Page 21 of Pushed

Nothing he could do can make you forget that.

“Like you care.” Rolling my eyes, I yanked my hands away. “You think I'm really going to believe this nice guy act you got going on right now?” Tucking my hands under my ribs, I hugged myself tight. “Fuck you.”

“Things aren't always how they appear.” His lips thinned into a tight smile as he tilted his chin up. “You've got a little fire you in, that's good. . .” Strumming his lower lip with his thumb, his brows arched high. “You're going to need it here.” Standing up, he hovered over me, scrubbing his jaw. “It won't save you, nothing can save you from what you're about to see.”

Pursing my lips, I rolled back to my side, away from his all-consuming glare. “Then I'll just close my eyes again.”

“That won't work, not here. Come on, sit up.”

“No.”

His massive hand scooped under my jaw, forcing my face to his. My eyes opened wide at the sheer strength and demand of his touch. “Sit up.” Pressing his thumb into the center of my chin, he lifted my head off the bed. “You can either work with me here or I won't be able to protect you. You might think I'm the bad guy, but you've got a lot to learn.” Dropping my face, he stepped back.

Watching him, I studied his expression, his eyes, the way his hands stroked through his hair and pulled it off his forehead. He didn't seem to hold the same evil I thought I had seen.

The man I had seen that night was riddled in anger and rage. He was bleeding fierce, raw hate from every pore. But maybe I had read him wrong?

I still didn't know what was going on in that moment, I didn't know the history between the two men or what caused it to explode with such violence. The reason behind it was as much a mystery as the man who had decided to execute on site.

Machi implied he wasn't the bad guy. . . Was he right?

Or was he just blowing smoke up my ass?

Was what I actually saw just him ridding the world of another piece of shit? Could that other guy have been the real monster?

Stop! Look where you are!

He still took you!

Good guys don't claim the innocent as theirs.

Machi hovered over me, his black wavy hair glistened in blue highlights under the small light in the center of the ceiling. A tight green t-shirt hugged his shoulders, framing his large biceps and firm chest.

Staring down at me, his almond-shaped green eyes sparked in thought. It was like he was focusing on me, but I wasn't the center of his troubled mind.

Light lines stretched out from the corners of his eyelids as his mouth turned down in a frown and his hands opened and closed by his sides, balling up tight and releasing.

His face was weathered, tired, sick of it all. He didn't look like he wanted to be there anymore than I did.

There was something about the way his eyes bore into me, the way his gaze flared in frustration and crashed in apology. I wasn't sure if he meant to show me what he was feeling or if it was just something he couldn't hold in anymore.

But I saw it.

“What do you want from me?” I asked, pushing myself up and curling my fingers into the edge of the mattress. “How can you expect me to just give in? I can't,I won't.”

“You need to. The sooner you just give in and do what I'm asking you to do, the easier it will be on both of us.”

Shaking my head, I looked up at him under hooded lids. “You took me—remember?Or did you forget that?” Crossing my legs, my fingers slinked under my thighs. “You're acting like I have control over this fucking shit storm. I don't—you're the one running the show.”

Machi stood taller, rocking his jaw back and forth. I could hear his teeth grinding against each other as his mouth worked them together. His eyes stayed still, glowering behind heavy lids. “You're wrong.”

“Am I?” I waited for him to answer, to tell me that this was nothing more than a trick, a sick way to teach me a lesson.

I wanted him to tell me we were in a shitty hotel at the edge of town, that he was trying to prove a point that I shouldn't be snooping in windows because what goes on behind closed doors is none of my business.

Only he didn't; he didn't say anything like that.

“Look, I have a job to do.” Raking his fingers through his hair, Machi sighed. “And right now, you're part of that job. If I don't follow orders, I'll end up just like that asshole. I don't want that and trust me—youdon't want that either.”

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