The Assassin's Bride

WARNING: Features kidnapping, imprisonment/captivity, forced sex and emotional manipulation. Suitable for non-con readers. Mainstream readers should start from Chapter 7 or 8. Features HEA.

***

The man was tall and muscular, with intense dark brown eyes and a roguish smile. Dressed comfortably in black pants and a tight, maroon t-shirt, he was significantly taller than his stunning dancing partner, who exceeded average height for her gender. She wore a peach laced cocktail dress, which saucily hugged her body and exposed enough of her long, toned legs to catch the attention of almost every male in visual proximity. From a distance her eyes appeared as dark as her lengthy black hair, but a closer look would reveal fascinating violet tones, which alternated between deep purple and blue-black.

They looked good together. The man was fairly tanned, and the girl had a creamy, olive complexion, despite a significant amount of time spent sun-baking on yachts. Like old friends, the couple joked, laughed and teased each other amongst the other partners on the dance floor. Besides the natural flirtation typical to dancing, their movements were innocent enough. The beautiful girl belonged to another man, whilst her dancing partner was that man's trusted associate.

Michael twirled the girl, then pulled her into his arms, admiring how her flowing hair followed their movements.

"I'm going to kill Eduardo," he murmured against her temple. He deeply inhaled the warm scent of her skin, enhanced with an alluring perfume.

Startled, Carina looked up into his face, sure she'd misheard.

"This music ruins my ears," she laughed incredulously. "What did you just say?"

"Your boyfriend, mi amor. He is about to become dust and earth." Grinning confidently, Michael tightened his hold as she struggled to leave his embrace.

"This was planned for a while. Don't panic," he continued smoothly. As she glanced around anxiously for help, he shifted his hip toward her. "You know I'm armed. You don't want me to fire early, do you? Do not look so concerned."

"Michael, stop! This isn't funny," Carina insisted, her pretty face no longer jovial. "This is a terrible joke. You are not the only one here with a gun."

"Then, it is lucky I am not joking," Michael smiled into her wide eyes for a moment, then his gaze flickered down to her cleavage as her chest rose and fell against his.

"But...but why?" she demanded, still not believing him. "You're his friend. He trusts you."

Michael sighed and rested his cheek on the top of her head, forcing her to twirl with him in their dance.

"I invested time to become his friend," he explained. "I have been ready to check out for a while. My client will not allow me to drag this out further."

"Drag this out?" Carina frowned up at him.

"Of course," Michael replied, hypnotised by her glittering eyes as their bodies gently swayed to the beat of the music. "I delayed this. Dangerous, for a traitor, but I wanted to spend more time with you."

"This isn't funny," she repeated, beginning to panic. She tried to pull her hand from his grasp, and failed. "I don't like it. Let me go!"

"Soon, mi amor, soon," he assured her. "The moment is soon." His expression changed and suddenly he wasn't the same indifferent, carefree Michael that Carina had come to know. He looked at her exactly the same way Eduardo did before they made love.

"Michael, stop this!" she pleaded. Looking into his dark brown eyes, alight with calculative excitement, she began to fear the nightmare was real. "Please, if you are not joking, do not do this. Do not kill him. I'll never forgive you."

Michael rolled his eyes and shrugged. "What can I say? I am sorry. Yes, I am sorry. But you know your boyfriend is no angel. Probably, he has taken more lives than me. I have waited a long time to hold you in my arms like this, and to tell you the truth. Besides, this isn't about Eduardo, the message is for his brother. It isn't personal."

"Of course it is personal! You were his friend!" Her violet eyes flashed indignantly. "He trusted you, he still trusts you! He trusts you so much that he doesn't mind us dancing together. You cannot do this-"

"Done it before, will do it again," he interrupted, dismissing her argument. "Soon, he will very much mind us dancing together. But shortly after..." he winked. "I promise he will not mind at all."

"No. You will die first. Let me go!" Carina hissed. She searched for a familiar face in the throng of dancers and wondered how she could feel so alone when, as Eduardo's woman, she was always watched.

"Now, you listen to me." Michael's voice lost its playful edge and became rough. "Listen carefully, mi amor. Obviously, I cannot take you with me now. But know that I will come back for you. You can fight me or you can come willingly, it's no matter."

Carina angrily shook her head, and Michael gave her a little shake, as though trying to get some sense into her.

