“There was a murdered corpse,
in secret land and violent death
in thousand shapes displayed.”
~ Geoffrey Chaucer
LIAM
I couldn’t help but watch her as I drank my brandy. The way she cleaned her gun over and over again had to be one of the sexiest things I had ever seen her do. She was mesmerizing, from her long ponytail, to her sleek tank top and camo pants, everything about her was memorizing.
“I feel you staring at my breasts,” she said not bothering to look at me. But her voice alone was enough to give me a hard-on.
“If it bothers you, love, stand up and let me stare at your ass instead.” I grinned, finishing the rest of my drink before standing up.
“Liam, we need to focus,” she hissed as I ran my fingers against her neck.
Kissing the base of her throat, I grabbed her breasts. “I am focusing.”
“Liam stop,” she said, pushing me away.
Backing away from her, I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to calm myself down. What the fuck was wrong with me? She had just started to speak less than twelve hours ago, and I was trying not to jump her. Being in the plane with her so close didn’t help. Never had I been happier to take her bitching.
“Mel . . .”
“Liam . . .”
We both stopped when there was a knock on the door. Sighing, Mel stood up and opened the lodge door, allowing both Neal and Declan to walk in. Declan immediately gave me a look as if he knew what had just happened. However, with the thin walls I wouldn’t be that surprised.
Vance was right in coming to Tanzania. Neither Mel nor I had ever been here before, but luckily the American dollar was as good as gold. It only cost us five hundred dollars to buy this wooden lodge in the middle of the fucking jungle. It wasn’t the Ritz, but it would do for now.
“Can we come in?” Neal asked.
“She opened the fucking door didn’t she?” I stated, pouring myself more brandy. Thank God that Nelson kid kept the plane well stocked.
Walking over to me, Mel capped the brandy bottle, glaring at me before looking back at them. “What do you have?”
Declan pulled out a map and opened it over the table. “So were in Seronera, here.” He pointed. “From what we’ve gathered speaking to some of the locals, a group of men with Vs on their arms came through here two weeks ago.”
“We think they are hiding out in Lobo, about forty-five miles from here. If we leave now, we can make it before daybreak. I’ve already bought a helicopter from one of the townsfolk, Jinx is fixing it up the best he can now,” Neal added, pulling on the strap of his sniper rifle.
“You, Antonio, and Jinx along with the rest of the snipers will stay back ten miles. I’m guessing the helicopter you bought isn’t going to hold all twelve of us, so look for another one and have Adriana fly it,” Mel stated looking over the map. “Declan, you and Monte, along with the rest of the men, will back the twenty-five mile mark.”
We stared at her as though she had just lost her fucking mind.
“So you and I are supposed to raid their hideout by ourselves?” I asked her slowly. Maybe she wasn’t quite ready to come back yet.
“Ma’am, Adriana didn’t even come with us.” Declan eyed her carefully before shooting me a look. This was too important to fuck up, and we only had a small window.
“Maybe you should rest,” Neal started, but was cut off by Mel cocking her gun.
“Please finish that sentence, motherfucker. I’m begging you to finish that sentence, so when I tell Olivia why her husband came home with a bullet, I can say he forgot who the fuck I am . . . a deadly mistake. Especially since I haven’t liked your bitch-ass from the get-go. So go ahead and tell me I need some rest.”
Neal made the wisest choice of his life and kept silent, Declan on the other hand . . .
“Ma’am . . .”
“And you,” Mel snapped, turning her gun on him. “You keep your mouth shut or I will be forced to tell Liam all the naughty things you’ve been dreaming of doing to me.”
“What the fuck!” Before he could even blink, I had a gun to his skull. I never thought I would have to shoot my best friend, but I’d been wrong on many occasions lately.
“Drop your gun, Liam.”
I just glared at the bitch-ass motherfucking cunt that dared to call himself my right-hand man. “Fuck no. I’d rather kill him slowly. Maybe set him on fire.”
Pushing Declan back, Mel stepped in front of my gun. “I wasn’t asking. Put the gun down now.”
“We will have words later, cousin.” I glared over at him before doing as she asked. I would deal with her later as well.
“Now that all your blood is pumping to the right places,” she hissed at me. “Adriana, come in.”
And sure enough, a blond-haired woman with green eyes stepped in. She was sexy, in a whorish type of way, and could definitely not be ugly duckling, Adriana. However, she walked over to Mel with her head held high and pulled a cell phone out of her bra.
“Is there anything else you needed, ma’am?”
Holy mother of fuck. Sure enough, that voice belonged to Adriana.
