Happy Forever After Darkness: Bonus Epilogues Read online

  “Goddamn, you’re gonna make me come in your mouth,” he growls, and he fists my hair and pulls my head up.

  “Fuck, yes, baby …” I moan, and he pushes me back down all the way again.

  I love it when he’s rough. It makes me feel delirious and overcome with ecstasy.

  Life’s good when nothing’s holding you down. Just fun, pleasure, and lots of sex.

  Although I have to admit, I do miss having a job from time to time. Not that I’m worried about that right now with my boyfriend’s dick in my throat.

  Phoenix moans so loud; I feel like I should be ashamed out here in the open, but I’m not. I don’t even give a damn if anyone sees us. Knowing it’s illegal is half the fun.

  I suck and let my tongue slide up and down his length. Phoenix rolls his head back, his eyes momentarily closing as he enjoys what I do.

  Suddenly, a loud horn blares just inches away from us, and Phoenix jerks the steering wheel from side to side. I jolt up; my mouth still covered in saliva as I look around and watch as a car narrowly passes us.

  “Jesus fucking Christ,” Phoenix screams.

  “Fuck, did we just almost hit them?” I ask, casually noticing his finger is still inside me.

  “Nah … we’re good …” Phoenix takes a couple of big breaths.

  “Motherfuckers!” I hear some of them yell. I look over the back of my seat and flip them off before turning around again.

  “Do you think they saw what we were doing?”

  “Totally,” Phoenix muses, a grin on his face. “And I don’t give a fuck.”

  I bite my lip and smile. “I can feel that.” I look down at my legs where his hand still rests as if he owns the spot. His fingers slipped out of me, though … unfortunately.

  He murmurs, “You know that pussy belongs to me.”

  “And only you …” I press a kiss to his mouth, and his tongue dips out, pushing its way into my mouth, circling the roof.

  “We’re living on the edge, princess,” he says.

  “Yeah … It’s the only thing that makes me feel alive,” I say, stretching my arms.

  “Hmm …” he hums as he gazes out into the desert. “Actually, I sometimes miss the killer life.”

  “Really? Why?”

  He shrugs. “I dunno. Maybe just the buzz … the thrill of it.” He quivers and forms a fist with his hand. “Crushing someone under my palm. The smell of power. The taste of death.” His tongue runs along the rim of his lips.

  “Well … what would you do then? Return to the company?” I ask, leaning back.

  “Fuck no …” he growls.

  “If you really miss it … We could just kill random people.”

  “What?” With furrowed brows, he glares at me. “No …”

  “Why not? I mean I don’t care, and it could be someone who wouldn’t be missed.”

  “No …” He shakes his head and focuses on the road again. “It wouldn’t feel right.”

  “Right …” I nod, still wondering what is up with him. “You only want to kill people who’ve done you or society wrong.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Since when do you say maybe? You’ve always been pretty clear about what you want.” I raise a brow as he looks my way. “C’mon … you gotta think something. Feel something.”

  “I do.” That’s all he gives me. Nothing more.

  I sigh. “Geez … I didn’t think you’d be this weak.”

  “Weak?” His nostrils flare, and he lifts his hand and grabs the collar around my neck with the little heart locket roughly. “Shut up. I’m as weak as my fucking cock … And it’s rock solid.” He yanks me down to his crotch and pushes my head down. “Now suck, before I slap your pussy and make you scream.”

  Chapter 5

  Ultimate Sin

  Daniel

  I hold her hand as we walk down the steps of the police bureau and back to our car. She squeezes so hard, I can feel my blood rush, but I try not to let her notice. I don’t want her to be upset, even though I know she already is. At least I didn’t cause it.

  I hate it when I feel like I can’t do anything to help her get through this, but I know she needed to do this. It was the only way she could finally put things behind her.

  We sit down in the car and close the doors, but I don’t start the engine yet. I look at her and say, “You know you can always count on me, right?”

  “I know …” She nods, shaking a little.

  “Please don’t let it bother you so much.”

  “I can’t help it, okay?” she says. “I’m just worried.”

  “About what?”

  “Well … what if I made the wrong choice?” She gazes at the floor. “How do I know?”

  “You can’t know. But you did what you thought was best, and that’s the only thing you can do in life. And if it was wrong … well, then we live and learn.” I clear my throat as she keeps staring ahead. “Please don’t feel guilty. There’s nothing to be ashamed about.”

  “But we practically handed the company over to them. What if there were more people out there like Marcus? People who aren’t really … evil? People who just made the wrong choice.”

  “Then that’s on them,” I say. “Look, you can’t help everyone. At least this helps the company’s victims.”

  “I hope so …” She sighs. “I just hope the police were the right people.”

  “What? You think they’re corrupt too?”

  She shrugs. “I don’t know. I barely know anything about this world anyway.” She turns her head and gazes out the window. “I feel like I’m only a passenger, slowly stepping into reality and realizing it isn’t exactly what I thought it would be.”

