The Prince of Scars
The name invaded my mind as I could only stare at his body with a mixture of horror as realisation settled.
"You didn't tell me-" my heart thundered inside my own chest as he slowly pulled his shirt over his head again, as if ashamed of the tale his scars told, the secrets they held.
He wasn't just an agent
Ash was the son of the Italian crime boss.
Something flashed in the treacherous waters of those blue eyes- a mutual understanding that I'd pieced it together. The mysterious appearances, his skill, the scars, the reason why he wasn't invited to the ball.
"Would you have killed me if I told you?"
"Why?" I whispered again, the word meaning nothing on my lips.
"How long have you known- that I was Venus Castellanos, that you were my next target? You showed up at my college, at the ball-" I almost stumbled on my own words, avoiding his question, the intent stare he attempted to rattle me with.
"I'm not your enemy." his words sounded innocent and yet his tone reminded me he was as much of a killer as I was, trained to end my life with a few swift manoeuvres if he needed to.
"I wanted to kill you... but here you are alive. And so am I." He continued as my head ached from the surrealness of the truth.
"What you're thinking... it can never happen between us. Your father is the Italian mafia lord-"
"And your father is the leader of the Greek Mafia. Who decides your life, your enemies? You or your father."
This was not happening. Moments ago I'd been running my hands over his back, ready for him to claim me in every way possible. And now-
Now I had no idea where I stood on the boundary of hate and pure desire for him.
"I knew nothing about you. But you already knew me, came looking for me." A multitude of unasked and unanswered questions lingered in the space between us.
The part of me that longed for bloodshed had found a dark twin in this man for a reason- explaining our encounters, the way we'd both been trained to arrive and escape effortlessly. We'd been playing with eachother- only for me to realise a much larger game was being played.
My dagger was in my hands and against his throat before he finished his sentenced. His answering feral glare was enough to make my grip falter but I didn't yield as I half-yelled "You were sent to kill me."
I almost gasped as the world spun around me as he swept my feet out from under me, moving with the grace of a predator.
"Don't play games you can never win with me." his hiss made my bones quake- but not in fear. Something more lingered between us that was yet to unravel.
I almost laughed at the irony of the situation- I'd been sent to kill a man, only for him to have been looking for me this whole time.
"Why didn't you kill me? I didn't even know you."
"Why don't you kill me now? Isn't that why you came lurking around our mansion?" his grin looked forced, pained even.
"Never come looking for me again- or next time I actually will kill you." I clenched my fists to hide the way they were shaking slightly, from the rage or betrayal I felt for something I hardly understood anymore.
No, I wasn't going to kill him. And I'd had enough of killing for my father, being spied on by a fiancé who wasn't worth shit compared to me and being treated like I was less than the queen I was.
His hand reached out for me as I turned away, spinning me back into his grasp as his lips remained mere inches away from mine.
"You think I couldn't kill you if I wanted to? You think I couldn't have slit your throat the first night I saw you- or when I came looking for you in your college, for the girl whose eyes had more pain than my own?" He whispered closely enough for my skin to tingle.
"And that ball? I danced with you because I wanted to. Because a room full of killers couldn't stop me from getting you and escaping If I wanted." he continued.
"I'm not some wounded animal for you to fuck around with." My stare met his own as the sun had set completely. A sun-bathed meadow he'd brought me to had never felt more sinister than when his eyes made me want to run like a coward.
"You're lucky it wasn't my brothers- they might have killed you without hesitation." His voice in my ear sent minor shockwaves across my body.
"Why didn't you kill me then? You kept coming back after I told you to leave, you made yourself a target for Vero, claiming me as if you had any interest in me. If you wanted me dead why all the trouble? Why save me from the cell he threw me in- Why all of it?"
He ran his fingers over my lips tentatively, almost daring me to move.
"They call you the Red Devil, leaving a trail of blood wherever you go. I knew you'd kill your way to find anyone- and one day even me. You were a threat to us that my father would never risk letting loose."
Red Devil
I almost smirked at the name, at the recognition I'd never know I'd received.
"You should be dead now. Any enemy would never have left you alive this long, let alone saving your ass from the pathetic cell your fiancé had you thrown in."
"You should have Vero try to kill me then. I don't need your protection- I don't need your mercy." I repeated, fearing the next words he would speak.
Gently he placed my chin in his palm, my eyes looking upwards into his.
"I couldn't kill you when I wanted to rip your clothes off at that ball. To get you away from the brute you're about to marry. You're mine, Castellanos."
You're mine.
The words sent a shudder through my body.
I stood in silence as I listened to him speak about me. My face. My smile. My wicked grin. The way I took on Vero at that ball. The Red Devil.
The manic grin plastered across his face almost made me want to kiss him again and break his nose at the same time.
"I want you, for you to be mine before another man ever lays a hand on you again", he finished.
I was at a loss for words, my body aching with desire, begging for his touch I had hardly felt but knew I was starving from.
I do too, part of me wanted to say.
A part of me longed for more of his words, more of the solace that came from them- as if everybody else in the world had faded into oblivion, as if he was the only one who could comfort me. It was almost laughable I supposed, how two killers raised to live and kill with perfect execution could find themselves in each other's words, the promises that I felt were laid out in words that yet remained unspoken.
"You'd go against your father, let me go against mine- just to have me? You're mad to let yourself become a target for everyone to shoot on sight just for the red devil, someone you'd never deserve- or perhaps a prince she never deserved herself." My smile was one of sorrow, wishing I claimed the life, the wicked offer he had lain before me.
I must be insane, I thought to myself. I almost wanted to curse at myself for how I slowly felt myself slipping away, the shields I had around myself going down so easily as this man continued to speak.
"I'd destroy anything that came between us. Is that what you want to hear, because it's true." I shuddered at his eyes met mine with serious intent.
"It makes you an idiot. A fool for throwing both of our lives away like that." My heart told me I was lying, begged me to take the words back. But this path he had lain before me- it would kill us both. Perhaps marrying Vero already entailed enough destruction, but part of me couldn't stand the mafia prince before me dying for a queen without a throne.
I'd never let my heart melt for another man- especially not for a rival agent who was at the top of my hit list. And here I was, drowning in a strange sorrow for a life that could never be mine. For a man who could never walk the same path as me. A small part of me wanted to pity myself. I was so intent on believing that I controlled my own life- I relished the success, the glory, the thrill that came from being the Red Devil. Yet I'd never felt like such a puppet- manoeuvred and played to the whims and gains of my father above all else.
"Goodbye Ash." I thought it was impossible for my heart to splinter even more as I walked away, even as he called my name as if it were a prayer upon his rogue lips.
I cursed the unfairness of my own life, but it was for the best. After walking away from everything that could have been, I had a wedding to prepare for as Venus Castellanos made her final stand.
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I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! see you soon:)