Nodding, Mel placed the phone in her back pocket. “Thank you, Adriana, feel free to change. I hope that wasn’t too much for you.”
“Never, ma’am,” Adriana replied, taking off the blond wig. “I placed the bombs throughout the compound like you asked. They sweep the place every morning though, so tonight is the only chance you have.”
“He didn’t touch you did he?” she asked with no emotion whatsoever. Anyone who knew her was aware that emotionless Mel was as ruthless as they come.
“No, ma’am. I was too European for him. He wanted to taste the native culture.” She frowned, blinking rapidly as she pulled off her fake nose.
“Thank you, Adriana.”
Adriana nodded before leaving, and I could feel my blood begin to boil over.
Why the fuck am I clueless right now? I thought to myself as I cracked my jaw. Walking in front of her, I leaned in on the other side of the table.
“Speak, now,” I said, afraid of losing my temper with her. One moment I wanted to fuck her brains out, the next, I wanted to snap her neck. Why did she torture me so much?
She leaned in and whispered, “I think I should rest.”
“Mel . . .”
“After Adriana let you know I was on the plane, I had her follow along on a commercial flight. We’ve cut off most of Vance’s drug supply, but the money he makes from trafficking is a lot higher—”
“You let Adriana get abducted?” That was the most reckless thing I had ever heard from her. Trafficking wasn’t a joke. Adriana was most likely drugged within seconds of being taken. They could’ve done God knows what during that time, and worst of all, Adriana could have been blown . . .
“I see the wheels of hell turning in your eyes, and you need to breathe,” she snapped at me. “Yes, I let Adriana get abducted, but she knew what she needed to do. After all, it wasn’t the first time the Valero had taken her. This time she didn’t go in as a victim, but as a motherfucking liberator. So as I was saying before you grew a heart, Mr. Grinch, Adriana was taken from the airport. What she did, and how she got out, I’m not aware of because it just fucking happened. All that matters is that their hideout is laced with Cyanide bombs.”
“You want to smoke them out.” Declan smirked stepping closer, and the moment he did, I stabbed the table right next to his hand. He looked up at me with eyes wide before taking a step back.
“We smoke them out like rats, and we shoot them down one by one while they’re blinded.” Neal grinned, circling the area around Valero’s hideout. “They will come running as fast as possible, but they will be too fucked up to even pull the trigger.”
“You planned this all out in a few hours.” I didn’t even bother trying to hide how impressed I was.
Turning to Neal and Declan, I signaled for them to leave. Declan was out the door faster than I had ever seen him move.
She poured herself a glass of brandy, but neither of us spoke. We both were too hardheaded for that. Knocking back the rest of my drink, I licked my lips.
“I missed you,” I whispered. She was the only one who could take all the fight right out of me and put it back in at the same time. “I missed you, and us, and who we were for that short moment in between hating each other and losing . . .”
I didn’t think I would ever be able to say it out loud. It hurt too much, and no matter how far down I pushed, the pain it came back again.
I was so lost in my thoughts, I hadn’t even noticed she’d moved beside me until I felt her hand in mine. Lifting it to her lips, she kissed my knuckles, and I couldn’t help but moan at the softness of her lips. How long had it been since I kissed her. As if she could read my mind, she cupped the side of my face before kissing my lips. She tasted like honey and I almost came in my pants when she bit my lip.
“I’ve missed you as well,” she whispered. “I-I needed time. I didn’t know how much, but I just knew I needed a moment to be—”
“To be sad,” I finished for her, wanting nothing more than to close the distance between our lips.
“Yeah.” She smiled sadly, and I wanted to wipe it from her face. “I never meant . . . I knew I couldn’t be any help in the mindset I was in. I hope you didn’t get used to ruling without me.”
“Never.” I cupped her check running my finger across her bottom lip. “I could never rule without you. I need you, physically, spiritually, and emotionally.”
“I need you, too, but I need to take care of Saige. I can’t—”
“Shh,” I murmured as I unbuckled her pants.
She moaned as I cupped her ass lifting her onto the table. “Liam we don’t have time . . .”
“I know.” I sighed. “I just need a taste to tide me over.”
Before she could speak, I pulled her pants and underwear down, kissing her forehead, then her lips, before kissing the top of her breasts. I even bit one, causing her to gasp as I played with her pussy.
“Liam . . .”
“Shut up, Mel,” I said, falling to my knees and allowing my tongue the pleasure of tasting her.
She moaned as my tongue went deeper inside her, I could feel her rocking against my face, begging for release. Her wetness dripped all over my fingers as I thrust them into her.
