A roar ripped free as I surfaced. Bloody, searing…and terrifying.
Crack!
The hollow sound ripped through my head like the blow of a fist kissed with steel. I shoved against the floor, the white tiles blurring before they sharpened. Blood. Bodies. Her.
Reality slammed into me hard.
I rose to my feet, looking past the dead cleaner splayed out on my floor, then I moved, snatching my cell from the end table before stumbling to the doorway. At the far end of the hallway, she dropped the extinguisher with a deafening CLANG and tore the broken lock from the stairwell door. Then she was gone, hurtling into the darkness, leaving me behind.
No…
NO!
I stumbled, slamming my hand against the doorframe of my apartment, and charged after her. There was no room for thinking anymore. Now some other sick need was in control.
All I saw was that open stairwell door as I ran past the dead body of the second cleaner. Still, reality pushed in…and with it came the text from an unknown number. One initialed with an H.
It was Hale.
It had to be.
Calling me to heel.
But there were never just two guys sent to wipe someone and their records from existence, were there? No. There were never just two.
There were more coming.
I flinched as the rage brought blinding clarity.
No…there were more here.
They’ll kill her.
They’ll kill…Helene Montgomery.
I threw the door wider and plunged into the gloom, throwing my hand out to grasp the railing. The faint, frantic slaps of her bare feet only seemed to incite that strange hunger. I plunged down the stairs as below me the spill of light followed the howl of hinges.
She was escaping.
She was—
I didn’t run. I hurled myself downward, taking the stairs three and four at a time until I slammed my shoulder against the cracked open door.
She was there in front of the elevator, her arms wrapped around her naked body.
Ding.
The sound of the elevator followed. I lunged as the door opened and she leaped inside.
“Come on!” she howled as she frantically stabbed the button. Tap…tap…tap…TAP.
My boots slammed into the floor as I ran, and in the distance the elevator doors closed.
I was going to lose her…
I was going to lose her! I lunged, desperately driving my hand out for it to be crushed. Agony came, shooting through my knuckles as the doors slowly opened.
“No…NO!” she shrieked, stumbling backwards until she slammed against the wall.
I sucked in hard breaths and slowly stepped inside, turning my head to press the button and close the doors. “Now…” my breaths were an inferno. “How is that any way to treat your host?”
“You bastard!” She lunged, swinging her fist in a perfect damn hook…if it had landed.
But there was no room to move. Not for her, at least. I grabbed her wrist and stepped forward, driving her against the cold steel wall as we descended. “I am a bastard, Helene. I am the bastard. The one you’ll cower from. The one you’ll scream for.”
Faintly, I realized just how fast we were moving…and how warm her body was against mine. I reached between us, her breasts brushing my arm. Fuck if my cock didn’t twitch with the touch. Still, I worked the buttons of my shirt, then yanked. “You will put this on.”
She worked her mouth, then threw her head forward and spit in my face.
Spittle dribbled down my cheek as I clenched my jaw. My hard breaths were savage. But I kept control, driving her hand over her head and forced myself against her.
“You want to spit on me, Helene?”
She writhed, trying to get away as I lowered my head. “I could fuck you right now. You do realize that, don’t you? I’m hard enough. I bet you’re still wet, too. I could drive into your soft cunt, bury myself deep. I bet you wouldn’t even fight me…after a while.”
She stiffened with the words, then lifted her gaze to mine. “Go ahead and I’ll cut that cock off and shove it down your throat.”
Boom.
Boom.
BOOM!
My heart pounded with the threat. I grew hard at the rage in her eyes. She wasn’t just any woman. No, Helene Montgomery was a survivor. I licked my lips. That need bellowed inside me. I wanted her. I wanted her more than I’d ever wanted any other woman before.
But the elevator thudded to a stop.
I stepped backwards, yanking her with me, and shoved her hand into the sleeve of my shirt. “There are more coming. Do you understand what I’m saying? There are more men, just like the ones in my apartment, coming. You want them to find you?”
I worked fast, driving her other hand into the other sleeve, pulling my shirt closed as the doors opened. I spun, making sure I was in front of her and reached behind, grasping her wrist.
“No,” she answered.
“Good.” I stepped out into the apartment foyer. “Then do exactly as I say and we might just get out of here alive.”
The muffled sounds of the city traffic grew louder as I dragged her with me. The moment I turned my head to the night desk and the pain in the ass behind it, Vernon Bridges, he turned his head toward me, his eyes widening as the sounds of night traffic died away once more.
