Page 40 of Blood in the Water

Yetshesaw me.

She locked onto me in the darkness like a heat-seeking missile, and I was a bonfire raging in the night.

I knew right then and there. Before I even knew her, her fingers had curled around my heart.

I lowered my rifle and stood. “Care to explain what you’re doing here, Leona Vero?”

15

LEONA

Iswallowed, completely frozen in place, staring at the man in the rafters.

He knew my name. He knew who I was. My brain shouted to point my gun at the stranger, but I couldn’t. Ishouldhave felt like this guy was flying dozens of red flags, and I should have been running in the opposite direction, but my body disagreed. A magnet pulled me toward him. Wariness and uncertainty swirled in my gut, sure, but I didn’t feel an ounce of fear.

“Who the fuck are you?” Cas demanded, guns still pointed in his direction.

“Cas…” I murmured, extending one of my arms out. I didn’t know what I would say, but I just knew he wasn’t an enemy.

Despite how much he blended into the shadows, I could see him clearly. At the same time, he could seeme. Right through me.

“Put your weapons down,” the man said, an English accent tinting his words. Was he part of the Mob? Is that how he knew me? “We must get the women out of here.”

“I’m not putting my weapons down until I know who you are and what you’re doing here,” Cas growled.

The man stared for a moment more, still never looking away from me, before carefully setting his rifle down and leaning over the catwalk’s railing. He regarded us for a moment. “I’m coming down.”

My eyes widened as he leaped off the railing, grabbed hold of a swinging chain probably five feet away from the catwalk, and carefully lowered himself until he was about ten feet off the ground. He let go of the chain and landed perfectly in a crouch like he was freaking Spiderman or something.

He stood, and my breath caught in my throat.

He was the most beautiful man I had ever seen.

Not hot and ruggedly handsome. Not dark and mysterious.Beautiful. No man had any business being that pretty.

He had fair skin and even fairer hair, almost to the point of being platinum, that brushed the tops of his ears. His oval-shaped face tilted slightly to the side as he stared right back at me. Light eyes were framed by thick eyelashes the same shade as his hair. Even his lips were full and slightly pink.

His ethereal beauty caught in the low light of the warehouse like he might disappear in a cloud of smoke at any moment. Yet he was dressed like an avenging angel, covered in black tactical gear with weapons secured across his body. I counted six knives that I could see and two more guns strapped to holsters on his thighs. Hadhetaken out the seven bodies we saw when he came into this room expecting a firefight?

“Who are you?” I asked. “How do you know me?”

“You may call me Wynn,” he said as he studied us carefully. “I know you because I was going to meet with you after I finishedthis.” He gestured to the dead bodies scattered around the warehouse.

I swallowed, my eyes going wide. “You’rethe Shadow?”

He took a step forward, and Cas mirrored his movement, guns still pointed directly at Wynn’s chest.

“Put down your guns, Cas, please.” I rested my hand on his arm. He didn’t look away from Wynn but slowly dropped his weapons. His body was coiled tight with energy, ready to leap at a moment’s notice.

Wynn stepped forward until he stood directly in front of me. Cas vibrated with anger mixed with anxiety beside me, but I didn’t care. I didn’t feel any aggression from this man despite how he stalked carefully forward like a snake about to strike. We had been caught in one another’s orbit, and now we had no choice but to circle one another until we collided.

He reached out to grip my hand and slowly raised it to his lips before gently kissing my knuckles, gaze never leaving mine. “Nice to meet you, Leona.”

I thought my knees might give out at the soft sound of his voice and the way his lips electrified my hand, but right then, a strangled cry drew my attention back to the ten women huddling together in fear.

Jesus. I almost entirely forgot about them.

I gently pulled my hand out of Wynn’s. Damn, that much instant attraction was a complete surprise. What was I doing? He was one of the world’s most deadly assassins, and I was supposed to get him to agree to work for me. How exactly was I going to do that when I drooled at the very sight of him?