"You don't love Eduardo," he bluntly reasoned. "You think you do, but what you truly cherish is his power. You will discover that I am also a very powerful man, but I will not screw around behind your back when we are together."

"I accept it because he loves me," she snarled, blindly angered by the reminder of her boyfriend's infidelity. "I could never accept a man who would stab their friend in the back and...and try to steal his girlfriend!"

"Ah, well," Michael sighed, the teasing tone back in his voice. "He doesn't love you like I do. You'll learn to accept me, mi amor."

Taking a moment to admire her adorable pout, he perceived her mouth was classically shaped, and yet unique, with a full upper lip which gave her a perpetually sultry expression.

"Don't call me that!" Carina snapped, clearly struggling. Several curious stares were directed their way as their argument began to attract attention. "He will kill you for insulting me!"

"Not with you against my body, like this." He crushed her against him for a second, and with some surprise Carina realised the capabilities of his strength. "In time you'll understand." His dark eyes warmed with lust. "In time, you will enjoy being with me."

The song dwindled to an end, and people began to drift away for refreshment, whilst others joined the dancefloor. Michael held Carina firmly trapped in his arms, glancing around until he saw Eduardo and his older brother, Carlos, looking their way.

Eduardo was a little drunk and seemed merely curious, but Carlos was sober. Carina's distress was becoming apparent to him, and he'd already half risen from his seat. Michael tightened his hold around her waist until she whimpered, his fingers gripped her chin firmly to turn her face up. Carina stared, finally realising he was going to do something crazy.

"You fool! You're insane!" she breathed, fascinated by his suicidal daring. "Eduardo is watching us, Carlos too. They will kill you!"

"Not quite," he chuckled. "But for sure, someone is about to die."

"Michael, I don't want you to die," Carina begged, hoping to talk some sense into him. "And I love him. If you care for me at all-"

"Enough nonsense, Carina," he brusquely replied. "There is nothing you can say that will change my mind."

Carina's lips parted, but she was speechless. Michael leaned in closer.

"Do not forget," he murmured against her lips. "I will come for you."

On the last word, his fingers tightened on her chin and he suddenly forced his mouth over hers in a passionate kiss. The kiss only lasted a few seconds, then the iron-hold about her waist slackened and she was promptly released.

Gunshots sounded, all hell broke loose, and Carina realised she was sitting on the floor. She covered her ears as the dancers fled in a panic. Men ran back and forth across the dance floor, some in fear, others drawing guns, all bewildered. A large hand closed under her elbow and pulled her up from the ground. She looked up into the furious, handsome face of her lover.

"Eduardo!" she gasped, clutching him.

"Where is he?" he snarled.

"No!" she desperately pushed his chest, but he didn't budge. "Run! He wants to kill you!"

"Why would he want to do that? Get someplace safe," Eduardo laughed darkly at her concern. "He knew not to touch you. I'm going to-"

Carina felt him jolt against her. The blood-thirsty look melted right off Eduardo's face, replaced by a blank, stunned expression, and he pitched forward. Under his weight, together they fell to the ground and Carina pushed at his shoulder.

"Eduardo?" she cried fearfully, sitting up as he rolled off her. "Eduardo!" Blood on her dress. He was dead.

Instinctively looking up, through all the people running by, she saw Michael patiently waiting for her to see him. As soon as their eyes met, a frightened couple blocked Carina's view for a second and Michael was gone.

Michael had used her, she realised. He'd ambushed her with an intent to anger Eduardo, fired useless rounds to create a diversional panic, and left her as bait to draw Eduardo into the open.

Holding Eduardo's limp form in her arms, tears streamed down her face. Carina pointed to where she had seen Michael, confidently smiling at her amongst the chaos, like a devil. "There!" she shrieked, as Carlos' men clustered about them in confusion. "Go after him! Get him! He killed him!"

Carina dropped her head to Eduardo's and held him tightly as her body shook with sobs. "He killed him...oh, no. He killed him," she moaned, laying a cheek against the top of his head, cherishing the temporary warmth of his body.

"Move!" A deep voice shouted above them and the small crowd quickly parted. "Carina! What happened? Is he ok?"

Carlos, towered over them. He took in Eduardo's sprawled, lifeless body, Carina's tears, the look on her face, and knew. Carlos dropped to his knees and dragged the limp body from Carina's hold.

