Page 11 of Lovely Venom

CHAPTER FIVE

Connor

Rhys says something, waiting for me to answer.

I don’t, I can’t speak. Every plan, every strategy, every logical thought I’ve ever had is burning to ash under the weight of one brutal, bleedin’ truth:I found her.

The woman who ripped out my soul without even knowing it. She’s walking away, bleeding and broken.

And I’m letting her go. I have to.

From the passenger seat of Rhys’s Audi down the street, I see her get into a car with a man who works for the DEA, according to his vest and the car’s license plate.

“She made it out,” I mutter, my hand in front of my mouth.

“You sound relieved, considering we came here to kill her,” Rhys says, sitting next to me.

“I’m not killing a woman,” I grind out.

Definitely nother. Of all the birds in the world, a DEA agent landed in my nest. And I was the only one who could have saved her. Havok’s strung-out customer locked his heat on her and wanted her dead.

She’s the enemy, a target, and the most beautiful fucking liar. A Fed pretending to be a junkie is something that should have given me pause, but I didn’t care.

Fury and a sexual need I never felt before tangle up inside me, choke me, twist me up so tight my fists curl at my sides. Every cell in my body screamed at me to grab her. To drag her back into the shadows where no one could touch her, hurt her, or use her against me.

Us. My fucking family.

Now there’s a fucking weapon aimed straight at my heart.

But I still want her. More than ever. Now I know what sparked this fire in me. Why I can’t stop thinking about her. Why my instincts are all blinking about this one. She’s a fighter. Like me. She’s fearless. Like me.

And as forbidden as pure cane sugar is to a diabetic.

Seeing how she held that Glock and took down that bouncer, she definitely has criminal blood running through her.

I shut my eyes, but that only makes it worse. She’s seared into my brain.

Havok took off. He had her in close range up in that apartment and let her go for some reason. I doubt she’ll get another pass if he’s now dealing for the Albanians. If Tahiri’s army gets to her before I do, I’ll lose my mind.

I can already feel my sanity breaking inside me, a hairline fracture splitting down the middle of everything I am. It doesn’t matter if she’s a threat to the Irish and the enemy. Even if saving her means betraying everything I swore to protect. I’ll do it. I’ll fucking do it.

I just killed for her.

I might even die for her.

Hell, I’m already dead inside. A walking corpse, taking orders. I just didn’t realize why.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” I say to Rhys, tightening my fists.

“Connor, what’s up?” Rhys nudges my arm. “You’re fucking white as a ghost.”

“We missed the chance to help Tahiri.” I force my setting back to the stern killer’s gaze my family knows and hide the madness that woman has lit inside me. “Griffin will be pissed.”

“I can vouch that we didn’t realize what we were walking into.” Rhys shifts in his seat. “For one, we were in enemy territory. And she wasn’t some lone DEA agent. She had her task force with her. I recognized the van. Theyhave sick surveillance capabilities. We did the right thing.”

“Did I do the right thing?” I clear my throat. “Killing the junkie?”

Rhys shrugs. “Anytime you save an innocent life, it’s the right thing.”