Tales of Darkness & Sin - Pepper Winters Page 0,107

I didn’t know why those words irked me, especially coming from her sweet fucking lips. My fists clenched. “Good. I’ve heard those words a thousand times.”

I crouched to her level, bringing our faces closer. “Hate me, Talia. It won’t change your fate. You are meant to die at my hands.”

Our noses touched as I gripped her jaw in my hand. My thumb stroked her soft skin, feeling her twitch under my touch. “Hate me, Little One,” I taunted.

She wretched her face out of my grasp and my lips curved with a smirk. My head dropped to the side as I studied her. I had undressed her, only leaving her bra and panties on.

Talia was… beautiful.

Small and dainty.

Vulnerable.

Seeing her like this, fragile and weak… at my mercy… my dick hardened. I was a sick fucking bastard.

I have had my fair share of beautiful women, but there was just… something about this one.

A sudden rage consumed me. Talia was my kill. Fuck, I had to remember that.

I stood up to my full height and took a few steps back, taking a seat on the single chair that was facing her. “You’re confused. You have a lot of questions, I see. Let’s say I’m feeling very generous today. Ask me your questions and I’ll give you the answers you’re looking for.”

Talia glanced around her, taking in the semi-finished basement. It was just one large room. Four drywalls. Two metals chains, where Talia was currently trapped by her wrists. A small caged window. Cold, cement ground. A flickering lightbulb. And a single chair, that I was sitting on. There was nothing else. It was an empty jail.

“Where am I?” she asked through gritted teeth.

“My home.”

Her head snapped back toward me. “Your… home? You brought me to your house?”

I shrugged. “I couldn’t possibly let you escape. This is where I can finish… my job.”

Her chest rumbled with a helpless, kitten growl. “You’re an asshole.”

“That wasn’t a question. Try again.”

Talia tugged on her chains again and she winced, her eyes screwed in pain. The metal must have been biting into her skin since she was pulling at it way too much. She took in a shuddering breath and opened her eyes again, narrowed on me.

“Why did you use me?”

My teeth scraped across my bottom lip. “Because I felt like it.”

“Who ordered you to kill me?” Talia whispered, ignoring my previous answer.

“Cutillo,” I replied honestly.

She looked confused for a moment until finally realization set in. She let out a sigh, letting her head thump back against the drywall.

I raised an eyebrow, curious. “Why does he want to kill you?”

“She,” Talia hissed. “Old enemies. She stole my sister’s fiancé and then he got our father killed. And when my brother-in-law dished out his vengeance, Anastasia ended up losing everything. It makes sense… why she’d want me dead. She wants to hurt my sister… through me.”

Her breathing was shaky and she curled into herself. “I shouldn’t have left home…”

“I would have found you either way,” I growled.

Talia shook her head. She didn’t say anything. A stab of something strange, an unknown feeling twisted my stomach. I quickly shoved it away and braced my elbows on my knees, nodding toward the tray in front of her.

“Eat.” One word. A single command. She hissed, her eyes narrowing on me.

“Is this my last meal?” The plate was filled with pieces of roasted chicken, garlic bread and vegetables. There was fruit on the side with a mango smoothie. And a brownie.

My jaw locked and I didn’t answer. She shot me a look of distaste. “How long do I have left to live?”

“Hours,” I said. “Or days.”

She looked at the plate, a resigned expression on her face. “But you said I only had twenty hours?”

Pushing the chair away, I stood up. “Maybe I changed my mind.”

Talia bit on her lip, her brown eyes boring into me… as if she was trying to dig into my soul. “You… won’t kill me?” Her question had been so quiet I almost missed it.

“No, I will.” My chest tightened as the words spilled past my lips.

“What do you mean then?”

My lips twitched and my dick throbbed. “I’m not finished with you… yet.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Talia

I wasn’t sure how long I’d been in Killer’s basement, chained to the wall. The hours blurred together. I shivered again. I’d been alternating between freezing and burning up for a while now. A fine sheen of perspiration covered my bare skin.

I tugged at the chain once more, wincing as the metal dug into my sore