Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 106312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Caterers are busily attending to everyone’s needs, and I make a point to mentally map out the Bedore mansion. I never know if this might be the place where I have to take the final shot. Knowledge is power, after all.
A woman bursts out of the door to my left and barges past me. When I go to swear at her, I realize her dress is torn at the shoulders, and she’s sobbing, running away scared. Looking into the half-ajar door, I see a man holding his nose and cursing. Another man who thinks he can take from a woman.
Not my problem.
I’m playing low-key tonight, I remind myself.
I plan to keep walking down the hall, but my feet lead me into the small bedroom, unable to help myself.
“Fucking stupid whore,” he curses, then looks up. “Who the fuck are you?” he demands. But his tone changes ever so slightly as his filthy gaze roams over me. Sometimes, being a woman has its own power.
“I just saw a commotion and wanted to make sure you were okay,” I say sweetly as I step toward him. A king-size bed is in the center of the room, closely positioned near bay windows that I consider throwing him through. It’s only two stories, so he might not die. But even I’m aware that I’m at a disadvantage against such a heavy man.
“The fucking bitch broke my nose,” he growls.
“Here, let me have a look at it.” I tip my head and bat my thick eyelashes at him. He seems reluctant as if it’s a weakness to show me his injury. “Maybe I can make it better?” I say sensually.
He smirks and removes his hand. There’s barely any blood; she must’ve just got a lucky elbow in, but had she not, who knows what might’ve happened.
“Oh, it doesn’t look broken,” I softly announce. As he goes to grab for me, I shift out of his reach and hit him with a right hook. Blood explodes as he squeals like a pig and stumbles back. “Now it is broken, you stupid piece of shit.”
Fury bubbles to the surface at the thought of how many women he might’ve assaulted. I might not be able to kill whoever this fucker is, but a little broken nose never hurt anyone.
“You stupid bitch,” he snarls, but it comes out muffled due to his fingers pinching his nose to stop the bleeding.
“Don’t ever touch her or another woman again, asshole,” I warn, peering down at him through my mask.
He grabs for his gun in his holster, which is probably the hardest thing he’s ever been able to pull out of his pants. My body is ready to burst into action, except a trickle of danger keeps me in place.
It’s not the man pointing a gun at my face that has my feet planted on the floor.
No. It’s the monster who’s walked in behind me, drawing the shadows of the room to him.
I don’t even need to look at who it is because I can feel the six-foot-four mass of muscle standing behind me.
“What do we have here?” Eli’s voice slices through the room.
“This stupid bitch broke my nose,” the man screams.
“And is that enough reason to point a gun at a lady?” Eli asks, and I internally roll my eyes as he puts on an act of being chivalrous.
The man seems gobsmacked. “But she’s just a woman.”
Eli steps around me, and I have to crane my neck to see what he’s doing as he looms over the man whose hand is noticeably shaking, the gun no longer steady. The room is dark, only the light from the hallway shining in, and I imagine this fucker, who I now kind of feel sorry for, thinks he’s being stared down by the devil himself. It kind of pisses me off because if Eli hadn’t interfered, he would undoubtedly be looking at me with that reverence and fear instead.
“Please, Eli,” the man begs.
“What did you call me?” Eli’s voice cuts through the air.
The man gulps. “Mr. Monti. I don’t know this woman, but she assaulted me.”
Eli curls his hand around the collar of the man’s shirt, fisting enough material to slowly lift him to standing. “And does it make it better if a man assaults you instead? I know plenty who might take you up on that offer, but I’m not sure you’ll like the items they use.”
A cold shudder runs down my back. I’ve seen this man kill, but when he whispers threats, I must confess it’s terrifying. His voice is so smooth and deep, it’s like a lullaby. But one that only promises death.
And the man is too terrified to even lift the gun that’s now gripped loosely in his hand, his arm hanging slack by his side. With a quick movement, Eli is behind him, his thick arm cording around his neck as his other hand grabs the gun. The man grapples, but to no avail, and the whole time, Eli stares at me, those ethereal eyes looking back at me like the devil himself in the dark as the hallway light seeps through to silhouette his frame.