Page 6

ADRIAN

T he first time I heard her voice, the sound was breathier than I expected. Deeper too. Marisela was not delicate and soft-spoken, like the floral wallpaper and all the lace-trimmed pillows inside her bedroom would lead you to believe.

Though that could have something to do with the fact she was currently dangling from her windowsill, her palms bearing the brunt of her weight as she attempted to push off the side of the house before landing on a bed of flowers with a few choice adjectives tossed out into the night sky.

It was hard to appear demure with a mouth like that—the dirt covering her ass and the leaves clinging to her hair didn’t help either.

But I didn’t like my women demure. Where was the fun in that? Who wants to play with a toy that’s already been broken?

I tucked myself closer to the side of the house, the stone exterior cold against my heated skin, my eyes glued to my target as she brushed off her pants and glanced around.

Likely looking for the guards that were supposed to be walking the property line in thirty-minute intervals.

Her old man was a paranoid fuck, which meant he probably had a reason to be.

She wouldn’t find them. Her father’s men.

They’d been… incapacitated for the time being.

A hefty dose of ketamine worked wonders in a pinch.

It was one of the reasons understanding chemistry and the way the body reacted to different components was so important.

Too much of this additive or too little of this solvent could mean the difference between knocking someone out and killing them.

Both had their uses, depending on the circumstance.

And right now, two dead bodyguards were more of a headache than their organs were worth.

Which meant they’d wake up feeling like they were tossed into a gutter and stomped on. But at least they’d wake up.

Realizing she wasn’t about to be dragged back into Daddy’s office and thrown over his knee—though mine wasn’t out of the question just yet—Marisela crept towards the stone wall surrounding her family estate, grabbing the ledge and scaling over the top much quicker than I had cleared it a few minutes ago myself.

Except I was trying to get in and this little wandering lamb was itching to get out.

I counted to ten in my head before following her, being sure to keep a few paces between us. It was easier said than done when every neuron in my brain was firing off and screaming at me to reach out and touch her .

When she turned the corner, slipping behind some abandoned warehouse, I quickened my steps, rushing to catch up with her only to stop short when I found myself staring at a brick wall in an empty alleyway.

I glanced from side to side. Where the fuck had she gone?

There was no other way in or out. And this wall was much too high for a girl her size to scale without a leg up.

“Who we looking for?” a soft voice whispered next to my ear as I pivoted in place to find a pair of wide green eyes staring back at me.