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Lifting my gaze from the numbers, I stare at her. After long moments, Allegra bursts out laughing.
“If I hadn’t known you for two years, I would fear for my life. But I know you don’t hurt women or children. Is there something wrong with the numbers?” she asks softly.
“No, no. The numbers are better than ever.” I sigh.
“Is there something I can do to help?”
Allegra is a sweet girl. From the first moment I met her, that was clear. She is driven, smart, and caring. Which is exactly the reason I drove four hundred miles and shot her father in the head. That man broke her, mentally and physically. I couldn’t stand to know that he was alive somewhere while she still suffered the effects of the damage he had wrought on her.
“Maybe you need to get laid,” Allegra says thoughtfully.
“Fucking hell.” I rub my hand down my face.
“What? I’m eighteen. I know what sex is. For heaven’s sake, I manage a brothel!”
She looks incredulous. Of course, she is right. But that doesn’t mean I have any inclination to talk to her about my sex life.
“I don’t want to talk to you about this,” I say, instead rising from my seat to leave.
“Don’t be that way,” she calls after my retreating form with a laugh.
That girl is going to give me a stroke one of these days. She is also spending too much time around Guilia. Her love of giving me shit about anything and everything already rubbing off on Allegra.
I don’t look around as I leave Nocturn, too afraid to lay eyes on Lira again. I don’t know how much control I have around her.
My blood spikes as I round the corner into the alley where my car is parked to find a man with his hands all over Lira. I know for a fact that she doesn’t have sex with any of the men who come around here. She is only a bar lady. When she starts struggling against his hold, the last control I had snaps.
“Come on, girl,” I hear the man say. “You can’t tell me you’re not interested.”
“I said no,” Lira says.
“You’re a whore, working in a whore house. You don’t get to say no,” he tells her, ripping her shirt open and sending buttons flying to the ground.
Before he can get another word out, I have my hand wrapped around his throat, lifting him into the air. My vision has gone blurry as rage overtakes all logical thinking. I hear his head hitting the wall with a loud crack before my fist connects with his jaw. The second punch lands on his nose before another connects. His head lolls to the side, and I drop him to the ground.
He lands with a thud that isn’t satisfactory enough to settle the rage in my veins. After lifting my boot, I stomp on his head for good measure. I can hear the bone cracking as I continue to bring my foot down repeatedly. I know for a fact that the man will die in this dirty alley tonight. I won’t be able to walk away knowing that he can prey on another woman.
When I finally stop and look down, I know I have gone overboard. His head is a misshapen pulp on the tar. My breathing is ragged, but I am back in control of my emotions. Taking a deep breath, I head toward my car only to see Lira crouched beside the door, trembling.
“Fuck!” I roar, making her flinch.
Walking closer, I know that this woman will never see me as anything but a monster from this moment forward. I had hoped she had fled inside Nocturn as soon as the man’s hands were off her. But no. She has seen me exactly as I am, and now I have to deal with the fallout. She is a witness to me committing murder, after all.
Chapter Five
Lira
All my training has gone out the window. The strong, independent woman I profess to be is now cowering in the dark recesses of my mind. The moment that asshole approached me, I knew I was going to be in trouble. I never should have stepped into this alley to smoke. But seeing Allegra lead Severu into her office and closing the door? I needed to get out of there.
Severu has invaded my thoughts and dreams these past few days. I can’t seem to get a grip on my damn libido. And knowing that he was up there fucking her in her office hurt. I know rationally that I shouldn’t care who he sleeps with, that this is an assignment. But that doesn’t make it any easier.
Now, I’m crouching beside his car because my legs won’t work. I’ve witnessed one of the most ruthless men in the city commit murder with his bare hands, and he is walking toward me. I should never have joined vice. I definitely shouldn’t have agreed to this assignment, and I absolutely shouldn’t have come outside for a cigarette. Now I’m going to die, and there isn’t anyone to mourn me except my cat.
Lifting my hands in the air, I try to stop him from getting to me as I squeeze my eyes shut even though I know the act is futile.
“Please.” The whimper escapes me before I can stop it. “I won’t tell anyone.”
“Lira.” He speaks softly as if trying not to scare me. Slowly, I open my eyes to find him crouched down beside his car. “I’m going to pick you up. We need to talk somewhere away from here, and you might need medical assistance.”
