Page 61 of Hunters and Hydrangeas

“Probably not.” He finishes the knot and then stands behind me, not touching me even though he’s close.

“What are Ethan’s men going to do to me when they find out he’s dead?” I ask. “Am I going to have to watch my back for the rest of my life?”

Sam turns me around to face him. “Don’t worry about them. They’ll be so upset I killed him; they’ll come after me instead of going after you. And I promise you, if they mess with me, they won’t live long enough to give you any trouble.”

“That was a concerning statement.”

Sam chuckles. “You want to know what my biggest regret is?”

“Killing a whole lot of people?”

“I didn’t get to properly bite you,” he answers, his tone light and flirtatious. “It was the one perk of my job.”

“I have a boyfriend,” I say, feeling the need to remind him.

“Yeah, I know,” Sam laughs. “I’ve met him, remember? Not a fan.”

“You should stay—confess your crimes and do your time in jail. Then you can truly move on with your life.”

He lifts a dark brow. “Take the path of a reformed man?”

I nod.

“I’m afraid not. My family needs me, and I tried the prison thing.” He reaches behind me and slides my phone out of my back pocket. “It wasn’t for me.”

“What are you doing?” I ask nervously, eyeing my cell.

“I’m putting a number into your phone.”

“Is it yours?”

“No.” Finished, he places it back into my pocket. “But it belongs to someone who will help you find Sophia.”

“Thank you for saving me,” I say when I realize he’s about to take off.

“You’re welcome.”

“Are you going to be okay?”

“I’m resilient.” The assassin has the audacity to wink, and then he walks out of the room. “Take care of yourself, Piper.”

It’s not until Sam’s gone that I realize I’m stuck in this abandoned break room with a dead body, and I can’t even use my phone to call for help because my hands are tied behind my back.

And I have to go to the bathroom.

“Well, heck,” I say with a sigh, and then I head into the hall to see if I can track down Erin and Adam.

14

I’m sippingcoffee when Cassian and Noah return to the NIHA office. With the way they barge into the break room, you’d think I was currently being held at gunpoint.

Police officers and NIHA employees turn toward the pair, magnetized as they stride through the door. Next to me, a female hunter says a soft exclamation under her breath.

They are a sight to behold.

But my appreciation is dull tonight, my mind in the past. I bring my hand to my neck, remembering the first night Ethan attacked me—when Noah saved me from the gas station.

And now here we are again.

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