"Who?" Carlos choked, embracing his dead brother. His voice thickened with tears as he fought to contain his emotions. "Who did this?"

Carina could barely speak through her own sobbing. "M-Michael," she blubbered. "It was Michael."

"Michael.. why would he-" Carlos spoke though grit teeth. Holding the body in a crushing embrace, he fiercely pressed his temple against Eduardo's, as though willing him to live.

"He should have killed me instead. He will wish that he did. My baby brother-!" His voice broke and he raised his head to look at Carina, and she saw his face shining with unheeded tears.

"Michael said it was for you," she told him. Cold with shock, her teeth chattered. "The message was for you."

Carlos looked confused at first, then realisation dawned across his face.

"I'll kill them all," he groaned. Squeezing his eyes shut, he dropped his head to Eduardo's shoulder. Rocking back and forth, he squeezed Eduardo, as though trying to absorb him. "I'll kill them all," he repeated, like a mantra.

Carlos held one wet hand up to his face, soaked red in his brother's warm blood. He stared at his palm in a horrified daze, his chest rapidly expanding as he gasped for breath, finally comprehending that his young sibling was well and truly dead, gone forever. "I'll fucking kill them all!" he screamed.

Carina wrapped her arms about her knees and wept bitterly as she watched Carlos mourn Eduardo. It had all happened so quickly, but through her own devastating loss, Carlos' grief, the blur of screaming people running around them, only one thing stood out in her mind. It was Michael's voice, the unwavering determination in his last words to her.

"I will come for you."

***********************

"Eduardo loved you." Carlos faced the wall as he drank the wine from the bottle.

Setting the bottle down on the large desk to his side Carlos turned, his eyes were red from grief and alcohol abuse, three days since that fateful night. Built like his late younger brother, he was tall, muscular, and incredibly agile. He was just as handsome too, but older, more of a man. By comparison, Eduardo was lean and athletic, whilst Carlos was solid, roughened by years of heavy lifting and fist-fights.

Carina curled up on the leather couch in his office and didn't answer. Wishing she could cry alone in peace, instead she stared miserably at the ground.

They discovered Michael fed information to a business rival for more than a year, and Eduardo's murder was the last item on his to-do list. The hit was both a warning, and a mockery.

After spending so much time alone with Michael on several occasions, Carina couldn't help wondering if his romantic interest in her was another joke. One last theatrical way to insult them on his way out. Though she had recounted their last conversation to Carlos over and over, Carina never disclosed Michael's threat to come back and claim her. It would likely do more harm than good -- drive the others, especially Carlos, into a vengeful, paranoid frenzy. They would micro-manage her every move. Or worse, speculate that she seduced Michael and helped plot Eduardo's murder.

"Carina?" Carlos prompted, snapping her out of the daze.

"Yes, Carlos," she answered. "I know he did."

"He was a bastard," Carlos shook his head. "He didn't treat you right. But you were different to the others."

"Uh huh." Carina was tired of talking about Eduardo. As much as she and Carlos loved him in different ways, Eduardo had been a disappointment to them both.

"I tried to tell him," Carlos made a hopeless gesture. "I tried to tell him to treat you better. But you know Eduardo, he won't listen to anybody but himself. He was such a hypocrite," he said bitterly, aimlessly kicking the wall. "The women he...and yet if another man dared look your way-"

"So, what is the plan?" Carina enquired, wanting to turn the subject.

Carlos shrugged. "I have people looking into it." He swayed a little as he picked up the bottle and took another swig. He turned to look at her, his glazed eyes focusing as though for the first time realising her presence.

"Carina?" he tripped forward and collapsed onto the couch beside her.

"Yes, Carlos?" she said wearily, her patience running thinner by the minute. The task of keeping Carlos company was surprisingly tedious. But he insisted, believing they were the only two who really knew Eduardo, that it somehow bound them together.

On the night of the murder, Carlos assigned two men to watch Carina to ensure her safety. Though displeased at the time, Carina bitterly realised the guards were unnecessary. With Carlos reluctant to let her out of his sight, she'd be lucky to glimpse them at all.

"Tell me something," he pleaded drunkenly. "Tell me something about him. Something I didn't know."

"Uhh..." Carina looked him over sceptically, wondering how to humour him. "He never liked your lasagne."

"Hah!" Carlos gave a loud shout of laughter, slapping his thigh. "That little bastard, I knew it. He just wanted to save my feelings, right?"

