Finnley fucking Felton meant something underground. I was not to be toyed with, and even though I wasn't a murderer, they all knew that I would kill and take every single one of them down to get what I wanted. In less than a month, I could have half of the gang of London here to battle it out with these fucks, and they knew it. Plus, I had the money to fund the escapade. My background was on a need to know basis, and all the mob bosses, drug lords, and slave drivers knew what I was capable of, which gave me and my business an unlimited number of get-the-fuck-out-of-my-way passes.

No, they would keep their end of the deal, but if they crossed me… if they fucking crossed me, all I would have to do was make one phone call and all hell would break loose.

My mouth dropped open when I saw blond hair.

"Surprise. What? You thought Luke brilliantly crafted all of this? Think a-fucking-gain." Jesse stared at me with so much hate in her eyes I thought I might die. Before I could say a word, she pushed Luke away and came at me. With both hands wrapped firmly around my neck, Jesse slammed my body powerfully into the wall. I tried to push her away, but she kept coming back for more. The rumble in her throat, the vengeance in her eyes, and the animosity in her grasp… I knew who was in charge of my kidnapping, and it wasn't Luke.

The minions entered and broke Jesse off of me. They jerked me by my arms and bound my hands behind my back. They pushed me to the bed and secured me to the metal bed frame with handcuffs. Jesse pulled a gag from her back pocket and forced it into my mouth.

"Now," she said. "It's time we clear up a few of your stupid little misconceptions. I've been watching you since Finnley met you in the Bellagio. I'm always watching him."

My eyes narrowed on her.

"Then when he first mentioned you working for The Elite, I knew you were fucking trouble. I wanted you out of Vegas. I slashed your tire so you wouldn't have transportation. I staged a cab driver to bring you wherever you wanted to go so I could keep tabs on you. I tried to have you drugged, but you couldn't handle it and almost died. I wanted your virginity stripped so Finn would stop his stupid fucking obsession, but that didn't fucking work either. Why is that, Jennifer? Why do you keep slipping through my fingers? This time, you won't. It was only a matter of time before I took you. You're fucking naive."

She pulled a knife from a sheath on her leg and inspected it with a smile. The crazy bitch then straddled me with the knife in her hand, and I knew at any moment she would stab me in my chest, in my heart, and watch me bleed out on the dirty mattress. The sharpness of the blade skimmed my face as she leaned over close to my face and whispered, "I want to fucking kill you. I want to watch your life leave your eyes." She wrapped my hair around her fist and jerked my head forward. "For ruining what Finnley and I would have had. You know, he fired me because of you. Because you couldn't fucking handle seeing me with him. Sexual harassment. What the hell? I was fired for sexual harassment, and you know, this is payback."

My heart pounded so hard in my chest that my ears rang. Jesse continued to pull my hair tight in her hand and wrapped it twice around her fist.

"We would have fallen in love. We would have gotten married, had kids, started a life together, and lived happily ever after. I had a plan to make him want me. Make him want me. But your skank ass arrived and took that from me. You are responsible for him pulling away from me. For that, you will pay for the rest of your sorry fucking life, which won't be very long."

She sawed on my hair with the sharp blade. I tried to move, tried to stop her, but I couldn't. I let out a muffled scream, but she just smiled. A sociopath stared back at me. As she laughed, Jesse placed the point on my chin and pushed. The stinging sensation didn't matter, because soon after, she licked my blood from the blade as she stared at me. Shock overcame me when I saw my blood on her tongue. My eyes widened. Jesse moved inches from my throat, watching my pulse speed up with that frightening smile on her face. I closed my eyes, hoping she wouldn't slit my throat.

"Stop it," Luke said. "Jesse. Stop."

She kept on, ignoring that he ever spoke.

"Stop," Luke said again, then came to the bed and pulled Jesse off of me.

When she stood, she used every bit of strength her small frame had and pushed him in the chest. "Don't you fucking touch me." She sucked in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. With a flip of a switch, she was in control again.

"But you're right. You want to fuck her while she is alive, and we made a deal after all. Tomorrow, then. You'll do it tomorrow."

He nodded his head, and she placed the knife back in its sheath, which was wrapped securely around her leg. While they whispered to one another, Jesse randomly snarled and pointed at me.

I couldn't believe this was happening. Jesse was a crazy bitch. I knew she hated me, tried to sabotage me, threatened me, and wanted me fired, but this? This was an odd concoction of psychotic mixed with unbelievable. I had been shoved into the twilight zone, a place where Jesse and Luke worked together against me.

My heartbeat hammered in my neck, chest, eyes, ears, throughout my whole body. If snipers could lower their pulse when shooting by slowing their breathing, then I could gain just a sliver of control. Right?

When I looked over at them again, Jesse's arms were around Luke's neck, he tightly grabbed her waist, and they were kissing. She ran her fingers through his hair and drew him in closer to her.

Yeah, that thing called control, totally not fucking happening.

When he pulled away, Luke looked at me with no feeling, then looked away. I pushed out heavy breaths as my anxiety increased to an unhealthy level. I needed to grasp a piece of reality.

"Tomorrow then? You'll take her virginity, then Finnley will no longer want her, and we can move forward with the second half of what was agreed upon," Jesse said.

"Tomorrow," he agreed.

Luke knew I was no longer a virgin. He knew that Finnley had taken it, several times mind you, so what was this? While we walked the streets of London together, Luke had talked about Finnley fucking me when I wanted him to. It was no secret to him. This was a mind fuck of a game. Maybe this was the only way for him to get the last fuck before she killed me? I had too many unanswered questions. Control.

"I'll kill her before it's all said and done. She's already dead to me," Jesse said, then stormed out the door with her minions close behind her. Luke watched her leave then looked down at me. I looked into those eyes that I had once adored, and I saw nothing.

"She will kill you," he said. My nostrils flared as he spoke. He bent over the bed and whispered in my ear, "In case you haven't noticed, I'm trying to save your fucking life."

Luke removed the gag from my mouth and then exited.

The two of us were at a stalemate.

She drowned in honey-like water, but I couldn’t save her. The harder I swam, the faster her body drifted away from me. I screamed but nothing came out. A gesture lost in the wind. When I moved forward, she moved further way. The nightmare where Jennifer died, and I was left helpless, had me waking in a panic for the past three nights. Each time she left me a different way. Each time I was left alone.

Since she's been gone, the fear of her dying haunted me.