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He grinned before retorting, “You really think mace can stop me?”
“Even devils have eyeballs.”
It might not stop him, but it should slow him down while I ran, and I needed every advantage I could get if I had any hope of escaping.
Escaping was the smart thing to do. Not hesitate with curiosity, wondering why he’d dragged me here. For all I knew, he’d had a change of heart and wasn’t here just to talk.
He might have given me a pass for that first press conference, which had been a knee-jerk reaction to the murder that took place at the courthouse, but the second press conference was a declaration of war.
He took another step closer—now only six feet away.
I shook my hand, one last warning, as if he couldn’t see the mace threatening his eyesight.
But the arrogant bastard disregarded it and advanced even closer.
My fingers fumbled to press down on the trigger, and a stream of white mist shot forward toward his face.
But in a flash, the canister was yanked from my grip, and thick-gloved hands pressed my shoulders against the wall.
“Word of advice, Ms. Payne. Never pull a weapon on someone far more seasoned than you are at using them. You’ll only get yourself hurt.”
I thrust my knee up toward his crotch, hoping I could kick high enough to compensate for his height difference, but he twisted away with ease, pressing his hip bone into my stomach, pinning me.
With only hands to defend myself, I shoved him as hard as I could, but I might as well have shoved a concrete barrier. My flailing hand grasped for something to hit, aiming for his face, but he caught my wrist mid-swing and clamped it firmly against the cold wall. He seized my other hand next, imprisoning it with the same dominating ease.
His hands were like unyielding iron bands, the strength in them highlighting his raw, masculine power. His broad shoulders dwarfed my smaller frame, amplifying the frantic rhythm of my heart as I realized he had me completely at his mercy.
“Let me go, or I’ll scream.”
He lifted his lips to one side. “The fact you haven’t already proves you’re curious enough to want to hear what I came to say,” he murmured, his words woven with an intoxicating blend of dominance and allure.
“Let me go,” I repeated.
His tongue slid leisurely across his lower lip. It caught the faint light in the alley, transforming it into a glistening ruby—the sight of which sent a strange wave of heat through me.
The moment stretched, tension building in the air around us, until he finally loosened his grip. His retreat was graceful, the calculated movement of a predator backing away, but not entirely relenting.
“What do you want?” I asked.
His reply was a low, husky whisper that seemed to wrap around me like an embrace. “I’d like you to stop publicly telling the city to come after me.”
“Talk to Mayor Kepler—it’s his initiative.”
“The city’s listening to you, Ms. Payne. He knows it, and you know it.”
So, the press conferences had him worried.
Interesting.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, so you’ll either have to let me leave this alley or hurt an innocent person—allegedly for the first time.”
In a calm yet threatening tone, he replied, “I don’t hurt innocent people, Ms. Payne.”
“He says as he’s holding an innocent woman against her will.”
He smirked.
“You’re scared,” I accused, jutting my chin out. “This is the first time you’ve thought that there might actually be repercussions for your actions, isn’t it?”
