Page 19 of Hostile Secret
“It’s very much my business.” I warn.
She casts her eyes over my chest and clears her throat. “Get out.”
I confidently inch even closer, driving the barrel of her revolver deeper into my muscle while my fingers wrap tightly around her cell phone. “I’d never turn my back on a traitor with a gun aimed at me. You’ll either hand over your weapon or…”
She eyes me skeptically. “Or what?”
“Or I’ll take it from you myself. By whatever means necessary, and confiscate your phone for the duration of your stay.”
“Confiscate my phone?” India laughs, low and sexy, her gaze dropping to my hand. “You’re taking this whole fake big brother thing a bit too seriously, Gio. Take the gun if you want,” she says, her voice surprisingly level, given the monstrous things I could do to her. “I have plenty more. But you’re not keeping my phone.”
“You have more guns?”
“I told you I’d packed my toys. What did you expect from the sister of Dré’s head of security? We went to the shooting range most weekends. Reno bought me a Glock for my thirteenth birthday and every year after that he gave me another weapon. Dré told me to become the hunter and never the hunted.”
My blood runs ice cold. Those are the words our grandfather had used to prepare us for a future of brutal warfare and the phrase Papá had tormented me with.
The man who was meant to be a loving father had crushed my soul until I became the ultimate hunter. And those are the words she lives by too.
Fuck this shit.
“Stop talking and give me the gun.”
“Not until you hand over my phone and tell me why you're creeping about in my bedroom…” She pauses and glances at the digital clock on the nightstand before continuing. “… at two o’clock in the morning.”
“I don’t have to tell you shit, niñita. Give me the name of the person you were talking to,” I spit out, raising the phone so she can see it. “Now!”
Inky pupils are blown wide, her courageous stare not faltering. “He won’t do anything. I promise.”
“He?” My temper instantly flips to nuclear. “Who the fuck ishe?” I snarl, not sure if it's from jealousy or disappointment. “I knew bringing you here would be a big mistake. Do you realize what you’ve done? I’ll have to slaughter the fucker now. No one knows about Blackwater.No one.”
She frowns at me. “How do you ever enjoy yourself when you’re so paranoid all the time? You must be so lonely.”
I scoff at her comment. “I have every reason to be paranoid, and you’re completely gullible if you think you can lead a normal life. The second people find out who you’re associated with, our enemies will come for you. If they don’t kill you immediately, they’d sure as fuck make you wish you were dead.”
A streak of lightning temporarily blinds us. While she blinks, furious dots scatter my vision, dancing all over her pretty face. Anger twists my veins and the impulse to wrap my hands around her neck feeds the throbbing ache in my dick.
It would only take two seconds to have her kneeling, eyes up, and mouth wide.
India shifts under my silent assessment. “Toss my phone on the bed… and then I’ll give you the gun,” she says a little breathlessly.
I stop myself from laughing at her attempt to negotiate with me, of all people.
“How about we cut the bullshit and you save yourself the embarrassment of losing to me all over again?”
“This is a stupid game to you, isn’t it?” she bites out, glancing at my flexed muscles, and then gulps.
I shake my head. “This is no game. You’re nothing more than a mild irritant who’s putting everything I have at risk. A little girl who refuses to behave.”
“Behave,” she mutters. “You’re a dick, Gio. An annoying asshole.”
“I’ve been called worse.” I slip her cell phone into my pocket. “Although there’s a big difference between a dick and an asshole.”
The whites of her eyes illuminate as her temper sparks. “Fine. You’re a dickinan asshole.”
I hide my smirk, hearing the frustration mount in her voice. Winding her up is a thrill I had never expected to enjoy. “Do you always talk this dirty?” I ask taunting her even more.
“Th-that’s… I’m—I’m… it’s not dirty… talk,” she stammers.
