Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 72340 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72340 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
I stand up, wiping the splattered blood from my dress shirt. I turn around, taking notice of Eli and Mack’s eyes on me, both look a bit disappointed.
“What?” They should be pulling the body out of the house by now, not standing there looking at me like a pair of baffled fuckers.
Mack points up to the top of the stairs where Amara is standing. Even from this distance, I can see the shock in her eyes.
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
Did she honestly not take my warnings seriously?
Handing Eli my gun, I dart up the steps to my room. Anger escalating with every step I take. Obviously, I need to teach her a lesson. She needs to learn that my word always matters and must always be obeyed.
The second my foot touches the top step, I hear the door to my room click closed.
I forcefully push through the door, making it slam into the wall, but I don’t even care. I don’t care about scaring her or breaking shit. All I care about is her learning to listen and obey what I say.
“Didn’t I tell you to stay in here?” I question her, already knowing the answer. She is sitting on the far side of the bed, her face hiding behind a mess of brown hair.
My voice is heard only by myself, though, because she doesn’t look up. This only throws more gasoline onto the fire. Maybe I need to remind her who is in charge…
I walk over to my desk to grab my favorite knife out from under the drawer. Wrapping my fingers around the wooden handle, I cross the room and grip her arm, pushing her down onto the bed. Her eyes grow even wider with fear as she takes notice of the knife.
“I didn’t mean…”
“Shut up! I don’t want to hear it.” I press the blade against her slender throat, making her fully aware of what it is that I can do, will do, to her.
“I don’t care about your excuses. When I tell you to stay put, I mean it. I don’t say it for shits and giggles, Amara. This world isn’t the world you’re used to.” Every word that slips from my mouth is laced with some sort of self-induced anger.
Rationally, I know I have no real reason to be this mad at her, but it pisses me off that she didn’t listen. I press the side of the blade to her skin, but not the edge. I want to scare her and not actually cut her.
“I’m sorry.” Tears prick at the corners of her eyes and slide down the sides of her face. I feel my heart beat heavy in my chest as I watch more tears slip from her eyes.
I pull the knife from her throat, shove it into my back pocket, and stand to my full height. She is still looking at me like I just killed a bucket full of kittens.
Sitting up, she asks, “Why did you kill him?” It’s so quiet, I’m not sure she meant to ask it. She looks down at the floor, her brown hair flowing around her head like she just brushed it.
She’d changed out of her dress and was now wearing a pair of plaid pajama bottoms and a white spaghetti strap tank top. She looks so young and innocent. I almost want to wrap her up and send her as far away from me as I can get her. But I won’t because I’m too selfish.
“He deserved to die.” It is that simple. I untuck my dress shirt from my slacks, pulling at the buttons to take it off.
“People don’t just deserve to die.”
“They do when they owe me money, even more so when they steal from me. Not that any of this concerns you.” I sound like an asshole. Even though I have no reason to justify my actions, I feel like I have to. I feel like I need her to understand why I did what I did.
“Did you ever think he needed the money? Maybe he was poor and had a family?”
“Generally, anyone who comes to me needs the money. It doesn’t matter what it’s for, Amara. If you make a deal with the devil for your soul and lose, he will take it. Well, in this case, I’m the devil. They made the deal, I was just following through with the soul taking part.”
Her nose tips up, and her eyes grow with a fire that makes my dick ache.
“You’re a monster. A sick, horrific monster that gets off on using and abusing people.” The distaste in her voice only makes me want her more. A smile pulls at my lips as I pull my shirt off completely. Her eyes go straight to my bare chest and stay there for a moment. Even if she thinks I’m a monster, she is still attracted to me.