Page 16 of The Sinners Gambit

“My turn. So, what happens once I earn my freedom and I still don’t want you?” she asks.

I smirk, confident in this answer. “You’ll want me, but I’ll let you go because a deal is a deal. If you do leave me though . . . I know you’ll be back.”

She turns around to face me. “That’s some lofty fucking confidence you have there.”

I step closer, which makes her hesitate, but not in fear. She takes her bottom lip into her mouth. “I know you feel it. It may be insane. It may be out of the norm. But this”—I gesture between us—“is very much real, even if it feels fantastical.”

“Fated mates aren't a real thing.”

“Aren’t they?” I dare her. She shuffles her feet and brings her hand up to rub at her arm, trying hard not to make direct eye contact. “What’s wrong? You worried I’m right?” I smirk at her.

Naomi scoffs at me. “Fuck, no. I’m just . . . I’m just cold. That’s all.”

“Mmhm. Okay. How about we head in then?”

She turns to look back at the garden we haven’t visited yet, and then at me, who’s challenging her. “But we’re not done.”

“We can walk here again tomorrow. It’s almost dinner time.”

“And the questions?”

“We can save them for later.”

“How about you ask one more?” she pushes.

I laugh. “You don’t like leaving things incomplete.”

“Nope,” she says, popping the P. “But I can leave with it being even.”

“Okay. One for the road then,” I say as I motion for her to start heading back.

“What do you really feel about all of this?” he asks.

“Um . . .” she hesitates.

“Honesty, remember.”

“Call me crazy, but I’m not scared. I’m angry and pissed—but not scared.”

“Tell me more.”

“Just ‘cause you phrase it like a statement, doesn’t mean it's not a question,” she challenges.

“Maybe not. Please?”

“I won’t elaborate. But I’ll give you another truth. You may be onto something when you say there’s darkness within me.”

My lips part as I bite my bottom lip in a sly grin. Before I can say anything else, she continues, “And that's whatyoushould be afraid of. I’m not a scared, defenseless mouse.”

I feel all the blood rush to my dick just from staring at this badass woman. “No, you’re not.”

“I’ll see you at dinner, Killer. I know my way back.” She walks away, sashaying her hips. I want to tell her she’ll get lost. However, I have a feeling she’s a lot more complex than even I realize. The thought makes me even more excited than before.

Chapter 9

Naomi

Killianwasallegedlycalledaway for work. One would think being a psychopath was his main job, but apparently not. He owns a major tech company, Morel High Ground—that’s why he was able to stalk me so easily. The irony is not lost on me that the owner of a tech company named after the idiom “moral high ground” is a stalker. Nothing dies on the internet. Society leaves the biggest paper trail every day with their need for instant gratification through likes and comments. That’s the price we pay to have the world of knowledge at our fingertips.

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