Page 4 of Hide, Little Thief

I expect him to lunge at me, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t even yell. He remains utterly silent.

When I reach the end of the alley, I turn around and come to a sudden halt.

No one is behind me. Not Reaper, not another attacker, nobody.

What the hell?

I could’ve sworn . . .

Hang on a second. That wasn’t just my imagination. I know what happened.

The second I turn around again, he’s in front of me. Dressed in black with a skull mask covering his entire face, just like last time.

He grabs me by my upper arms and forces me back into the dark alley.

I try to fight him off, but he’s stronger and has a lot more combat skill than me. Without mercy, he shoves me against the wall of a house, face-first, arms pinned behind my back, his hand on my mouth again.

My pulse roars. Adrenaline rushes through my veins as he presses himself against me from behind.

The streets are empty. No one saw him capture me. Not a single soul is here to witness what’s happening.

“Don’t scream,” he hisses. “If you scream when I take my hand off your mouth, I’ll have to punish you. And you won’t like it. Do I make myself clear?”

I nod, panting.

I’m at his mercy again. And I hate that liquid heat erupts in my body instead of dread and disgust.

The second he lowers his hand and I can breathe again, I ask, “How did you find me?”

“I know everything about you.”

“You don’t know shit,” I say breathlessly.

He can’t. How would he?

Due to my late-night activities, I keep my personal life private. No social media, no family, no close friends, only a handful of acquaintances and people I work with from time to time. In this business, it’s better to keep to yourself and just do your job. It’s safer. Still, I need a change of scenery sometimes, hence the bartending. I only work night shifts at the pub when I don’t have a new assignment. Like stealing sensitive data files from the Los Castillos syndicate, which is how I met Reaper originally.

“No?” His deliciously dark voice taunts my ears, sending another shiver down my spine. “I know everything there is to know about you, Midnight. Or should I say . . . Riven McIntyre?”

Fuck.

How did he find out my full name? I don’t even use my real surname when I work in the pub, and sure as hell not when I’m stealing something for my customers. They all know me as Midnight.

I thought I was safe.

I wasn’t. Not from him.

“Not so cheeky anymore, huh?” His fingertips slowly tease the underside of my breasts, caressing my ribs until they grab the hem of my skirt in a possessive grip. “Did you really think you could escape me? I’m going to punish you for what you did that night.”

My heart shudders, then it beats so hard it jumps out of my chest.

“Yeah?” I ask, trying to ignore the goose bumps spreading down over my legs, all because his fingertips grazed my bare thigh. “And how are you going to do that?”

There’s a slight movement in the shadows, then another man emerges from the darkness. A mask covers his entire face, just like Reaper’s, but this one reminds me of a movie I watched a couple of years ago. It’s got a neon red glow, with two X’s for eyes, and a sewn-up grinning mouth.

“You see,” Reaper murmurs close to my ear, “I’ve brought a friend this time. Just to make sure you don’t run away again.”

CHAPTER THREE