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For disclaimers see chapter one...
Chapter ten
“Sit down Danny, for God's sake!”
Emily was almost going out of her mind at that point. They were staying at Danny's Manhattan apartment for the time being and had been doing so for just about a week. Neither Danny nor Emily had wanted to go back to Danny's house after what had happened there, so this was the only logical alternative. There were too many bad memories at that place, for both of them, and there was also the fact that there was too much of a risk for any one of them to stay there anymore. Danny had emphasized that. The police hadn't done a damn thing, either. They had simply ruled it off as a random shooting. Not that Danny had made them think differently, either. It suited her purposes just fine.
So, Emily hadn't objected when Danny had decided that they would come there instead. No one had. The apartment was located on the 25 th floor, the top floor, and there was a security guard at the bottom one. It was far more difficult for anyone who wanted to get a hold of Danny to be able to get her there. It was as good as they could get.
It was a pretty impressing place just like Danny's house had been. It was large with three bedrooms and a huge living room slash kitchen space. From the master bedroom large glass doors led out to an equally large balcony. The place looked just as expensive and modern as the house had done, but seemed much less like a family home. Well, not at all. It was all stainless steel, black granite and glass. It was all Danny. Dark and mysterious. There were no photographs anywhere or anything else that could be labelled as personal things, except clothes. Nothing was in excess whatsoever.
The risks involved were the only reason why they hadn't let Max come with them. He had wanted to, of course, to be with Danny. But neither Emily nor her had felt that it was appropriate, so Tom and Jen took him with them when they went back home, despite his disappointment. He had refused to say goodbye to both Emily and Danny.
Both Tom and Jen needed to get back to work, as did Emily in a few days. She knew that. She had taken all the time off that she could. And it hadn't been that popular, though, with those in charge. She had been away from work as much as possible and more, but Emily wouldn't have cared even if they would fire her, really, if it had been just her. But she wasn't alone. She was a single mother. She had Max, so she needed the money. She had no choice. She planned to take Danny with her when she went home too, even if she hadn't shared that information with the dark haired woman yet. She knew what she was going to say.
Danny had had to stay at the hospital for a little more than a week before the doctors had let her go home. They were probably thankful over that fact. That she had gone home.
She must have been the worst damn patient ever. At least that's what Emily thought. Danny hardly listened to anything she said and never obeyed her without them arguing first. She also refused to rest as much as she needed to do, she was in a bad mood most of the time, and defiant as hell. Well, truthfully she was, in Emily's mind and in lack of nicer words, a pain in the ass.
Emily had seen the change in Danny, even if it was happening gradually. At first she hadn't thought much about it, but then after a while, things kind of accumulated in her mind. It hadn't been as much during the time Danny had to stay at the hospital. Then, things were mostly ok. Everything was mostly as usual. There was only the bad mood, the mood swings. The irritation. But that Emily had seen before and it could also be explained away with what had happened to her. That she had been shot. The fact that she was in pain. Anyone would be upset about something like that. At least, that was what Emily wanted to believe. Needed to believe. So she had done so, against her better judgement.
It became worse though, when she came home. Not that Danny had ever referred to the apartment as home, but that's when Emily started seeing changes in her that maybe couldn't be explained away, no matter how much she wanted to. Sure, Danny had survived the shooting. She knew that many people thought differently of life after having survived something like that. After having cheated death. Again. But it was more than that. And it wasn't something positive. And the worst of all was that Emily had seen that side of her before. It was the side of her that she had hoped she wouldn't have to see again. Not that she didn't love Danny despite everything, but she was afraid. Not of Danny per se, but of what she knew Danny could do when she was like that. She wasn't entirely the same person then. And she didn't make the same decisions either. She seemed to be driven by something else when she was like that, something that made her act differently than her Danny would. And none of that had ever been in Emily's favour.
Emily put her hands on Danny's shoulders, making her stay put, sitting down on the bed as she tried to look at the wounds on her belly and chest. By that time, in just a few days, Danny had already managed to break her stitches twice. And that was just by not doing as everyone had told her to. Most of all Emily. She was getting tired of it. Really tired.
“Oh come on, Emily”, Danny said, once again standing up as she removed Emily's hands. She put her arms around Emily, large hands on her butt. She squeezed a little. Then harder.
“You mean you're going to deny me this?”
She squeezed again, even firmer this time. Danny smiled slightly as she saw Emily close her eyes. She knew she was battling with herself. To do what she thought was right. But what could be wrong with this? Danny wanted her. Badly. And she knew that Emily felt the same. Emily was worried about her health, sure, but what harm could a little fun do? It could never hurt.
Danny was actually feeling stronger. Much stronger. Physically as well as mentally. Stronger than she had felt in weeks, actually. The anger was what had fuelled it, mostly. The adrenaline. And she felt more and more of it as the days, hours, minutes, passed by. The fury. The hatred.
