I finally let her slide down my body, grazing my aching cock.
“Come back to my place later so we can talk.”
She nods lazily, moving to a stool at the breakfast bar just as Rod appears in the doorway. “I still can’t believe you let Mom guilt you into staying here,” he says, eyeing us briefly before making a beeline to the pizza. “Aw, fuck, Leah. You still eat this shit?”
CHAPTER 5
MIKHAIL
I peer over the checkout line, searching for Leah. The hardware store is surprisingly packed, even thirty minutes from closing. On our way back to my place, she insisted we stop and pick up supplies for tomorrow.
Another glance at my watch confirms she’s been gone too long for what the item she was searching for requires. I try not to jump to conclusions but don’t take chances regarding people I care for. Stepping out of line, I pull out my phone and punch in her contact as groans rise from the customers behind me.
Fuck them.
I stalk toward the back of the store where she’s supposed to be, but there’s no one there but a petite woman stocking some items on a shelf. Leah’s voicemail adds to my growing anxiety.
“Did you see a young woman back here? Long, dark hair. About 5’5”. White shorts. Black top.”
The lady straightens, and her eyebrows crinkle as if recalling the memory.
“Oh, yeah. Pretty girl wearing Converse. Javier took her out back. Said something about extra stock on some palettes.”
A sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach steals my breath as I race toward a set of double doors that leads me down a short corridor before opening into an empty back lot. It’s dark, with just a dim light blinking in the distance.
I cup my mouth, ready to belt out her name, until I hear her voice.
“Don’t touch me. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
My feet move before the action even becomes a thought.
“Fuck you. You ain’t that pretty anyway.” A man’s scathing voice follows.
Oh, this type of fun wasn’t on my plans for tonight, but I’ll gladly add it.
“I said don’t touch me.” A low thud echoes from around the corner, immediately followed by the man’s roar of expletives.
In the next instant, Leah crashes into my arms. It takes another few seconds for her to realize I’m not a threat.
“Shit!” she squeaks, out of breath from nerves and the short sprint.
“Are you okay?”
She nods. “That asshole. I don’t know what he thought was going to happen, but—” “Go to the car,” I say, cutting her off and looking beyond her.
“Mikhail, let’s just go.”
Before I can argue, the bastard in question rounds the corner, blood gushing from the middle of his face. Scooting Leah behind me, I pull a blade from my pocket and approach a dead man walking. He must see the bloodlust written on my face because his eyes blow wide, and he puts his hands up in defense.
“Hey, I didn’t—”
I bury the knife in his stomach and shred across his flesh until he’s howling in my ear like a little bitch. Without a moment of reprieve, I fist his uniform vest and drag him toward a chain- link fence where cables of barbed wire lay on the ground.
“Fuck, man...I’m sorry, I didn’t know she was your girl... Just wanted her number.” Voice strangled, his arms hug his middle in a frantic fight to keep his intestines from flopping out of his body.
“Today is not a good day for you.”
The edges of sharp blades pierce my skin as I wind the wire around his neck. Three, four, five times, squeezing harder with every twist until it’s embedded deep into his throat, and he’s no longer moving.
When I turn around, Leah stands still, eyes fixed on me. I can’t tell if she’s breathing or blinking.
“Did he hurt you?” My blood stains her skin when I frame her face.
Her head moves from side to side as if in slow motion. Pain cuts through me, and my chest grows heavy with anguish at her silence.
Is she in shock? Disgusted by the fact I can brutally kill another man in cold blood.
For her.
But a heartbeat later, she’s in my arms, lips crushed against mine. And that’s when I know my life has a purpose.
My phone vibrates with a message, confirming that my clean-up crew has cleared the scene and removed Javier’s body.
I tighten the towel around my waist as I move through my kitchen, chugging a bottle of water, when the doorbell rings, catching me off guard. When I pull up the footage on my phone, I see Leah standing at my front entrance, nervously tucking loose strands of hair behind her ear.
