled out a beer. "Here. Take a load off."
I took the beer and drank deeply. I didn't have many friends in the world, but Nate and Jenna were quickly becoming that for me. It scared me at times. No sooner would I let myself love them than they'd be taken... killed in cold blood.
The image of my sister’s bloated little body killed my head, her face missing from the fish eating at her for two weeks.
"Fuck," I spat out some of my beer and pressed my hand to my mouth.
"Erik?" Jenna walked around the counter and put her hand on my back, rubbing softly. "What's going on?"
"Nothing. Sorry." I pulled a little to my right. "Keep your hands to yourself, woman. Your guy in there is the jealous type, and I'd hate to defend myself when he comes limping in here threatening me."
"Fuck you too, asshole," Nate called from the living room.
"I'm good. Really." I glanced up at her and took another long sip of my beer, ignoring how good her tits looked in her t-shirt. Nate had himself a fine woman to strip down and worship every night. I'd have one too if I could get past being me.
Jenna was pretty, but Grace was a goddess. I knew she was hiding herself from the world by wearing the horrible outfits that she did, and some part of me wanted to love her for it. She was saving herself, but for what? Who?
Me. I wanted to believe it was me, but it was childish and silly.
"I'm going to kill you for giving me a virus that would wipe out all of your family’s information from my Dad's computer. You told me it would just remove anything with your name on it." She shook her pretty head as she walked back into the kitchen.
