Page 28 of XO Karma

“Quiet, or you’re next.” His voice grates through me like gravel, and although my fight or flight instincts tell me to make a scene—that letting this man take me anywhere besides this partially public alley is a mistake—I go still and silent. Survival instincts of a goat.

Seconds later he’s dragging me through a metal door, and it clangs shut behind us. A dim light illuminates my surroundings, giving view to a small storage room. What a beautifully boring place to die.

Aster spins me to face him, and I suck in a sharp breath as he pins me against a wall, the faint scent of gasoline infiltrating my senses. It’s such a mirror to the night we met. Only I wasn’t committing first-degree murder when he found me. Cool metal presses against my neck, and I freeze, terrified to move a single muscle.

“Enjoy the show?” he murmurs, the words muffled by his mask while his piercing green eyes hold mine. The tip of his blade glides down the column of my throat, and I attempt indifference, but my body trembles, giving me away. “If you wanted my phone number, you could have just asked for it.”

My mouth falls open in disbelief. “That’s what you have to say to me?!”

“Then why else are you following me?” he growls.

“Would you believe me if I said wrong place, right time?”

“No.” Shit.

“You…” I swallow hard, my throat dry with panic. “You killed him.”

He tilts his head to the side. “Are you surprised?”

My brows furrow. “Surprised I witnessed a stranger murder another stranger right before me?” He laughs, low and warm. “Is someone dying funny to you?!”

“No.” His eyes assess me, and another dangerous chuckle rumbles through him. “I just find hearing you call me a stranger after you’ve spent the past two weeks stalking me amusing.”

“I…” Chills scatter down my spine. “What?”

“Come on, Lillian,” he rasps, and my blood turns cold. I definitely didn’t tell him my name at either of our run-ins, yet he knows who I am. Knows I’ve been following him. How long has he known? “Don’t play coy.”

My mouth opens and closes.

This is bad.

This is very, very, bad.

“Why did you kill him?” I ask, forcing confidence I do not possess to obtain answers I’m desperate for.

“Because he deserved it,” Aster replies easily. Like he’s just told me the answer to a crossword or a question on fucking Jeopardy! My face scrunches in disbelief, and I shove him off, the knife nicking my neck as he goes. A gasp escapes my lips, hand flying to my throat.

“So, you’re the judge of that?” I ask, pulling my fingers away, glancing down to the sight of blood.

“And the executioner, it seems.” Aster steps towards me, and our eyes meet.

“Am…” My breathing shudders. “Am I your next victim?”

He tilts his head from side to side, looking way too pleased at the suggestion. He presses the dull side of the blade against my chest, then slides it between my breasts. I shudder, frenzied to stifle the heat growing between my thighs. “Should you be?”

I choke in disbelief. “You want my opinion if you should murder me or not?”

His laugh is wicked and sinful. Why is it so damn sexy? Something is fundamentally wrong with me. Yep. That’s it. My fear and horny receptors are swapped. It’s not my fault; it’s biological. “That’s not what I said.”

My hands tremble as I struggle to untangle my emotions. “What are you going to do with me?”

He increases his pressure on the blade. “Are you going to talk to the police?”

“I probably should.” But then I’d have to explain to Liam how I landed in this position in the first place.

“You won’t.” His tone is firm, but it’s not a suggestion. It’s a statement of fact. Am I so easily readable?

“Are you going to kill me?”