Page 42

CHAPTER 41

Hunter

That kiss…

I’m ready to throw it all away.

The rules. The plan.

To lose myself in this woman.

I’m a weak man. I am hers.

And for the first time in years, I don’t want to fight it.

And then… my phone dings.

Callum:

Samuel has gone off the rails.

He saw you with Alana tonight.

He threatened her.

My blood runs cold.

Samuel. One of our own.

We got him off the streets.

Cleaned him up. Gave him structure.

Gave him purpose.

A young agent.

Sharp, fast and terrifyingly good at what he does.

But reckless. Slippery.

Oily in a way that always made my skin crawl.

He’s sharp. Unstable.

I vouched for him once, when I shouldn’t have.

We knew he was tethering on the edge.

Of relapse, of something darker.

But I didn’t think he’d snap.

Not like this.

My fingers fly.

Me:

What?

The response comes fast.

Callum:

He came to the office looking for me.

He demanded cash for Alana’s safety.

I’ve got him here in restraints if you need to talk to him.

A white-hot heat slices through me.

Not panic. Not yet. Rage.

“Fuck,” I mutter, the word catching on the edge of my teeth like a blade.

I feel it start to coil in my chest, familiar and cold.

The darkness I keep buried.

The one I swore I’d never let near her.

“What?” Alana’s voice slices through the haze.

She looks up at me from across the room, her eyes wide and full of questions she doesn’t know she’s asking.

The shift in me must be visible, because I see her flinch.

Just slightly.

I force myself to breathe.

Steady. Measured.

“Something has happened, my…” I start, throat tight.

“Boss needs me,” I say carefully.

She steps toward me, just half a step and I can hear the pleading edge in her voice.

“Can’t someone else handle it?”

I want to say yes.

I want to lie to her.

I want to stay. Wrap my arms around her, kiss her again and forget all of this.

But I can’t.

“I’m afraid not,” I grit out.

“They need me tonight. I have to go.”

I take two steps forward.

Close enough to feel the tension rolling off her.

Her chest rising and falling in shallow breaths.

My own pulse a war drum in my ears.

“I know you like testing my limits,” I say, trying to sound calm, “but tonight? Do not leave this apartment. Keep the door locked. Do not open it for anyone.”

My eyes find hers.

I let her see it. The truth under the surface.

The danger. The fear.

“Please, Alana. It’s not safe.”

Her expression falters.

She gives me the smallest nod and that nearly undoes me.

I grab my helmet from my room.

My hands are shaking.

I shouldn’t say anything else.

I should walk out. Be smart.

But I can’t leave her with silence.

I stop at the door. My back still to her.

“I wasn’t pretending, Little Diamond.”

Not when I touched you.

Not when I kissed you like I meant it.

Not for a single second.

And then I walk out. Before I break.