The demon was back. It had awakened from its slumber. And this time, Danny didn't even try to suppress it. Suppress her . No, she actually nurtured her. Because she needed her. Now more than ever. To do what Danny knew she needed to do. This time, she wouldn't change her mind. Or let anything, or anyone, stop her. She knew that the demon fed out of these things. Her hatred. Her wanting. She had experienced it before. Many times. So, she let her loose. Freed her from her restraints.
On top of all the hatred and anger, was the lust. The ever increasing lust. Surely, Danny had always felt it whenever Emily was near, or even when she had just looked at her, but this was different. It was more. Much more. More than she had ever felt in her life. And she needed to act it out, desperately. Danny had survived the shooting. She had, once again, survived whatever that man had thrown at her. She was grateful for that, but now, the playing was over. She would never, ever, let anything happen to Emily. Or Max for that matter. This needed to end. She needed to make everything end. She simply had to. It had cost her 17 years and one family. If there was one thing she had learned during these past few weeks; it was that it would never be over for her. For them. Not this way.
She had been shot. By him. Even if he hadn't pulled the trigger himself. Danny knew that the only way for it to ever be over was if one of them was dead. That was the truth. So, she would see to it. One way or the other. One of them would die. Before even more innocent people did instead.
“Are you going to deny me this, Em? Huh?”
Danny kissed moist lips, feeling the blonde smile against hers. No, she wouldn't deny her. She couldn't. Danny pressed her lips firmer against Emily's, hearing her moan as her tongue demanded access to her mouth. There was no way she was going to be denied this. This body. No way. She felt the demon grow stronger with every heartbeat. Leading the way.
This would not be slow and gentle. This would not be tender. This would not be lovemaking. The demon did no such things. The demon liked it raw and primal.
Emily moaned again, despite herself, as she felt Danny's large, warm hands ease their way up underneath her t-shirt, claiming her breasts. She knew that they shouldn't be doing this right now, that Danny shouldn't in her condition, but she had no power in her to stop her. Nor did she want to. Not really. She felt her nipples grow painfully hard as demanding thumbs rubbed them.
“Oh, my God, Danny, we shouldn't be doing this”, she made herself say, instantly being hushed by a hard kiss on her mouth.
She knew which side of Danny was doing this to her. With her. Mostly Emily didn't want Danny to be like that, showing that side of herself. Because at those times they hardly did anything but argue, always getting on each other's nerves, but during sex, Emily had to admit that it was intensely hot.
Emily's t-shirt and panties were swiftly removed from her body and she didn't put up a fight as she was then moved backwards across the bedroom and roughly pressed up against the floor to ceiling windows leading out to the large balcony. She hissed as the cool glass touched the heated skin of her back and ass.
She took hold of dark tresses of hair as Danny's warm, hungry mouth attacked her breasts, closing her eyes again from the feeling. It didn't hurt, but it was close. It sent wave after wave of sensation further south. It felt so damn good.
“Oh, fuck, Danny…” she moaned.
Emily hardly ever used that word, but then it just slipped out. She couldn't help it. She saw Danny smiling towards her. A confident, smug smile. God, she was in trouble now.
“Really?”
Emily was once again silenced by a hard kiss as Danny brought her right leg up and placed it around her slim waist before entering her, deeply. If it hadn't been for Danny's mouth being pressed onto hers, she would have screamed at the sudden intrusion. She felt her legs almost start shaking and she could hardly even stand up. Danny pressed her body up harder against the glass, which was the only thing that kept her from falling down onto the floor as long fingers began their satisfying movements inside of her. Deep and hard on the way in, and slowly with curled fingers on the way out.
Danny had always been passionate during sex, Emily knew that, but never quite like this.
The pace of the continuous strokes increased as Danny bent down on her knees in front of her. Emily thought she would come at the instant she looked down, seeing blue, piercing eyes watching her, before Danny bent slightly forward, touching her centre with her tongue. She grabbed on to Danny's head, both to urge her on and because she needed to steady herself. The circling skilled tongue and the never ending penetration sent Emily to the brink within minutes. She moved her hips determinedly against the devouring mouth in front of her, desperate to come as the moans turned more and more into these short screams she couldn't withhold as she finally fell over. It was exquisite to say the least. Mindblowing.
Danny smiled as she helped Emily slide down onto the floor. She watched Emily for minutes as she rested against the glass wall, eyes closed. She was beautiful, her body lit up slightly by the reflected night lights from the invisible world down below. Neither of them said anything, but they didn't need to. Both of them knew what this was about. It had been great. More than that. A way to reconnect after what had happened.
