Page 3 of Betrayal and Vows

Stepped away.

Burned.

She leaned against the wall, cheeks flushed, chest heaving.

“That was a mistake,” I said, even as my cock throbbed, even as my hand still glistened with her.

Lena tilted her head and smiled.

“Then why do you look like you’ll kill the next man who touches me?”

She turned and walked away.

And I just stood there, fists clenched, heart shredded, watching the woman I couldn’t have disappear into the shadows.

I didn't breathe until she was gone.

I didn’t come that night.

I didn’t sleep.

I just sat in the dark with her taste still on my fingers and her name a curse I couldn’t stop saying.

Chapter 1

Anton

It’s cold.

Fucking Moscow springs are just a mild winter.

I hate it, but I need it.

Cold keeps me sharp.

I exhale slowly through my nose and flex my gloved fingers once. The weight of the GSh-18 in my palm is familiar.

Comforting.

The gun had been a gift after my first hit.

And now it’s a part of me. The Ka-bar on my thigh and the second gun stuffed into my boot feel like a uniform.

My eyes are fixed on the warehouse door across the alley. I got the call thirty minutes ago.

Two guards posted out front, both more interested in their phones than the job they’re being paid to fail at.

I’m told there are at least four men inside.

And those are the ones I have to be worried about.

As if.

I check my watch. Dmitri’s late.

Again.

I just want to get this shit done. I don’t know why I need a second. I work alone. They call me to handle this shit because I’m the best. It’s insulting they think I need back up.