Deleted Scene – Takes place between chapters 33 and 36
A delicious thrill rushed through her as she walked up his driveway toward his front door. The anticipation nearly buckled her knees. She’d been waiting for this moment for far too long. And this one…well, he was special. She wanted to take her time with him so she could bring him to his knees, make him beg for it, then she’d shred him to pieces.
God, she couldn’t wait.
For years she’d waited for this moment. Instead of ridding the world of the asshole the first moment she laid eyes on him, she used him to keep tabs on people she didn’t otherwise have access to. He was a means to an end.
But he’d more than outlived his usefulness. He’d betrayed her, and in doing so, he set in motion exactly what she’d been trying to avoid. With his foolishness, he’d started a war. One, he had no business being part of. One that could destroy them all.
Now she had to clean up his mess and hope she could put the monster back in the box. She wasn’t going to get her hopes up, though. The monster seemed to be having too much fun wreaking havoc. She’d have to be smart about how to deal with him. But first, she had to deal with the dumbass that let the monster out.
Plastering a sexy smile on her face, she knocked on the door and waited for him to answer. She knew he was home, but he had no idea she was coming by for a visit. The last thing she wanted to do was give him the chance to prepare for her arrival. Catching him unaware gave her an advantage. She’d have the upper hand more than she usually did, and that worked well with what she had planned.
The door in front of her opened slowly, even though she knew he’d checked the peephole to see who was waiting on the other side. He looked at her, confusion sliding across his moderately handsome features before his gaze flicked up and out to the yard behind her.
“Grace, I wasn’t expecting you,” he said in the way of a greeting while he continued to scan their surroundings.
She laughed. “I know, but I just couldn’t help myself, Tom. I needed to see you.”
The words slid off of her tongue in the sensual way she’d honed back in her twenties. The one that grabbed a man’s attention because it was filled with promise.
Tom Anderson was no exception to the rule that men could be guided by their dicks more often than not. It was how she got him to put his career on the line more than once over the years. She couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when he learned the truth about who he’d let in his bed.
His gaze dropped to meet hers, and she saw desire flare to life, his brown eyes darkening. Even with that small change, he still seemed on edge. Which meant he was going to be easier than usual to seduce. Usually, he liked to think he was in control, and she let him. But this time, she was going to take control, let him believe she was there to make all his worries melt away. When she had him where she wanted him, she’d get the answers she needed. Then she’d do what she should have done years ago.
“You seem tense. Are you okay? Maybe a massage would help you relax,” she offered as she gently pushed him into the house, then moved in far enough she could close the door behind her.
Before he could respond, she unzipped her jacket, then pushed it off her shoulders so it could fall down her arms and to the floor. Tom’s eyes widened as he took her in.
“Holy shit, Grace. You drove over here like that? What if you’d been in an accident or gotten pulled over?”
She smiled up at him, stepping away from the jacket pooled around her ankles and closer to her target. The thought of letting him touch her now that she knew about his betrayal made her skin crawl, but it was the price she had to pay to get what she wanted. Besides, it wasn’t the first time she played with someone she despised, and she knew it wouldn’t be the last.
“The look on your face right now makes the risk worth it,” she purred. “Let me take care of you. Then you can take care of me.”
For a moment, it seemed like he was going to turn her down. If he did, she had a backup plan, but she didn’t want to resort to that. It would be messy, and that wasn’t the way she liked to work. The art of seduction, making her target pliable and willing to do everything she asked, that was the way she preferred for things to go. It didn’t matter, though. She’d get what she came for either way.
“How did you know I needed you?” Tom asked her as his hand skimmed along her cheek then down her neck.
She pushed him away gently before his hand could go any further. “Women’s intuition. Now go into your room, get naked, and lay down on your stomach. I’ve got plans for you.”
“Couldn’t we just get to the good stuff first? I don’t need a massage.”
Shaking her head, Grace pushed past him. “The hunch in your shoulders says otherwise. I promise it’ll be worth it. I’m gonna grab the massage oil out of the bathroom, and then I’ll meet you in the bedroom.”
