Chapter 6
GIO
In a flash, the middle door pops open, and there she is, strutting out, her eyes cutting into slits, gleaming like diamonds. I’ve never seen anything more beautiful in my entire life, especially this close. I march forward, unable to look anywhere but at her.
There’s something about a strong, confident woman that gets me every time. But a strong, confident…killer? Well, that’s a first, and I can’t say I hate it.
“Who are you, and what the hell are you doing in here?” she questions, her eyes searing into me as though she wishes she could burn me alive.
My mouth twitches. “I could very well ask you the same thing, bambina.”
A predatory curve of her lips has my cock throbbing.
“Don’t worry about who I am,” she tells me. “What you need to worry about is getting the hell out of here before I carve up your pretty face.”
“You think my face is pretty?” I chuckle.
“Not when you’re talking.” A single brow arches. “So why don’t you be a good boy and shut the hell up?”
I grab my bowtie and loosen it. Goddamn, she’s making it hard to breathe.
She lifts up a long, toned leg, her bare foot slipping onto the duvet as she hikes up her dress and removes a flip knife from the black leather holster wrapped around her inner thigh. Her dress hangs between her legs, denying me the view I’m craving.
I inhale a long, shallow breath, running a hand down my face.
“Christ,” I mutter, almost to myself. “That’s the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
“Typical guy,” she snickers. “Always salivating.”
“I was giving you a compliment.” I fold my arms across my chest, a satisfied look on my face.
She lifts a defiant chin. “Pretty sure I could live without it.”
Oh, this woman… My hands are itching to throw her over my knee, hike up her dress, and leave my handprint on her curvy ass.
“Maybe I should teach you some manners, Izzy.”
She laughs dryly, placing her foot back down and pointing the knife at me. “Izzy isn’t even my real name.”
And before I have a chance to ask her more, she throws that damn blade right at me, trying to kill me for the second time.
With a chuckle, I roll out of the way, rushing toward her just as she does the same, not an ounce of fear in her glare.
She throws a kick into my ribs, and with a grunt, I capture her soft ankle, spin her around, and wrap my forearm around her throat. My hand slips into my pocket and I retrieve the gun, digging the muzzle into her thigh.
“Well, Red, seems like you’re in a bit of trouble now.”
“Oh, that’s so cute.” She scores my firearm with her nails, almost fighting me off successfully.
“You keep trying to kill me…” I whisper right against her ear. “…while all I’ve been trying to do is keep you safe.”
Her chest rises and falls steadily, the warmth of my breaths cruising down her slender throat. My large palm would fit perfectly wrapped around it.
“See, that was your first mistake,” she retorts.
“And what was that?” I tighten my arm around her throat.
She groans low, her fingers digging into my arm. “Assuming every woman you meet actually wants to be saved.”
“Everyone needs saving sometimes.” My lips drop lower until my mouth traces the shell of her ear.
Her breath hitches. “Not me.”
I beg to differ. But I won’t argue. Not when all I can seem to think about right now is how we could stop fighting and do something else entirely. Preferably naked.
“Do you even play the piano?” I wonder gruffly, hissing as she inadvertently moves her hips, her ass rubbing on my straining hard-on.
The things I could do to her…
Her palm latches on to my wrist, trying to pry me off her, with the gun still pointing at her thigh. I chuckle at her attempt.
“Nope,” she finally replies with wry laughter. “And I don’t cook either.”
Her bemused tone turns sinful, and it excites the hell out of me, which is a lot more than what women normally do for me. They’re far too eager to drop to their knees and suck me off to interest me. Don’t get me wrong, their mouths are pretty interesting, but that’s all it ever is.
Her elbow connects violently with my ribs, and with a grunt, I inadvertently loosen my arm from around her.
She slips out, kicking my legs hard and dropping me right on my back, the gun slipping from my grasp.
That’s what I get for being distracted.
Worth it, though, just for the view.
She stares down at me. A cold, calculating grin slithers to both corners of her mouth as she settles on top of me, lowering a blade against my Adam’s apple.
I think I’m in love.
I grab a fistful of her hair and drag her face closer, until her lips brush against mine. “Do it, Red. Cut me.”
“You think I won’t?” She pushes the knife in deeper, and I know she nicked me.
“Good girl,” I say through a tense grin, my skin throbbing where the blade pierced it, but I’ve never felt this alive before.
Her jaw strains at the praise, and it has me groaning, enjoying the quiet rage pulling at her features.
She could’ve easily done worse. But she didn’t. I think I’m growing on her.
