Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 73580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
She lowers her trembling hands, staring at me, no doubt seeing the side I’ve kept carefully hidden. The monster under the masks.
“You...you” she sputters.
She sees me now, but it’s too late. She’s the prey I didn’t even know I hunted. I drop the bloody knife to the floor and step over the dead bastard, still bleeding out. “What the fuck were you thinking coming back here? Do you have any sense of self-preservation?”
A spark of anger lights her eyes like a candle in a dark window. “You can’t blame this on me.”
I point at the man on the floor. “You think he was here for me? He sat outside waiting, no doubt for weeks, watching until you returned so he could finish the job someone else started.”
She dips her eyes to the body and back to me. “You saved me.”
I crowd her, pushing her back into a tall dresser until she can’t escape. “This time, I did. But what if I wasn’t here? You’d be dead right now, or worse.”
She shoves at my chest, trying to push me away, and then reaches behind her to jerk a gun from the waistband of her pants. “Back up, I get enough lectures from my brother. I don’t need them from you too.”
“You didn’t think to pull this out when he caught you unaware?”
She scoffs. “I let him catch me. I left the door unlocked. Hell, I practically invited the bastard into my house. I hoped to get some answers. Maybe he’d spill something in all his posturing and threats. I would never have let him touch me.”
I grab her wrist, twisting it until the gun slips out of her hand to clatter on the floor. “Don’t point a gun at me. He has friends outside too. What were you planning for them?”
She hikes her chin up, challenging when she should back down. She does not know how close I am to ripping her apart. “I would have dealt with that too.”
I kick her knees out and let her land hard on the floor, her legs instantly soaking up her assailant’s blood.
She tries to break the hold I have on her neck but doesn’t succeed.
“Look at him,” I growl. “Is this what you wanted? You want me to drag the others up here and slaughter every single one of them for you? Is that what this is?”
She shivers and says nothing.
“You think you’re the smartest person in the room, and you don’t even realize how big that room is. You can never be the smartest. You can never be the fastest.” I kneel beside her and force her to meet my eyes. “I’m not saying you aren’t smart. I’m saying your arrogance is a flaw people will learn to exploit. It’s how they took your council seat so easily.”
She wiggles, trying to get free again, but I’ve had enough of this spoiled brat and her ego. It’s time to teach her once and for all that she belongs to me, and I protect what’s mine.
I drag her up by the back of her neck and spin her into my chest. “You are such a brat, but guess what? I just saved your life. Time to pay the fucking tab.”
20
SELENA
I stare up at him, no doubt looking as lost as I feel right now. Some of the anger has cooled, and I shift my gaze to see the blood pool from his victim inch closer to my bare feet. “I should clean up the carpet.” I wave at the mess encroaching on my personal space, but he gives me a shake, his fingers digging into my biceps.
“What the fuck? Don’t worry about the body. I have people for that. He tried to kill you and talked about raping you. He deserves what he got.” He’s tilting his head this way and that, as if studying every angle of my face. Maybe in the shock, he can’t read me like he usually does. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen a dead body, but it is the first time I can feel the stickiness congealing against my bare toes. No one is immune to something like that.
I drag my eyes from the pool of blood and look at his face again. His jaw is tense, his eyebrows drawn up tight. Despite his original outburst, he hasn’t dragged me to the bed by the hair yet. I guess I should be thankful he hasn’t given in to his caveman brain, at least any more than he already has.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asks, his voice dipping low.
I clear my throat. “Like what? I’m just looking at you. You’re the one who declared I need to pay up…so…”
His eyes narrow, and his full lips thin even further. “This is not the time to challenge me.”