"Carlos. You're drunk. I think-"

"What else?" He persisted, brushing her words aside. "Tell me another thing that I didn't know."

Carina shrugged. "I don't know. It's not as though you two weren't close-"

"You were his woman!" Carlos suddenly shouted, swinging the bottle wide and showering the carpet in wine. "You must know things that I didn't!"

Carina stared at him coldly.

"Come on, Carina," he cajoled. "He loved you. I remember when he first laid eyes on you. You were all he spoke of for days." His eyes clouded over as he reminisced how Eduardo was enamoured by Carina's beauty. "If he didn't try it first, probably I would have-"

"Enough, Carlos!" Carina said sharply, shifting on the couch to rise. "Enough of this. It's not helping."

Carlos reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"No, Carina," he murmured. "You don't get to leave until I say so."

Carina had never been afraid of Carlos. He'd always treated her with respect, taken care of her like family. But, as much as he lived in a world rife with drugs and alcohol abuse, he never touched any of it. She had never seen him drunk before, ever. Now, completely intoxicated, he was a stranger.

"Carlos?" she checked him. "What are you doing?"

"You were dancing with that bastard!" Carlos roared, tightening his grip on her wrist painfully as he fought to control his temper. "You let him put his hands on you, right before he took Eduardo from me!"

"From us!" Carina corrected testily, jerking her wrist free.

"Eduardo loved you," he repeated, leaning forward onto the couch toward her. He reached out and stoked her face. "I believe it. How could he not love you? You're so beautiful, and strong. The colour of your eyes..."

"This is making me uncomfortable," Carina snapped, turning her face away.

"When were you last together?" Carlos whispered, edging closer until there was no room left on the couch for her to scoot back. "When were you intimate? Was it recent?"

"What?" Carina gasped in disbelief, not believing her ears.

Keeping eye-contact, Carlos stretched his arm to the side and deliberately dropped the bottle to the floor, not caring that wine spilled, spreading across the carpet like a fresh pool of blood.

"How did he touch you? Was it like this?" he breathed, reaching for her breasts.

"Fuck off!" Carina yelled, slapping his hands away.

Instead of being abashed, her rejection encouraged him. He leapt on top of her, knees on either side of her waist, catching both of her hands in one of his, holding them idle over the couch's armrest while the other slowly ran along her stomach and moved up to toy with the curve of her left breast.

"I'm him right now," Carlos breathed in a drunken haze. "I'm Eduardo. His blood was my blood. He's alive in me."

"You're fucking crazy!" Carina screeched, as Carlos bent to kiss her neck.

"Yes, I am crazy," he slurred, running his tongue up her collarbone. "I can be crazy for you just like he was. He was touching you just like this, not long ago. Isn't that right?"

"Carlos! Get off me, you idiot!" Carina shouted, straining away from his wet mouth.

"Hush, Carina," he kissed down between her breasts as she arched her back trying to free her arms. "I have no one left. I've inherited you. This is what he would have wanted."

"No!" Carina choked in fury. "He'd cut off your dick for touching me!"

She was overcome with rage. After trying to cheer Carlos up the last few days when she wanted to lie in bed and cry, now he was assaulting her. He tugged her white t-shirt up, roughly running his hand over her black sports bra.

"Calm down," Carlos muttered, brushing his fingers across her nipples and shivering with excitement as they began to rise in response. "I just want to taste you, that's all. I want to know what my brother tasted before he died."

"No! You do not get to...to do that!" Carina exclaimed, now really beginning to panic. She kicked her knees up, bruising them on his solid back. "Oh God, Carlos, what's happened to you? Use your head! Think about what you're doing!" she cried, twisting under him.

"Forgive me, Carina, but I've thought about this," he confessed thickly, lowering his mouth to her chest and sucking on her right breast through the material, swirling his tongue around her nipple as it stiffened, pushing against the fabric as though straining towards his mouth.

"I've imagined this many times, though I'd never have dared... but now Eduardo is out of the picture. I will treat you better than he did. You were such a big part of his life, Carina. You...you make me feel like he's still here..." The grief refreshed, and Carlos tried to suppress by distracting himself with Carina.

Carina's blood ran cold as his hand travelled from her breasts to her waist, clumsily trying to unbutton her jeans.

"Oh, my God," she groaned, her voice full of contempt. You're so disgusting. What would Eduardo think?"