As day shifted into the evening, the moon replaced the sun and the island came alive.

Workers crowded transport boats and headed home to Miami's mainland with dreary eyes. They left in h.o.a.rds-painters, day maids, ma.s.seuse, nannies, and on and on.

The rest of the island remained in a constant buzz of excitement. Warm air shifted to a cool breeze that rustled all the palm trees. Sweet smells filled the air, from designer perfume to the savory aroma of roasted meats. Giggling sounds rode the wind. Men headed out on the streets with heavy pockets and s.e.xy women on their arms. Tennis rackets and golf clubs also got good use that evening, clacking and booing at they slammed against b.a.l.l.s. Champagne gla.s.ses clinked at country clubs and high-end restaurants. The theater sparked alive and enjoyed packed seats. Some of the hottest celebrities came to perform each evening, and that night was no different.

Asher should've gone straight home that night. Surely, a beautiful women sat at his table, waiting for his company.

I need more than two days with Diana. I'll fix that first, then I'll fix that kiss that I messed up this morning.

Diana believed she was safe. It didn't matter that she was right. What he had to do was guarantee at least a week with her. There were too many questions rising in his skull, too many things happening within his chest.

It had started after that kiss.

No, it had started long before that. The moment she walked into that kitchen, she meant something to Asher.

In his head, a blackness had spiraled over and over just like the huge staircase in his mansion. After the kiss, the steps broke in some places. Things warmed where it should have been frigid, cold. The gloom in his core vibrated. That had never happened before.

He pressed his mouth against hers, and he changed.

If just a kiss could do that, then what would her body do to me?

In his limo, he sat in the back. He'd ordered the driver to take him to a secret address, one that only a few men knew.

I need more than two days.

What he was about to do would be dangerous. He hadn't thought it all out, and had planned on going straight to his house.

But, Diana believed that she only had two days with him, that there was no threat. Asher decided to change that.

She needs to be scared, and in my house for a little bit longer.

None of this made sense. Even as the driver parked him in front of the concealed brothel, he still wasn't so sure he was doing the right thing.

I have to do something.

His driver got out, walked over to his side, and opened the back door.

"Thank you." Asher nodded at him. "I'll be back in an hour or so."

The driver said nothing and returned to his post.

What am I doing?

To any wanderer, the property that sat in front of him appeared to be a normal three-story house. Multi-colored tulips bordered the whole place. A swing hung from a tree. It even had a white picket fence around it.

Asher put his leather gloves on his hands, placed the black mask on his face, and headed down the lit path where music wandered out to him and mixed with feminine laughter.

Only a few knew what happened in this place.

It had taken him several months to be invited himself. After playing a long round of golf with some other CEOs that lived on the island, one fat meat head out of the group slipped him a black square of paper with the address written in gold.

"What's this?" Asher asked Len Gibson, the meat head who sat right next to him at Ovid Country Club's bar.

"You're a pretty quiet man, Asher." Len waved for the bartender "I am."

Len turned to Asher and winked at him. "I know why you're quiet."

Asher grinned. "I doubt that."

"Men like us have pleasures that others. . ." Len leaned in closer and whispered. "Basically, other men might not be able to stomach the things we like."

The bartender didn't even ask for Len's order as she placed a tiny gla.s.s with brown liquid in it, right in front of the fat man. Len grabbed it and took a long gulp.

Asher had no idea what the man was talking about as he rubbed the gold numbers and letters with the pad of his thumb. "So this place provides these. . .pleasures that most men couldn't stomach?"

"Yes."

"And how do you know I like these things?"

"I saw the way you were looking at Thomas and his daughter." Len took another gulp of his drink and chuckled.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I'm saying." Len nudged Asher's arm.

Asher held back the bile in his throat. "I think Thomas may be a bit too friendly with his daughter. That's why I was looking."

"Is that the only reason?" Len nudged him again.

It took everything in Asher to not break the man's arm. Instead, he directed all of his attention back to the address on the paper. "So this place, provides those type of services?"

"I might have taken Thomas there a few times, but the girls aren't you know. . .young enough for him."

Darkness. .h.i.t Asher's chest. Haunting images ran through his mind. He could see himself killing Thomas, even though hadn't planned on hurting anybody else that year. He'd already killed two men prior, but then he spotted Thomas placing his hand in the corner of his daughter's back. Although the action seemed simple, there was something wrong in the way the man looked at his little girl and smiled.

And her eyes. . .

He'd never forget the terror that lay beneath those lids.

It was why Asher sat at the bar in that moment. He'd been trying to decide if he would kill Thomas, and maybe Thomas's death would get that terror out of his little girl's eyes.

"Yes, buddy." Len got up from the bar and tapped Asher's back. "This is the place to have a little fun with a younger grew of women. They're still mature, of course, just not by society's ridged standards. I hope you'll see me there one night."

Asher knew exactly where he would place the bow in Len's chest, could see the sharp object slicing through the air, slamming into the fat man's flesh, and bursting through to bone and blood.