  “Hey …” I caress her cheek until she glances at me, and then I softly grab her chin and make her stay. “You belong here. With me.” I lean in. “And I’m proud of you.” I kiss her on the cheek, and I can feel her smile. “It’s what Marcus would’ve wanted.”

  She nods and licks her lips.

  When I move back, the blush on her face makes me want to kiss her again. So I do. I kiss her full on the lips, no shame, no guilt. I pull her closer and just kiss her because I can.

  I kiss her because I love her as she is, and every choice that she makes. I kiss her to make all her troubles go away.

  And … I kiss her because she’s mine and mine alone.

  Chapter 6

  Twenty-One

  Angel

  I drive up a dirt road and park my car near the edge of the forest. I hike the rest through the woods, making sure I parked far enough from the property so no one knows where I’m going and why my car is in that spot. The silence here creeps up to me, and every twig that breaks beneath my feet makes me want to run. I’m not one to be scared easily, but something feels off. It’s so damn quiet, not even the birds are singing. Normally, you’d hear cars come and go from the property and people talking amongst themselves as they smoked a cigarette or went down into the bunker.

  Not today, though. Today, it’s so quiet I only hear my own breath and heartbeat.

  Sweat runs down my spine as I approach my old home. The place where I grew up … where my father taught me many things … bad things … like how to torture people to get information out of them, and how to kill as efficiently as possible.

  I admit we were far from a normal family. Hence, why I left.

  With my little girl and Sky, I can’t risk going back here along with them, even though the house is mine too. I can’t let them suffer the consequences of what my father has done. What he tried to do with the ones I love.

  I ball my fist as I think of that fucker almost killing us, but then I hear noise from up ahead, and I hide behind a tree. My heart is pounding in my throat as I turn my head slowly and peek around the trunk. Men are carrying plastic bags filled with items and furniture out of the house and loading them onto a truck, while others take photos and strategically place tags on the ground.

  When one of them looks my way, I turn away qui
ckly and hold my breath.

  Fuck.

  The fucking cops have found us.

  Us. My father. My home.

  Fuck.

  I don’t wait another second before I bolt from the scene.

  Through the woods, I run as fast as I can. Branches slap me in the face, leaving marks in their wake, but I don’t care. I have to get out … before they find me too.

  I don’t think I’ve ever run as hard as I am right now. Every three seconds, I glance over my shoulder to see if I’m followed, but I don’t see a soul. All I hear are the engines running at full speed, and I wonder if they’re coming after me.

  By the time I’m finally out of the woods and on the road again, I’m out of oxygen. I stop for a moment to hunch over and catch my breath. But all that goes through my mind is whether my father is in their grasp.

  Fishing my keys from my pocket, I jump into my car, stuff them into the ignition, and race off.

  After I’ve gotten far enough from the woods and almost back into town again, I grab my cell phone.

  “Hello?”

  “Sky?” I mumble as I hear her voice.

  “Angel? Oh, thank god … you’re alive.”

  “Of course, I’m alive,” I say.

  “Did you find your dad?” she asks.

  “No …” I let out a sigh. “When I got to the house, the police were searching the place. It’s on lockdown.”

  “Oh, shit …” she mumbles.

  “Yeah, and worst of all … I don’t know if they got him or if he’s dead.”

  “Fuck,” she says. “So you didn’t get a chance to kill him?”

  I take a sharp left turn, going too fast and causing skid marks on the road. “No. I haven’t even seen him. I just bolted once I found out the cops were there. I didn’t want to land my ass in jail.”

  “Glad you did,” she says. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I just don’t know what to do now. What if he tells them everything?”

  “He wouldn’t, right? I mean you had a family code.”

  “He’s the boss. Rules don’t apply to him. He creates them.”

  “He wouldn’t snitch on his own son, would he?”

  “He tried to kill me,” I hiss. “He tried to kill us. To him, I’m already dead.”

  “But …”

  “No buts. I know how he feels about me. I betrayed him. I chose you. I chose our baby. I chose my life over his. And that’s why I know he’d fucking pull me down the hole right with him.” I almost crush the phone in my hand.

  “Okay. Calm down. Just get home safe first and then we can talk.”

  “I’m on my way, but I’m not calm. I can’t be calm right now. I need to know if he’s under the ground before I can be calm again.”

  “What if we go to the police ourselves? Maybe we can find out if he’s there.”

  “No,” I growl. “If we show up there, I might as well just turn myself in. They’ve just seized all the evidence at his house. My house. Where I lived. No way they didn’t find traces of me.”

  “Jesus …” Sky murmurs.

  “Yeah …” I say, “Better pray hard because we’re gonna need it.”

  Chapter 7

  VIKTOR

  Viktor

  With a rented all-terrain car, I drive up the mountain off the track. The forest surrounding me is calming my irritated mind. It’s the first time in days I’ve felt a bit more comfortable. Amidst all the work at the jewelry shop, I grabbed my things, got up, and left. All because I just can’t sit still and wait for them to come to me. Them. The company. That’s what’s on my mind, and I can’t let it go until I get to the bottom of this.

  So I drive past the rivers and through the woods until I get to his home.

