BUFF (31 page)

He leans closer. "He doesn't think that way. In fact, when he came to me the other day, you know what he did, sweetheart?” She remains quiet, not liking where this is going. “He had a fucking orgy with three of my best whores who know what he likes—needs—but you, you have nothing compared to them... You're nothing.” He laughs, the vibration makes her feel nauseous.

She doesn’t believe it. It can’t be true. Colt would never do that to her.

“Then he goes back to you and fucks you for afters! So if he led you to believe he's in it for some long haul—"

“He w-wanted to help me. That's all he was doing.” Her voice cracks and she uses the edge of her front teeth to subdue the cry that rises and staggers in her throat.

“From the description my guy gave me it looked like a little more than help,” he whispers, snickering. “Hope his ten-inch cock was worth it."

She feels one tear draw a wet line down her face and when she hears him laugh she throws daggers his way. “You're disgusting.”

Kulich shrugs, tilting his head to get a better look at the pain she’s struggling to hide. "Oh, sweetheart, I'm more than disgusting. But so is Colt."

“Colt's ten times the man you are.” Her blood begins to simmer, angered that Kulich will even dare compare himself to the Colt she knows is real. “He's decent and kind and he—”

“Oh, little girl, please.” It’s his turn to sound disgusted. He straightens, glaring at her to check if her behavior is in fact sincere. Surprise flickers in his emotionless orbs. “Colt..." he says, shaking his head with a grin, "…You dirty dog. Wow, he's better than I thought. It was an act, you dumb bitch. Can't you see that? He felt guilty. Anything more is your childish delusion, sweetheart."

“Colt—”

He strikes her face with a sound like the cracking of a bullwhip. The crack of skin contacting skin echoes off the walls. Clutching her cheek, vibrations of pain start in her cheek and spread over her face, tears welling in her eyes.

“Don't you fucking dare tell me about Colt, whore!” His hand slices through the air, his jaw quivering in rage, dampening the last sounds of her breathing. “I practically raised that fucking kid. I made him into the man he is. You think you know him ‘cos you let him fuck you? I got an eye opener for you then. Colt fucking Lawson is a cold-blooded killer.
My
killer. He kills people on
my
orders, when I say, where I say, no questions asked. He's been doing this for me for years so don't you dare fucking preach to me about who Colt fucking Lawson is."

He comes closer again and her eyes shut on instinct. The wild fire of hate in his stare is unbearable against her will. He grabs her roughly by the chin, digging his nails into the flesh. “If you think you know that man in any way—you don't. If he told you he wanted you—fine. But if Colt made it out to be anything more than to get into your fucking tight pussy—he lied." He finally lets go of her and his eyes trail up her body. She shivers in her skin. “Must've been easy,” he sneers, licking his lips. "I mean, I saw it. When I first met you. Could see you were begging for me to fuck you hard with my big old cock."

“Fuck you,” she mutters, her jaw hardening. She really dislikes that word. But she dislikes Mr. Kulich even more.

“Oooh, girl's got mouth.” Kulich bends down, leaning his hands on his knees. “I like… Wonder how good it is for sucking dick.” His voice lingers in her ears.

She doesn’t like the way he’s talking to her, or looking at her, doesn't like the intention she sees burning in his features, like he is detaching his soul for the moment, separating himself from whatever humanity he has left inside him.

She twists, giving him only a small glimpse of her profile. "Colt's not going to like this. You know that much about him."

“He'll get over it. He always does. And in the end he always sees my side and does what I need. For Christ’s sakes, I’m the hero who fucking saved him from his sick fuck of a dad,” he mutters, goading her. “Don't think this is about you, Princess."

“You think he's just going to kill me and my family? Drop our bodies in some river?!” she yells, but she hears the desperate groove in every crack of her voice.

“I'll let you in on a little secret."

She feels his breath on her throat and her body reacts by shifting away. He grabs a chunk of her hair—it hurts so much she feels a wave of nausea—forcing her to face him, look him the eye and take in all the garbage he is spewing.

