CHAPTER 25 #3
"Secure her tight. She’s a runner," the Lieutenant ordered, watching the whole thing with a smirk. They weren't taking me to a hospital or a debriefing room. They were taking me to a black site to put a bullet in the back of my head.
They yanked me up off the bed by my zip-tied arms. My bare feet hit the cold hardwood floor.
A jagged piece of blown-out glass instantly sliced deep into the sole of my left foot, leaving a bright red smudge on the pristine white carpet as I stumbled forward.
An operative tossed a grit-covered, heavy tactical jacket over my bare shoulders, making absolutely no effort to help me put it on.
It hung precariously off my bruised skin as they aggressively manhandled me toward the ruined doorway, completely ignoring the fact that I was limping and bleeding.
"Move! Move your ass!" the operative behind me shoved me forward.
"Don't let her talk to anyone. Trenton's orders," the Lieutenant called out.
As they dragged me through the splintered doorframe and out into the smoke-filled, ruined hallway, I violently twisted my head back over my shoulder.
I looked past the tactical lights, past the armed men, staring directly into the dark, empty shadows of the wood-paneled wall where Leon had vanished.
My throat was raw from the smoke and the terror, but I opened my mouth and let out a raw, guttural scream that echoed off the high ceilings.
"LEON!" I screamed, the sound cracking halfway through, fueled by pure, unadulterated rage and something significantly darker. "LEON, YOU BASTARD!"
The operatives shoved me roughly into the waiting elevator car, hitting the override button.
The heavy steel doors slid shut, cutting off the view of the ruined penthouse and plunging me into the absolute darkness of the shaft.
I wasn't screaming for rescue. As the car dropped, the sickening realization settled heavily in my stomach.
I wasn't screaming because I wanted him to save me from the feds.
I was screaming because the only thing worse than being dragged to my execution was knowing I belonged to the monster in the shadows.
TO BE CONTINUED…
NEXT BOOK:
SERVE THE DARK
ALESSIA
I escaped.
At least that’s what I told myself.
But freedom doesn’t feel like freedom when the people you trusted leave you bleeding and the only place left to run is back into the arms of the man who ruined you.
The bureau made me disposable.
Leon made me necessary.
Now we’re hunted from every side and somewhere between safehouses and bloodshed I stopped pretending this is survival.
This is devotion.
I’m crossing lines I used to arrest people for and every choice drags me deeper into a life I swore I’d never choose.
I should leave.
Instead I find myself standing beside him and wondering how far I’d go to protect what we built.
The answer terrifies me.
LEON
She came back.
Not broken.
Not defeated.
She came back dangerous.
The woman who once wore a badge now stands beside me with blood on her hands and fire in her eyes and I’ve never wanted anything more.
They think they can take her from me.
They think she still belongs to their world.
They forgot one thing.
She chose this.
And I will burn cities before I let anyone touch what belongs at my side.
She entered my darkness.
Now she serves it willingly.
This is the second book in Series. Reading order: Enter the Dark, Serve the Dark, Rule the Dark.
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SAVAGE
SCARLETT
He didn’t ask.
He walked into the ballroom, looked at me once, and decided.
Minutes later I was dragged out through a service exit, shoved into the back of a black car, and told I belonged to him. Not politely. Not gently. Like it was already done.
Nikolai Smirnov doesn’t waste words. He doesn’t explain. He takes control and expects you to adjust.
I fought him. I screamed. I clawed at his suit.
He liked it.
That’s what unsettled me. The harder I pushed, the closer he stepped. The more I resisted, the tighter his grip became. He didn’t want a quiet girl. He wanted me furious.
And when he touched me — rough, deliberate, claiming — my body reacted before my pride could stop it.
I should hate him.
Instead I lie awake at night replaying the way he said my name like it was already attached to his.
He thinks he owns me.
He has no idea what he just chained himself to.
NIKOLAI
She wasn’t supposed to get under my skin.
She was supposed to be controlled, contained, handled.
Instead she stood in front of me shaking with rage and still refused to bow.
I’ve dealt with men who cry. Men who beg. Men who break in seconds.
Scarlett doesn’t break.
She bites. She spits. She looks at me like she wants to stab me in the throat.
I want her exactly like that.
I want her fighting me while I hold her wrists down. I want her breath hitching when I get too close. I want to see the exact second her anger turns into heat.
She thinks this is about power.
It is.
But not the way she thinks.
Because every time I touch her and she doesn’t pull away fast enough… she’s the one losing control.
And I don’t let go of things that fight this hard.
This is the first book in The Dark Virtue series. Reading order:
Savage.
Toxic.
Sinful.