Page 185 of Ruthless Creatures

She blinks, then says, “Excuseme?” all haughty and holier-than-thou, and I’m lost.

This is it. This is the way the dreaded Reaper meets his end, at the hands of an angel with a sword for a tongue.

“Too fussy.”

I don’t know if it’s my words or my delivery, but it pisses her off even more. Stormy sea eyes flashing, she snaps, “For futurereference, if you see a woman wearing a wedding gown, the only acceptable thing to tell her is that she looks beautiful.”

“Youarebeautiful, but it has nothing to do with that fussy fucking dress.”

Jesus Christ. I told her she’s beautiful. Next, I’ll be spouting poetry. I’m a goddamn pathetic mess.

Before I can make more of a fool of myself, I toss the package onto the dresser and storm out of her house. I go next door, slam the door shut behind me, tear off my shirt, and set into the punching bag with vicious intensity, hammering it over and over with my bare fists while visualizing it’s Damon’s face I’m pulverizing.

I want to kill him for stealing that money.

Not because of loyalty to Max. Because he put in motion something so dark and powerful, it has the potential to take down the entire Russian mafia and maybe the whole world with it.

The Reaper put a target under his protection. None of the old rules apply anymore.

I don’t know how long I work on the bag, but when my arms are aching and my body is drenched in sweat, I let out a roar of frustration and stop because it isn’t helping.

Then I glimpse Natalie in the window of the bedroom I left her in next door and freeze.

She’s still wearing the wedding dress. Our gazes catch and hold, and I can tell by the look in her eyes that she feels it, too.

The need. The connection. But most of all, the danger. This is a new chapter of a very old book, and there’s no predicting how the story will end.

I’m too much of a realist to imagine it will be happy, but I’m too far gone to care.

Natalie Peterson is the brightest flame, and I’m the moth flying straight into her fire.

Okay, baby. Let’s see how hot we’re gonna burn.