AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You are unbelievable.”
“Thanks. I get that a lot.”
“It wasn’t a compliment.” I roll my eyes and drop to my knees. Luckily, the glass shards aren’t too small. I pick them up and hope there aren’t too many slivers left behind to get stuck in my bare feet.
“Are we breaking up or what? ’Cause if I don’t have to worry about my ball and chain anymore, I’m going down to the casino.”
I dump the pieces of glass into the trash and storm back into the bedroom. “Are you fucking kidding me? This isn’t a game, okay? Someone just tried to kidnap your niece. Someone wants revenge on your family. How can you joke?”
He pulls the shorts on and I’m so angry, I can’t even allow myself to stare at his perfect ass. When he turns to face me, I swallow hard.
The mischievous twinkle in his eyes, the cocky smirk, the teasing gaze… all of it has been replaced by a pained expression that makes my heart clench. And his eyes…
They don’t twinkle anymore.
They glower with rage.
“This isn’t a fucking game to me. You don’t know anything about me, my life, or why I do what I do.”
My skin prickles as he steps toward me, his turbulent irises stormy. They drag me into his volatile undercurrent, and I buckle at the sudden force. “I know you’ve dealt with guys like these before—”
“No, you don’t. You only know what you’ve heard, what breadcrumbs your precious Alek decided to throw. But you have no fucking clue what I’m all about.”
He stops directly in front of me. His breath heats my skin. The hairs on my arms spring to attention, a shiver slipping down my spine. This guy… who the hell ishe?
It’s like the disguise is an alter ego he’s just morphed into… someone dark, devious, and ominous.
I slam my knees together.
Oh God. Please make it stop.
My fingers clench into tight fists. “I think you’re a liability, regardless of why you do what you do,” I mimic.
His lips twitch. “There are reasons why I went after El Azul. I wasn’t running in there like a goddamn loose cannon trying to win a dick-measuring contest.”
“So why would you go to him, alone no less? You didn’t think there’d be any consequences to the family you claim to want to protect?”
“Guys like that will take and take and take unless someone stands up to them and shows them what they stand to lose if they attack.” He runs a hand through his hair again. Tiny droplets of water dot my skin. “They hurt people. A lot of people. And my brother didn’t want to go after them. He had his reasons, but I didn’t like them. And then one afternoon last week, a kid from the community sports program we run got jumped. Those fuckheads stole his sneakers. He just got them for his birthday, and they fucking ripped them off his feet while holding a knife to his throat.”
He's so close, the fresh, clean scent of his skin invades my nostrils and clouds my brain for a long second.
“It was too risky to go alone.”
“Danger doesn’t scare me. Life’s too short to be someone’s bitch. And that’s what they want… to take over our territory. But no fucking way will I let them. I’m not sorry for what I did, even if it got me sentenced to a slow death here in the fucking desert.” A shadow darkens his expression. “And now that I know the cartel is in bed with Branko Ivanova, there’s no way they’re gonna win. And I’ll torch every inch of the Earth to find them and roast their asses.”
I square my shoulders. “This is exactly why the plan is going to fail. You’re too wild and unhinged.”
“Your problem is you think too much. How many times did you lose Ivanova because you were too slow to take action?”
“Oh, unlike you who doesn’t think at all?” I give him a shove, more so because I’m afraid of what else my hands may do if he gets any closer. My pulse hammers hard, the words getting caught in the back of my throat. Quinn’s chest grazes mine, his skin dampening the front of my t-shirt. “You don’t know me either. You have no idea what I’ve been through and why I’m even out here in the first place. But it’s damn clear you don’t care about anything but what the little voice in your twisted brain tells you to do. Like to wreak havoc.”
“That scares you, doesn’t it, Little Miss Control Freak?” He captures my wrist, using it to hold me in place. Then he closes the space between us, dipping his head low over mine. His toes graze mine and a sharp tingle dances up my ankles. “Because you already know that my twisted brain tells me if you feel it, then fucking do it. And Ialwayslisten.”
Chapter14
Quinn
Her pulse hums against my fingertips, shallow breaths slipping from her lips. I brush my thumb over the inside of her wrist and her eyes pop open wide.
