Page 86 of Lilies from Hell

“Yeah, sure,” she murmurs, winking at me.

I chuckle softly and head to a kind of game room, not caring that I’m only wearing a bikini. Hearing his voice in the other room, I approach the door and watch from there as he talks to Sergei. Then I bite my lower lip, thinking of a way to get his attention. The only thing I can think of is to walk past them. Without giving it a second thought, I start moving my feet, feeling like some kind of exhibitionist. My cheeks immediately flush as I walk past them, pretending not to care. Before I can take another step, my body is caught in his arms.

“Mmm, hello,” I murmur with a small smile. He tilts his head until his lips brush mine. I immediately pull away a few inches, preventing him from going any further, and with a confused look on his face, I grab his wrist and drag him into a random room.

Neither of us bothers to flip the switch to turn on the lights, immersing ourselves in the darkness and each other’s warmth. When I make sure I’ve locked the door, I turn around and stand on tiptoe, moving closer to his face and pressing our lips together in a long, passionate kiss.

A strong smell of iron makes me pull away and take a step back. Something soft brushes the hairs on the back of my neck and a chill freezes my body. The small light bulb hanging overhead flickers to life. A dozen dead rabbits suspended from the rafters appear before us. My body relaxes as I realize that this is just Grace’s father’s hunting room. Alek wraps his arms around me again, lifting me up until my legs are wrapped around his waist. His lips leave marks on my breasts as he frees them from my bikini with his teeth and lays me down on the work table. Next to me lies a dead rabbit cut in half, his guts resting in a bin nearby, but it is soon forgotten when I feel his hands moving up my thighs.

The smell of blood has mixed with his scent, leaving a vibrant sensation around us. I bring my hands to the edge of his jeans. I try to undo the buttons and pull down his zipper, but before I can accomplish my task, he pulls away from my breasts and quickly grabs my hands.

“You’re what I want most, but I want our first time to be different. Special,” he says, caressing my cheek. I bite the tip of my tongue, hiding my disappointment. “Besides, I want you to be ready.”

“I am,” I assure him, not caring if I sound desperate. That doesn’t seem to be enough for him either.

He leaves a kiss on my lips before lowering me to the floor. I wrap my arms around his torso in a tight embrace, which he quickly returns, resting his head on mine and caressing my bare back. When I lift my head, I meet his deep gaze, stripping me bare.

“I love you.” The words escape my lips almost without meaning to.

“I love you so much more,” he says close to my lips before bringing them together again in a slower kiss, as if he wants to memorize every part of my mouth.

When we part, he disappears through the door and I return to the pool with a pout on my lips, finding Grace on one of the sun loungers wearing her sunglasses.

“How did it go? Did it hurt? Is it big?” she says when she sees me, smiling from ear to ear. I sit down next to her and let out a loud sigh.

“Nothing happened.” She bursts out laughing, putting her glasses on her head.

“Good things come to those who wait.”

“I think I should change his nickname to Microwave. That would suit him better.”

Back at home, I go to the bathroom. I start preparing the bathtub, filling it with hot water and adding some salts. My eyes fall on a red rose in the window, but before I can get close to it, vibrations on my phone distract me. Feeling that tingling sensation in my stomach as I read who it is, I quickly open our chat.

Alek: I’ll send someone to pick you up tomorrow around six.

I open the trunk of the car. The man from earlier is there, gagged. I can’t help but smile when I see his expression of pure terror. Sergei, behind us, moves his head in disapproval before speaking.

“I don’t think this is a good idea. He’s Norman’s right-hand man. Basically the new boss of the cartel. Are you trying to start some kind of war now?”

“I know who he is, Sergei. I just want to send him a message,” I say. Denis and my men immobilize the man while I stand in front of him. I roughly rip the piece of tape off his lips.

“You don’t know who you’re messing with. You’re going to pay for this,” he says, and I laugh mockingly.

I force my fingers inside his eyes until I can dig deep inside his tight eye sockets and find the optic nerves. Then I pull out the two moist, sticky spheres. With a gesture, I signal to Denis to hand me a pair of scissors, and once I have them, I cut the nerves. A yellowish liquid mixed with his blood runs down his cheeks. The nerves are left hanging slightly from the cheekbone and I hand the eyeballs to Denis, who catches them with a bright smile.

I stick the scissors into the gap I left, destroying everything in their path and causing a torrent of blood that splatters my face and black tee. I wrap a handkerchief around his empty eye sockets, filled with blood and shredded flesh, and my men let him go. The man falls to his knees with a thud, touching the place where his eyes should have been with an expression of pain and utter horror.

“Nice eyes, buddy,” Denis scoffs, trying to imitate his Mexican accent. “Too bad you don’t have them anymore.” He pats him on the back with his free hand, then places the eyes on top of his own, as if they were glasses. “They even suit me better than this pendejo,” he blurts out with a laugh. A malicious gleam appears in his green eyes that does not bode well. Not for the man who is still writhing on the ground. “I have an idea. Hold him down, Vlad.”

Vlad, another of my trusted men, punches the Mexican, knocking him unconscious. My cell phone vibrates with a new message from her just as Denis straddles the man with a knife in his hand and grabs his hair in a fist.

Love: I miss you :(

My heart skips a beat as I read the message with a smile. The man’s screams distract me from responding immediately. When I look up, I see Denis removing the handkerchief from his eyes and drawing a line on his forehead before sliding the blade across his left temple and continuing down to his cheek. Then he inserts the knife, carving until he separates the skin from the muscle with gurgling sounds while Sergei watches everything, amused.

Me: Me too, beautiful :((

I want to call her, but with the screams and violent sounds in front of me, I can’t. She would ask questions. Denis’s hysterical laughter fills the room once more as the man lying beneath him faints from the pain.