Chapter 13: Alluring Darkness: Chapter 13

Eli strides up to the driver seat of his now once again spotless Range Rover. I branch off, heading for the passenger’s side door. I’ve barely gotten the door open when a hand appears on it, shoving it closed again.

“Cute,” Rico says with a snort. Then he jerks his chin towards the door behind instead. “In the back.”

I scowl back at him in annoyance for a second, but then roll my eyes and release the handle. Kaden is standing next to the now open door to the backseat, twirling a knife in his hand.

Even though he isn’t even looking at the blade, he doesn’t miss a single spin as he raises his other hand and motions towards the open door. “After you.”

Not bothering to say anything, I just stalk past him and slide into the car. Before I can even sit down properly, the other door is yanked open and Jace flops into the seat next to me.

From the passenger’s seat ahead, Rico turns around and frowns at him. “Where did you get the bat?”

Jace slams the door shut behind him and leans back in his seat. He’s holding a baseball bat in his right hand, resting it against his shoulder. “It was just lying there on the field, so I picked it up.”

Rico chuckles and shakes his head while turning back to face the windshield. “Of course you did, Golden.”

Sitting up straight, Jace levels the bat at Rico and uses it to threateningly tap the side of his seat. “Stop calling me that.”

“If that bat leaves so much as a single smudge on my seats, I’ll beat your ass to kingdom come,” Eli warns, locking eyes with Jace in the rearview mirror.

On my right, Kaden snickers as he gets in and pulls the door shut. “Did he bring his dirty toys into the car again?”

“Oh the irony of you trying to give me shit about dirty toys,” Jace retorts, and cuts him a pointed look.

Based on the sly smile that curls Kaden’s mouth, I’m pretty sure they’re not talking about frisbees and footballs.

“If you’re done bickering,” Eli interrupts. “Put your fucking seatbelts on.”

Surprise flickers through me.

“That means you too, princess,” Eli says, meeting my gaze in the mirror.

After four clicks have sounded, he nods and pulls out of the parking lot. I watch the fields flow past the window as he drives us away from Blackwater and towards the nearest city. The late afternoon sun casts orange and golden streaks across the land.

Tearing my gaze from the view, I shift my attention back to the people around me. Both Kaden and Jace are sitting with their legs spread wide in that typical arrogant male way, leaving me having to press my knees together. Jace is absentmindedly drumming his fingers on the bat’s handle while he stares out the window. On my right, Kaden does the same, except he is twirling a knife in his hand instead.

My gaze drops down to the other blades peeking out of his thigh holster. Shifting my weight discreetly, I move my hand towards it. Then I pause for a few seconds. Once I’m sure that none of them are looking at me, I gently slide one of the knives from its sheath.

A hand shoots down and locks around my wrist. I suck in a startled hiss.

The others turn to look at me while Kaden raises my trapped hand. Golden sunlight gleams against the blade I’m still holding.

“I was wondering if you’d try that again,” Kaden says, flashing me a sharp smile.

I try to yank my hand out of his grip. But when it doesn’t work, I just let a nonchalant expression settle on my features instead. “You were expecting it?”

“Fool me once…”

Eli is keeping his attention on the road, but he steals a glance at me in the mirror. The rest of his brothers are watching me with eyes full of anticipation, as if they can’t wait to see how this plays out.

“How did you do it?” Kaden demands. “The first time. How did you manage to steal it without me noticing?”

Because I’m a chemist. I have incredibly steady hands and gentle fingers from spending the past decade handling dangerous chemicals. But I want to keep that information to myself for now, so I decide on a different answer.

Holding his hard stare, I reply, “Because maybe I’m not quite as worthless as everyone here seems to think.”

From the rearview mirror, I can feel Eli’s gaze burning holes in the side of my head. But I keep my eyes on Kaden.

“I will only say this once,” he begins, slowly, enunciating every word clearly. “No one touches my blades.”

With his hand still locked around my wrist, he forces my arm back, moving the knife in my palm closer to my own throat. I try to stop him. It doesn’t work. I even wrap my other hand around his wrist, using that to try to halt his movements as well. But it’s like fighting the tide. And I can’t just drop the blade because it will land right in my lap if I do.

Cold steel kisses my skin as Kaden positions the knife underneath my chin.

“Understood?” he demands, his eyes so cold that I almost get frostbite just holding his gaze.

I try to move both his and my hand away again, but when it doesn’t work, I force myself to press out, “Yes.”