"Thanks." Asher formed his lips into a huge smile and shook the man's hand. "I really hope I catch you there too, Len."

He'd never got down to killing Len. There were too many others that snared his attention-too many piece of s.h.i.t men to kill.

Asher decided to kill Len, when the urge just couldn't be stopped.

That night, it was a full moon.

Asher hadn't realized it until he stepped onto the brothel's porch and gazed out into the sky. The stars shimmered around that huge, glowing object. Power rained down and bathed Asher in it.

I need two more days with Diana, and, besides, Len should die.

He placed his club membership key into the door, twisted it, turned the k.n.o.b, and stepped into the brothel. Inside, two bodyguards glanced at his mask, and then returned to their conversation.

This wasn't his first time.

He'd had several drinks with Len this past summer, watched the man walk off with young girls a few times, and did his best to keep himself on the bar stool, night after night, and not do anything about it.

He had to be careful then, but not tonight.

Things had changed.

Diana had come to his life, and named him something more.

I'm Cupid, and Cupid would've never sit around for this long, as little girls got their innocence taken away from them, night after night. Diana would approve of this kill.

Shadows danced all over the walls as he traveled through. Men wore masks like him, as well as the women. No one wished for their ident.i.ty to be known. Too many bad things happened there. Too many naughty men filled the empty s.p.a.ces of the house. There were so many secrets that could get out and no one wanted that.

The brothel had been designed like the ones of western days. Satin draped all of the rooms. Candles seemed to be the only way light could be used. Piano music played everywhere.

In minutes, he arrived at the back of the house where a small bar rested. One big fat man with a huge black mask sat there, guzzling down a small gla.s.s with brown liquid, and talking to a female that couldn't have been more than fourteen.

h.e.l.lo, Len.

Although a lace disguise covered her face, her arms were tiny as well as the rest of her body.

"And so I signed the merger." Len slammed the gla.s.s on the bar and returned to the tiny girl. "That's life. Some people get money. Others have to sacrifice so that those people can get it."

"You're not worried about what this could do to your worker's families?"

Maybe, this girl is older than fourteen. She sounds smart.

"Sometimes the blood of others can bring pleasure to a few. Is that so bad?" Len asked.

She just gave him a weak smile and sipped her water.

Asher tapped Len's shoulder. "Speaking of blood and pleasure."

"Is that you, buddy?" Len turned to him.

They didn't use names here. It was always a buddy here or a friend there, nothing more. Besides, no one ever took off their masks.

"We should go upstairs and talk." Asher waved the bartender away, when she approached.

"Upstairs?" Len whispered.

"I have an interesting business endeavor, something you would definitely be interested in."

Len considered Asher's words for a few seconds and got up from his seat. They'd hung out by the bar many nights. There'd be no reason for Len to be alarmed.

"Will this make me money?" Len asked.

"Would I bring something to you if it didn't?"

Len chuckled and hit Asher's back. "Yes, you are correct, buddy. I only go into things unless it makes me cash. That's the only way."

They walked away from the bar together. Asher glanced over his shoulder to check the girl. She remained behind and was no longer looking their way, probably happy to be rid of the fat man.

Through another darkened pa.s.sageway and then up the stairs, the walked together, side by side, and whispered.

"These other men here," Len gestured at a few walking by, "They were born with money. They're not like us. We worked hard to get here."

"Well, you are the only one who worked hard. I got my share through my mother's marriage."

"Trust me. I know that racket. Surely, you had to grin when told and suck in any discomfort around dear old step daddy."

"Something like that." Asher thought back to all of his stepfathers and stifled a laugh. All of the men had feared him. They probably didn't know why, but it was something in their guts. None of the his mother's husbands could sit around Asher for too long, no matter what his age was.

Had they smelled the blood on his hands? Did they see the horror in his eyes?

Asher and Len arrived at the last room on the third floor. No guards existed this high. There was a special price to pay for this access. This floor was for people who loved to do bad things. Cameras were shut off, at least that was what the establishment promised.

It didn't matter to Asher.

If they recorded what he was going to do with Len, then let them.

They didn't have his ident.i.ty, and even if they somehow figured it out, they knew he would expose them all. He had the money.

And besides, Len's death wouldn't be the first one on this property. Others had killed here before. Rich men had stabbed compet.i.tion among this hallway. Celebrity actors had mistakenly gone too far with some of the girls.

Secrets remained here, while the corpses were delivered in neutral tone boxes at the doorsteps of the dead person's home, with no explanation to how or why it had gotten there.

This has to give me more than two days. Hopefully, if I make the crime scene gruesome enough, they won't put Len in a box. They'll get scared and call the cops to come. Maybe even pretend like the establishment is on the up and up, if they're not already bribing the police.

They stepped inside Len's personal play room. The fat guy had boasted about it when he purchased it last summer.

"Oh the things that I've done in that room." Len had laughed. "It will keep me out of heaven for sure."

"Do you really believe there is a heaven?" Asher had asked.

"G.o.d, I hope not."

And then both men laughed, one found his own ironic joke funny, the other chuckled at the image of killing the comedian in his head.