Page 28 of Mine

Quirking his head to the side, he reluctantly dropped his hand and let out a sigh. Didn’t she understand that she didn’t need to pretend with him? He wasn’t her enemy, he only wanted to help her realize her full potential.

“You know who, Lexi...that little voice in your head? The one screaming at you to let her out?” he urged. “You don’t have to pretend with me. Just listen to her.Please.”

“I... I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she denied, her voice raising ever so slightly in anger.

Fucking hell! Would you just quit, already? You’re such a damn drama queen! He knows you. He knows US. Give in to him...give into me. We could be so happy if you would ju—

Abruptly dismissing the voice of her alter-ego, Lexi shook her head. Now was not the time for her to have a breakdown. If she didn’t stay in control, she would never escape. That was her goal, she reminded herself. Everything else was merely a distraction.

“You saw me?” she asked, pretending that the last few minutes of conversation had never happened. “But, how? I was always so careful.”

Annoyed by the way she had changed the topic so nonchalantly; he angrily tossed his protein bar to the nightstand next to the bed. Settling his broad back against the row of wrinkled pillows, he took in a cleansing breath.Fine,he thought. She could have it her way this time, but the conversation was far from over. In order to truly move forward with his plans, he knew that her dark little friend would have to emerge at some point.

“Yes, you were careful, my love. Very careful. You did everything right. Well, almost everything. But to be fair, you wouldn’t have seen me that night even if you had tried,” he said, giving her a reassuring grin.

“Oh, yeah? And which night was that, huh?” she asked, wondering how many incidents he had witnessed.

“It was the night of your last kill...a little over two years ago, now, right? Fuck, time flies, doesn’t it? Anyways, I went to the club that night to just look, really. Seeing if I could find another littlebrunette to scratch that nagging itch that never goes away. And I did, didn't I? It didn’t take me long to find you. How could I not be drawn to you? You looked like such a perfectslutin that little black dress that barely covered your ass. With those bright red lips and your hair in those messy waves that drive me wild. The hair you get after you’ve just beenfucked.Hmm…like how your hair looks right now,” he purred, lifting his hand to tug the curl gracing her shoulder. “You wereexactlywhat I was looking for.”

Drifting her eyes to his fingers as he played with her tangled locks, Lexi recalled the night in question. She remembered that kill vividly. Partly because it was her last and partly because it had left her so unsatisfied. Eight long weeks’ worth of hard work to ensnare her mark into her deadly web, only to have the prick die far too quickly and painlessly. Knowing that he had witnessedthatkill made the bitter taste still left in her mouth all the worse.

“So,” he began again, clearing his throat, “I knew you were my girl as I watched you sip your fruity drink in the corner. Your little head bopping along to that God awful techno music. You know, I could tell there was something different about you right away, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. It intrigued me enough that I started to approach you...but then I saw Roman slink his way behind you...fuckingErik Romanof all people!”

“Wait,” she interrupted. “You knew Roman? How?”

“We worked together,” he said simply.

In an instant, all the blood drained from Lexi’s face. The implication of his statement terrified her to the core. She knew it was a gamble going after Roman but thought she had gotten away with it. Guess she had lost that bet, after all.

“Wait...you...you work for Bloodbayne, too?” she asked nervously. “How come I never saw you two together? I would’ve remembered you.”

“Roman managed Thailand, I oversee Eastern Europe,” he said with a small shrug. “We were...reluctant counterparts to say the least.”

Gasping loudly, her eyes widened as things began to fall into place. Not only was Kade a cold-blooded serial killer, but he was also an Underboss for one of the greatest organized crime families in America. Karma had finally come to kick her ass.

“Oh my God...you’re Volkov?” she squeaked.

“I am,” he replied with a wave of his hand. “But we will get to all of that later. So where was I? Oh yeah...I saw Roman worm his way behind you, and I was sofuckingpissed when I saw him touch you, Lexi. You have no idea how badly I wanted to rip his head from his body. But I was bound by my Oath, so I just watched. I watched him kiss you. I watched him reach his hand up under your skirt to touch your bare little cunt. I could tell he was awful at that, by the way, you lookedsobored. That made me feel a little better, I’ll admit...but...fuck...it took all my strength not to steal you away from him.”

Listening to him as he rambled on, Lexi reeled from all the information being thrown at her. Trying to stay in the moment, she closed her eyes and brushed her fears aside. Within seconds, her mind recalled that fateful night.

The popular club was at capacity, filled with drunk college kids celebrating their first night of Spring Break. Even standing in the corner of the dance floor, she found the air within the large room to be too stifling hot for her liking. The European technomusic that the cocaine fueled DJ played was tolerable, however the constant groping by random frat boys was not. After waiting for Roman in the overwhelming club for over an hour, she had almost given up.

When the asshole finally appeared, he came up behind her without any warning, grabbing her ass so hard that he had left a bruise. It had taken all her willpower to not elbow his hooked nose into his brain. She instead greeted him with a wink and a laugh, putting on an act of being the ditzy little coed he had paid for.

It didn’t take long before he wanted his money’s worth. Before she knew what was going on, she felt him fumble his clammy hand towards the apex between her thighs. She tried to seem excited as he roughly fingered her, grinding down on his hand and moving her hips in time with the steady beat, moaning and squealing like a porn star. If Roman had any idea how to pleasure a woman, he would’ve known that her orgasm was faked two ways to Sunday.

Wiping his dirty hand on her dress, he then screamed into her ear over the pounding base. He told her that he wanted to‘take her back into the alley and fuck her so hard she wouldn’t be able to walk afterwards.’With a flirty smile, she asked him to take her back to his car instead. He was such a slimy son of a bitch that he yanked her from the nightclub right then and there.

She hadn’t planned on killing him that night, but Roman made things too easy. She couldn’t stop herself from seizing the opportunity. Within minutes, she found herself straddling the blonde in the back of his Jaguar XJ, listening to him demand that she suck his cock, or he would throw her on the next shipto Thailand. According to Roman, she needed to‘learn how to be a proper little whore.’She might have been able to keep her rabid personality in check if he hadn't slapped her across the face after she refused.

Unfortunately for the smug prick, that was all it took for her to unleash her fury. Not allowing him time to react, she yanked her Stiletto switchblade from her bra and slashed him across the throat. A clean, crimson line ripped him open ear to ear, almost like a second smile. Regrettably, that first cut had nicked his artery, causing him to bleed out far too quickly.

As far as she was concerned, it was a botched kill. One that would forever haunt her in more ways than she would have imagined.

“God you were beautiful,” Kade continued, not realizing she had zoned out for most of his monologue. “Watching your face as you stabbed him over and over again after you cut his throat. Fuck, it made me so hard, Lexi. The way his blood splattered all over you? I’ll never forget it for as long as I live. You were so feral and uninhibited, my love.Thatwas the moment that I knew why I was drawn to you. Don’t you see? Fate brought us together that night for a reason, Sweetheart. We’redestined.We’re destined to take over the Organization.Together.”

Shaking her head, she moved her fingertips to massage her throbbing temples. Between the memory of that defining night and the realization that he had insane, grandiose plans, she immediately felt overwhelmed. It was too much information for her to process all at once, there were too many suppressed emotions bubbling to the surface. She wasn’t equipped to face her inner demons, especially notwitha demon hovering over her.

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