He doesn’t release my wrist. Just continues staring me down.

“The same goes for you,” Eli suddenly says. “If you stain my seats with her blood, I will make you clean it up by hand.”

Jace chuckles.

It breaks the dangerous tension in a flash. Kaden releases my wrist and plucks his knife from my grip before sliding it back in its sheath. Then he draws a hand through his straight black hair and flashes me a smug smile.

Blowing out a long breath, I shake my head and then settle back into my seat.

The rest of the car ride passes without any more death threats.

A slight frown creases my brows as Eli drives us to a residential area. Fancy houses and immaculate gardens line both sides of the wide street. I watch them as Eli begins to slow down.

“Pick a house,” he says.

“What do you mean?”

“Just point to any house.”

Since I have no idea where he’s going with this, I just point to a random house halfway down the street. Eli pulls up next to it. It’s white, with trimmed hedges around the small lawn and a white stone path leading up to the pale wooden door.

Eli rolls down the window next to Kaden a fraction, and then he turns to me. “Stay in the car.”

“And do what?” I ask, befuddled.

“Watch. Listen. And I’ll show you exactly what kind of power our family possesses.”

Before I can answer, the four of them get out of the car and close the doors behind them. I scoot across the backseat until I’m sitting next to the window Eli cracked open.

My pulse flutters.

I half expect them to stalk up to the house and kill the people inside, but they don’t. In fact, they don’t really do anything. I watch with furrowed brows as the four of them position themselves by the side of the car.

Eli and Rico, who are in the middle, just casually lean back against the car while crossing their arms. On either side of them, Kaden and Jace do the same, except Kaden is nonchalantly twirling a knife in his hand and Jace is resting the bat against his shoulder.

For about a minute, nothing happens.

Sunset is close now, turning the sky dark red and purple at the horizon. The lights are on in the house, which means that someone must be home.

The confusion inside me grows as they just stand there, watching the white house.

Then the front door is cracked open. I lean closer to the window as a couple in their mid-thirties cross the threshold and move out onto the patch of white stone in front of the house. They leave the door open behind them, and yellow light from the hallway spills out onto the stones.

Fear pulses on their faces as both the man and the woman stop a few steps from the door. Then they drop to their knees. Eli and his brothers just remain standing by the car, doing nothing.

“Please,” the man calls. “There must be some kind of mistake.”

None of them reply.

The man motions towards their still open front door. “Take whatever you want. We won’t fight back. So just… please don’t hurt us.”

The Hunters just keep watching them in silence.

Heat spreads through my core. The complete control they have over this couple, without even uttering a single word or moving one muscle, is making my heart pound and my clit throb.

“We’ll do whatever you want,” the woman calls, desperation lacing her voice. “But we have paid our dues for this month. I swear. Please, call Mr. Morelli.”

Eli slides his phone out of his pocket and then moves his thumb as if he’s calling someone. But from this angle, I can see that the screen is black. He holds it to his ear.

After pretending to listen to the nonexistent person on the other end of the line, he puts the phone back into his pocket and says, “You’re fine.”

Both of them drag in a shuddering breath of relief. But they stay on their knees, as if waiting for permission.

Eli jerks his chin. “Go back inside.”

My clit aches with dark desire as I watch the couple hurry back inside while thanking the Hunters repeatedly. I shift my weight, pressing my thighs together. Jesus Christ, power like this is so fucking hot.

I scoot back to the middle of the seat as the Hunters return to the car. No one says anything as they get in and put their seatbelts on. After rolling up the window again, Eli does a U-turn and then drives back out of the neighborhood.

Only when we’re back on the big road have I gathered my thoughts enough to shake my head and ask, “What just happened?”

“The first thing you need to know is that there are two types of assassin families,” Eli says while keeping his eyes on the road. “There are the ones who are completely anonymous. The ones who look like just an average American family that no one ever suspects.”

Like my family. But I can’t tell him that, so I just nod instead.

“And then there are families like ours,” he continues. “The ones who everyone fears because they all know that we are killers for hire.”

“But if everyone knows that you’re hitmen, why don’t they just report you to the police?”

“Because they all know that we are the Morelli family’s closest allies and most trusted assassins.”

Even if they hadn’t forced my mom to sign away our fortune as payment for Dad’s screw-up, I would have known who the Morelli family is. Everyone does. They’re Italian mafia. In fact, they’re the largest, and most dangerous, mafia family in this entire state.

