Page 100 of Pretty Little Threats

I enjoy Rose’s fiery personality. I like her spine. And I love the way she looks at me through her lashes before reaching up to claim my lips.

Remy steps aside. “Don’t kill him.”

I grin at my friend. “I won’t.”

He sighs. “I’ll get transport ready to take him to the hospital.”

With a smirk, I stride into the soundproof room and crack my knuckles, waking the man Remy has tied to a chair. “Fancy meeting you here,” I purr, prowling toward him.

The gag in his mouth stifles his groans of agony as I break every one of his fingers.

I grab his hair, holding up his head and speaking into his ear. “You touched what was mine.” I break his wrist and he screams. “That was your first mistake. Your second was thinking you had a chance.” I take his other wrist and breakit too. He gags, and I step away, wrinkling my nose as vomit spills around the cloth in his mouth. The acidic, pungent scent is enough to turn my stomach.

“Are you done yet?” Remy asks, bored more than sympathetic.

“Almost,” I say, waiting for the guy to stop heaving before standing behind him and grabbing his head and pressing my thumbs into his eyes.

The guy cries out and begs, lashing in the chair, despite how much pain he must be in already.

“If you report this to the cops,” I tell him, pressing a little harder and showing him how easy it would be for me to take his sight, “I’ll hunt you down and break every bone in your body. But not before I take your eyes and tongue.” I lean to whisper in his ear. “And then I’ll feed you your dick until you choke on it and die.”

The guy begs for mercy. The gag muffles the words, butI won’t tellis loud and clear.

I glance at Remy, arching an eyebrow.

He grimaces, unsure if we can let the guy go at this point. I’d only intended to scare him, but I got carried away.

The guy passes out.

Sighing, I release him and step away. “Watch him at the hospital. If he so much as thinks about the cops, have Ella deal with him.” Ella is a mercenary first, a nurse second, and a poison expert third. She has the unique ability to slip into hospitals unnoticed and deal with anyone.

Remy studies me, eyes narrowing. “You love Rose.”

“And?”

“I hope it’s not a mistake.”

I clench my jaw. “Are you trying to piss me off?”

Remy presses his lips together and shakes his head before leaving the room. I glance at the guy, limp in thechair. I feel no pity, and if I stay any longer, I might just kill the man.

But that would mean more time away from Rose. I leave the room and nod at Remy, ignoring the way he’s watching me to head back to my wife. I don’t want her waking up without me there.

thirty-one

ROSE

Dareand I spend the next morning in bed, getting up long enough for water and a quick snack. He finds a way to remind me that he’s the one in charge. By bending me over the counter, dropping to his knees as he spreads me out on his table and feasts, fucking me against the cabinets. Tasting me on the stairs. In the shower.

Unlike other men I’ve been with, Dare never comes until I have at least once. He takes his time coaxing my body into submission. Learning every little thing that’ll have me putty in his hands, and then and only then does he allow his own release.

He’s far too smug this afternoon, standing at the stove while he makes a late lunch. His skin is glowing and his lips are stuck in a permanent smirk. Seeing the change in him—a visible lessening of pressure now that I’ve stopped resisting—fills my chest with warmth. My husband likes to win, but I still have one trick up my sleeve.

Sliding off the stool, I make my way around the islandand stand next to him, wrapping my arms around his middle. He hooks one arm around my shoulder and kisses the top of my head. The gesture is so small, but it’s far more intimate than I’m used to, and the lonely part of me feels seen. My chest warms. The touches give me validation that I’m not imagining things.

“I’m so hungry,” I tell him.

“It’s almost ready.”

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