20
ALISON
The food arrived,and we started eating. The linguine was delicious, with a velvety red sauce rich with tomato and lobster. And Edgar was great. Good looking, gentle and polite...
But there was something missing. There was no charge, no spark. My pulse was stuck firmly in idle.What’s the matter with me? He’s a perfectly nice guy.
“Do you want dessert?” I asked as we finished our pasta.
Edgar shook his head. He’d started to look a little pale.
I was suddenly stubbornly determined to make this work. “Or we could maybe go to a bar, or?—”
Edgar shook his head again. I looked closer at him: he was sweating.
“Are you—” I began.
Edgar slid off his chair, and before he’d even hit the floor, he was throwing up. I jumped back out of the way, then ran around and knelt down to help. He was groaning and apologizing, and I rubbed his back and told him it was okay.What the fuck is going on?
Then I saw a familiar pair of legs across the restaurant. Gennadiy was standing watching us.
There was a slow, horrible moment of realization. For a second, I fought it.He wouldn’t.Then:it’s Gennadiy, of course he would.
I stormed across the room, ignoring all the people staring at me. I grabbed his big hand with my smaller one and towed him into a quiet corner. “Youpoisonedhim?!” I hissed.
Gennadiy glowered down at me. “It’s nothing, he’ll be fine in a few hours.”
I stared up at him in disbelief. “Why would you do this?”
Gennadiy adjusted his cufflinks. “He’s not right for you,” he said dismissively.
The anger rose inside me like black, boiling oil. “You don’t get to decide that!Idecide who’s right for?—”
He leaned down to me. “I didn’t like the idea of you sucking his cock.”
My face flared hot. “You—You don’t have any say in whose—” I swallowed and glared and tried to ignore how my pulse had skyrocketed, how being this close to him made me feel almost drunk. “What are you going to do, murder any man who looks at me?”
He leaned even closer and pointed to the water outside the window. “It’s a big lake. Try me.”
I searched his face, but he was stone-cold serious. It should have scared me: itdidscare me. But there was another feeling, like strong arms locking protectively around me. I realized I’d been waiting for this feeling my entire life, and that scared me even more.
This is crazy. He’s a gangster.No different from the men who’d murdered my parents. So why did it feel like I was...tumbling? And his cold gray eyes were flaring, switching between anger and something else entirely.He feels it, too.
Both of us leaned in…
Then I shook my head and managed to clear it, and reality crashed back in like a freezing wave.What the hell am I doing? He’s my target, I’m meant to be putting him in jail!
I ran back to Edgar, called him a ride, and waited with him until it arrived. When I checked over my shoulder, Gennadiy was gone.
Once Edgar was safe, I headed home alone. I took a shower to tryto unwind, but it was no good: my mind kept running over everything.What would have happened if I’d kissed him?
I crawled into bed, but I could only manage a fitful, broken sleep. Maybe that’s why I came awake so easily when I heard the noise. I knew instantly what it was: the soft tinkle of the wind chimes in the living room, blowing in the breeze.
Someone had just opened the door from my balcony.
Every muscle in my body tensed. But I took a shuddering breath and forced myself to move slowly: I didn’t want the intruder to know I was awake. I reached into the nightstand and grabbed my gun, then clicked off the safety. Feeling better, I slid out of bed and crept across the room in just panties and a nightshirt.
At the bedroom door, I held my breath and listened. Nothing.
