For Better, For Worse: The Serpent's Contract Wife

Chapter 136: Starting The Morning With Blood

Dear God. What have I walked into?

There was a sinister grin spread across Zade’s lips. It wasn’t directed at me, but at the man hanging where a punching bag should have been, barely recognizable. The haunting creak and sway of the chains suspending him filled the air.

Oh dear, I do recognize him, at least from the mole on his nose, and my memory was still fresh from yesterday’s chaos.

That’s Andy. Andy Cooper.

"You should’ve taken this to the basement. Why do you insist on turning the gym into a bloody mess?" Elliot said, observing the man like you’d do a painting, but not in a pleasing way.

"The basement has its uses. Haven’t had time to transfer my work there," Zade replied. "Besides, my cardio comes first during the line of work, and..."

His eyes locked with mine, and a shiver shot up my spine like shards. God help me, it wasn’t about the state of this whole situation, which looked straight out of a serial-killer podcast.

It was the sight of him.

Hair mangled and damp like he had spent hours doing this. The dark blonde strands fell across his forehead in a teasing way that called my fingers to brush them aside. His dark jeans hung low, leaving the sharp V-lines of his abdomen fully exposed.

The same jeans he wore yesterday. Did he come back last night and get down... to this?!

"Morning, darling," he said, amusement coloring his voice. "Did you sleep all right?"

Elliot’s eyes shot to me, a sigh rolling off him. "This is exactly why I suggest the basement. We wouldn’t want unconcerned parties walking in on such a gratifying sight."

"Don’t be dramatic," Zade said to him before moving Andy to face me. "Remember him, darling?"

All I could do was swallow a lump down my throat; words stuck.

"He tried to touch you, didn’t he?" He looked to Andy, who remained unresponsive. "I made sure he won’t ever again."

"And because he was careless with your files, even though you clearly set him up," Elliot said.

"It wouldn’t have been a setup if he did his job right. One way or the other, this idiot was gonna run me down. I called it a precaution," Zade replied before doing a calling whistle.

Two men I hadn’t realized were standing behind me came in and unhooked Andy from the chain and carried him away.

"Don’t forget the list I gave you."

"Are you being serious about this? You can’t just kill them all," Elliot said. "The last thing we want is an investigation of such an unprecedented number of deaths."

"Then take a body part. No one would know it’s missing except them."

"Wonderful!" Elliot pitched, short of amusement as he walked out the door, but not without briefly looking in my direction.

The moment he was gone, a tight silence pressed the air, or maybe it was just my lungs making it difficult for me to breathe.

Either way, standing here felt like a war front, and the impulse to turn on my heels and leave weighed on me, but I remained where I was, like an invisible staple held me down.

It was Zade’s eyes.

They took hold of me like something unnatural, and when he moved, my heart did, almost leaping off my chest.

He stopped just a foot away, but I could feel the heat of his body, and it was almost like I stood close to a burning furnace.

"Cat got your tongue, kitten?" he asked, voice dropping lower, the deep vibration of it making my stomach flutter. "You haven’t said a word since you walked in."

"H-Hungry?"

What the fuck was that? Why on earth would I say something like that, of all possible things?

A rumbling chuckle rolled off him. "Starving."

I gulped audibly.

"What do you have in mind?" His eyes dragged all over me as though eager to burn the nightdress and robe off me.

"E-Eggs! How about that? That is if you aren’t still..." I eyed the chain that once suspended Andy’s body. "Working."

"I’m done with work. In fact, I was on my way to see you, but apparently you crawled out of bed early."

No thanks to Luca.

He did warn me, though... not to go to the gym, but he should have been more specific!

"E-Eggs it is!" I spun in speed, almost losing my balance if Zade’s hands hadn’t shot to my waist to keep me in place.

"Easy there, kitten."

My breath shuddered as I threw a look over my shoulder to catch the smirk on his lips.

He released me, and I got a move on.

I really need to get my shit together, but I was having a hard time processing things right now, like my brain had hit a blank or something.

Zade followed closely behind, and I didn’t need to look to figure that out.

I arrived at the kitchen and got to work, just practically doing anything to avoid what’s behind me. I grabbed the eggs and cracked them open into a bowl.

Isn’t this too much? What am I even doing? All I knew was I couldn’t stop or pause for a moment.

I heard the running water, which was Zade washing his hands at the sink. I kept cracking eggs like I was about to bake or something and the speed of my action only increased when I caught Zade moving.

I froze when he came behind me, hand braced on the island on both sides to keep me trapped.

"Why so tense, kitten?"

"T-Tensed? I’m not."

In response to that, the next egg I took hold of fell into the bowl before I had the chance to crack it.

Shit!

"Mm... maybe you shouldn’t have seen that," he said, and I knew what he was referring to. "My little kitten is all shaken now."

I didn’t miss the tease in his voice. If anything, he didn’t seem bothered that I’d seen what he’d done.

"I-Is he dead?" I asked.

"That’s something you shouldn’t concern yourself with." He brushed my hair over my shoulder, exposing the curve of my neck.

A second later, I felt his breath against my skin, and a soft sigh eased out of me.

"W-Why did you do it? Why did you do that to Andy?" I asked, doing my best to avoid that exhilaration kicking in like poison seeping through my veins.

This powerful desire to succumb to him was too great to overcome. The walls in my mind were coming down faster than I could hold them up.

"Because he thought he could touch my wife and get away with it."

"That’s because Candy got paid for Scarlet. And he was gonna touch Scarlet, not me."

"Scarlet, that’s an interesting name. But it doesn’t suit you."

"You seem to know a lot about what suits me and what doesn’t."

"Yes, I do. Because you’re my wife."

I turned to him, a big mistake, but I have gotten to a point where mistakes are my daily routine.

He grasped my chin, and heat unlike anything I have ever felt burned through my flesh, flaring when he used his thumb to pull my bottom lip down.

"A piece will be taken from everyone who saw you in that outfit."

Oh God, is that what he was discussing with Elliot about?

"And soon enough, I’ll take Shane’s."

I should be disturbed, but that was the thing. Ever since I laid eyes on Andy suspended in place of a punching bag, that was the last thing on my mind.

"I’m so screwed..." I murmured even though I meant to say that in my head.

Zade’s smirk grew wider as he leaned down. "Then let’s be screwed."

He captured my bottom lip with his teeth, and I almost lost my fucking mind.

"B-Breakfast," I stuttered, trying to maintain a clear head as much as possible before everything came crashing down.

"This is breakfast."

Screw everything.

I pressed my lips against his, but I pulled back only to take hold of his lips again with more vigor. I moved my hand to his hair, and in return, his hand sank lower to grip my thigh before hooking my leg on his waist.

I moaned as that same hand drove beneath my nightdress to claw my ass. I got adventurous too, my hand sliding down his bare chest and lower, where I felt a part of him I hadn’t dared to engage until now.

I didn’t know what to do, so I simply rubbed against it as though I was feeling a rod. Oh my... it does feel like one! And the hard lines of his jeans only added to that sensation.

Zade snatched my wrist and pinned it behind my back, earning a groan from me.

"Don’t get ahead of yourself, kitten."

"I should say the same for you..." I leaned in for his lips again, but he doesn’t give me what I want.

"Do you want me, Anastasia?" he asked, eyes dark and starved.

"Yes," I replied breathlessly.