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The detective leans in a little and offers me the first smile I’ve seen on her face. “You’re safe. No one is going to get you here.”
“I feel sorry for you,” I state simply. Why? Because I know better and so should she. This detective is way too by-the-book to realize the error of her thinking. “I really wish I could believe you.” I know how the underworld works. How Sean works. No place is off-limits to that man. I’m a sitting duck here. I shouldn’t have walled myself in with no way out. And fat chance they will let an off-the-hook bride covered in blood smelling like gunpowder residue and antiseptic walk out the door.
But there’s nothing I can do when she and her silent partner leave me in the small, windowless room but stalk from one side to the other.
By now Sean must have every Titan enforcer looking for me. I throw myself back in the chair when the pain in my feet becomes too much. What had they done with my father’s body? And all the shattered glass at the club? All that blood? How long before Sean’s obedient foot soldiers get tipped off that I’m here?
The wrecking ball destroying my insides swings like a pendulum, its destruction absolute.
I ignore the stabs of pain shooting through my bare feet and push out of my chair. I test the door. Locked, as suspected. I hit my fist against the cold metal but no one answers my pounding. I knock again with more effort. Damn it. I am such a freaking fool.
It’s just a matter of when and not if Sean storms this place.
Don’t show fear. Don’t show fear.But my hands won’t stop trembling.
It’s no more than a couple of minutes when the door handle jiggles. This is it. He’s found me. I back away from the door. Panic makes my movements less than stealthy but I manage to tighten my grip around the nearest thing. A chair is better than nothing. I prepare to fight.
The door swings open and I’m prepared to push my luck to its limits when black eyes meet mine. The fight in me shifts from ready to kill to full-on stunned.
Hark, looking like a ghost, walks in. I suck in a hard breath. I grip the chair in hopes it keeps me upright, but my heart is beating so fast I sway.
Hark doesn’t care or he doesn’t notice. But I take in everything about him. The clean shirt, his leather cut. The way his black jeans encase those powerful, thick thighs. The way his hair is brushed back and neatly tucked into a ponytail at the base of his head.
And how my body reacts to the sight of him. And the scent of soap on his skin. He doesn’t need expensive colognes to lure me in.
I also note the tightness in his jaw, the pinch between his dark brows. The way his lips press into a fine line, like every move he makes is painful.
I shove the chair between us. “Stay away from me, Hark. I will scream and when I do, a hundred cops will come rushing in here. You think that shoulder hurts now. Imagine getting slapped with cuffs.”
“Asena.” His low, measured voice chases me across the room. “No one would dare put me in cuffs.”
Of course. How else would he be able to walk in here and take over like he’s the freaking captain of the police station? He paid someone off.
“And the next time you scream it will be my name and it sure the fuck isn’t Hark. You need to drop that name and fast.”
Hark shuts the door behind him all the while never taking his gaze from me.
Moving with the force of a predator, sleek and lethal, he prowls across the room. Chills scale down my spine. Dread the temperature of ice fills my limbs, making me clumsy. Every step he takes toward me, I take two in reverse.
“You can walk right back out that door. I don’t need you.” Lies, but he doesn’t need to know the truth of how screwed I am.
There’s that cocky, infuriating smirk again. “Really? Cuz I have a fucked up shoulder that screams you need all the help you can get, Princess.”
“Don’t call me that.”
I take a breath. His body heat and undeniable aura of power tangle around me and I find myself caught in his web. I trip back to when I snuck into his bungalow wanting so badly to be his. I swallow back the memories. Push away the tears of frustration and fight to keep my anger front and center.
Show no fear.
I roll a shoulder.“Sounds like the perfect reason for you to stay away from me. You tend to only get shot when I’m around. It’s bad for your health.”
The corner of his lip lifts again. “Touché. You’ve kept it interesting for sure.” I don’t buy his casual acceptance of nearly dying twice.
Metal grates over polished cement. “That’s close enough. What are you doing here? Doc said you would be flat on your back for hours.”
I glance behind me. There’s nowhere to run. No place to escape. I’m cornered.
My heart pounds against my chest.
