Chapter 4 4

Dante's POV

I couldn't wait another second to see the son of a bitch who actually had the balls to pull a trigger when I was around.

Didn't have to wait long.

Marco crashed through the back door fifteen minutes later, hauling a thrashing man in his arms like he was nothing but dead weight.

"Enough with the fighting," Marco barked at the poor bastard. "You're captured. Give it up already."

The man collapsed hard onto the greasy tile floor, then slowly rose to his hands and knees. His dark eyes bounced wildly from face to face, filled with hope and desperation.

"Don't even think about it," I informed him coldly. "There's nowhere left to go."

I had moved Vianne into the kitchen to get her away from the windows in the dining room, but with the numerous sinks and drains in the floor, this would make a nice kill room too. Blood cleaned up about as easily as tomato sauce.

The man started to say something, but I held up a firm hand, and he immediately clammed up again.

I paced slowly across the floor toward the man and motioned for him to sit up. When he sat up, his lip curled in defiance, stubborn as hell.

I didn't waste a second.

My fist connected hard with his jaw, the crack loud and echoing in the silence. He folded forward, wheezing out a curse. Vianne gasped somewhere behind me, but I shut that noise down. Nothing mattered except this bastard.

I grabbed him by the collar and hauled him up halfway, then slammed his face hard into the cold tile floor. The sickening thud echoed through the kitchen like a hammer blow. He tried to pull away, but I held him tight.

"Why did you shoot at us?" I asked.

He spat blood, eyes flashing with something fierce. "I wasn't shooting at you."

I laughed - a cold, sharp sound that didn't reach my eyes. Then I rained down another brutal series of punches. Each hit was precise, punishing, no mercy. His nose bled freely, lips split wide open, and he barely managed to choke out curses between each blow.

When I finally paused, he was gasping, struggling to hold consciousness. I crouched down in front of him, letting the silence stretch out like a noose.

"Oh, so it was the windows you were after. Well then, nice shot." I said, voice deadly calm, dripping with sarcasm.

He turned his head, spat on the floor, and hissed, "I was aiming for the girl."

"Then you're not just a coward - you're a damn terrible shot."

I slammed my fist into his ribs, knocking the wind right out of him. The bastard coughed and wheezed in pain.

"It was a warning. I wanted to draw you outside," he said, leaning around me to see Vianne. "All I wanted was a clear shot at her."

My fist connected with his soft jaw before I could stop myself again.

"Fuck!" he complained, spitting out a bloody, broken tooth fragment. "If you're going to kill me, just kill me already."

"You sound surprisingly eager for death,"

He spat blood and shrugged weakly. "I'm dead either way. I failed the mission."

I felt Vianne inching closer behind me. I held out an arm to stop her, and she laid her hand lightly on my wrist. It was a small gesture. Just a light touch. But it was far more distracting than it should have been. Same went for her strawberries-and-cream scent poisoning me more and more with every shallow breath I took.

"Who sent you here?" I gritted out between clenched teeth.

He shook his head stubbornly. "I can't tell you that."

"You're dead either way," I reminded him coldly. "No point in being protective of your master."

"I'm dead, either way, yeah. But my family is another matter. If I tell you who sent me, they're dead, too. Unless..."

The man swallowed hard. Then, before I could say anything else, he lunged forward at her.

Vianne gasped, lunging backward in alarm. She didn't even have time to react before I grabbed the assassin by the throat and threw him back onto the stainless steel countertop with a brutal shove.

"You crazy mother-fucker." I squeezed the man's throat with unforgiving force. He wrapped his hands around my wrist, but it would have taken three of him and a fucking miracle to make me loosen my grip. "Since you're so desperate to die, I will gladly send you on your way, but before I do, apologize to the lady."

His mouth opened, a wheeze leaking out of his collapsing windpipe. I held him tighter. "Hurry up. Apologize before it's too late."

His tongue looked swollen and heavy in his mouth. His eyes were bulging. He looked like an overripe tomato ready to burst.

"Dante," Vianne breathed out a warning.

If he didn't do what I asked, he'd die right here. Right fucking now.

No one was going to touch Vianne before I got the chance to figure out what was running through that gorgeous head of hers. What secrets were hiding behind those green eyes and those pouty lips.

"I'm s-sorry," the man finally rasped out, his eyes rolling back in his head. "There. That wasn't so hard, was it?" I let go and he sucked in air in great, wheezing gulps. "Now, tell me why you shot at her."

He hacked up a thick, phlegmy cough. If he was going to live to see tomorrow, he'd be sore as hell.

"I was just practicing," he said weakly.

I growled in frustration, my hand itching to tighten around his neck again. "Don't fucking play with me, bastard. You know what I want to know."

He pressed a hand protectively to his neck and nodded. "I was sent here to make sure she died... so you two couldn't get married."

Fuck. Vianne was indeed involved - but it wasn't because of anything she had done.

It was because of me.

"Married?" Vianne spat. "We aren't - Why would anyone think we were - Who sent you here?"

I leaned forward, looking hard into the man's bloodshot eyes. "Answer her question."

He clenched his jaw, sweat slicking his forehead. "I can't. My family... They'll all die. Every one of them. I can't -"

I held up a hand to silence him. "I understand family loyalty. You're protecting them. There's honor in that."

Marco shifted into view behind me, an eyebrow raised. A question hung in his expression. Should I take Vianne away first?

Probably. I didn't usually offer outsiders a front-row seat to my criminal dealings. But I didn't want her any farther away from me than she already was. Not until I knew who was after her - and why she might be after me.

I gave a quick shake of my head and turned my attention back to the assassin trapped in front of me.

"All I've ever done is for my family," he said, voice breaking. "I needed the money. I don't want to kill people, but I have a family to care for. You know?"

I nodded slowly. "I know. I understand. We all have to make tough choices."

He sighed, relief rolling off him like a wave. "I'm so glad you -"

"We all have to pay for the choices we make," I said, cutting him off.

For a moment, he didn't get it.

Then he did.

He tensed up, but it was too late.

The cold gun pressed against his temple before he could say a word.

The shot fired loud and sharp, like a bell ringing in an empty church.

Vianne screamed.

The man who tried to hurt her fell to the ground, dead.