“Fuck me, Liam . . .” She grabbed ahold of her breasts, pinching her nipples, while riding me.
“What happened to not having time?”
“Make time.” She grabbed a fistful of my hair, pulling me up to her face. Kissing her made my dick beg for release. Knowing that she was tasting herself on my lips was almost too much.
“You’ve had enough control for one day, love,” I whispered grabbing ahold of her breasts. I wanted her to be my bitch, because she was my bitch. She pulled at my pants until they finally dropped, allowing me the freedom I desired.
I pulled her off the table and flipped her around, falling to my knees again as I kissed her ass before biting it and rising back up.
“Li . . . oww . . . ohh!” She screamed as I shoved my dick right into her ass.
“You’ve ticked me off,” I told her grabbing onto her hair as I slammed into her so hard her ass jiggled, begging for me to slap it, which I had no other choice but to do.
“You’ve captured my heart.” I pulled her up lifting her shirt and bra in order to squeeze the fuck out of her breasts with my left hand. My right hand traveled down her stomach to cup her wetness.
“Fuck, Liam . . .” She wrapped her arm around my neck.
“You’ve driven me half mad,” I said, biting her ear before pushing her back down onto the table.
“You’ve made me fall in love with you.” Grabbing her waist, I slowed my thrusts only for a second before I rammed into her again making her moan random words.
“You’ve made me into a monster.” I held on to her sides while I fucked her so hard and fast, everything that was once on the table fell to the ground.
I fucked her over the map of the damn country, and she loved it so much she couldn’t even speak. I fucked the words straight from her lips. She came not once, not twice, not even three times, but four. Reaching back, she grabbed a fistful of my hair and hoisted herself onto her knees, pressing into my chest. Her face was so close to mine each time she came, her eyes would glaze over like she was reaching a new high. And the look on her face, the look of a woman fucked beautifully was too much for me to handle.
I pulled out of her, and she all but collapsed back onto the table as I came all over her back and her ass. It was the most glorious thing I had ever seen.
“You fucking prick . . .” she said through gasps. She always pretended like she hated when I came on her, but she secretly loved it. I had claimed her, and she loved when it was my turn to dominate her almost as much as she loved making me her bitch.
Rising from the table, she did her best to stand straight, and I just smirked, running my hand through my sweaty hair.
“Ten minutes . . . you could have done better.” She grinned, stripping her shirt and using it as a towel.
“We’re on a time crunch, the faster we kill these mother fuckers the more time I will have to make love to you later. I had to fuck you one more time for good measure.” I snickered, pulling up my pants.
Walking into the bathroom, she shook her head at me. “You’ve had enough control for the night. Next time, you’re my bitch.”
I couldn’t wait. I just had to make it through tonight. If the money, territory, and revenge weren’t reason enough to kill Vance and his people, the thought of my Mel controlling me was enough push me to kill anyone. This war would come to an end. I would see to it, for the sake of her, and our future family.
MELODY
I had been waiting for this ever since I got out of the hospital. As Liam drove through the plains of the African continent, I took in the night air. I had never felt so alive in all my life. My moment with Liam was animalistic, lustful, and downright pornographic, and yet it was just what I needed to breathe again. He made me feel things that no other man ever could. I knew that no matter what happened, I was in love with him.
He understood me. He loved me. And was everything I needed. I’m not sure if I could ever show him how much. Truthfully, I wasn’t even sure if we were going to live. Yes, we had it all planned out, and the ideas Liam added after our little fuck fest were genius, but there was always a chance that things could go wrong. It was the truth we all understood . . . sometimes you plan and still end up dying. There was nothing you could do about things you didn’t know.
Liam never let go of my hand as we drove forward. To anyone else we had to be batshit crazy. But for us, this was the only way this could end. We couldn’t wait hours on end to strike back, this wasn’t some CIA mission. This was a battle—a war between Mafia houses—and this time, Romeo and Juliet were on the right side.
Each passing moment as he drove felt like an hour, and by the time he put the car into park under the tree and kissed my knuckles, I was all but jumping out of my skin. I needed to get this over with. I needed to be me again, and the only way I knew how to do that was to make them pay.
He reached into the backseat and pulled out two machine guns along with three different sized clips before handing me one.
“Are you ready?” he asked, and it was a stupid question, because he knew the answer already.