“Mr. Cruz!” he called as two men stepped into view.
One of them was still tugging the last closure of his plastic overalls. Vernon looked at them, then back to me. “Your cleaners, sir. Your—”
Thwack!
Vernon jerked as the back of his head exploded, dropping him instantly to the floor. I turned to the two men as the one with the gun looked at me.
Helene desperately yanked her hand from mine. But there was no getting out of this. Not for her and not for me. Not anymore.
The cleaner scowled as his partner tugged his overalls up and moved to the body, dragging Vernon out of view from the tinted windows.
“The garage,” I muttered, stepping backwards. “Get to the goddamn garage.”
I spun, panic filling my head. My keys were still in my pocket. I’d been so desperate to get back to her, so goddamn desperate to play, I hadn’t bothered to pull them free.
Now, I was thankful.
I dragged them free as the automatic doors opened, leading into the empty parking lot…and my car waiting in front. I stabbed the button to unlock the car as I gripped her arm shoved her toward it, and opened the passenger side door.
“Let go!” She fought, twisting around and clenching her fist.
I had to be careful…this woman was dangerous.
One hard jerk and I snapped her head forward. “Listen to me!”
She had no choice but to meet my stare. Rage waited. Not glinting or sparking like an explosion in her eyes. No, like a predator waiting. My stomach tightened. What the fuck?
I swallowed, wetting my throat enough to speak. “Those men in there are dangerous. They work for a powerful man. A man I—”
I searched her gaze, trying to explain the corrupt, lethal world I lived in. But how could I? How could I explain my life to someone who had no idea of the things I’d done…and who I’d done them for?
“You mean the dead men in your apartment?”
I scowled. “Yes.”
“The men you killed.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
I shook my head. Fully aware every second was a ticking time bomb, I didn’t have time to answer to some random woman…some woman I’d just hit with my fucking car.
“Why did you kill them?”
My scowl grew deeper. I fixed on her as my mind raced. I hadn’t thought. That was the truth. I’d just…acted. But why? Why kill men I knew were sent from Hale?
That split second came rushing back to me.
The moment the cleaner had turned his head.
The moment he’d…looked at her.
“Because…because he looked at you.”
Naked. Spread. Still glistening from my mouth. Mine. That violent hunger slammed into me. One that now had a name, possession. I jerked back to reality, gripping her arm tighter as I leaned close. “Because he fucking looked at you. No one is allowed to do that. Not them…and not Michael fucking DiAngelo. Now—” I reached, grasped her head, and shoved her down. “Get into the goddamn car.”
She buckled, falling inside. I slammed the door closed and stepped away, turning to pin her against the seat with my stare. If she ran now, I’d be fucked. If she ran now, I’d be—desperate.
But she didn’t run, leaving me to yank open the driver’s door and slide behind the wheel. The automatic doors to the apartment building opened as I stabbed the button to start the engine. Helene stared straight ahead as I threw the car into reverse and pulled out of the parking space.
Shit.
SHIT!
What the fuck was I thinking?
Beep.
My cell chimed in my pocket. I ignored it, turned the wheel, and flew out of the garage. There were dead bodies everywhere, in the hall and in my apartment. The wrong dead bodies. How the fuck was I going to explain that to Hale? I jerked my gaze to her as Helene grasped the seatbelt and yanked it down, clasping it in place.
My mind raced as I braked at the boom gate, watching the rear-view mirror. They never followed as the gate rose. I yanked the wheel, flying out of the garage and into the street.
I pushed the car hard, turning the wheel to head toward the quiet, residential streets. I needed a place to think…to figure out what the fuck had happened and how to get us back on board. Because we needed to be.
We were so damn close.
Close to finding the information we’d waited ten fucking years for.
The information that had brought us to Hale.
I clenched my fists around the steering wheel and stared straight ahead.
Until she moved, pulling my shirt in front of her and worked the buttons. She drew my focus. I glanced her way, watching her shift against the door in an effort to get as far away from me as she could.
I’m sorry.
The words were stuck in my head. Because there was no way they’d ever reach my lips. The Principal was never sorry.
Towering apartment blocks faded into the endless dark. I turned the wheel and accelerated, heading toward a safe house I owned in Brentville…until my damn cell vibrated.
With a snarl, I adjusted, reached into my pocket, and pulled out my phone.
Unknown.
The screen was alight with the ID. I glanced at the road, then back again, my thumb moving to answer the call, but it ended. It ended. The repercussions of that were unfathomable. Just like the situation I was now in.