  It’s such goddamn luck Marcus told me where he lived. I don’t think he’d normally tell anyone; he’s a bit of a reclusive and values his privacy above all else. He and I are very much alike … with the exception of one thing. I don’t work for the company anymore, and I’d rather die than work for them again. That’s where we split ways.

  But now … it’s time to visit my old friend again. If he won’t pick up his phone, we’ll meet face to face. He can’t avoid me forever. Besides, just because his phone’s been disconnected doesn’t mean he suddenly disappeared off the face of the earth.

  I breathe a sigh of relief when I finally reach his luxurious wooden cabin lined with gigantic windows, looking out over the forest and waterfall. I don’t know why, but for some reason, I was really afraid this whole place had gone up in smoke.

  I shake my head and laugh a little at my own nervousness.

  Then I jump out of the vehicle and walk to the door. Ringing the doorbell twice, I wait and look around the house to see if anyone appears, but no one opens. I ring and wait again. Still, nothing happens.

  I walk across the deck and peer through the windows. Papers lie scattered everywhere. Cabinets have been pulled open. Furniture is upside down. Blood drops litter the floor.

  In shock, I lean back a second and consider my options. None of them are what I came here for, but I refuse to turn back around. I gotta find out what happened.

  So I grab the nearest wooden stump that’s used as a casual outdoor seat, lift it above my head, and throw it into the glass. A few star-like scratches appear, and I pick it up again and throw it a second time. The glass splinters. One last time, I pick the stump up and throw it as hard as I can.

  The glass shatters, and I cover my eyes as I push it all away to the floor.

  I set the stump down and step inside, the glass crackling under my feet.

  I walk past the curtains that hang crooked from the ceiling, and past the table that’s upside down. Magazines upon magazines are stacked throughout the house, books scattered everywhere. Drops of blood form a trail on the floor. It’s like a crime scene.

  What the fuck happened here?

  I follow the trail into a room in the back of the house where heaps of papers and boxes filled with mementos are soaked in a pool of blood with no body in sight.

  A chill runs through me as I step into the room and go to my knees, inspecting the papers. Some of them are cutouts from newspapers, and a lot of them talk about little girls and boys being snatched from their home, as well as other violent crimes and murder. There are dolls and action figures in each of the boxes, stuff for kids.

  However, a paper on the desk draws my attention when I notice a photo of a house. I pick it up and frown as I read the document. It’s a copy of a contract made with a realtor … and it has an address and a girl’s name on it. Ava.

  Suddenly, something makes a clicking noise outside. I don’t know who or what that was, but I’m not too keen to find out either. Instinct forces me to turn around and leave but not before stuffing the paper into my pocket. I rush out through the gaping hole in the window and jump back into my car, hitting the gas without looking back.

  Chapter 8

  Stalker

  Phoenix

  As I walk out of the store after paying for gas, I pick up a newspaper that strikes my eye. The headline reads “Home of Mobster raided by police.” Below it is a picture of Angel’s house.

  I take the toothpick from my mouth and stare at the words on the page. The DeLuca’s home has been completely stripped and searched. Police found evidence of gang activity, including money laundering and trafficking. A connection with a local drug cartel is still being investigated. The property and its belongings have been seized by local authorities.

  “Jesus Christ …” I mumble as I scan the front page, looking for clues on whether or not Angel’s father has been arrested. If so, I’m not sure if I should be upset or happy. I was part of their assassin squad, unfortunately, which means that papers found at his place inevitably tie them to me. However, that motherfucker deserves to rot in jail.

  “Hey … you gotta pay for that you know,” the man behind the cash register mutters at me.

  I give him one lo
ok … just one, long, narrow-eyed look, and he cowers in place, immediately turning his head as if he knows he shouldn’t even be looking at me.

  Smiling, I tuck the newspaper back into the stand and walk out of the shop.

  I make my way back to the motel and park the car somewhere a few blocks away, so it can’t be traced back to where I’m staying. Now that DeLuca’s base is compromised, I can’t take any risk. Going to jail is the last thing on my to-do list, right below dying.

  When I walk inside, I hear the shower running, so I say, “Back.”

  “Hey, babe!” Vanessa calls out from under the shower. “I’ll be done in just a few minutes.”

  “Cool,” I reply, as I search through the nightstand until I find the remote control for the television.

  “What’s wrong?” she asks, turning the shower off.

  “Nothing …” I mumble.

  “Doesn’t sound like it,” she replies.

  I sit down on the bed and turn on the television, zapping through the stations until I find what I’m looking for. News about the DeLuca’s.

  It’s so odd to see their house being stripped on national television. Like I’m personally having to strip down to my underwear. I know remnants of my connection with them exist somewhere in that house, so it’ll only be a matter of time before they find it and make the connection. At which point, we’ll be permanently on the run.

  “What are you looking at?” Vanessa asks as she comes into the room with just a towel around her hips and hair. Her perky breasts bounce up and down as she leans over in front of me and kisses me on the nose, smiling like a dirty girl.

  “Hi …” she mumbles, licking her lips. “Glad you’re back again.”