Chapter 26 And they Combust
AXEL
My eyes followed Lisa as she trailed her fingers over the spines of the book, her eyes everywhere but on me and a somewhat jittery movement to the way she was moving. I didn't know if it was because we were alone in the house or because of the implied challenge in the air but whatever it was, it was a bit unbecoming of someone like her.
I wasn't going to kill her for fuck's sake. I was no psychopath, and I expected equal competition from her if we were going to tease ourselves and dance around a fire but she was making it no fun if she kept picking the coward's way out.
And the girl in my library right now, the one trailing her fingers over the spine of my books doesn't look anything like Lisa Volkov, she looked like a cautious little girl especially with her hair packed into a kid's ponytail and her eyes devoid of make-up.
"So," she started after she had walked the entire length of the library back and forth, "how come you have this kind of big library?"
"I love books," I answered simply, my eyes still following her movements like a hawk watching a chick. The jeans hung her body perfectly and I wondered how it'd feel to glide them over her skin, to bare her body to me, to glide my hands over her smooth skin.
"Still doesn't explain why you have this many books, this many old books. The textbook we used was already out of print 50 years ago and you have the first edition. Do you have a flair for collecting books or do you just collect them for a show?"
"My grandfather was a book lover, he read and collected thousands of books, none of his offspring picked up on his love for books except me hence this library and it's definitely not for a show, only two people have seen this library and that's you and Prince"
And isn't it ironic? Your grandfather took пunareas or lives, built the Dioody empire that you guys sit ON, TOOK IOTS Or people s vennoods and the only offspring that snare a pastime with nim is you, and I don't even need to list your achievements for you, we both know the kind of monster you are and the number of atrocities you've committed so it's really hypocritical for you to collect flowers, raise birds and what?" She gestured towards my library, a taunting smile blooming on her face, "Have this kind of library that's only befitting of the real elite people."
I stared at her.
She stared back, the challenge unflinching in her eyes.
"Don't you think you're a little bit hypocritical?" I asked her, my anger threatening to tether over the edge, "the student populace of St. Williams knows you as nothing more than an IT genius and a girl who dresses in baggy clothes, why don't you plaster it on your head and announce it to all of them that you're a serial assassin and that you've murdered more people than your 10 fingers can count so don't lecture me on what's hypocritical or not. If you ask me, we're both carved from the same linen."
Anger carved furious lines on her face as she stared back at me, eyes wavering and lips trembling. I didn't understand her and I wasn't even interested in understanding her but she really needed to stop pulling this crap before I lose my shit that I was barely holding in. Talking crap about my family when she and her family were guilty of the same thing was a thin line that was already threatening
to stretch.
And when it stretches and snaps... I couldn't imagine what I'd do.
"For us, it's business, we only hurt people that cross us and we kill people that deserve to be killed. We don't make the act of shedding blood a pleasure or a favorite pastime."
"Really?" My smile morphed into a cocky one, "I doubt the men that were nailed to chairs and have their bones spoken piece after piece would say the same thing, or the girls that were brutally raped because they owe your family would say the same thing."
"You should speak for yourself, Axel," she crossed her hands over her chest, pushing up her tits in the process and blood went straight to my groin, "just because that's what your family does best does not mean every other mafia family does that. Some of us try to be as honorary as possible."
"Honorary?" I chuckled loudly, "come on Red, comedy doesn't look good on you. We both know there's nothing honorable about what we do and don't give me that crap, our families are nothing but the same thing."
"No, they're not," she maintained, her eyes blaring with the challenge I've always loved about her, "my family sheds blood quite alright but you guys? You guys are spawns of the devil himself and please, don't play hero and delude yourself with flowers and libraries and birds that you're something that you are not, Axel Ivanov, we both know that the devil's blood runs through your veins." My smile, amused or cocky wiped itself off my face and the only thing I felt as I stared at the girl across me was fury, intense blood-curdling fury.
Damn her because she sure knows what to say to get my blood boiling and to make me see red.
I stood up and started stalking towards her.
"I'm not pretending to be who I'm not, Red, forget everything you know about me but St. Williams or not, I won't hesitate to fling a knife at whoever pisses me off but I can't say the same thing about you. It seems to me that you're doing all your possible best not to get reminded of the kind of blood that runs through your veins."
I stopped in front of her and I flickered my eyes toward the veins in her hand before looking up at her again and yeah, her face mirrored my expression.
Fury marred every line on her face and from the corners of my eyes, I saw her hand moving on her gun holder and my lips curved into a sick grin.
"It'll be foolish of you to pull a gun at me in my house, Red."
She freed her gun from her holder, raised it to my head at the same time I twisted her wrist and I took the gun from her. Her eyes widened and her back dug into the bookshelf.
"I told you," I closed the distance between us with the gun pressed against her temple, and her eyes filled with a hint of fear and something else.
"I told you that it'd be a fucking foolish move to pull a gun at me in my own house."
"So what are you going to do?" She asked, eyes glaring daggers at me, "shoot me and hide my body like the fucking coward that you are."
My grin widened and I pressed even more against her. My other hand raised on the own volition to cup her chin and I ran my thumb over her lower lip with so much force that it snapped back with a thud.
Her glare deepened and her body flushed against mine with heat.
"I'm thinking about different ways to put your smart mouth into good use and you know nothing I plan on doing to you have anything to shedding blood except," I flickered a knowing glance to her core, "except you've never fucked a man before."
Her nostrils flared with fury and she pushed me off with a strength that surprised me and moved my body a couple of inches away from her.
"Fuck you!" She snarled and I grinned.
"No need to say it over and over again, I already know that's what you want."
"In your fucking dreams," she snarled again, "I'd rather feed myself to a crocodile than allow you to put your filthy hands on me."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," I warned her, my voice dark and smoky and my eyes igniting every part of her body with a single gaze, "I can bet everything that you're fucking dripping already and I can bet I'd have you begging for me to fuck you if I should as much put my filthy hands on you."
"And like I said, fuck you."
"Ohh," I grinned wider as I closed the distance between us and I yanked her body to mine, "who am I to turn a lady's desperate wish down?"
She started to push me off and I slammed my mouth over hers.
This should be fun.