Three missed calls.
Two from my brother, Kane, and one from Hale.
My cell vibrated in my hand again, making me jump. I turned the wheel and stabbed the button, answering the call. “I’m here.”
“What the fuck is going on?” Kane barked, then grunted into the phone.
“I can’t explain. Not yet. Not until I—”
She came at me in a rush, slamming my head into the window. The wheel jerked, tearing from my hands. The car skidded sideways. I dropped my phone, scrambling to correct the spin. But she came again, screaming and punching, driving her knuckles into my cheek.
Agony roared.
Blinding me with tears.
Thud.
The car mounted the curb before I flew forward with a grunt, slamming against the wheel as we came to a stop. The world slowed. A door cracked open.
“No,” I slurred, shaking my head to stop the world from spinning.
She didn’t stop to listen, just thrust the passenger door open and tore away.
NO!
I jerked my head upwards, to see her fly around the front of the car and race along the headlights. I stabbed my seatbelt.
“Riven!” My brother roared from the phone.
I bent, snatched it up, and shoved the driver’s door open. Don’t let her escape. Don’t…let her escape.
I pressed the button to end the call and shoved my cell into my pocket, leaving my goddamn Audi and the now busted streetlight behind.
“Helene!” I roared. “Helene!”
I stumbled, then ran, chasing her. With every sudden breath, I grew clearer, watching my white shirt flapping as she veered into someone’s driveway and raced along the side of their house.
She was going to get away.
The hell she was.
I lengthened my stride, leaning into the hunt. My breath was steady, that damned hunger rising to the surface, overtaking everything else. She was fast, even if she stumbled slightly no doubt from her concussion…vaulting over a fence until the tail of my shirt caught.
Rip.
The sound of tearing fabric only triggered that need further. I pushed harder, grasped the top of the fence, and leaped over it, landing with a thud.
She stumbled, her arms windmilling as she found her balance and raced ahead.
A damn dog came from out of nowhere, slamming its massive body against the fence. Panic punched through me. I jerked my gaze toward the beast as it barked savagely, lunging over and over again.
When I turned back, she was gone.
“Fuck!”
I left the goddamn dog behind, racing forward, hunting her between darkened cars and quiet houses. I dragged my tongue across my lip, still tasting her. My heart boomed. My senses were on fire. I could almost sense her. Almost…
There.
The house in the distance was vacant, no cars in the driveway and a For Sale sign out front. I raced toward it, tearing along the driveway to reach the back. The rear door was open. The closer I came, I saw it was kicked in.
A surge of pride made me smile. I stepped up, pushing the door wider.
The air almost trembled with anticipation.
I was going to make her pay for slamming my head against the goddamn window. I probed the wretched throb at the side of my head and pulled my fingers away. Blood shone almost black as I made my way into the kitchen.
The place was sparsely furnished, staged perfectly for a showing. I scanned the living room over the breakfast bar and turned along the hall…heading for the bedrooms. I could feel her hiding, waiting.
The door at the end of the hallway was closed. Every other one was open. My smile grew wider as I neared. I wanted her…I ached for her.
I reached out, grasped the handle, and turned it. The moment I stepped inside, something hurtled toward me. I threw myself backwards just in time.
Crash!
A lamp shattered against the wall. I wrenched my gaze to her as she bared her teeth and stepped sideways, my shirt just reaching the tops of those perfect milky thighs. My heart clenched at the sight. Fuck, she looked beautiful. The terrifying, dark things I’d do to her.
Fight me, I urged in my head as I took a step toward her. I wanted her to. I wanted her to give me all she had. I wanted her to—
With a primal scream, she lunged.
And my heart came with her, slamming against my chest as she barged into me.
I could barely fight her, she was so mesmerizing.
Her white teeth shone in the gloom.
I grabbed her, wrestling her as she drove her fist upwards, right into my stomach.
Oof.
I doubled over as she swung again, only this time her blow was too wide.
“Missed m—” I started as something wrapped around my neck and pulled tight.
What the fuck?
She howled, turning around to grasp the ends of the cord around my neck tighter. I threw my hands out, trying desperately to grasp her from behind. But all I grabbed was my shirt…
Rip.
Panic ignited inside me.
Wait.
WAIT!
I tried to breathe and fight…the reality was that I could do neither.
The pressure around my neck faded.
And took everything with it.
My knees buckled.
I felt the fall.
Mel…my sister’s face lingered faintly in the dark.
The dark that rushed into me.
I’m sorry.
