Page 45 of Lady and the Hitman

Butmine.

That word curled around my spine like smoke.

Not a suggestion. Not a compliment. A claim.

And something in me—something dark and hidden and half-starved—responded to it like a flame to oxygen.

Because no one had ever said that to me before. Not like that. Not without apology or condition or some half-hearted attempt to make it sound romantic. He wasn’t trying to woo me. He wasn’t saying he loved me. He was saying he owned me.

And God help me, I wanted to be owned by this hulking, mysterious, beast of a man.

I felt the heat rise under my skin. Not embarrassment. Not shame. Just raw, unfiltered awareness of my body and his. Of the distance between us, and the way it suddenly felt too far.

He wasn’t even touching me.

But I could feel him everywhere.

In my pulse. In the ache between my legs. In the way I sat straighter without meaning to, like my body was trying to present itself for inspection.

Because I was his. Had been from the second I felt his presence in Charleston and saw the man Alpha Mail had chosen.

Now there was no going back.

Not from this.

Not from him.

The SUV curved through a series of residential streets before joining a long, empty stretch of highway.The city lights fell away. We passed only palm trees and darkness until I saw the sign: Zoo Miami.

Closed. Or so I thought.

We turned down a service road and came to a security gate manned by someone in a dark uniform. No words were exchanged—just a clipboard glance and a nod. The gate opened.

My heart pounded.

“Why a zoo?” I whispered.

“Because it strips away the illusion,” Ronan said simply. “Of civilization. Of safety. Of who you think you are when you’re not watched.”

“And I’m the prey?”

He leaned in, and just smiled.

The SUV rolled to a stop near a back entrance. Beyond it, the buildings were dark. No families. No signs of life. Just silhouettes of palms and low architecture, backlit by the eerie glow of overhead lights.

He turned to me and held out something small.

An earpiece.

Again.

“Put it in,” he said. “You won’t see me after this. Not for a while.”

I blinked. “You’re leaving me?”

“I’m hunting you.”

I swallowed hard. “What are the rules?”