Her front teeth dug into her lower lip as she considered the writhing man on the ground. She remained silent, and I wondered if her answer would’ve changed anything.
Not really, I decided. He’d touched something that was mine.
My prey. My kitten. My obsession.
For the sin of hurting her, this man wouldn’t live much longer.
Despite his purple face, the man went to sit up. I pressed my foot against his throat, and he thrashed under me. I frowned as I took in a bruise forming on Alisa’s wrist, and let up a little on the pressure.
He’d pay for that before he fell into the abyss of unconsciousness.
“You should be more careful with your marks,” I said after glancing at her disguised form. If someone else broke her while I wasn’t looking…
“He’s not a mark,” she muttered.
I narrowed my gaze on her.
Alisa snatched her arm out of my grasp. “How did you even know I was here, Dmitri?”
Because ever since she’d defied me that night at The Parlor, I’d started stalking her from the shadows. Which reminded me of what might’ve happened if I hadn’t been here. If I hadn’t followed her tonight and he’d killed her…
“Why the fuck would you walk into a dark alley with some stranger? That was fucking stupid, kotenok.”
Most people would’ve nodded along obediently or looked away submissively when they heard the anger in my tone, but not Alisa.
She was so fucking adorable. And frustrating.
“I’m not your fucking kitten!”
“Not yet.” I smiled when her face heated.
“You’re delusional,” she said, and tried to kick my foot off the guy’s neck so she could interrogate him herself.
When I didn’t acquiesce, Alisa crouched down and stared at the choking man. “How did you know my name?” she muttered to herself.
That admission had me examining the man in a new light. Alisa had been wearing a disguise tonight, so the only way he’d recognize her was if he’d been tracking her like I had.
I doubted her teary blue eyes had also haunted his dreams. That they’d been imprinted so thoroughly in his brain that he could recognize her throughanydisguise. No, I had a feeling this was a burden that was singularly mine.
All the evidence suggested this was far more complicated than a random man going after a pretty girl.
I immediately pushed up the man’s sleeves, revealing his tattoos.
Fuck.
If the Pakhan found out about this…. Shit, I should walk away from this and let Alisa deal with it on her own.
But that was the issue wasn’t it? I couldn’t just fucking leave her alone.
Ever since I’d stumbled across the girl who was willing to sacrifice herself for her brother, I hadn’t been able to get her quite out of my mind. Very little seemed to hold my attention except death and power, but this little kitten seemed to claw for my attention even when she was just sitting across the room from me.
I’d tried to ignore her for two years. But when she’d defied me that night at The Parlor, I’d started stalking her.
I thought it would alleviate the feeling. Yet each night I kept coming back for more while never seeming to quite scratch the itch.
The man gurgled underneath my foot. Oops, too much pressure.
It was far easier to kill people than keep them alive.
