Page 72 of Tempt Me
Rue murmurs in her sleep, and I check on her, but she relaxes again, and I cross back over to the stove to switch it off.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps outside catches my attention. Grabbing the gun from where it's hidden in a drawer, I move towards the door, cautiously peeking through the peephole.
My heart pounds as I see a man standing on the porch, looking around suspiciously. He's undoubtedly carrying a weapon, although he hasn’t pulled it out yet. Without hesitation, I swing open the door and aim my gun at him.
"Stay right there," I growl, my finger resting on the trigger.
He throws his hands up in surrender, but I don't trust him for a second.
"You're trespassing."
"I'm here for the girl," he says calmly. "Marco wants her where she belongs."
Wondering who Marco is, I shake my head resolutely. "She's not going anywhere with you."
The man smirks. "You don't have a choice in this, pal."
Taking a step forward, my gun still trained on him. "I have a choice to protect Rue at all costs."
He lunges at me suddenly, at the exact moment, I pull the trigger, missing him completely. We struggle for control of the gun. With my strength and height advantage, along with my experience, I overpower him, causing him to stumble backward with a fist to his face. He trips off the porch and hits his head on a rock on the ground.
Rolling my eyes at the odds, I take a deep breath, shove the gun in the back of my pants and check his pulse. He's alive, but he won't be waking up for a while. Dragging his body inside, I secure the door behind us.
Rue is standing in the hallway, sleepily blinking at the scene in front of her. "Isaac? What happened?"
"Someone came looking for you. You know someone called Marco?"
She shakes her head, a frown creasing her beautiful face. "Marco? Who the fuck is that now?"
"Guessing it's someone connected to Antonio. But how did they know where to find us?" This is a rhetorical question and one that is worrying me. Iknowwe weren't followed here.
So how did he suddenly appear?
Rue's eyes flicker to the man lying unconscious on the floor. "Is he dead?"
"No, just knocked out," I reply, securing his wrists with a zip tie.
"You're not going to kill him?"
"I want to know who sent him."
Rue nods in agreement, and without another word, she reaches down to her thigh and pulls out the holstered knife as she goes to get a bottle of water.
Returning to the unconscious man, she chucks the water on him, splashing me in the process, still crouched next to him, and then she bends down when he splutters himself awake.
Sitting back with amusement as Rue holds the knife to our captive’s throat, she hisses, "Who the fuck is Marco?"
Before he has a chance to answer, my phone buzzes in my pocket. It would only be the Di'Castellos, and to ignore it would be, in a word, stupid.
"Yeah?" I growl.
"Where the fuck are you?" Vik growls back.
"Someplace safe," I reply, catching Rue's eyes and giving her a shut the fuck up look as she appears to be laughing at me.
"Yeah, real safe," she whispers.
Glowering at her, I stand up. "Where areyou?"
