Adina couldn't breathe. Ant's touch was scorching and his fingers were slowly melting away her skin.

Deconstruction...layer by layer the man was slowly chipping away at the tough exterior she used as a protective shell. His arms were still wrapped possessively around her waist when she heard the door behind them open. Her mind rattled off a number of names she hoped belonged to the body emerging from the space where the party was being held. Maybe Lenny was arriving to deliver a fresh round of drinks, or quite possibly the driver of the town car acquired to drive the birthday boy from home to celebration and back to home. However the boulder lodged in the pit of her stomach was the first clue to the identity of their unwelcomed guest. Immediately she recognized the scent that filled her nostrils, oranges and blood. Jacobi had officially stepped onto the scene. The tension in the atmosphere thickened and Adina became terrified. She fought to regain control of her arms and legs but Ant refused to return the authority of her limbs back to their rightful owner. She muttered a silent prayer and interceded on both of their behalves.

She had seen the blood beneath Jacobi's nails when he snuck into her apartment late in the evening. She could easily recall the rage in his dilated pupils. She complied with his silent requests, filling the tub with hot water and bubbles, fixing him a plate of whatever she had cooked that evening, and shamelessly providing her body as a means of escape. The next morning always found her bruised and battered, but those injuries were superficial, what lingered was the images of the carnage she knew he left outside of the walls of her apartment. And now he was on the cusp of madness.

Jacobi's massive digits circled her upper arm, "Adina its time to leave." He tugged and she felt her capillaries and venules break from the pressure of his imposed trauma. Still Ant refused to release her and the fear within climbed to new heights. She saw the tick in her significant other's jaw. He did not like to be challenged. He considered himself a master in throwing his weight around and while he feigned respect for Antioco Bianchi, Adina knew deep down, Jacobi Charles hated the pure bred Sicilian crime lord, "You can let her go now boss...I'm here."

Her heart raced and beat a thunderous melody against the cage of her ribs when she caught the glint in her new found protector's eyes. His face softened when he looked at her, "What do you want Adina?"

What she wanted was peace, but based on the burgeoning stand off, she knew that was a wanton desire she would never see come to fruition.

~`~

Adina was a shrinking violent in Jacobi's presence. Ant knew she would have been content to leave with the man and maintain some semblance of peace. She was shaking like a leaf in his grasp and she didn't realize her own strength. The woman was willing to follow the steps of a monster if it meant keeping him safe. It was time for her martyrdom to end, "You take your job too seriously Jacobi." He didn't miss the quirk of the man's brow on the confusion that distorted his features. Ant's eyes fell to the hand still gripping Adina, "Never bring your work home with you." His voice was filled with misplaced authority and his words would prove to be the only warning issued to the man he had once viewed as competition.

Jacobi gritted his teeth, "Fucking prick," He released Adina and stepped closer to Ant, "You sign the checks but it doesn't mean you get to enjoy my bitch."

Adina opened her mouth, but there was no need for her attempt to protest. In one swift move, Ant swung her to safety behind him and leveled a blade at Jacobi's throat, "Never disrespect her again in my presence." She gasped and audibly pleaded for him to think, exercise caution, and just remain rational. However, the calm, cool, collected Antioco Bianchi was no longer present. And his mood was tripped by his prey's response.

The former linebacker smiled and uttered, "So the boss man gets a hard on for chocolate." He pressed back against the blade and Ant's hand shook with the first drop of blood that trickled from the knick the knife made in the man's skin, "And here I thought you liked those anorexic bitches with collagen injected lips." There was no fear in the man's eyes as his sights landed on the woman huddled in the darkened corner, "Adina, I said its time to leave."

Ant was accustomed to being underestimated by those who reported to him. They saw the suits. They heard the parochial school trained diction. They saw the degree from NYU on his office wall. He was too pretty to be anything other than the face of one of the five families. He was too young, too practical, and too scared to kill. Unfortunately they didn't know him at all.

