Page 22 of Burdens
Even if it was for purely selfish reasons.
Noah’s brows pulled together. “Who sent me?Yourterritory?” he said, a puzzling look on his face. “Why areyouhere? There was nothing about?—”
“Why I’m here is none of your concern,” I said, cutting him off.
He shook his head and a cough rattled his chest. “It kinda is in light of my current situation,” he deadpanned as he tugged on the chains.
“I’ll see what I can do about that after you tell me why you’re jeopardizing my assignment.”
He huffed out a small laugh. “Always bargaining. Glad to see you haven’t changed.”
“You don’t know me,” I said, my tone dry as I tried to soothe the urge to let out my frustration on his face.
He lifted a single eyebrow and let his gaze drift down my body. “I beg to differ, pretty girl.”
One moment, I was standing a few feet away from him, and the next, my dagger was pressed up right beneath his chin, my free hand holding the back of his head forward. “Do not call me that ever again,” I seethed, looking up at him. Before I could stop myself, I added, “You lost that right a long time ago.”
A flash of hurt dimmed his features, but it disappeared as fast as it came. I waited for his expression to morph into panic like all my previous victims had when I had them at my mercy in their final moments.
But it wasn’t fear that painted his gaze like I’d expected.
Instead, amusement shone in his irises as he leaned into my touch, his skin tensing against the sharp blade. That only had me pressing the edge harder against his neck, a droplet of blood blossoming against his tanned skin.
It slowly trailed down the curvature of his neck, but he still didn’t flinch.
The faintest smile curved his full lips. “Careful now,pretty girl,” he drawled. “You wouldn’t want to go against your dear boss’s wishes.”
“I don’t answer to anyone but myself,” I said through gritted teeth. It wasn’t exactly the truth, but he didn’t have to know that.
Barrera had appointed me as his enforcer and I mostly executed my own wishes to get the answers I needed, but he still ordered me around like one of his lower soldiers and I had to feign to obey every once in a while.
If he ever found out why I was really here, let’s just say what I did to prisoners was a mere play compared to what he’d have done to me for being a rat and my body probably would never be found as I swam in Oued Aguz.
I moved my attention back to Noah, waiting and watching. Silence coiled between us like a living, breathing element that sent frustration raging through my veins. My chest grazed against his with every breath as we stared at each other.
Our lips were merely a brush from one another, his breath fanning across the parched skin of my lips. I could practically taste him.
We exchanged a quiet push and pull with neither of us giving an inch. His expression looked inquisitive as if he was searching for something, while mine battled between pushing the blade further into his thyroid to rid myself of him once and for all, and the nagging invocation of the stain he’d left on my mind, reminding me that once, I’d loved him.
I shook myself out of it because, frankly, I had better things to do.
I exhaled the breath I didn’t notice I was holding and begrudgingly released my hold on him. Brandishing my knife upward, I cut the rope tied to the chains above his head and stepped back, watching him land on the cement ground with a loud thud.
“Behave until I’m back,” I ordered as I looked down at him on his knees in front of me.
When he glanced up and his gaze found mine, a small flicker of satisfaction brushed against my breastbone. But it was briskly replaced when I noticed how weak he looked. No matter how far I’d gone or what I’d done to get here, my past self occasionally snuck out.
I hated myself for caring even in the slightest, but he was still Noah.
The same person who used to be part of some of my favorite memories.
But those same memories I once treasured had long turned bitter.
I should’ve known better at the time.
People always left.
Their memories only festered until they turned into ashes.
