Mateo shifted in his seat. “My chica loca will be well provided for with me,” he said slowly, some darkness filtering though his expression, like he wasn’t entirely convinced of his own words and I didn’t like that one bit.
I tapped my finger on the arm of my chair, uncertain about whether or not I wanted to indulge him in his plans.
The drugs had done the job of calming me at least, so my mind was clear enough for me to form my own plans, and I wasn’t sure they had a whole lot to do with the man sitting opposite me.
That said, I would be happy enough to relieve him of the money he claimed to have and take him up on the offer of a free life. I just doubted I’d leave him alive to have much say in what I did with it.
The sound of a car pulling up the drive made both of us look around and my slow pulse began to pound a little harder as I felt the need for the fight surging within me.
“Now or never, gigante,” Mateo urged as he pushed to his feet and I nodded, standing too, my legs still a little wobbly though strong enough to support me at last.
“Now,” I agreed, walking towards the door with him and positioning myself on the opposite side of it to him as we awaited our prey.
Brutus raised his head from the blankets on the far side of the room, the enormous grey dog baring his teeth at us like it could sense what we planned to do and didn’t much like it. I eyed the beast warily, not liking the way it was looking at us and half expecting it to pounce at any moment.
The sound of Brooklyn singing came from outside and I exchanged a look with Mateo, wickedness coating his skin as he rolled his shoulders back and the scent of death curled around us on the air.
It had been a long time since I’d been so free to unleash this part of me at will and I cracked my knuckles as I forced myself to hold still, battling against my nature which was far more inclined towards an outward show of aggression than lying in wait for my prey.
The front door unlocked and I snapped, that switch flicking inside my skull which left no room for anything other than violence as I threw myself through the door and ran full pelt down the short hallway.
Niall kicked the door open before I got there, stepping over the threshold with Brooklyn held in his arms, her head thrown back and arm looped around his neck while she pointed one ballerina shoe at the ceiling and he laughed wildly.
He lifted his head and met my gaze as I charged him with a bellow, tossing Brooklyn aside so that she landed on her feet like a cat before running forward to meet me with a wild laugh tearing from his lips.
Brooklyn whooped, doing a pirouette in her pink ballet skirt which I spotted in the corner of my eye a moment before the two of us collided.
The impact of our huge bodies crashing into each other made my damn bones rattle and the force of his fist sent pain radiating through my side before I managed to throw him back against the wall.
His spine slammed into the brickwork, but he threw his head towards me, his forehead cracking against the bridge of my nose and making blood spill down onto my lips as they pulled back in a ferocious snarl.
Mateo cursed me as he made it into the fight, his weight slamming into us from the side and knocking us through the door into the front room where we all went sprawling to the floor.
The taste of my own blood on my lips made that thin hold I was trying to maintain on my rage snap, and a roar escaped me as I threw my weight forward, swinging fists and knees and elbows as we fell into a brawl. I forgot to even try and keep my entire aim focused on the man who kept us captive, striking any and every piece of flesh I could find.
I was lost to the violence in me as so often happened and there was nothing left beyond the rampant beat of my heart, the smack of flesh against flesh as I swung my fists and worked to destroy everything within range of me.
Mateo yelled something which I couldn’t hear over the pumping of my own pulse against my eardrums, and suddenly Brutus dove into the fray, sharp teeth sinking into my arm and splitting the skin as he savaged me.
I tried to shake the enormous dog off me as a fist cracked against my jaw, but before I could do more than jab an elbow into its side, an explosion of electricity crashed through my body from the shock collar.
I slammed down against the floorboards on my back as I jerked and spasmed my way through the feeling of it, agony tearing through my skin and forcing my mind to snap back into alignment once more.
Brutus yelped as the current transferred into him too, releasing my arm and backing away towards the dark goddess who came to stand over me, her ballerina shoe nudging my chest as she tilted her head to one side to observe me.
Niall coughed out a laugh as he stood, straightening his I love Vegas shirt and dropping an arm around Brooklyn’s shoulders. He grinned at her as she spun the remote for our collars in her hand, making it clear that she had been the one to intervene in our violence.
“Bad boys,” she chastised, biting down on her bottom lip as she looked from me to Mateo who was cursing as he managed to get onto his hands and knees, the shock from the collars finally dissipating.
“Ah now, don’t be harsh with them, love. They’re just excited to have us home, aren’t they?” Niall said, licking his bottom lip to taste the blood from the nasty looking split he now had marking it.
“Did you hear the news already?” she asked excitedly, looking between Mateo and I while he moved to sit on his ass.
I just stayed laying on my back, panting through the afterglow of the fight and wishing it could have gone on longer.
“What news?” Mateo asked, carving a hand through his dark hair and scowling at Niall, though he made no new attempt to attack him again.
The corner of Niall’s lips lifted in a cruel smile and he looked to Brooklyn, plucking the remote from her fingers.
“Show ‘em, love,” he encouraged and Brooklyn squealed as she held her hand out for the two of us to see the ring which now adorned her left hand.
“What is this?” Mateo demanded, his scowl fixing on Niall.
“Niall fucked the virginity clean out of me then took me to Vegas to make an honest woman of me, once he realised what he’d done,” Brooklyn cooed and some deep, dark thing twisted in my chest as I looked between the ring on her hand and the heathen at her back.
“What?” Mateo demanded angrily and I shoved myself to my feet as the anger in me began to rise once more.
“You’re not making it sound all that romantic, love,” Niall corrected her. “It was more like I got myself an order from a higher purpose to claim you for my own once and for all and was powerless to resist it.”
“You married this piece of shit?” Mateo barked, staring between Brooklyn and Niall like he was having trouble understanding them.
But I’d heard enough and I snarled as I lunged at Niall again, his death in my mind and this warring kind of rage pulsing through my veins. Brooklyn wasn’t his. She was mine.
Electricity crashed through my body before I could lay a hand on him this time and I slammed to the floor at Brooklyn’s feet, my chin colliding with the floorboards and my teeth damn near severing the tip of my tongue.
“Is it the good tingles?” Brooklyn whispered, squatting down beside me and pushing her fingers into my hair so that she could feel the effects of the collar in her flesh too. A sultry moan escaped her as the electricity transferred into her where she touched me, and I couldn’t help but stare up at her as her pupils dilated with lust.
Mateo punched Niall square in the mouth and the Irish bastard laughed loudly as he allowed the strike to fall, stumbling backwards before he hit the button to activate Mateo’s collar too, flooring him right beside me.
“You haven’t even heard all the things we got up to in Vegas,” Brooklyn said with a pout. “You know nothing about my princess dress or the way we got it all messy when we were having sexy times in the back of the car and had to go get new fancy clothes from the ballerina shop.”