Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 57257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
“I’m not using you as bait,” I snarl.
She folds her arms, glaring. “The boyfriend-and-girlfriend game is ten times more effective now. You get that, right? If Lucian sees us going on a date together, he’ll have to follow. We can lure him somewhere and…” She swallows.
I step closer, sink my hands into her hips, and pull her flush against me. “It’s not an easy thing, taking a life,” I tell her. “You shouldn’t be so eager to do it.”
She places both hands against my chest, holding on steady. “You shared this part of you with me, Rhett. You didn’t have to do that. And now you’re going to be mad at me for showing you the same thing in me?”
I lean down, brush my lips along hers. She makes a soft murmur of pleasure, but pulls away slightly.
“I don’t want you to have to do it,” I say. “I can do this for you.”
“He’s done enough,” she hisses. “To me. To my sister. To my parents. To other people too, God knows how many. I deserve this. We were going to trap some idiot trespassers, but now we can kill the piece of shit who killed my parents.”
She grips my chest, digging her nails in. The bite mark she left stings, though she’s not touching the same place. A brutal, beautiful reminder of what this woman is capable of.
Is there a future for us?
Or am I just your weapon?
The questions bubble up inside me, but I force them down.
“If we do this, you might be in harm’s way. It’s easier if I handle—”
“Are you Lucian Conti?” she hisses, digging her nails in deeper. “Well, are you?”
“Sunshine…”
“He is the one who thinks he has the right to tell me where to go, what to do, who to be. That right was precious to him, he took… he took everything to claim it. That’s not you, Rhett.”
I grind my teeth. For a sick second, I want it to be me. To be capable of locking her in a room somewhere, keeping her away from all this ugliness. But her fire has woken one in me too. She’s right. I know this hunger. It was her case that finally triggered it in me.
“No,” I growl. “It’s not.”
“You can control everything, but not me. I’m a person. Do you agree with that?”
“Elle.”
“I’m not trying to talk down to you,” she says.
“Yes, I agree. Goddamn it.”
“Then…” She steps back, folds her arms. “We need to make a plan.”
“You need to think about this. Seriously think. You haven’t had time to process all of this—”
She closes the distance fast, pulls herself against me. Kisses me until I feel drunk. I forget what we were just talking about and cling to her. She leans back in my arms. “Don’t do that. You’re not Mr. Mature and I’m not some idiot kid. I’ve lived, Rhett. I’ve… I’ve hurt for this. I can do this. I don’t need time to think.”
“Take the night anyway,” I grunt, forcing myself to step back.
She huffs. “Fine. Whatever… go on, say it. I’m acting just like the idiot kid I just said I wasn’t.”
I smirk and can’t help it. “My lips are sealed.”
A small smile touches her lips. “This is so messed up. All this stuff between us. And now… this. I want it, Rhett.”
I take her hands gently. “For me, Sunshine. You need to think about this.”
“What would the next step be?” she said. “If we… used me as bait.”
Just hearing her say it makes my heart race. “We’d have to find somewhere Mira could stay while we lured him out. I trust my friend Marshall with my life, and she’d be safe at his place. Anyway, I wouldn’t let him follow. He’s gotten the jump on us twice, and that’s two times too many. After that, we’d arrange a date, something obvious, then drive out from here…”
I shake my head. “But we’re not talking about this.”
“It sounds like we’re talking about it,” she says with a grin.
I sigh and close my eyes.
“He deserves it,” she says. “He’s worse than a lowlife, Rhett. He kills innocents, women, kids…” My heart shatters as she steps forward, brushes her hands over my face. I open my eyes and look down at her as she says my own words back to me. “You are fucking vengeance.”
I clear my throat. “I’ve… thought that exact thing before.”
“Because it’s true.”
“Tell me in the morning.” I force myself to step away. “I’m going to check the perimeter.”
I turn and walk from the room, but already thinking about the plan, the date. It could be an excuse to do something extravagant for her. She deserves the princess treatment. Hell, the queen treatment would fit her nicely too.
But as bait? For that sick fuck?
Still, as I walk around my property, checking the vegetables, gun at my hip, I’ve got a smile on my face. I thought she was going to hate me, but I was wrong.