Page 70 of Lovely Venom

“By?”

“Connor. He likes you, apparently.”

“Good to know. And if I do kill him?” I cannotbelieve this conversation.

“We’ll figure out who you really are, who you’re working for, and then we’ll killthembefore you get another chance.”

Unease slithers up my spine. When they find out I’m not just a hired killer but that my father was the Albaniankyrewhotheykilled, they won’t just kill me. They’ll make an example of me.

Great.

I square my shoulders, masking my racing thoughts. I have to stay ahead of this. Ahead ofthem.

Rhys watches me, his sharp eyes flickering with suspicion. The weight of his gaze crushes my chest like he’s cataloging every twitch, every breath.

He’s programming me for when we might meet in another situation. Battle. When Connor gives the go-ahead to kill me. This magnificent beast will be the last guy on earth I see before I meet my maker.

“Are we done?” I ask, forcing indifference into my tone.

Like I’m not standing in front of one of the most dangerous men I’ve ever met. Alone in his apartment. With an accomplice next door who has knowledge of soil and a collection of shovels.

Rhys smirks, slow and knowing. “For now.”

His voice coils tension in my spine like barbed wire, but I just nod. I won’t give him the satisfaction of letting him know I’m terrified of him. I shift the briefcase against my chest and stride toward the door.

Just get out. Get back to your turf.

But before I can reach for the doorknob, his voice stops me.

“Raina.”

My mask of strength has dissolved against my skin like wet toilet paper. Slowly, I turn back. “Yeah?”

Rhys tilts his head, assessing me like a puzzle with a few missing pieces. One more hint will make all of this click for him.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” He sounds almost sympathetic, like he suspects I don’t have a choice.

In his line of work, he’s seen it all.

I force a smirk. “I always know what I’m doing.”

His lips twitch, but his eyes darken again. “Says the woman who got stripped of all her weapons.”

“Then I wouldn’t get to meet you and find out where you live.” I grip the handle of the briefcase and shove open his apartment door. “And your pretty girlfriend, too.”

And with that, I walk out, pulse pounding, knowing damn well I just stepped deeper into a game I might not be able to win.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Raina

The weight of all my weapons plus the heaviness of a steel briefcase challenges my arm as I step away from Rhys’s building to get the hell home. My weapons are usually tucked against different parts of my body. Now, they clang around like sad silverware bought at a garage sale.

I should be furious.

Iamfurious. That hilarious scene with Rhys and Fallon only temporarily brought my blood pressure down.

My precious fucking knives are locked up, kept from me like I’m some wild animal who needs a muzzle. I want to hate Rhys and his gorgeous man bun. I hope Fallon brings that smug giant of a cocky bastard to his knees. And that I get to see it. That’s too much to hope for.