Grabbing the chef's knife off the counter, I held it out and pointed it at him as I took slow, measured steps toward him. He backed up a step, snatching his own knife from next to him as my face morphed into a grin. His uncoordinated lunge for my face was easy to evade with a step to the side as I slammed my free hand down on top of his forearm at the same time I hit him in the face with the hilt of the knife.
Another jab of the knife hilt against the back of his hand loosened his grip on his weapon, and I forced his fingers flat as I shoved it away from his grip. He groaned as I pressed his fingers to lay against the surface, realizing my intent too late and trying to push me off.
With a grunt of annoyance, I stabbed through the back of his hand and into the cutting board beneath, pinning him still. He howled his pain through the kitchen, trying to bend his fingers but finding it impossible with the chef's knife protruding from his flesh.
He'd have one less to worry about soon enough.
I grabbed the knife he'd released, touching the edge of the blade against his pinky finger and pressing down slowly. There wasn't much meat to finger bones when cutting them off, only a little give before the crunch of bone severing vibrated against the knife and it hit the cutting board on the other side.
Slicing his hand open further in his fit to escape, he screamed as blood pumped out of the hole where his finger had once been.
"The next time you so much as mention her, it will be a much larger appendage that I take from you, and I will rip it from your body slowly so you feel every tendon tear." I pulled the knife free from his hand, dropping it back to the cutting board. Blood dripped onto it, staining the wood with red drops. He yanked his hand to his chest, snatching a towel off the counter to wrap around it. "At least it will grow in the moments before the skin splits," I suggested, raising an eyebrow at him as I moved around him toward the doors. "Tell Pavel I will deal with him when I am ready and not a moment before. He does not summon me like one of his whores. Understood?"
He nodded fervently. "Yes,El Diablo."
I smirked. "His next man will go back as a head in a box. If you're smart, you'll make sure it's not you." I shoved through the swinging doors, glancing at my arms to make sure there was no blood on my suit before I made my way toward the elevator to return to Isa. My body hummed with the thirst for more blood.
For death.
I would need to find a method of release over the next week that didn't end in me covered in blood or fucking out my violence on Isa's body. I'd already been too rough with her when I took her virginity, and then again in the shower that morning, and I'd need to refrain for her sake, or she wouldn't be able to walk during her time in Ibiza. It would be difficult to seduce her and show her the beauty of her new home if she never left the bed.
And for obvious reasons, she couldn't know that I was almost as thirsty for blood as I was for her. Given her hesitations as soon as my hands left her body, there was more at stake than I would have liked. Especially considering my reaction to her.
I'd known I was inexplicably drawn to her. I'd known that I wanted to possess her.
But I didn't know I would crave her company and her smile as much as I did. I hadn't known that her happiness would matter to me so quickly. I would take her without it, but I preferred her to be a willing victim in my game, rather than one trapped on a private island, who could never leave.
Stepping into the elevator, I dialed Alejandro. He answered on the first ring. "I know."
"I thought I told you to fucking handle Pavel," I growled.
"I relayed your message, Rafael. I'm uncertain why you think I can control a Pakhan who is anidiotaunder the best circumstances. He has no sense of self-preservation," he explained.
The elevator doors opened, and I stepped into the hallway outside the penthouse and dropped my voice low. "I want more security brought in. I won't endanger Isa because of negligence.Nobodygets near her without my knowledge. You understand me, Alejandro? This is not something you wish to test me on."
"Of course, Rafael," he said, disconnecting the call to do my bidding.
Just as it should have been.