Danny was so aroused; she would have come if she even as much as thought about what they'd just done, but she made herself be patient as she kept watching Emily calm down. She was just as much on the brink herself, just from doing what she had done. That hardly ever happened. If it ever had with someone else.
Danny took hold of Emily's waist and lifted her up after a while, bringing the blonde with her to the bed once again, laying her down on it. She couldn't wait any longer. The demon couldn't. It was still hungry. It needed to be fed. She spread Emily's legs with her own as she lay down between them, positioning herself. Once again, she met no resistance as Emily put her hands on her ass, pressing slightly. Danny put her hands beside Emily's head as she started moving against her, slowly but hard. She watched the blonde the whole time. She still hadn't opened her eyes. The only reactions from her were the sounds. And they did nothing but drive Danny on. As did the increasing pressure on her ass.
“Do you know how much I enjoy fucking you Emily?”
Danny heard Emily's breath catch but didn't wait for an answer. She pressed her lips onto Emily's as she couldn't hold back any longer. They came at the same time seconds later, moaning undecipherable words into each other's mouths.
Danny lay herself down, still on top of Emily as she felt her body and mind calm down more and more. The demon was returning back into its lair. And as always when it, when she , had been in charge, Danny was as much ashamed of herself afterwards as she was empowered by it during its presence.
“I didn't hurt you, Emily, did I?” she asked after a while, her cheek still resting upon Emily's chest.
“Why do you say that, baby?”
Emily caressed Danny's back. Here it was again, the other side of her. The side that Emily still thought of as the true one.
“Maybe I was too rough?”
Danny still didn't look up, facing her lover. She knew that the demon could be very dominant Sometimes too much so. And never gentle.
“No, it was great, baby. It always is. No matter what you do. Or how you are. I love everything about you. Don't you know that?”
Danny didn't answer. She didn't speak for a long time.
Finally, Emily spoke. She had been laying there, thinking about how to go about asking what she was about to. And waiting for Danny to change even more. Otherwise, she was sure she wouldn't be getting an answer. At least not a satisfactory one. She had no interest in arguing again. They had done enough of that as it was the past few days.
“What had happened to you when I found you lying there on the road, Danny?”
Emily felt Danny stiffen, but she didn't move or walk away.
“Forget it. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, baby. I respect that”.
Emily really meant that. If Danny didn't want to tell her, she didn't have to. It was in the past. She mostly asked because she wanted to understand. Understand Danny and why she sometimes was the way she was. Why she sometimes seemed to become someone else. Seemed to be somewhere else. But it didn't matter. It didn't do anything to change how she felt, whether Danny wanted to tell her about it or not.
Emily tried to get up from the bed, to get them both something to drink. She was thirsty as hell and suspected that Danny must be too.
“Stay, Em”.
Danny didn't change her position, but held Emily down slightly so she wouldn't get up and leave.
“I'll tell you. But if I do, I have to tell you everything that happened. from the start”.
Danny took a deep breath. As always, she didn't want to talk about that time of her life, but she knew that Emily needed to know. And above that, Danny need her to know. Know what she had done. In the past.
“I left the hotel that night after killing Giovanni Marino, not having any idea where the hell to go. I knew that life was pretty much over for me if I didn't come up with something”.
Danny had to disappear. Go underground. She had almost no money left and there was no chance in hell she could get a job. What employer would want to hire someone who wouldn't give up their name?
So, Danny ended up living on the streets the first months. Sleeping wherever there was a place to lie down. By then she went under the name Danny Hunter. No one knew her real one. She had made sure of that. She had come into contact with some people at that time. It was hard not to if you were living the life Danny lived. They were the wrong kind of people, really, but they were the right kind for her purposes. They worked for a rivalling family. Rivalling to the Marinos. It was perfect. So, within a few months, Danny worked for them as well.
Danny would never sell herself, that was a fact, so she ended up selling other things. Drugs. Weapons. Anything. Then collecting debts. By any means possible. It was a necessary evil at first, a way to get money, but after a while she realized she was good at it. Very good. She even made name for herself. Earned money. Lots of it.
For five years, that was her life. But she didn't complain. At the time she thought it was a good one. It could have been worse. At least she was alive.
No one seemed to know who she was or what she had done. Who she had killed. So as time passed by, she became, not reckless, but too confident. Too confident in her own abilities. Too sure of the fact that she could do anything. That's what made her make a decision that would come back and haunt her many years later. She stole something from Giuseppe Marino. It was a lucky coincidence at the time, brought on by a mistake from someone else, but at that point she didn't understand what she had done.
What she stole, or really happened to come across, was a shipment of cocaine. Worth about two million dollars on the streets at the time, probably more now.
“My God, Danny!”
Emily didn't know what else to say.