“This isn't about you. Colt is a business man. First and foremost. He wanted something from this, but it's not you. It was never you. Maybe advancement, maybe his own territory, who fucking knows... But if you think this whole fucking job is about saving you and your worthless piece-of-shit family, I got news for you, sweetheart—you're wrong.” Yanking her hair again he jerks her closer. She can't help the yelp that escapes her mouth from the pain. “Dead wrong."

He lets go, wipes his hand on his suit pants like she’s contaminated him. He looks down at her, his gaze both pitying and pompous.

“I'll give you a tip though. If you're a betting girl the odds are stacked way against you. Don't do it.” He shakes his head, glancing at his watch before he looks back at her. “Don't put your trust in Colt. You'll be thoroughly disappointed.”

*     *     *

THE SKY IS JUST AS BLACK
as his mood.

His blocked mind goes over the other avenues that will be just as risky as the plan he’s chosen. But there are none. There are too many roadblocks, too many ‘what ifs’ to take a bigger chance. And he refuses to endanger her further. This is the one time he has to play it safe. But if Kulich gives him no choice… Colt is going to have to play his wild card whether he wants to or not.

“You don't move,” he orders. His face is still forward, watching, as he gives his directions.

The silence in the SUV is only broken by the small trembles of Spencer Appleton's breathing.

“My Rebecca isn't a bargaining chip. She shouldn't be involved in this. At all," Spencer mutters.

“That's not something I can help now,” Colt replies. “Maybe you should've considered your children's safety before you started stealing from the Mob."

Leather creaks. Spencer kneels closer. “I thought I was... I was only going to take a little."

“No.” Colt eyes his rearview mirror then goes back to staring at the skyline. “I don't."

“I never meant for this to happen, you have to believe me… I was struggling... my family… they needed… everything was a struggle for us."

Colt sees the wink of headlights blur two-by-two down the busy street. His brow lowers, his jaw stiffening. “Everyone struggles. That's no fucking excuse."

“You're a self righteous bastard,” Spencer says, bravely.

“Yeah, like you tell Becky everything, huh?”

“I bet you can’t wait to paint me as the bad man in this, like some monster. We'll you're no goddamn better. You kill people for a living. I stole some money, so what. The money isn’t legal and your boss isn’t exactly a nice guy."

Massaging his temple with the tips of his two fingers, Colt wants to relieve the ache, the noise building up inside him. He unlocks the door, puts his boot between the door and the ledge as he looks back to his unwanted guest.

“Whatever goes down, you stay here."

“But if—”

“But nothing. You listen to what I say, show yourself only when I say to.” The dark roll of his order falls on Spencer Appleton's shoulders. “We clear?"

Understanding crackles in Spencer's worn gray eyes as they bob between Colt's icy ones.

“You care for her.” There is no question in his words.

Posed like a block of granite, Colt replies, “I asked, are we clear?"

Spencer's head shakes. “Yes. We're clear."

Colt holds his stare for a hard minute then gets the rest of the way out of the car, slamming the door behind him. Just as he steps out from the driver's seat he sees the black limo creep up in the small alley.

There is nothing but the sounds of the city surrounding the small dark corner. The echoes of murmurs from passers-by fills the air. The sporadic honk from taxi drivers along with the aroma of hot pretzels and garbage permeates his nostrils with an all-too-familiar smell. Kulich doesn’t wait for the limo to roll to a complete stop. That's a bad sign. Kulich’s dark eyes searches and finds Colt instantly. Leaning against the brick wall opposite the limo, Colt tries to decipher how delicately to play this. He doesn’t want this to turn into a bloodshed.

Not for his or Kulich’s sake. But for Becky's.

Colt clears his mind; his glare a furnace of contained fury as he meets Kulich’s dark, imposing figure.

