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“Boss?” Phoenix said, sounding confused.
“I got this,” I growled through the phone, glaring at the intruder. I ended the call before he could answer.
Putting it back in my pocket, I grabbed her arm and pulled her upward. She whimpered painfully and her sniffles filled the room. She kept her head down, her hair falling like a curtain around her face, shielding her from me.
When I tried to pull her close, she resisted and tried to twist away. I tightened my hold on her small wrist, and I knew I was hurting her. Her wincing told me so, but I didn’t let go.
If I wanted to, with barely no effort, I could break her hands in half.
I let her go and took a step back. She did exactly what I expected. She ran straight toward the door.
I smirked, pulling my gun from the back of my pants. I pointed it at her and spoke calmly.
“Another step and I’ll shoot you.”
She stopped. Her body trembled badly and I knew it was from fear. What she didn’t know was that I fed on fear.
I laughed and it sounded harsh to my own ears. She jumped but didn’t run for her life.
“Turn around.”
She didn’t turn around.
Red hot anger coursed through my body. Nobody dared to ignore me. Yet, this girl….
“Turn around,” I shouted at her back.
My little captive jumped again, but this time she swiveled around quickly. She kept her face down.
I wanted to see her.
I blinked at the sudden thought. What?
Shaking my head, my brow furrowed as I watched her. What was she doing here? Why was she here? By the look of her, she didn’t belong in a place like this. Not in a Mafia house. Especially not in my house.
“Look at me,” I said before I could stop myself. My fingers tightened around the gun as I waited for her to do as she was told.
She took longer than I expected. If she was one of my men, I would have already shot her for disobedience. But I couldn’t bring myself to move.
For some unknown reason, the way she covered her face with her long dark hair, looking so childlike, made my chest hurt.
What the fuck?
“Look at me,” I said again, this time my voice grating. She slowly brought her head up and I saw doe-like eyes peeping through her hair. I sucked in a breath and took a step toward her.
As she continued to lift her head, I saw a tiny round nose and then pink full lips that had dried blood on them. Her cheeks were round, but obviously bruised. I couldn’t see her face properly, it was so covered with dirt and bruises.
She was hugging her arms around herself, her body shaking with silent tremors. The little intruder was obviously frightened. She was a tiny girl and I felt my heart twisting at her fragile state.
Taking a step forward, I saw green eyes peeping up at me under her long lashes. She blinked away tears as she saw me approaching, my gun still pointed at her.
When I was close, I slowly brought the gun down and glared at her menacingly. When she flinched, I felt my resolve slipping.
She took a step back and I growled, “Don’t move.”
She flinched again. My heart was beating fast in my chest. What the fuck is wrong with me?
I moved closer until our chests were almost touching. I felt her tremble against me, and she whimpered in fear. She hugged her body tighter and folded into herself, as if she was trying to hide from me, even in plain sight.
I brought my empty hand up to her face. She winced but didn’t move. Silent tears streamed down her cheek and I touched a drop, thumbing it away. She froze and I felt her suck in a breath.
I froze too. Something was wrong with me.
Before I could stop myself, my hands went to the strands of hair hanging over her face. I slowly moved her hair to the side until her whole face was visible to me. Maybe my heart stuttered for a moment. I didn’t know.
She slowly lifted her gaze until she was staring at me with glassy green eyes, the color of the rain forest.
I swallowed hard, slowly moving my thumb over her soft cheek. When she winced in pain, I let her go, taking several steps back.
A wave of emotion ran through me. First sadness, then tenderness, and finally anger. I decided to hang on to the anger and let it consume me.
There was no place for tenderness in my life. Tenderness made you weak. Any emotion other than anger made you weak.
And I couldn’t be weak. I had thousands of people behind me and I had thousands to lead.
So, I grabbed on to the anger and let it course through me until my body was shaking.
