He froze.
“If you bleed out now, I don’t get to have my fun,” I muttered. “So stay alive, fucker.”
I twisted the blade.
His howl bounced off the walls. It made my jaw tighten—but not from pity.
He swung at me with his good hand, a wild, clumsy arc that glanced off my cheek. A lesser man might’ve stumbled. I just smiled.
That seemed to break something in him.
“You touched her,” I said, and then I hit him again.
He tried to talk. Tried to bargain. Spat blood and bile and nonsense.
“This bitch—”
I broke his sentence with my elbow.
When he finally hit the floor he stayed there, gasping, folding in on himself like a thing that had learned too late it was prey. I pulled his tie free, wrapped it around his mouth, knotted it tight. His belt followed, wrists cinched behind his back until he let out a low, choked noise—half pain, half fury. Then I unbuckled my own belt, slid it free in one slow motion, and bound his legs at the ankles, pulling the leather tight enough to make sure he wouldn’t be going anywhere.
I stood there a moment, breathing hard, the room ringing in my ears.
Then I turned.
Kira sat curled on the bed, knees to her chest, arms hugging tight around herself like she was trying to hold everything in. She looked so damn small, it hurt to see.
She stood, revealing the torn neckline of her dress, the fabric gaping open near her chest. Her arms were crossed tightly, trying to keep it in place, fingers clutching what little cover she had left. She crossed the room and collided with me, hands fisting in my jacket, her face pressed to my throat. “You came,” she whispered. “You came.”
I pulled her into me, arms locking around her like I was afraid she might disappear if I let go. My face buried in her hair for a second, breathing her in.
“Fuck,” I muttered into her hair, my arms tightening around her. “I was too damn late. He never should’ve had the chance to touch you.”
She pulled back just long enough to look at me. “You weren’t,” she said fiercely. “You were right on time.”
Seeing her like this made something deep and vicious in me crack open again. I wanted to turn around, go back to Felix, and crush every bone in his ribcage for daring to touch my girl.
But this wasn’t about me. Not this time.
If anyone deserved to break him, it was her.
I wrapped my jacket around her, zipped it to her throat, then pulled the knife from the pocket and placed it carefully in her hand. I guided her toward Felix, who was still writhing like something pathetic. “He put his hands on you. You can slice his dick off, if that helps.” He let out a strangled sound and I silenced him with a sharp kick to the ribs. “Or kill him. I won’t stop you.” Felix let out a pitiful, high-pitched squeal, somewhere between fear and pain, and I drove my boot into his ribs again—harder this time, just to shut him up.
She looked down at the knife in her hand, then up at me. Her expression shifted—something unreadable flickering across her face. Slowly, she held the knife out to me. “There’s something I’ve fantasized about doing for a long time,” she said.
I frowned, unsure of what she meant, but took the knife back. She turned and walked toward the phone on the nightstand, dialed quickly, and waited.
“Yes, room service? Can I get two glasses of cold milk? That’s all. Thank you.”
When she hung up, I stared at her. “Milk?”
With a cool glance over her shoulder, she gave a slow smile. “Since he likes milk so much,” she said, “I thought I’d make sure he gets his fill.”
Then she walked to me, slow and deliberate, and reached up to kiss me. It started soft—just lips, just breath—but then it deepened. Her fingers threaded into my hair, her mouth urgent, like she was burning through the remnants of fear with each second that passed.
It threw me. One minute she’d been trembling in my arms, barely able to breathe. Now this. Confidence rising from the wreckage like a flare. My hands slid instinctively to her waist, anchoring her as I kissed her back, still dazed.
A knock came at the door. She stilled but didn’t flinch. Instead, she turned, walked over, and cracked it open just enough to slip her hands through. She took the two glasses from the tray without a word, then nudged the door shut with the side of her hip, sealing off the hallway and whoever stood behind it.