She could feel his eyes on her as she made her way down the hall. Knowing it would help her cause, she added a little extra sway to her hips. Once in the bathroom, she rummaged through the drawers to find the oil she was looking for. While she didn’t really want to give him a massage, she had to make him more manageable. Tom Anderson didn’t like to let his guard down too much, not even when it came to sex. Today she needed him at her mercy.
Once she finished finding what she needed in the bathroom, she grabbed her jacket from the foyer and made her way to the main bedroom. A smile spread across her face when she found Tom exactly where she told him to be in the exact manner she’d instructed. He was being a very good little puppet. If only his dumbass hadn’t betrayed her. Maybe she would have kept him around a little while longer.
Grace tossed the massage oil on the bed next to him, then grabbed the knife from where it was concealed in her jacket. She dropped the coat onto the floor and climbed onto the bed so she could straddle Tom’s prone body. As her bare skin touched his, she suppressed a shudder. It was almost too much, but she would just have to suck it up because she had a plan.
After hiding the knife underneath her left shin, she opened the bottle of oil and poured some out onto his back. He let out a moan as she began rubbing it into his shoulders. She definitely had to wrap this up quickly before she started to dry heave all over the place.
“Is the situation with this Roman Numeral Killer guy stressing you out?”
“Among other things. Of course, it all comes back to that stupid bitch Sloane Matthews. I wish I could be rid of her once and for all…ow. Damn Grace, not so hard.”
“Sorry, baby, I just want to make sure I get out the real bad knots. It’s not good to carry so much tension around.”
“Well, soon it’ll be all gone. Once this guy gets what he wants, I’ll get what I want. After that, he’ll be fair game too.”
Grace bit back her true reaction. She’d known the man was a weasel who didn’t give a shit about anyone but himself. Still, she’d thought maybe there was some loyalty inside of him somewhere. Though she really should’ve known better. He had no problem selling out the company he’d worked decades for and the country he supposedly loved. Why would he hesitate to turn on a serial killer? Especially now that he knew that serial killer was related to the one person he hated the most in the world.
“It’s too bad you won’t be around to see either thing come to pass,” she whispered as she wiped her hands on the bedspread and grabbed the knife.
“What?”
“I said, it’s too damn bad you’re going to die before either of my children.”
Before he could react to her declaration, Grace shoved the knife into Tom’s right kidney. Her pulse quickened as blood seeped out around her weapon and the man beneath her tried to buck her off. She removed the knife then shoved it into his other kidney. He howled, long and low, then snarled at her as he worked to turn over.
She stabbed him a few more times, leaving a trail of bloody holes along his back. With each new one, the fight seemed to drain out of him along with his blood. Grace’s grin got bigger and bigger as the big man beneath her slowed down.
Pushing herself up on her knees, she leaned over him until her mouth was nearly touching his right ear.
“How does it feel to know you’ve been fucking Rosalie DiSanto this entire time? The one that got away all those years ago. You stupid fucking prick,” she purred. “You hunted me, you lost me, so then you went after my daughter. You’re going to pay for that and for betraying my son. You really should’ve known better, Tom. DiSanto’s don’t lose.”
“You…”
“Ah, ah, ah…do you really want to say anything else? You’re already going to die, lover. Do you want to be found with just your throat slit, or would you rather be found with a few important pieces shoved down your throat?”
When he didn’t respond, she smiled. “Good boy.”
As she leaned back, she grabbed a handful of his gray hair and pulled his head back, so his neck was exposed. She positioned the knife next to his carotid, then leaned in again so she could send him off.
“Enjoy your trip to hell, Tom.”
The knife slid smoothly across his throat from left to right. Blood spilled to the bed below, the lovely crimson barely noticeable against the dark blue of his comforter. She let go of his head, his face hitting the pooling blood with a resounding splat that made her giggle.
Grace had killed a lot of people in her lifetime, and only two others felt as satisfying as the man beneath her. The rest were for funsies. Well, except for her beloved Michael. He had been a necessary sacrifice, just like their son probably would be.
Satisfied, Grace climbed off the bed and grabbed her coat from the floor. She threw it on over her blood-spattered body, tucking the bloody knife into the inside pocket before she zipped it up. Taking one last look at the man who’d fucked with her family one too many times, she walked out of his room, then out of his house forever. She didn’t have time to dawdle. There was one more mess she had to clean up on the other side of the country.
Author Paris Hansen 