He handed me a bunch of absorbent cleaning cloths. I’d killed two men, so I wasn’t particularly squeamish about blood, not to mention I’d cut myself for Drake. I did as he asked whilst he picked up the smallest man, the blonde one, and carried him away.
I worked as quickly as possible whilst the blood was still wet. It wasn’t perfect, but Drake had something to wash it down with. Then I helped him with the other two men, getting them situated in the back of the car. He’d put the blonde man in the boot. We stuffed one in the footwell and laid the other across the backseat. Drake had put down plastic sheeting and covered them in a blanket. I wondered why he had all this shit in the car with him, but then again, West told me they’d killed quite a few people in the past ten years. I got the impression they all knew the best ways to deal with dead bodies.
Drake made me wait by the car whilst he dealt with everything else. I kept looking around to make sure no one else was coming along. My nerves were firing on all cylinders. I rubbed my clothes with my fingers, trying not to freak out. This whole thing was fucking crazy.
By the time Drake got back, I could see two people walking along the road towards us. I jumped into the car, did my seatbelt up and tapped on the dashboard, hoping he wouldn’t take too fucking long and those people caught up to us. He got in a minute later, eyeing me with a frown before he turned on the car and set off.
“Are you okay?” he asked after a minute.
“You just killed three people and made me help you clean up what is essentially a crime scene and you’re asking me if I’m okay? No, Drake, I’m not okay.”
He reached over and stroked my hair back from my face, tucking it behind my ear as he pulled up at the entrance to the cemetery.
“Which part are you not okay with?”
“The part where we could have and still could get caught.”
“I won’t let that happen, little wisp. You’re safe with me.”
I looked at him. The softness of his expression made my stomach twist in itself in knots. Then he leant over and kissed my forehead. I didn’t say a word when he pulled away and set off again. He’d reassured me the back windows were tinted when we were putting the bodies in the car, but I was still a bundle of nerves.
“Where are we taking them?” I asked after a few minutes.
“Landfill.”
“We can’t just dump three bodies there, they’ll get found.”
“You don’t need to worry. I called Penn when I was getting the car and he knows a guy.”
Why I was even surprised by this knowledge was beyond me at this point. Penn was some kind of madman genius who seemed to know everyone. Maybe I should tell West I wanted a tattoo. Then I could sit and question Penn about himself the whole time. For some reason, he fascinated me. Not because I was attracted to him, but he was on a similar level of fucked up to West. Guess I was drawn to the misfits and those who didn’t play by society’s rules.
I sat back and watched the houses go by whilst Drake drove and wondered when my life had got so crazy that killing people and disposing of bodies was becoming something of a normal, everyday occurrence. I guess when you have four psycho boyfriends who have adopted the moniker of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, it was par for the fucking course.
I glanced over at Drake again. He hadn’t been lying about being my executioner. He’d protected me and kept me from being taken. And if I was being completely honest, rather than making me scared of him, it had only made me fall deeper in love with the man I’d come to know as Death.
Nineteen
Drake
When I’d agreed to take Scarlett to her mother’s grave, I did not imagine it would turn into a bloody mess. We’d finally made it home after dealing with the three men I’d ended up killing. We’d stopped at a drive-thru on the way back. We’d both been starving after cutting up the bodies, bagging them and having Penn’s man take them deep within the landfill site. Money had quickly exchanged hands, and we’d been on our way. Scarlett hadn’t exactly been happy to be involved in the process, but she didn’t complain too much.
Scarlett had a tight hold of my hand as the lift doors opened. I tugged her towards the stairs when I realised none of the boys were downstairs. I’d texted them earlier to let them know what had happened. I’d had one back from West who was pouting about not being involved, but I’d ignored him. Not like I planned on getting into a fight with three men today or anything.
“Where are we going?” Scarlett asked when we were walking up the stairs.
“To get cleaned up.”
“In…?”
“My room.”
I found myself pulled to a halt as Scarlett stopped dead in the middle of the hallway.
“You’re letting me in your bedroom?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
She stared up at me with wide eyes.
“Let me see, you’ve kept me out of there for months and now, without any warning, you’re taking me in there.”
I tugged her along, shaking my head at her statement. She wasn’t exactly wrong, but I didn’t think letting her into my room was a big deal. Apparently, to her, it was.
“Well, you should consider it a privilege in that case.”
“Drake!”
I opened the door to my room and pulled her inside, shutting it behind us.
“I want you in here, little wisp. Now, come along.”
She didn’t immediately start walking when I did, her eyes darting about the place. I let out a sigh.
“You can look around later. First, you’re getting in the shower.”
She followed me, her eyes still wandering around the room. It was of a similar layout to the others, with a big window along one side. My bed was on one end. A big set of wardrobes with black doors sat on the wall opposite the windows. I’d had the walls painted a deep navy blue. Everything was ordered, neat and in its place.
“Promise?”
“Yes, Scarlett. I promise you can snoop around to your heart’s content if that’s really what you want.”
I pulled her into my bathroom. It had a slate floor and black tiles on the walls. I had a separate bath to the shower and a large counter for the sink with a big mirror above it.
“Strip and put your clothes in a pile there.”
I pointed at a space underneath my heated towel rack. I would dispose of all our clothes later. Scarlett took a long minute to look around the bathroom, leaving me impatient for her to get on with it.
“Scarlett, clothes off and in the shower. Now.”
She put her hands up.
“Okay, okay, Jesus. Calm down, bossy boots.”
I watched her take her clothes off, unable to help myself from admiring her curves. She glanced at me as she stepped into my shower and flipped it on.
“Are you coming?”
I tugged my clothes off and dumped them in the pile with hers. She watched me walk towards her, her eyes wide when I grabbed her around the waist and hauled her against me under the spray. My fingers ran down her wet skin, savouring the softness of her body.
“I’m going to smell of you now,” she murmured, staring up at me with a smirk on her lips.
“What do I smell like?”