I take my time wrapping all that luscious red hair around my wrist, and her eyes grow heavy-lidded even as she fights me. Fights this obvious attraction coiling between us.
I’ve never fought a woman before. And I’ve sure as hell never wanted to fuck one while fighting her either.
“Come on now, Red,” I whisper. “Do it. Kill me.”
Her controlled, yet tight breaths rush out of her lungs. “Don’t bait me.”
She sinks that blade deeper, and I growl when it cuts me again. Her lips drop to mine until they stroke against me in a seductive, yet fatal way.
“You have no idea who I am,” she challenges.
“But I want to.” The confession slips easily. “You intrigue me.”
She angles her chin, loosening herself around me just a fraction, but it’s enough.
Instantly, I flip her onto the ground, pinning her beneath me. She gasps when my body molds into every one of her curves.
I settle between her thighs, and I know she can feel what she does to me.
“I can’t figure out if you looked better on top or on the bottom.”
“Asshole,” she hisses, but I swear those hips move on purpose.
I stare into her eyes for long quiet seconds, and it’s as though I’m staring into the eyes of my future.
It’s crazy. It makes no sense. But it’s what I seem to feel in this moment, and I’m not one to deny my own feelings.
“I don’t even know why we’re fighting. The last thing I want to do is fight you.”
She scoffs. “Well, for starters, you interrupted me from completing my job.” She glances away, frustration marking every one of her words. “And now that you can identify me…” She gives me a snarky glare. “I’m going to have to kill you. Which is quite a shame, since I did like looking at you.”
I chuckle. “And I very much enjoy looking at you.” My eyes drop to those full lips I want wrapped around my cock. “So, how about some kind of truce? Maybe we can even have a conversation like two civilized adults.”
She narrows an unconvinced stare. She’s quite the sexy thing, even when she’s trying to plot my demise.
“You’re here to kill Carl too, huh?” I ask. “What did he do, steal?”
“Yeah.” She eyes me curiously. “He stole money from you too?”
“He did. A lot of it.”
“So you weren’t stalking me?”
“Well, I mean, I kinda was.” My mouth curls. “I did want to make sure he didn’t hurt you.”
Something passes in her eyes just then. Something soft and vulnerable and utterly beautiful. And I swear I want to kiss her even more.
“Well…” She throws out nonchalantly, erasing a glimpse into the real her. “You can be sure he did no such thing. So how about you just go, and I’ll clean up my own mess?”
“You’re so cute.”
Beneath her fluttering lashes, her eyes round. “Did you just call me cute?”
“And so fucking hot.” The words slip on a shameless groan. “Is that better, Your Highness?”
“No.” She tilts up her narrow jaw. “You’re bleeding on me.” She grimaces, passing a glance at my throat. “Might want to find your girlfriend to make your boo-boo feel better.”
Shit. I stare down at her chest, drops of blood coating her dress, slightly camouflaged against the satin.
“How about you be my girlfriend and fix what you broke?”
She laughs. “Oh, goodness. Does your weak attempt at charm work on those poor women of the world?”
I shrug, sinking my fingers into her hair. “Usually.”
“Well, it won’t work on me.”
“Pity.” The back of my hand strokes down her cheek, my eyes locked with hers. “I’ll have to try harder.”
“You’ll be trying for a very long time.”
“I have all the time in the world.”
Her features turn aroused, fighting the need skirting between us.
She rolls her eyes, denying that if I kissed her right now, she’d let me.
“How long are you going to suffocate me with your massive body weight?” she asks flatly, her gaze perched to mine once more.
“Until you learn how to behave like a lady.” I stifle a laugh when her cheeks flush with indignation.
“You are just asking to die, aren’t you?” Her breaths grow noisier.
“Bambina, I’ve got you trapped beneath me. What the hell can you do right now, except look good with those thighs spread wide, with me in between them?”
Her pupils dilate.
“I’m going to kill you slow,” she warns, and it warms my cold, dead heart. “I’m going to let your blood drip from your throat as you realize you’re about to die.”
“Damn, baby. Keep whispering those sweet nothings to me. You’re only making me harder.” I thrust into her, and she squirms, her parted lips trembling, brows bowing.
“And all you’re doing is deflating my lady boner.”
“Liar. I bet you’re soaking wet.” My hand cruises up her hip, fitting it between our bodies. “Want me to slide a finger inside you and see for myself?”
“Please,” she scoffs. “You’d be like all the rest of them, too worried about your own dick to care about whether a woman comes.”
My low chuckling has her looking intently at me. “Someone hasn’t been fucked right, huh? Is that why you’re so angry, Red? How about I make it better?”
Her mouth forms a tight, thin line.