part0069

It had taken some arguing but I’d finally managed to convince Mr. Shy… Rasputin to let me come along. I wasn’t sure exactly why he was reticent about having me there when he made Magda pay for her thievery. Maybe he was worried I wouldn’t be able to stomach his brand of justice or perhaps he just preferred to work alone. Either way, I knew I had to be there. If this relationship between us had any chance of working out, we were going to have to find a way to work together. And that meant I had to know what my new lover was capable of. And he needed to know exactly what I was capable of.

I wandered his office, running my fingers over his things, enjoying them with new eyes. The possessive eyes of a lover who was beginning to see all the possibilities. I touched the back of his chair, his stapler, phone, paper weight and letter opener. I picked the opener up and parked my ass on the edge of his desk, running the object through my fingers and across my palm, enjoying the smooth sensation against my flesh. It helped heighten my pleasure that the item was solid gold.

I looked up as the office door opened. Magda entered first, a smug expression on her face. She was ushered in by our boss. I frowned. Why was she looking so proud of herself? Rasputin waved his hand toward one of the guest chairs. Magda sat, settling herself comfortably into the black leather. Her malevolent gaze flashed to me and she gave me a tight, thin-lipped smile that spoke a world of dislike without a sound passing through that red-tinted mouth.

Rasputin rounded his desk, nudging my hip with his as he passed and knocking me to the side. I took the hint and straightened, sliding off the desk. I set the letter opener back down and stepped a more respectful distance away from my boss, watching with interest as he opened the conversation.

“As you know, Magda, a small amount of cash went missing from my establishment yesterday evening,” he drawled his words, placing one gloved hand on the desk in front of him, drawing her eyes. Now that I was getting to know him better I saw the trick for what it was, drawing the gaze away from his face so the person sitting opposite him didn’t grow curious about the shadows that constantly surrounded him. “I was hoping you might be able to tell me what you saw take place in and around the bar last night.”

I stifled a gasp. Of course he knew what had taken place, we’d both seen the video evidence. But he was lulling her into a sense of complacency, making her think she had a chance. I loved the way he was playing cat to her mouse. I could feel the blood heat in my veins.

She sent a self-satisfied glare right at me before turning an innocent expression on her boss and saying, “I was working my section all evening, Mr. Shy. I only went to the bar for drink requests, like I always do.”

I could feel my blood pressure rising at her blatant lie. I wanted to dig her eyeballs right out of her skull and curled my fingers into my palms to check the impulse. I side-eyed Rasputin to see how he was taking this drivel. He seemed to be contemplating her, his hat bobbing low in a slow nod. I inched my hand toward the paperweight, closing my fist around the smooth object. His hand came down, covering mine and squeezing. I didn’t let go of my new weapon.

Magda tilted her head to the side as though thinking about it. “I might have…” she said, her voice trailing off. “Actually, now that I think about it, I did.” She pointed at me and said smugly, “She asked me to help her mix a few drinks. It must’ve been a distraction so she could pocket the money and blame it on someone else. We all know about the cameras. It was the only way she could get away with taking the cash.”

I was steaming mad. This bitch had an answer for everything. Well, so did I. I pulled my arm back and hurled the paperweight at her. It caught her in the side of the head, knocking her right off the side of the chair. She went down like a heap of bricks while I laughed at the dumbass look on her face. I reached for the letter opener and was about to launch myself over the desk and directly on top of my prey when Rasputin caught me around the middle and dragged me backwards, grabbing hold of my wrist.

“You are a bloodthirsty little thing, aren’t you?” he asked in my ear, taking the opener from my hand and smacking it back down onto the desk. “Thought it was a fluke when you stabbed me in your apartment. Guess I’ll have to watch my back when I piss you off.”

Magda was squirming around on the floor and moaning while we sorted out the minor issue of whether or not I should be allowed to stab the bitch. I gave up my struggle with a sigh of defeat. “Fine, let’s get this over with.”

He released me and stalked around the desk, seizing Magda by the arm and dragging her off the floor. He picked her up and slammed her back down on the chair. She shrieked and grabbed her head where a trickle of blood was making a path down the side of her face. I gave her a toothy grin. She looked back at me, her face now pale with fear. Glad she was beginning to show a little respect, even if it was too little, too late.

“We know you took the money,” Rasputin snapped, stepping away from the older waitress. “I have video evidence from over top of the bar. You were the one that distracted Nola, then you stole her tips and took money from the cash register.”

Magda started to shake her head, moaned and grabbed hold of her hair as agony ripped through her skull. “I didn’t, I swear Mr. Shy. It must’ve been Nola!”

“Don’t you fucking blame my doll!” he roared, crouching low enough to get in her face. She flinched back in the chair, covering her face from his anger. If she’d looked at him in that moment, she would’ve seen his lack of face. “I have evidence you evil bitch. You’ve been around long enough. You know how the organization works. You were hoping I would blame Ms. Antonetti, you were hoping she would meet mob justice, weren’t you?”

A sob rippled out from between her fingers and her shoulders shook. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it would go this far!”

“You’re sorry you got caught,” he snarled. “You’re sorry it’s not Nola sitting in this chair taking the heat.”

He didn’t say anything. He straightened up, standing over her. I stepped around the desk and took my place behind her, wanting to see his face when he declared her fate. It didn’t matter that I couldn’t technically see a face, I didn’t need to. This was my man in all his glory, in his element. This was the Rasputin Shy that wanted to keep Nola Antonetti. Forever.

He was too late. I brought my hand down in a vicious arc, slamming the letter opener into the side of her neck. Blood sprayed, she tried to scream, I giggled. Rasputin growled, “Fuck,” as blood arced in wet streaks across his beautiful office. I winced. In hindsight, I suppose I could’ve explained my impulsive plan and maybe we could’ve discussed the pros and cons.

Rasputin sighed and rubbed a gloved hand over his invisible face. “Look, Nola. I love that you want to help me out at work, but we don’t murder people in my place of business. It leaves evidence and the blood stains are nearly impossible to get out. Okay, doll?”