Breaking contact for a second Colt flicks a look at his surroundings, his face hardening as he quickly finds Kulich again. He glances at the tinted window of the car, knowing she’s only a few feet away and halting the jump in his bones to get to her.

“Where is she?” Colt asks, his voice rough.

Tilting his head, Kulich opens his arms. “Show me a family member."

“Show me her first."

Kulich's head shakes, throwing the idea away with a huff. “Not until we talk."

Colt shrugs, the blue in his eyes sedating. "Nothing to talk about."

“I beg to differ,” Kulich interjects, nothing but hate in his eyes. “You lied to me, Colt. You lied to
me
."

Colt barely moves to breathe as he replies in a low voice, “You gave me no choice."

“You could've told me how you felt!"

“She’s a means-to-an-end to you, Vladimir,” Colt states, matter-of-factly. “You never planned to let her live. The second I told you what happened, you wanted her dead."

“And you agreed."

“I went along,” Colt corrects.

“Because that's what you do. You trust me,” Kulich points out, waving his hands around before settling them into his pant pockets. “I've been in this business longer than you've been alive, Colt. In the past there's been no second guessing between us."

“I know. You were there for me when I had nothing. And yeah, I looked up to you… But things are different now,” Colt informs, lowly, He steps in the middle to bridge the difference, glaring at Kulich head on.

“Because of this fucking bitch?” Kulich's words hold no malice, but there’s a spark of a test in his black gaze. “Huh?”

Nostrils flaring Colt whispers the warning, knowing full well how dirty Kulich likes to play, “Don't."

Kulich chuckles, his chest rises as he scratches the corner of his mouth and for a second he reminds Colt of the man he’d once idolized. But that man no longer exists anymore.

“Colt, come on. How did this happen? What changed? You were like a son to me."

“I won’t ask for forgiveness.”

“That's right."

“I finally realized you and me are nothing alike. I looked up to you, Vladimir. You're the family I never had. You welcomed me into this life and showed me what I thought life was all about. Money. Power. But underneath all that I figured we’d a common goal. Stay powerful, in control, do what we love to do."

Colt speaks from under hooded eyes, guarded and at war with whether to continue making this personal or to get on with the business-end of things. He can’t ignore their past though and Kulich knows that.

“But we're not alike. I might've killed on your orders and worked the system to your advantage but there's a big difference between you and me. I couldn't let Becky die anymore then I can let her now."

Kulich snickers, dismissing Colt's version of the truth. “Don't play this fucking game with me, Colt. You understood the stakes going in. I told you we weren't honorable men, that the ends has to justify the means now matter how fucked-up things get."

“Doesn't matter now.” Colt tosses away his excuse with a shrug. “You wanna think I betrayed you—I can't stop you. But I'm not sorry for what I did."

“You're telling me this Rebecca fucking Appleton is the reason for all this?” He points toward the limo. “Suddenly now you've seen the fucking light, found some salvation through her?"

Colt doesn’t like him saying her name. He doesn’t like Kulich talking about what happened between him and Becky like he knows all about it. Tainting the only pure in his life. But with everything else that's going down he has no choice but to take it.

“No. I am who I am and she knows that. But she makes me see not everyone in this godforsaken world is as fucked-up as you and me or my bastard of a father. She saved my life when she didn't even know who I was—that’s something special you just don’t ignore and it
never
goes away."

Shuffling his feet, Kulich answers in a bored manner, “Sounds like misplaced gratitude if you ask me."

“I didn't. Now let’s end this.” Colt returns his glare back to the car door, wishing to just grab Becky and go, but his features remain detached and in place as he continues. “You want my explanation that’s it. Anything more between me and Becky is none of your goddamn business."

“C’mon, Colt. You know it’s not gonna last.” Heat rushes through Colt’s body. Kulich has the nerve to sound concerned. "Whatever the fuck’s going on with the two of you, it won’t last. And if your balls really have fallen off and you care for her, you’ll let it go now... before it's too late."