DON SINISTER'S P.O.V
"I'm so sorry Don. Please spare my lif..I pro.."
BANG_BANG.
The man drops to the floor of the alley like a bag of garbage. His blood pools under him slow, sticky getting everywhere like oil from a bad car. "Status?" I ask putting the phone to my ear and my silver shade gun in my left. "We're securing the back exit now," Gio answers from the other side of town.
"Target down?"
"Dead," I say. "One shot." A beat of silence. Then a low, satisfied grunt. "You don't miss." I don't reply. I tuck the gun into my coat and step back into the main street. The air in this small town stinks of fear and bad plumbing. A few old men at a corner stall stare too long. I stare back. They look away fast.
My men could have handled this without me but this isn't just another mission. This is personal. An idiot killed my sister. On someone else's orders but still. He's not even worth a rival. Not a rebel with a cause. Just another wannabe tyrant who thought he could take what I built and erase what I loved. Now he's dead. But I'm still not satisfied. This war is far from over. I never truly wanted the throne but now that they're trying to take it from me, I'm starting to feel really It's time I show them whose head the crown belongs on.
I walk back to the old hotel alone. Probably used to be luxurious thirty years ago. Now it's dusty rugs and over-perfumed receptionists. I don't care. It's close to the kill zone and discreet enough for me to appear and disappear as I wish.
I walked in and the hairs on my body rose. It's too quiet.
Something clicked softly behind me.
Tch. Amateur.
I duck, pivot and throw the knife strapped to my wrist. It lodges cleanly into the throat of the man trying to shoot me in the back. His blood splashes against the cream walls. He gurgles once, staggers, and drops. I walk over and look down.
His young eyes are wide and unblinking even in death. "You missed," I say quietly, then turn to pour a drink.
"Sin? The guys found the bastard," Vince yells, walking in like he owns the place. The moment he sees the body, he halts. "Jesus Christ, bro."" "Was in my room when I got here. He tried to shoot me and failed." "Clearly," Vince mutters, pulling out his phone. "We need the cleanup crew in Room 304. Bring a second team for the carpet. And towels. A lot of towels." He looks at me. "You good?" I nod.
"You were saying."
"Yeah the guys found him. He's a pastor here and his daughter is getting married on Saturday."
"Then we attack him there."
"At the wedding? Man that's cold."
"Should have thought about it before he killed my fucking sister," I snapped at him.
Vince sighs. "You know, you could just hire a therapist." I look at him. "Right, bad joke," he says, scratching the back of his head. "But... You've been edgy all week. You've barely slept. Killed three men in two days. You need to relax." "I'll relax when I own the goddamn world."
" You already do," he smirks.
I look at him again.
"Right another bad joke."
"Maybe," Vince grins, "you come with me to this strip club I found. One drink. No bullets. No threats. Just tits and tequila." I stare at him. He shrugs. "Come on, man. You owe me for catching a bullet last month." I sigh. Not because I want to go. But because Vince is right. I'm restless. My mind is racing, but my hands need to be still. "One drink," I mutter. --- The club is illuminated be red lights and smells like sweat, perfume, and secrets. The women move like they own the world. The men sit like they own them. I sit in the VIP booth, arms crossed. I don't want to be touched. I don't want to be here. But Vince is grinning beside me like a kid on Christmas. "Look around, man," he says. "You're rich, young, powerful. This....this is the life." I grunt in response.
I was mid-thought and scanning the exits, when my eyes landed on a brown-haired dancer talking to another girl in black. Dressed in a black kitten getup, she shifted nervously in one place. Weird for a dancer with a body like hers.
Then she steps onto the stage and everything goes quiet in my head.
She wasn't the most experienced dancer in the room but she moved like the stage was hers and hers alone. Her eyes swept the crowd, until they landed on me.
And everything stopped. Big brown eyes locked with mine, wide and burning with something she didn't yet understand. Her thighs flexed as she missed the pole for a millisecond and her breath hitched. She continued dancing, but it was slower now. Like I'd pulled her into orbit. I leaned forward, resting my arms on my knees as I watched her with a small smirk.
She didn't look away. Even as money rained and the crowd roared. Her focus remained on me. Only me. The heat in her eyes washed over me like a perfume. Sweet. Twisted. Addictive. She wasn't dancing for them anymore. She was dancing for me. Interesting. She looked at me like I was the only man in the room. And for the first time in a long time, I didn't feel bored. What are you? And why the hell can't I look away?
She falters in her routine again, slightly. But I catch that little pause in her hips and the flicker of desire on her face.
Then the music stopped and she disappeared offstage with the other girls. I hate this place suddenly.
My jaw clenched and I got up and disappeared into the narrow back hall, where I already knew my men waited.
Vince tries to stop me. "Hey, hey, you can't just—"
"She looked at me," I say. "So? Women look at you all the time." "Not like that." "She's different," I muttered."She?" Ricardo raised a brow. "You mean the dancer?"
I turned a corner and noticed the two men following me. So predictable. I started calculating my next moves. Then she appeared out of nowhere and once again everything in me stilled. Still glowing from the stage lights. Her eyes found mine again and widened in horror. She moved fast, grabbed my arm and yanked me into a dressing room.
