Page 13 of Death, Interrupted

“Fucking lunatic,” he groaned.

“I know. Stop saying it, it hurts,” I said, rolling him onto his side with all the strength I had left in me. I sat back on my heels, sweating, chest burning, hands shaking with leftover adrenaline.

“You should breathe,” I told him. “In through the nose. Out through the shame.”

I studied him for a while and adjusted my grip on reality. “Okay, give me a moment to reset here.”

He was glaring at me, his eyes watery and his face flushed. His jaw was tight, and I could see him doingthe math. Rage squared, pride divided by duct tape. Result: humiliation.Ha, who’s the loser now, bitch?

“I’ll fucking kill you,” he rasped.

“You already tried,” I said cheerfully. “Terrible execution. Great arms, though. Shit, no, terrible arms. I hate your arms. And the rest of you. I’m not jealous.”

Stop rambling, idiot.

He squinted. “What?”

“Nothing.” I stood and let out a sigh, admiring—no,studying—his massive body. “How the hell do I get you onto the couch?”

I tried to lift him, but I failed multiple times because he wasn’t making it easy for me. Again: why would he? But then I found the right angle and heaved with my absolutely respectable gym body until he flopped onto the cushions. See, superstrength. Kind of.

“Sit still. Don’t try anything stupid,” I warned, then scooped up my helmet from where he’d yeeted it earlier. I brushed drywall dust off the visor and turned back to face him. “I need you to listen carefully now—”

“Go to hell,” he hissed.

“Bold of you to assume we’re not already in the waiting room,” I said, and finally did what I’d been waiting all night to do. I slid my helmet on and clicked the strap with a crisp snap, the sound sending a shiver down my spine. God, the weight felt right. The world narrowed into the visor’s frame, my voice echoing inmy head, low and dramatic. Yeah, that’s the vibe. Dark. Mysterious. Villainy with acoustics.

I rolled my shoulders, took my mark, and pulled out my knife to hold it up as a silent threat.

“Ahem.” I cleared my throat because a clear throat meant a clear message. And I needed my very last speech to be perfect. “Joey Elrod. You probably wonder who—”

The sound of an unlocking door caught me off guard. I stopped, once again with my speech in mid-sentence, and turned my head toward the front door, which was slowly opening.

Goddammit! This can’t be happening again. Out of pure anger and maybe a bit of stupidity, I took my helmet off and dropped it. “Again?” I whined.

I saw Joey looking at the door from the corner of my eye, and I could see him visibly relaxing.

Shit. No. Does he not live alone?

I had wondered that before, given how well-kept the exterior of his house was, with all the flowers and a cozy back porch setup. But I didn’t want to let myself believe that he actually was in a relationship.

But there was no time to panic. Whoever it was, I could easily take them down. I mean, I took down this fucking monster.

Keys chimed, and the door opened wider. Then there was a voice, warm and curious, and unaware of the crazy shit that was going on in here.

“Joey?”

My blood froze over. That was the most angelic voice I had ever heard, and the face that came into view seconds later shook me to my core in the best way possible.

Holy fuck, that wasn’t a woman walking in. That was a goddess.

“Babe, stay back,” Joey warned, and she stopped immediately as she saw what she had just walked into.

“Oh, my god!”

Babe?

I groaned, throwing my head back dramatically.