He caught Jacobi by surprise. From North to South Ant's arm constricted the man's airway. He lined his lips up to his ear, "How does it feel to be the one without control." He was grappling with a man twice his size and winning, he tightened his hold, "It's easy to beat up on women, children, and men you've drugged and induced into a near coma, but your punk ass can't handle me." His mind went to the images captured on film of Jacobi's work. He imagined the nights Adina suffered a similar fate and his anger grew beyond containment. He lowered his voice and continued to mutter to his victim, "I hate you, not for the monster you are, but because you share her bed." The knife burned in the palm of his hand, urging him to end the test of wills and prove once and for all that he deserved the title he bore, "You don't deserve her." The man was gasping for air, "You never knew how to love her."

Ant saw movement out of the corner of his eye and realized Adina was stepping closer, "Let him go Antioco...its okay...just let him go."

He loved the way she said his name.

He slackened his hold on the man, "Yeah boss let me go and I promise I'll let her suck your dick."

Two seconds was all it took for Ant to release Jacobi from his makeshift wrestling hold and slide the blade along his throat. From ear to ear he cut him, watching as the blood squirted and spilled tainting everything around them. He tried in vain to cover his wound and prevent the loss of anymore blood but it was futile, death was coming quickly for Jacobi Charles. Ant knelt beside the dying man and wiped his blade on his soiled shirt. A maniacal grin curved his lips as he offered an unwarranted explanation, "I asked you to never disrespect her again in my presence."

~`~

Frightened and speechless...that is what she was. Adina backed away from the scene before her. She knew what Jacobi did. She understood that his visits to noncompliant associates and former benefactors always ended in death. Just as she knew chickens would come home to roost and one day the man would get his. Never had she imagined she would be present to watch it all unfold. Danger was a way of life, especially for a girl originally from the streets of Camden, but she had never watched someone die right before her eyes. Especially not by the hands of someone she considered...

"Adina." Her lashes fluttered as she followed the sound of his voice. "Are you okay baby." His hands rested on her shoulders and she shuddered. She saw the regret lining his features, "I'm so..."

She raised her hand to silence him, "Don't you fucking apologize for this shit...this makes you no better than...him."

His tightening grip froze her tongue, "Don't do that. Don't sit here and judge me for trying to protect you."

She couldn't muffle her laughter, "Protect?" She wrenched her arms from his grasp and pointed in the direction of the Jacobi's body, "The only reason why he's dead is because he challenged your authority," Her eyes fell to the crotch of his pants, "And your manhood." Adina found herself crushed against his chest in a tight vice like grip. Her eyes studied the droplets of blood on his collar, the smudge of Jacobi's life's essence on Ant's cheek, and the fear ever present in the man's eyes, "Go ahead...hit me...hurt me...prove what both already know...you're more like him than you're willing to admit."

Adina's back collided with the stone wall at the same time the door opened. She saw Lenny's worried face but the man made no move for her, he waited for Ant's instructions.

"Take her home," he barked, "I'll clean up this mess."

She shirked away from her old friend's touch and made a move for Ant. Lenny blocked her path, "No Adina...not now...let it go."

Grudgingly Adina obeyed Lenny's warning, her heart breaking with every step she took away from her savior. She had lied earlier when she told him she didn't need a knight in shining armor. While thankful for the end he put to her misery, she didn't believe she was worth the guilt and shame he would harbor for the rest of his life.

~`~

Ant was in the same spot when Lenny returned. The body was gone but the pool of blood remained. He heard the deep breaths the man took as he measured his words. He trusted Lenny Santiago more than he cared to admit. He had been a confidant, friend, and the man could pour blue label like no other. He also refused to keep his opinions to himself, "Antioco this is a game you can't win."

He shrugged in response to his favorite bartender's words. Honestly he would be a luckier man if he lost. At least her heart would belong only to him. He turned towards the man beside him, "Win or loss, as long as I have her, that's all that matters." He tossed a match to the ground and watched as flames engulfed everything around them, "To hell and back, I won't stop until Adina Rush is mine."