Page 44 of Hostile Secret
There’s a commotion at the front doors of Elysian in the distance. It won’t take long for the Feds to show up. I stuff my gun back into its holster, drag the mask to my chin and capture her beautiful face in my hands.
“Are you okay?”
She blinks up at me and nods, her hands settling on my chest. “I am now.”
Her lashes flutter as she seesaws into me. Except she’s not a fragile little girl craving trouble. She's a trained soldier who’s lost her lieutenant.
In another lifetime, I’d try to be the guy she looks up to. Or the man who makes it all better. Unfortunately, I’ll never be that guy.
“Did he hurt you?”
She shakes her head. “Just a few scratches.”
I sigh heavily. This is so messed up. Her stroking touch is a rush more toxic than the narcotics we earn billions from and more valuable than a coveted high-spec weapon of destruction.
Chaotic urges to own her heightens my invincibility, more so than any victorious mission I’ve ever carried out. The heady combination sickens me to the pit of my stomach. I shouldn’t want this girl like I do.
She fists the material close to my pecs and yanks me closer, sincerity etched across her expression. The sugary sweetness of alcohol laces her warm breath.
“I’m so sorry, Gio.” This courageous young woman has a supernatural power over me, and I can’t shut it down. For both our sakes, I refuse to show it.
“I didn’t mean for this to happen. How can I make it right? Whatever you want from me––I’ll do it.”
I’m a killer born of duty and violence, welded together from cruelty and darkness. A man who demands obedience and requires routine.
Tonight’s antics had flipped everything on its head, because she rebelled against me.
This stunning temptress has proven to me she has a thirst for waywardness. She may well sit at the Souza family table, but India doesn’t belong in my brutal world.
Standing here, in a split second of unspoken glances, desire blisters my senses and melts the violence from my evil bones. Except, it’s in these foolish moments when people are wide open to an attack.
We’re standing in a pool of blood amidst a couple of corpses and she’s drunk.
“Didn’t Reno teach you anything, niñita?” I growl, my frustration mounting. “You’re wasted.”
“I––I… I’m not… I’m sorry.” She clings to me, her body trembling from shock in the pale moonlight.
“It’s too late for that.” I shove her away, watching her unsteady legs wobble like a newborn deer.
Instantly, I hate the distance I created and consider dragging her back into my chest again. But I think better of it.
“Don’t…” Her oceanic eyes liquify, absolutely captivating. “Don’t push me away… please, Gio… I can explain.”
I check over my shoulder. “We’ll talk in the car. This place will be swarming with Feds in a few minutes. We need to get out of here.” I shoot a hole in the gas tank, hearing a flow of gasoline hit the tarmac.
I’m about to set the van alight when India throws her hands up in the air.
“Wait…” She swivels on the spot and stumble-struts to the first guy I’d shot. “He has my phone.”
I swallow hard when she bends over and her dress creeps up to her ass. My balls cramp with an excruciating arousal. It’s getting harder to stay focused on the plan to get her home safely.
I check my wristwatch while she sticks her hand into the guy's pocket. My insides revolt. How the fuck could I become so enraged by her fumbling in a dead guy’s jeans? I don’t want her hands anywhere near another man, even if I’ve killed him first.
“I’ll get it,” I mutter.
Hunkering beside her, chills race over my spine when she sets her hand on my shoulder, leans in, and presses her soft lips to my cheek. I remember the divine taste of that mouth of hers and it takes every ounce of my self-discipline not to kiss her again.
“Please don’t be angry, Gio.”
