The vehicles moved at a sharp pace but the occupants in the Hummer were silent.
Philippe glanced at Ria sometimes as he spoke to the Boss, making reports on what had transpired. But all the while, he was aware of the still, curvaceous figure beside him, stewing silently
She looked adorable, he thought, with her mouth in a pout, those lips that should be locked around his thick manhood, sucking him dry; those full breasts, so firm and large, inviting him to suckle and nip at them…
F*ck was the matter with him, he thought angrily, this was the little girl who had had him smitten and her slave from the time he saw her. The blonde curls bouncing, the grey-blue eyes dancing as she had asked him to do cartwheels till his head spun, and she would laugh and run to fetch him a glass of milk from the kitchen…
Yes, he had fallen in love with this hellcat that day when she had kissed his arm, all six years old and sweetly declared that he was her Knight when he had fallen out of the tree while trying to rescue a stray kitten. She had beseeched him to help the pussycat. The feline had slipped down on its own accord soon after he had landed in a heap, with an arm broken for his efforts.
Later, he had found out what the word Knight meant; had found out also, that she and her twin had been reading about King Arthur’s Round Table. No matter, he had fallen in love with her and sworn to love her all his life.
*
Now she gave a small huff of annoyance and he slid his eyes to her. She was on the phone, texting one of her brothers, no doubt, he thought.
She moved in her seat and then asked, in a subdued voice, almost sulkily as she avoided meeting his eyes,
‘How much longer?’
His lips quirked. Still the saucy little princess.
‘Maybe another hour,’ he grunted and earned a look that would have made lesser men drop dead. He grinned wolfishly at her and she scowled at him, wriggling to settle herself comfortably. Her T-shirt had slipped and he now had a clear view of the prominent mounds. He swore.
*
Ria looked out of the window. It was dusk and the shadows of the evening were lengthening. Mumma had called to check if she was okay thrice. Proserpina Delano was on her way to the hospital to be with Paddy and Piers was going with her. Pappa had to leave for the Club; the launching of his two new ventures was going to happen next week and he had to be there to supervise things.
As for Claude, he was back home and chilling, he had informed her. He sounded cheerful and happy. Tara had also spoken to her; to Ria’s surprise, the little girl had been with Maddy, the precocious young girl who had turned up the previous night with her mother and brother. Tara sounded like she was having fun.
She sneaked a look at the profile of the formidable-looking man beside her. Philippe had really changed; he was bigger and larger and he had seemed mean and furious when she had just smiled at those goofy boys at the store. She sighed and settled down, closing her eyes briefly.
“We’re here, Sleeping Beauty,’ rasped Philippe and she sat up with a start. As she made to get up, she found to her dismay, that her seat belt had snagged on the zip of her hoodie while she napped and she scowled fiercely, trying to free it.
Philippe watched her for a while, a look of exasperation on his lean, hard face. Then with a sound of impatience, he snapped,
“Here let me.’ And leaning to her, he yanked at the zip roughly. Ria gave an involuntary squeal as the T-shirt ripped at the neck, her large breasts bouncing forward, nearly completely exposed, the lacy bra she had on, barely covering the large mounds with the rosy nipples.
Cheeks red in humiliation, she zipped her hoodie, which was now free, with trembling fingers.
“Hey, Princess,’ said the Capo and there was genuine regret in his tone as he said roughly,
‘Ria, sweetheart. I did not mean…’
She rounded on him, tears of mortification in her eyes.
“You stupid…lummox!’ she gritted out and saw his lips twitch at her insult, which was childish at the very most.
‘Incensed, she lashed out, eyes shimmering with unshed tears of fury,
‘ You… you… Creep! Pervert!’, she cried thoroughly beside herself in anger by now.
Furious, she reached out to slap the side of his face hard. He gripped her wrist before she could do so. “Don’t baby.’ he said softly and she stilled at the look in his eyes. He seemed genuinely apologetic. The Capo was not exerting pressure to hurt her but he was definitely holding her in control one large dark hand easily holding her hands.
They sat for a minute, aware of the thin line dividing their passion and then, he said, gently,
“Baby, I am sorry.’
She could see the sincere remorse in his eyes and she scowled.
‘Yeah, yeah. Can I have my hand back please?’ she snapped.
He smiled a wide grin and released the small wrist he had been holding.
He was out of the car and beside her in a flash even as she tried to scramble down on her own.
‘Now, Princess,’ he said and his voice was hard, the voice of a man who did not want to be challenged. ‘I do NOT want you to enter the house. Wait outside, okay?’
Gripping her chin with his firm hands, he looked into her eyes.
She pulled a face but then, she relented, as he held her arm and made her look into his strong, concerned face.
Shoving her hands into her back pockets, the hoodie securely zipped to her chin, she said crossly,
‘Oh, go on then.’
*
Knowing that she meant to obey him, he turned. Jack and Evans were already at the door of the small house on the outskirts of the town, a little house which was at the end of the road. It was a desolated place and there did not seem to be any neighbours worth their salt about, he thought as he strode away. The streetlights were not working either, noted Philippe as he drew out his gun and started forward.
Something was wrong here, he thought as he watched Evans leaning on the bell. The sound of the chimes could be heard from where he was standing but there seemed to be no movement inside the house. It was past ten at night now. Now welcoming light above the front door, but no lights inside.
Philippe looked around. Ria was leaning against the Hummer, yawning, with Paulo for company. The large, dark man was watchful and the Capo knew that he could be trusted to take care of Ria. he had been with Lucien Delano for years now.
No houses around, he noted and the only other sign of inhabitancy had been a small building perched at the edge of the road, a ramshackle structure.
He frowned again.
Where the hell was Erin Dorsey?
*
‘Boss!’ cried Jackson as he made to go round the side to the little house. As he came closer, the Capo noticed that the house must have been well cared for. A small garden, with purple flowers, he did not recall the name but he knew his father had always said that they brought luck; another bed of tiny flowers, this time bright red and yellow in colour.
Yes, the person who had lived here had been someone who loved plants. The sound of a cat as it skittered past him made him turn sharply.
“Boss!’ came Jackson’s voice from inside the house,
‘You gotta come here!’ The urgency in the man’s voice had Philippe running around the side of the well-tended garden to the back entrance. Glass had been smashed and the backdoor had been forcibly entered through, he noted as he moved.
*
The sense of foreboding only increased as he recognised the smell encountered when he entered the small house; the metallic tang of blood.
Jackson stood in the kitchen, the light from his torch revealing the man who had been tied to a chair, a man who was quite dead, his face a grotesque mask of pain, lips stretched in a grimace, a silent scream, eyes staring glassily at the ceiling.
Blood splattered everywhere.
The Capo stopped.
This man before him had been brutally tortured to death.
*
And then, he heard Ria give a terrified gasp beside him and he rounded on her ferociously.