I flick a quick glance over the four brothers, once again noting their dark hair and brown eyes and olive complexion.

“You’re related to them?” I say. It’s half statement, half question.

“Yes,” he replies. “Our mother is a Morelli.”

“I see.” My mind is working hard to process all of this information, but I need to know more so I keep pushing. “But even so, if people know that you commit murder, why hasn’t anyone called the police on you?”

“Someone tried that once.” Eli meets my gaze in the mirror. “What do you think happened to them?”

On my left, Jace scoffs and adjusts the bat on his shoulder. “Besides, do you really think we’re stupid enough to leave any actual proof?”

“We also have half the police force in our pocket,” Rico adds nonchalantly from the front seat.

“I see,” I repeat.

A smirk spreads across Eli’s lips as he meets my gaze in the rearview mirror again. “So that’s why they all bend over and take it in the ass like a little bitch.” Cruel amusement flickers in his eyes. “Because then we let them live.”

I snort and roll my eyes at him.

Outside the windows, the sun has now set and darkness spreads across the fields. Only the streetlights along the road break up the gloomy landscape around us.

We drive in silence the rest of the way while I process this information.

Deep down, I know that I probably should be terrified right now. Eli has just told me that his family is related to the Italian mafia family that rules this state with an iron fist. That they kill anyone who dares to oppose them and that they have the police on their payroll, which means that they also get away with their murders. And I’m currently alone with all four of them in a car.

They could just take me to the woods right now and put a bullet in the back of my head, and no one would ever know. But for some reason, I just can’t bring myself to be scared.

I’m not sure if it’s because I don’t think they would actually kill me, or if the way I grew up has just made me so used to death that my sense of self-preservation is somehow simply broken.

“People say that you’re crazy.” I can feel his brothers stiffen around me, but I keep my eyes on Eli in the mirror as he pulls into the now deserted parking lot outside the school. “Are you?”

His eyes find mine. “People say that you’re crazy too. Are you?”

“Maybe.” I flash him a grin tinged with insanity. “Let’s just say that there’s a reason why my family didn’t want me to be a hitman.”

He lets out a huff that sounds like half surprise, half amusement as he parks his car next to Rico’s. Their cars are the only ones left in the lot. Well, except for my bike, which is locked to the rack closer to the doors.

Instead of replying, he just unbuckles his seatbelt and gets out of the car. His brothers follow suit. Once they’re outside, I slide out as well.

“I’ll see you back at the house,” Eli says to his brothers while I straighten and close the door behind me.

They nod before starting towards their own cars. I take a step forward as well, intending to get to my bike. But before I can move any farther, Eli steps in front of me, blocking my way.

A thud echoes across the empty parking lot as he plants a hand on the driver’s side door and pushes it shut as well. While his brothers start their cars and drive away, Eli moves closer, backing me up against the side of his Range Rover. He places his hands on the car on either side of me, caging me in.

My heart jerks in my chest. He is standing so close that I can almost feel the heat from his body seeping into mine, and I have to tilt my head back to meet his gaze.

“Remember what happened back at that house,” he says.

How can I forget? My clit throbs at just the memory of the power and control he wielded back there.

“And remember what I told you in the car,” he continues, his golden eyes boring into mine. “That is what I can do to you if I decide to stop playing nice.”

It feels as though he’s waiting for me to cower before him. For me to tremble and panic. To beg his forgiveness for what I’ve done to mess with him.

But I don’t. I don’t fear him at all. Because no matter how crazy people think he is, I know that I have him thoroughly outclassed in that department. He might think that he is dangerous and unhinged, but he’s got nothing on me.

So I just raise my chin in a cocky gesture and give him an unimpressed look.

He takes one hand from the car and instead places it around my throat, positioning his thumb so that it’s pressing under my chin and holding my head tilted back like that. A wicked smile spreads across his lips.

“So if you want to live,” he begins, his voice dark and laced with threats. “You’ll also bend over and take it in the ass like a little bitch.”

“Metaphorically?” I match his insane smile. “Or literally?”

Surprise flickers in his eyes for a second, as if he doesn’t understand why I’m not trembling like a leaf right now. But it’s gone almost as quickly as it appeared.

He tightens his fingers slightly around my throat as he cocks his head. “Tread carefully.”

Reaching up, I grab the front of his shirt and pull his face down closer to mine. “Funny. I was just about to say the same thing to you.”