Page 53 of Midnight Torment

“No fucking idea.” His expression was ferocious and he looked ready to strangle the man in front of us. “If we’re walking into a trap, Johannes is the first fatality.”

“I heard that!”

“You were meant to.” Jordan winked at me and the frantic butterflies beating a tribal beat of doom in my stomach settled. Everything was always fine when he was beside me and in control. I leaned against him in the hope of absorbing his strength.

“How did they recognise me?” I asked in a hushed tone in case more enemies were watching us.

Johannes stopped and spun around to stare at us. “Does she not realise what she looks like?” he asked, turning his attention to me and making me incredibly uncomfortable. “She is the type of woman normally found on a billboard.”

I chewed the side of my mouth and almost hid behind Jordan. My looks made me very insecure. I knew I could do with losing a few pounds and my hips and breasts were too big for my frame, but he was being rude now.

“It’s really impolite to point out that a woman is overweight,” I defended. “We’re on holiday and everyone eats a little too much.”

He moved his gaze to Jordan who shrugged one shoulder. “You don’t need to point out the obvious to me.”

My heart sank and I slapped his arm in irritation. “I haven’t been at my workout sessions lately with Caine.”

Jordan sighed and rolled his eyes as he grabbed my arms in his firm grasp. “Baby, from the moment I met you, the first thing I noticed was your beauty. Men avoided asking you out in the past because your looks and body intimidated them.”

No. Absolutely not.

I slowly shook my head but Jordan’s hands moving to my cheeks stopped me.

“I wish for just one moment that you could see yourself through my eyes. You are perfect in every way I can imagine, Meg. It’s why I didn’t want to train you at the start. I knew if I let you into my life, I would never be able to let you go.”

My mouth opened and closed several times before I clamped my lips together.

Jordan tilted my head up so he could stare ferociously into my eyes. “I’ve never lied to you before, I don’t intend to start now.”

“He’s right,” Johannes chimed in. “He’s punching way above his weight.”

If he thought that, then he needed to take a second look at Jordan, because the man had always been sex on legs. There was a trail of broken hearts in the Twilight Rooms who’d lusted after him for years.

This was not a conversation I was having in this filthy alley with madmen chasing us, so I shook my head and straightened myself to my full height in my flip flops. “We’re being chased by bad men. Can we all please concentrate on ensuring that we are not murdered and left at the side of the road?”

Jordan kissed the top of my head. “No one’s putting a finger on you.”

As much as I appreciated his sentiment, all I wanted to do was get out of here and back to the safety of our holiday home. A noise from behind us spurred Jordan into action. He grabbed my hand and shoved Johannes forward with his other.

We walked at a fast pace that was just short of running, and my heart pounded in my ears. I stumbled, but Jordan caught me, tugging me tight against him, his arm snaking around my waist to stabilise me. My hand landed on his stomach, my other sliding around his back.

“This way,” Johannes said over his shoulder. “This would be easier if I had my hands to rely on.”

“Yeah, not happening as you pulled a gun on me.” Jordan tightened his grip on me as we turned a corner.

“That was before we were friends,” Johannes replied in good humour.

We turned another corner and the noise of the marketplace grew louder.

Johannes stopped and spun around. “You should cover her hair.” He lifted his bound hands and pointed to my hair. “It is highly recognisable.”

Jordan glared down at me for a moment before moving his troubled gaze in the direction we came. “Stay here and if he moves, boot him in the balls.” He placed a cloth bag into the backpack.

I leaned against a wall and watched Jordan disappear into the marketplace. We stood in silence for a while until my curiosity got the better of me. “Why did you bring your gun out?” I asked, since we were stuck here alone.

“I hate the Council and having to do work for them, but no one ever says no to a man like Matteus.” He sighed and leaned against the wall opposite me. “This is a war and we’ve all lost loved ones. Seth saved my life years ago. If your husband had told me Seth had sent him instead of Matteus, I would never have brought my gun out.”

“Matteus does seem to be an asshole.”

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