“Yeah…”
Danny got up from the bed and walked towards the windows. It had always calmed her down, standing there, looking out at the New York night. There was so much going on out there.
“What did you do with it?”
Emily sat up in the bed as she watched her naked lover standing there, completely still.
“I hid it. Actually, I still have it”.
“You still have it? My god, Danny! Where?”
Danny just shook her head as she opened the glass doors to let some cool early October air in before returning to Emily on the bed.
“It's best if you don't know anything about that, Em. You saw what they did to me. To find out”.
She had kept it all this time to have it as some sort of insurance. Leverage. To bargain with if it ever became necessary. She had missed that chance, though, they had killed her family anyway.
Emily opened her arms. She wasn't going to ask more questions. Not now. Danny needed to sleep. She lay her arm around Danny's waist and moved closer to her as she finally did as she was told. Everything else could wait.
***
Danny couldn't sleep. She had tried for hours, but it had been of no use. There was too much on her mind. She couldn't relax, despite the warm body lying pressed up against her back. She tried to focus on the sounds coming from outside to make her mind calm down, but her attention was drawn from it when she heard a light knock on the front door. What the hell? Who the fuck knocks on the door at… she turned around to look at the clock… 4 am?
She looked at the blonde; she was still asleep. Danny silently got out of the bed and put on a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt she had left lying on the floor and went out into the dark hallway. She listened closely, but there was no more knocking. The video monitor to the right of the front door didn't show anything, either. The corridor outside seemed empty. She deactivated the alarm before opening the door, carefully looking to the right, towards the elevator. No one was there.
Her heart sped up as she looked down on the floor beside the door. What the fuck… There, leaning against the wall was a brown, small envelope. She picked it up as she once again looked around, before going back inside.
Danny's hands started shaking as she opened it and saw what it contained. So, this was it, the end game had started. If there was one time she would have needed the demon, it was now, but she refused to come. Because this time Danny wasn't angry. She was afraid.
She returned to the bedroom and put on a pair of black suit pants, a shirt and a black leather jacket before going into her office. She entered the code into the lock of her safe and took out the silver coloured semi-automatic Glock she still kept. It was her favourite and the serial number had been erased with acid before she even came into possession of it many years ago. It was perfect. She would kill the fucking bastard with his own gun.
After being finished with the things she needed to do, to prepare, Danny just stood at the balcony for several hours, just watching the sun rise at the horizon and the people starting going about their business far below. It would be a beautiful day, it seemed.
She took out the brown envelope which she kept in the pocket of her jacket and looked at its contents again. It was a photograph. A photograph of Max. At kindergarden, probably, because her was in the company of several other children. He was sitting on a swing, smiling.
Danny closed her eyes. She knew what she had to do. This was it.
***
That was how Emily found Danny hours later when she finally woke up, standing there looking out. She watched her for a while before she went out onto the balcony to join her.
“What's wrong, baby? Come back to bed”.
Danny didn't move or turn around to look at her. Instantly Emily knew something was wrong.
“Danny?”
“I have to go”.
That was all she said. Nothing more. No explanation whatsoever. Emily moved closer, placing the palm of her hand on Danny's back. She felt her flinch. Emily was scared. So damn scared. What the hell had happened?
“Don't touch me…”
Danny closed her eyes as she felt Emily remove her had. God, she didn't want to do this. But it was for the best. For all of them. Otherwise, she would never be able to do what she had to do. And for Emily's sake, it was best if she hated her. That was the only way for her to be able to go on with her life afterwards, Danny knew that.
Danny had done many bad things in her life, many things that she would probably have to pay for if there was an afterlife, but if there was anything that would definitely send her to hell, it was this. What she was about to do.
“Stop it Danny, I love you, and I know that you love me too. I know what you're doing. You're trying to shut me out again!”
Emily was shaking now. From anger, but mostly from fear. This couldn't be happening. Not again. Not after what she had just been through.
Danny swallowed hard. She felt almost as if she would throw up.
“I'm sorry for saying that I loved you, Emily. For making you believe things that simply aren't true. I was in an emotional state when I said it. And the whisky didn't help, either”.
Danny pressed her eyes shut as she tried to suppress the tears that welled up in her eyes. This was what she had to do. She had to.
Danny turned around and walked passed the still naked Emily, refusing to look at her. She couldn't bare herself to look at her. Because if she did, her own so called, heart would break.
“You can stay here as long as you want, Emily, just lock the place up when you go. You know the code to the alarm system”.
Without another word, or even a glance back, she opened the front door and left. She never saw Emily break down. She never heard her scream her name.
She just felt as if she would die from the pain in her chest as she took the elevator down to the bottom floor. It was a pain that was so strong, she feared she wouldn't cope. And that pain had nothing to do with her gunshot wounds .
To be continued in chapter eleven...