“No. I want to know who or what made you cry.”
Helena’s gaze shifted between my lips and eyes, eventually lowering as her body stiffened in my lap.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Helena, that’s bullshit, and you know it.Whathappened?”
She pushed off my lap and dashed into the bedroom, dumping the bag of women’s clothing Santino had dropped off.
“I can’t change what they did, but I can sure as hell make them pay.” She ripped the T-shirt over her head and tossed it. Despite it all, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the perfect curves and angles of her body. And since she certainly had no hang-ups about being naked, I was more than happy to take full advantage.
Gripping her arms, I stopped her frantic search for clothing and pulled her into me. “Make who pay, and for what?”
She held my gaze before speaking, a gleam of emotion passing through her features before they hardened. “My father’s life. I received an anonymous package today with his severed head inside.”
I blinked rapidly, momentarily speechless. “His head… Jesus. I’m so sorry.”
She broke my hold and pulled on some black leggings. “Yeah. I watched some surveillance footage. Got some possible leads, and now that I’ve let it out. Grieved, locked it all down. I won’t stop until I’ve bathed in their blood.”
“Helena.” I hooked her elbow as she passed. “You don’t know what you’re walking into. You just lost your father, and you're not in the right head space.”
She ripped her arm away. “Thank you for your expert opinion on my mental state, but I think I’m good.”
Breaking off into the living room, she snatched her shotgun from the counter and assessed it quickly before snapping up to look at me. “Where’s my ammo?”
“Even if I gave it to you, it’s not nearly enough. And I’m not going to let you just—”
“You’re not going tolet medo anything.” She stormed toward me, finger poking into my chest as she spoke. “You’re not my man. You don’t own me just because we fucked.”
She wasn’t fast enough to dodge my hands as they shot out, grabbed her forearm, and twisted her around. Her back was flush to my front, sweet ass grazing against me as I held her firm.
“Helena,” I murmured into her ear, “I can be the gentleman who carries you to your room when you’re distraught, the one who undresses and helps you shower off the blood of your enemies. I can be so many things, love. But you seem to forget that I’m also the same monster you see when you look in the mirror. I won’t be toyed with or disrespected. Not by you or anyone, no matter how good this cunt of yours is.”
Her breaths quickened, and her body quivered under my touch. Helena wasn’t the type of woman who indulged in romance, flowers, or sweet gestures. She craved fire, pain, and passion. She could claim to feel indifferent, but her body betrayed her. The soft whimper on her lips, the tremors running down her spine, and how her ass moved against my thighs. She was wrong.
Shewasmine.
Moving her hair aside, I brushed my lips down the curve of her neck, stopping at the junction of her shoulders and biting down until she hissed and dropped her head against my chest.
“I hate you,” she whispered, reaching into my hair, rough fingers scraping against my scalp.
“I know,” I said, grabbing a hold of her chin and tilting her face toward me. My teeth trapped her bottom lip, and I gave an ounce more pressure before a soft moan rose from her throat, and the fingers in my hair tightened.
She’d had a day from literal hell, and as much as I wanted to fold her over this coffee table, the flicker of a conscience I had left had me pulling away.
“What’s your plan? And why can’t we wait until morning?”
I reached into a side table drawer and pulled out the ammo she’d packed inside the small backpack she’d arrived with. Bullets intended for me…or so she’d convinced herself. But we both knew better.
“Wearen’t doing anything, Silas. Melina is meeting and supplying what I’ll need. If she sees you, knows you and I…”
“Fucked?”
She rolled her eyes. “That I haven’t fulfilled my contract. Word will get back to Cillian, then we’re both screwed.”
Helena started for the door, but I pulled her back again. “Are you sure you’re up for this? So soon after?”
“Grief is just a fleeting emotion, Silas. Much like love and lust and even hate. A chemical reaction—something that can be tamed with the right mindset. I don’t feel when I don’t want to.”
