Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 69472 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69472 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
“Are you … flirting?” Her finger caresses the trigger.
“Just stating facts.” I can feel the blood thrumming through my veins. This little taste of danger hits me in all the right places, and I wonder what my would-be assassin looks like under the mask. “Let’s drop this whole murderer routine and head back to my house, darlin’.” I give her my most disarming smile. “We can talk about whatever beef you have over some cocktails, and then I’ll show you why killing me would be a great disservice to the women of the world.”
“I knew it wouldn’t be hard to pull the trigger, but you’re making it so much easier for me.”
“So you’re a hardened killer?” I take another step toward her. “I’m not your first?”
“Stop.”
“Because I think you’ve never killed anyone.” I take another step.
“Stop!”
“If you had, I’d already be dead. You would’ve shot me in the back before I even turned around.” I chance another step.
She pushes the gun out toward me even farther. “I’ll do it!” Despite her bravado, I can hear the tremor in her voice. She isn’t ready to take a life, not even mine. What the fuck is she doing out here? And who is she?
I have to decide whether to rush her or shoot her, so I run my mouth some more to buy time. “I’ve killed plenty. With a gun, my hands, a cane knife.” I shake my head. “That last one is pretty brutal. You ever seen a cane knife? It’s what you use to harvest sugar cane, sort of like a machete crossed with a meat cleaver. Sharp, heavy. A skull cracks like a coconut if you hit it just right.”
“I already know you’re a monster.” Her tone burns like acid. “You don’t have to do any more convincing.”
“Not a monster. Just efficient. And if I’m threatened—” I advance again, close enough to tackle her. “I react. And I keep reacting until the threat is room temperature.”
She lets out a deep breath, as if she’s trained for this moment. “I told you to stop.”
“How about you put the gun down, we get out our aggressions on each other, and then—”
Her glare intensifies. “You’re still trying to make a pass?”
“Not a pass. I’m offering to fuck you, to give you what you need so hard that you beg me to stop. Something tells me you need a good, rough fuck to knock some sense into you. Because you aren’t a killer. You’re something else. Something I want.” The black hides her, but not enough. I can see the swells of her full breasts, the flare of her hips, the way her pants hug the sweet spot between her thighs. Damn. “How about this—let me get you off, then you can shoot me. Sound good?” I edge closer.
“I said stop!”
I give her a smirk, the one I already know tends to infuriate its recipient. “Darlin’, I never stop.” I lunge for her.
The gun blast knocks me off my feet.
4
Evelyn
I shot him.
I yank my mask off and toss it into the passenger seat as I start the car.
I. Shot. Him.
A laugh bubbles out of me, tickling along my lips and growing until I’m giggling. He’s dead. I killed Lucius Vinemont. The bitterest sugar magnate is no more, and I was the one who finally dealt him the justice he deserved. The giggles overtake me, and I’m laughing so hard that my ribs hurt, and I can barely breathe.
“Oh my god!” I bang on the steering wheel, joy and adrenaline mixing inside me until I’m whooping at the top of my lungs. I shot him in the heart, just like I’d practiced so many times at the shooting range. He fell back, his body going limp. Dead.
Another squeal rips from me, and I slump in my seat, relief welling as I consider what this means to me. All these years spent with one goal in mind, one endgame. And it happened. It was easy. So easy to take his life. Nothing like all the scenarios I’d played out and trained for. No, I snuffed him out like someone cutting the head off a snake.
Justice. That’s what it was. Right? Yes. It has to be. My laughter turns into tears so quickly I wonder if I’m cracking under the pressure. I wail into my hands. Tears of joy, relief, and maybe finally, closure?
I don’t know, but the emotions that I’ve had bottled up for so long are free now, and I let the tears flow until I can’t breathe without sobbing. After what feels like an hour but is more like a few minutes, I reel it in, letting the explosion of feelings dissipate as I catch my breath and blow my nose. I can only hope the weight of grief is finally lifting, the promise of a new beginning shining brightly. I did what I came to do. Revenge served cold. I can leave Lucius behind. Finally.