Flipping open the phone, I dialed quickly before snapping it in half. Neither of us had to wait long before the small village shook so violently that we could feel it in the car. Birds flew in the opposite direction along with anything else that lived. Even the clouds covered the full moon as if God himself was trying not to look at the hell we were unleashing. It took everything I had not to think about the day our home shook that way. The white smoke spread around the building like a disease crawling into every part of the home until a few men came running out guns drawn. The doses were on the lower end of the scale. I didn’t want them to die. I wanted them to be confused, dazed, and helpless.
Liam didn’t even hesitate, stepping out of the car with his gun clenched in his hands. I jumped out as well, and we waited until more of them had no choice but to come stumbling out before we unleashed a hail of gunfire.
Through a flash in the air, the dirt below us kicked into the air as Antonio, Neal, and Jinx all hovered overhead. Handing me a gas mask, we walked forward with all the ease in the world, as we were given cover. I could hear them cough trying to hack out the poison in their lungs so I did them a favor by shooting them on sight.
We didn’t really give two fucks who it was. The moment something moved, we shot it down. Vance and Saige would be in the safe room so there was no need to be careful. After all, we wanted them to die slowly. Those bitches were hoping we would just forget about them? Fuck no. Naked women screamed at the top of their lungs as they tried to make their escape, well at least some of them did, the rest of them just sat down and wept. The further we went down the hall, the hole that used to be my heart seemed to beat against my chest.
It was only when we reached the double doors did Liam and I glance at each other before kicking it in. There, naked and chained to the bed, was a man and a woman both panicking and breathing in the toxins slowly. Vance disgusted me. Shooting at their chains the man looked me dead in the eye before looking back at the wall.
“Run, you idiot,” Liam snapped, and they did, they ran as far as their naked legs could take them.
Walking toward the end of the wall, Liam knocked. “Vance, are you alive back there?” he asked, and when he got no answer, I placed a brick of C4 against the wall before we both put the pillow against it. Falling back behind the dresser, we both grinned at the sound of metal tearing against metal. We couldn’t move as a hail of bullets came at us like a swarm of bees.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” she sang, and I wanted nothing more than to rip her throat from her neck. But Liam held me back, gripping my thigh.
“You came looking for us?” She laughed. “Is this because I killed your poor baby? I’m not sorry. I would do it again!”
All I could see was red, and before Liam or even God himself could stop me, I jumped out from behind the desk. She didn’t even hesitate before shooting, one bullet hit me right in the chest, and had it not been for the bulletproof vest, I would have been gone.
Ignoring the pain, I jumped up running forward before jump-kicking her right in the face. Her body flew back into the mirror before sliding down. Grabbing the shard of the mirror, she ran toward me, but Liam, the fucking controlling ass bitch, shot her through the wrist.
“No!” I yelled at him. The redhead was mine.
He looked me over quickly before running into the safe room.
Saige, however, didn’t even take a second before she came at me with the large shard of glass.
Dropping my gun, I punched her right in the nose, elbowed her in the neck, and power-kicked her in the knees, sending her down. It was only when she was on her knees, did I draw my own knee back and bring it full-force into her face.
She fell back, and just as I was about to grab onto her hair, a rope tied around my neck, choking the life out of me.
“I’ve been waiting to do this since the first day I saw you,” Ryan hissed into my ear as I struggled for air. The prick grabbed onto my breast. “I think I’ll only leave you unconscious so that way you can wake up to me in you.”
Just as everything was going black, his grip on me was gone as his body fell back to the ground a bullet through his skull. Liam stood in front of me, nose flaring like a bull. Hell was once again reflected in his eyes. It was then that Saige thought it would be a good idea to try to stab him, but before she could, I grabbed her arm and twisted it until I heard a sickening pop and her arm went limp.
“Vance had a motorcycle, he’s gone,” Liam said, but I knew he was pissed. He wanted this done yesterday.
“And you’ll never catch him,” Saige said, from her place beneath us . . . as she fucking should be.
“You’re going to die soon, so I’m going to let you know this little fun fact.” I bent down, looking into her eyes. “This is going to hurt, you’re going to cry, and right as your soul leaves your body, you will cry out to God, and not even He will show you mercy.”
With that, I punched her right in the face and her eyes rolled back.
Glancing up at Liam, he smirked throwing me his phone.
Guess who’s driving toward us, the text read. I hated guessing, but just this once I would enjoy playing along.
LIAM
“Vance, Vance, Vance.” I smiled at the bonded and gagged man in front of me. He looked so weak, so . . . not worth my time. How there was ever a time where I dared worry about him was beyond me. He was a sexually perverted old man with Russian friends.
“I’ve dreamt of killing you since I was child,” I told him, pulling the gag from his mouth. “I thought about how many ways I could destroy you, and I have to say, this was one of those ways.”
