No, he did not, in fact, have any clue.
“I saw him knock you out.A very hard hit.”Muttered.Almost more to herself than him.Then she added, “That’s when I bravely rushed to the rescue.Don’t worry, you can thank me later for that.And we won’t talk about the fact that I thoughtyouwere the one doing the serial killing.My bad.We’ll save that discussion for later, too.”
His head pounded all the harder, and the nausea he felt got worse.
“Do you knowwhoyou are?”she suddenly demanded.
Of course, he did.“Atlas.”He should take stock of his surroundings and not just stare at her gorgeous face.His memory was more than a bit blurry at the edges, and he couldn’t quite remember where he was.“Atlas Bennett.”His voice strengthened.Became a touch brisk because…what in the world was happening?His gaze finally tore from her to search the area around him.The place was dimly lit because the only illumination came from what looked to be an old camping lantern tossed on the floor.
As for the floor—dusty, old wood.Dusty, dark walls.Stairs that led up to who knew where and?—
She tugged on him.Or rather, on his wrist.Automatically, he glanced down.And the confusion he’d felt before just thickened.“Why the hell am I handcuffed to you?”Because he was.A shiny handcuff circled his wrist.His handcuff’s mate circled hers.
“Excellent question.I’ll explain fully—truly, I will—once we are out of here.See, he tossed us both down the stairs not too long ago.During the fall down—even though you were just starting to wake up—you valiantly cushioned my body with your own.Thanks so much for that.Very brave.Didn’t expect you to do that as groggy as you were.”
What?Someone had tossed them down the stairs?
“But the tumble down the stairs, combined with the blow to the head that you’d already taken—well, you were knocked out again once we hit the bottom.I did manage to drag you a bit away from the stairs, and I searched for a weapon for us to use.Uh, spoiler, there is no weapon here.Though I did find the lantern so we could see our surroundings, and I count that as a win.Not like I wanted to be trapped in the darkness while I waited for the killer to come and finish us off.”
He realized they were on the floor.Yeah, he probably should have figured that out sooner.But the pounding in his head continued like a jackhammer, and he choked back the bile that rose in his throat.Atlas also became aware of the aches and pains that throbbed throughout his body.Probably because he’d been pushed down a damn staircase.“I know who I am,” he gritted as more of the cobwebs cleared from his head, “and I know whoyouare.”As if he could forget that face.
She wet her lips.“You sound angry.”
“Lily.Gallo.”Each word was bitten out from between clenched teeth.
“Hello, Atlas,” she whispered.“Guess we finally got that private meeting I’ve been wanting, huh?”
His teeth ground together.
“Honestly, I think you should consider me to be your new guardian angel.”She crouched next to him and tugged on the cuff that bound them together.“Without me, you’d be down here all alone, at the mercy of the creep who wants to torture you for hours.That’s what he’s been doing, you know.Abducting his prey in Dallas.Torturing them, disemboweling them.Killingthem.”
He whipped up to a sitting position.The whole room spun, but Atlas clenched his teeth.No damn way was he going out again.
Lily sent him a weak smile.“That’s the spirit.No disemboweling for us, am I right?”
She was fucking gorgeous.Not cover model perfect.But real.Sexy.No, sensual, and if they weren’t currently in the pit of hell with the threat of apparentdisembowelmentlooming over them, he might have enjoyed being cuffed to her.
But…
Pit of hell.
Serial killer.
And if she says the word “disembowel” to me one more time…Yeah, he’d lose it.
He shook his head, and that small move just made the nausea worse.But, dammit, this was Lily Gallo.LilyfuckingGallo.He was handcuffed in a basement to the one and only Lily Gallo.The woman who wanted to slice apart his life.The woman who thought she should get some fast pass that would allow her access to every secret he possessed.The woman he had been avoiding like the plague for weeks.
Because she is dangerous to me.
Her non-cuffed hand rose to press to his cheek.“You’re with me this time?Because you tried to wake up in bits and spurts before, but you’d go out again too fast.”
“I’m with you.”Grim.Her touch seemed to send renewed energy through him.There was certainly some kind of jolt that hit him.He’d analyze it later.When he wasn’t in danger of being cut into tiny pieces.
I should have found him.Should have eliminated him.Long before the bastard had been able to get killing close to Atlas.But, truth be told, he’d been distracted that night.Distracted byLily.He’d actually been thinking about her when the bastard attacked.Such a clusterfuck.“I’ll keep you safe,” he vowed.
Soft laughter greeted his words.“I’m the one who has been keepingyousafe.After he knocked you out in the parking lot, I’m the one who jumped into action.I’m the one who tried to fight him when he was staring at your unconscious body and figuring out where he wanted to start stabbing.Me.”
Atlas had zero clue if he could trust this woman or not.His eyes narrowed on her face.That unforgettable face.
