He stalks closer, towering over us both like a small mountain of barely contained violence. His gaze sweeps over me—noting the crumpled photo in my hand, my bare feet, the fear I can’t hide—before settling on the landlord.
Too fast to track, Alexei’s hand shoots out and encases my landlord’s throat. Maurice chokes, eyes bulging, hands rising up to claw at the fingers around his windpipe.
“I’m hers.” Alexei’s quiet voice is conversational, as if he isn’t one twitch away from crushing a man’s larynx. “But what you should really worry about is that she’smine.”
My head spins at the words.
Hers. Mine.
A raw, possessive claim, spoken with a certainty that rewrites reality around us. He hasn’t touched me, but he’s just thrown a cloak of ownership over me in front of a threat. Like I’m territory being marked.
Like I belong to him.
Maurice’s face has become an alarming shade of purple. “She…owes…rent.”
“You own this building?” Alexei studies Maurice as if that possibility stuns him.
Unable to speak with the pressure still on his throat, the landlord nods frantically.
Alexei’s lips curl into the ghost of a smile. “By tomorrow morning, you won’t.”
My jaw drops.
The implication is clear. Alexei plans to buy the entire property just to solve my rent problem. Just to punish this man for threatening me. The casual display of power and wealth leaves me light-headed.
Alexei releases Maurice, who staggers to the side, gasping and rubbing his throat. The purple recedes from his face, restoring his skin’s natural olive hue. His neck shows no visible marks, but the man’s eyes are wide with terror and humiliation.
“Get out of my sight.” Alexei doesn’t need to raise his voice.
Maurice glances between us before backing away, still rubbing his throat and mumbling about the rent being due regardless.
He retreats down the hallway, the usual swagger in his gait replaced by more of a scurry. Only when he disappears around the corner do I release a breath.
I’m alone with Alexei in the dingy hallway. The fluorescent lights buzz overhead, the scent of mildew and old carpet heavy in the air.
I’ve spent my life waiting for the other shoe to drop. Waiting for the next disaster, the next abandonment, the next person to hurt or leave me. There’s a twisted security in being with the guy who picks up the shoe and squashes anyone who tries to harm me.
But he’s also the man who shot Benny in that alley. Who tied me up, gagged me, blindfolded me, and held me captive in his loft.
Confusion wars with all the other emotions boiling up inside me. The man I should fear most is the one I currently feel safest with. The killer has become the protector.
Nothing makes sense anymore.
Nothing except the primal instinct that whispers, “Stay close to the most dangerous predator in the room, and hope he continues to see you as his.”
Chapter 16
Alexei
I follow her into the small studio and stop dead in the doorway, jaw tightening in anger. Someone tossed her apartment. “What happened?”
Her eyes dart to the door. I position myself more firmly between her and the exit. She’s not going anywhere.
“R-robbery. Last week. Haven’t had time to clean up.”
If the situation weren’t so serious, the transparent lie would amuse me. The destruction is fresh. There’s no dust on the debris. No one has walked paths through this mess. Her panic is too raw, too immediate for this to have happened a week ago.
This wasn’t a junkie hunting for cash or electronics to fence.
