Page 27 of Dangerous Games

Oh sweet cara, don’t you know you can’t keep a monster like me out?

Chapter

Nine

BRONWYN

My head shoots up, and my hands freeze on my jeans I was beginning to pull down my hips as I hear the lock on the front door turn. Before I can react, it opens, and Gio saunters in like he owns the place. His shirt is stained crimson, matching the blood that’s coating his hands.

His eyes land on me, heating as they take me in. He closes the door behind him and flips the lock, all without taking his attention off me. Suddenly, my small studio feels like a sauna.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I ask, trying to keep the heat out of my voice and sound pissed like I should be, but all I can think about is how I got off to the thought of him last night. And the way he’s looking at me right now with the blood on his hands of the man who wanted to hurt me isn’t helping. “You can’t just barge in here whenever you want. I’m pretty sure the lease I signed says you need to give at least forty-eight hours before entering.”

Gio takes in my unbuttoned pants as he finally moves, advancing toward me at the same pace he walked in here with. He’s approaching me as if he owns me.

“And just who are you going to report me to?” he asks, the challenge in his voice clear as day.

“I, I, I’ll tell Matteo,” I stammer. He’s in my space, and his scent is filling my nose, making me lose all thoughts. He smells of leather and sin, all wrapped up in one.

“Oh, sweet cara. He’s not going to be on your side,” Gio says, sounding amused.

“I can report you to the housing department,” I try again, doing my best to stand my ground, but I’m losing this war fast.

Gio laughs. “You’re cute.” I hold my breath as his hand comes up and smooths down the back of my hair. I’m sure he’s coated it in blood, but I can’t think straight when he’s in my space, let alone begin to care. “You doing okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be doing okay?” This man is intoxicating. I need to move away from him, but I can’t get my body to be on the same page as my brain.

“You just saw the dead body of a man who you said was following you around today. That can be a lot to take in,” he says, his voice soft and his brown eyes warm with concern. It’s a complete 180 from the man I’ve come to know.

“I’m fine,” I tell him, not sounding convincing at all.

I’m trying my best to do what I usually do when life decides to turn my world upside down, I act like it didn’t happen and move on. But this one is proving to be harder to shake. I mean, can you blame a girl? A random man followed me around town today, decided to invite himself to have coffee with me, and then, when I decided to call it a day, I found him murdered in the alley leading to my apartment. And somehow Gio is there. He’s always there lately.

“Tell me what happened.” Gio applies pressure to the back of my head, leaving me no choice but to lean into him. Much to my surprise, he places a light kiss on my forehead before releasing my head as his hand slides down to the small of my back, not letting me out of his space.

His shirt feels cool from being wet with blood. It should freak me out, but it doesn’t. Does it make me crazy to say I think it’s hot he went to that length to protect me?

I close my eyes briefly and press my lips together, keeping the soft sigh inside. The comfort he’s giving me feels too good. I know from experience that nothing sweet ever lasts for me.

“I told you I don’t want to talk about it,” I tell him, turning my head to the side.

Gio’s hand grasps my chin, squeezing lightly as he turns my head back so I’m looking at him again. “I just murdered a man for you, cara,” he says, his tone so dangerously low that it sends a shudder through my body. “I’d say the least you can do is tell me why I found that piece of shit waiting for you under the stairs outside.”

Oh my god.

“He was waiting under the stairs?” I gulp.

My mind is running through a million possibilities as to why someone like him would be following me, but all of them seem so far out of reach.

“He was.”

“Why?” I ask, sounding way the fuck freaked out. “I keep to myself. I don’t bother anyone. Why would someone want to stalk me?”

“Hey.” Gio’s calm but commanding tone cuts through my rant. “It’s done with. I took care of him. But I need you to tell me what happened earlier today.”

My eyes search his face, looking for any sort of unspoken answer. “Why did you take care of him?”

The next thing out of his mouth rocks my world to the point where I don’t know if I should test out that rodeo theory or check myself into a mental institution.