“You think this is over?” Vance asked, and Mel punched him in the jaw.
“Love, he’s mine to beat the shit out of.” I frowned at her. Rolling her eyes, she held up her hands before leaning against the tree with Saige kneeling in front of her.
Our men gathered around us, all watching with joy, pride, and most of all excitement. They had grown to either enjoy my method of torture or hate it in silence. Either way, this has been long overdue.
“What were you saying?” I asked him pulling out a knife. “Something about this not being over?”
Vance grinned. “You stupid Irish bastard. You thought I was something to worry about? You don’t even know what’s coming. I was your buffer, without me she will come after you next.”
“You’re not making sense, Vance,” I sighed running the blade against his cheek. “And you don’t have a lot of time to explain.”
Again, Vance grinned, looking over to my Mel. “Ruthless isn’t she? Just like her mother.”
At that, Mel’s eyes narrowed.
“Oh is that rage?” he asked her, and I punched him right in the face, sending him onto his back, but he just laughed.
“Correction, that was rage.” He grinned before coughing up blood along with a few teeth. “But poor little Melody, the little girl who lost her mother so tragically at my hands. But wait?”
He laughed on like a mad man. “She isn’t even dead!”
“What are you talking about, Vance?” Mel replied shooting him in the ankle.
But Vance was so mental, he didn’t even flinch.
“I mean, my sweet girl, your mother is alive, your mother and grandfather are both alive actually. Ruling in secret. They have just been waiting for us to kill each other and pick up the pieces.” He sighed shaking his head.
“You’re lying,” I hissed, shooting him though his other ankle.
“Maybe,” he said, falling onto his back. “Or maybe all those years married to Orlando ‘Iron Hands’ Giovanni changed her, made her into something dark and ruthless. After all, the apple can’t fall so far from the tree. But you’ll see soon. You can’t touch her. She’s untouchable, they are all untouchable.”
Mel and I both unloaded our weapons into him, not stopping until every last bullet was in his body.
Grabbing Saige by the hair, Mel forced her to stand right beside Vance’s fallen body. Pulling the ripped shirt from her mouth, Mel glared into her eyes.
“Was he telling the truth?”
Saige just smiled. “Fuck you, fuck your mother, and fuck every last one of your men.”
Taking a deep breath, Mel took a step back.
“Strip her.”
Saige’s eyes widened as the men closed in on her. “You’re going to let them rape me?” She tried not to look scared. The men all cringed at the thought.
“No one wants you, whore,” Fedel said from behind her, causing the men to laugh as they approached. Without a second thought, they ripped all her clothes off, leaving her standing there bloody and dirty.
“You get to leave this world the same way you came in,” Mel said holding her hand out as Adriana handed her a pair of scissors.
“First, bald.” Kicking her bad knee, Mel grabbed a fistful of hair and cut. She pulled and cut until all Saige had were clumps of red hair. When she was done, she grabbed the handcuffs Saige was in and cuffed her to the back of the Jeep.
“Second, screaming.”
The rage, the fire, the pain in Mel’s eyes made it clear to everyone that they should not stop her until Saige suffered, and this was the only way. Mel was going to drag her body for God knows how many miles until Saige either died from the shock or the loss of blood. The animals would do the rest.
“Please . . . please . . . don’t do this. I—” Mel just stuffed a sock in her mouth.
“A life for a life,” Mel whispered to her. “You crossed the wrong family.”
Monte held open the car for her, and she smiled at me through the mirror.
“This is going to hurt you way more than it’s going to hurt us,” I said to her before stepping in through the passenger side door.
Starting up the engine, Mel hit the gas hard, and screams filled the morning sky, but I just turned up the music. We were finally on top of the world.
“When did you take out my fucking CD?” Mel snapped at me as she drove faster.
“Your taste in music is shit, love.”
“Just because I don’t like that fucking classic and old school hip hop crap, doesn’t make it shit.”
“All those artists are auto-tuned anyway. I like real music,” I said, turning it up just a little bit louder to drown out the screams.
“What the fuck is this?” She glared at the radio.
“MC Ren,” I said, and she just stared at me. Smirking, I began to rap along with it, causing her eyes to widen before she broke out in a fit of laughter.
“You are a pale-ass white kid from Chicago Elite. You are not allowed to try to rap this.”
“Hater.” I winked and as she smiled. For the first time in forever, we both felt like we could just relax.
Looking out at the lions as they rose for another day, I wondered if we were any different. After all—I killed, ate, slept, and fucked just as they did. I was the king of the jungle, and the woman beside me was my queen.