"What the hel…" I started. She turned and slammed the door shut, breathing hard. "Little girl," I said calmly, watching her chest rise and fall, "Have you gone utterly mad?."
"I… what? No!" she stammered. I raised an eyebrow. "You sure? You dragged me in here like a woman possessed." "They're trying to kill you," she hissed. "Two men were outside. They said they were going to wait for you and shoot you when you leave." She wasn't lying. I know that.
And oddly enough … she was protecting me. I didn't move. Just watched her. Measured her. Most women would've run the other way. But this one? She pulled a stranger into a room to save his life. Then the footsteps came closer. She heard them too.
"They're coming here," she whispered. And then she did something no one had ever done to me. She pushed me onto the couch. Straddled me. And kissed me. The door burst open behind her. She angled herself just right. My face was hidden by her body, her mouth covering mine. Anyone looking in would see a man lost in a stripper's kiss. Nothing more.
Smart girl.
The men hesitated. "Oh damn," one of them muttered. "Sorry. Didn't know anyone was in here." The other stuck back a bit to let at her. She nodded towards the door and he snorted. "I'm sure as hell buying your next session, baby." The door shut. Her breath hitched in relief as the door shut and the footsteps went off I to the distance. She moved to get off me. But i didn't let her. I stared up at her, keeping my voice low.
"You kissed me." She blinked, lips parted, still straddling me. "I'm sorry...It was the only way to hide you." My thumb brushed her inner wrist, feeling the rapid beat of her pulse. "That wasn't a kiss."
She looked confused. Terrified. Like she didn't know what she'd just done. Good. That meant she wasn't a spy. Not a setup. Just… a woman with dangerous courage and eyes that wouldn't leave me alone.
"This is."
I kissed her hard, our noses brushing as I pulled her in needing more. I needed everything. The sounds she made, a soft, breathy, gasp that was more of a whimper,snapped something in me. I couldn't hold back anymore. My tongue found hers, my lips moving greedily over hers, tasting, claiming, devouring.
She clung to me and fisted my curls In her fingers, kissing me like she was just as desperate. Her mouth met mine in a frenzy of teeth and lips and breathless need. I couldn't stop my hands from moving, one of them sliding around her waist as I shifted her effortlessly onto my lap. She didn't resist—just melted into me like she belonged there. Her dress hitched up over her hips, and suddenly, she was bare against me, warm and impossibly soft. But I didn't stop to think—I couldn't.
My hands stayed locked around her, and she clung tighter, like she didn't want to let go either. When I brought one hand up to cradle her jaw, I felt her tremble beneath my touch. Her skin was on fire. I could hear the needy sound that slipped from her lips, but I was too far gone. I swallowed that sound, swallowed her, and let myself fall into her. She moved on my lap—grinding, rocking—and I was losing my damn mind. Her hands were everywhere, pulling me closer, dragging me into her orbit until I didn't know where she ended and I began. I broke the kiss with so effort, my breath stuttering as I pulled back just enough to look at her. Her eyes locked on mine, dazed and wide and wanting. And I wanted to see her fall apart for me. So I brought my hand to my mouth, sucking my finger slowly, letting my eyes stay on hers. Her pupils blew wide, hypnotized, locked in. Then I reached down, no hesitation, pushing the lace band of her thong to the side.
She was already dripping but oh so tight. I slid my finger inside her, she clenched around me like a vice and came apart like a summer rain. The sound that tore from my throat was guttural, raw. "Fuck,"
Something shifted in her eyes and she broke the kiss, quickly getting off of me. She stood frozen, breathing shallow.She said something but I wasn't listening. I want her.
"Come here tomorrow."
She blinked. "What?" "Come. Here. Tomorrow."
"Same time. Same stage. I'll be watching." She shook her head quickly. "I wasn't even supposed to be here today."
I didn't say anything. I just stared at her.
" Man you're weird," she's whispered as she left the room. She paused a bit in the doorway to look back at me before she left.
----
Fifteen minutes later, the two men were dragged into the back alley behind the club. Beaten. Bloody and begging.Vince watches as I shoot both in the knee without saying a word. Their screams would have been intoxicating but it did nothing for me today. I nodded in my Vince's direction and left them.
I walk out the back exit and the club owner, a slim dark-skinned woman dressed in crimson velvet with matching heels, rushes after me."Mr. Valiente," she says, panting. "I didn't know you'd be here tonight. I'm so sorry about them. Please sir... please don't blow up the place...pl.."
I turned to her with my finger on the trigger. I hate this town.
"You're lucky I'm in a good mood."
"Yes, sir. Very lucky."
I stopped in my tracks and lowered my gun as I realized something.
"I want her in red tomorrow."
"Who?"
"The curvy stripper. I want her in red tomorrow."
" She doesn't really dance here sir. She just really needed the money today."
" She'll be here tomorrow," I repeated glaring at her. My fingers flexed around the gun in my hand and I watched her breath stop on her lips.
"Y-Yes, sir."
"She dances at midnight. No later."
"Understood."I nod once. She starts breathing again.
I don't know what she is. A dancer, a ghost, or just a girl playing a dangerous game. But whatever it is… I'm not done with her.