“I had things under control,” I snapped.
Bastian’s black gaze flicked to my face. “Really?”
Oh yes, he was pissed.
I cocked my hip. “I’ve lived this long, depending only on myself. You think I can’t deal with scum like this?”
The man made a low grunt. “I’ll fucking kill you both. I’ll make you watch while I stab her, asshole.”
Oh, you idiot.
Bastian’s mouth flattened into a grim line. He increased the pressure on the man’s neck and the killer fell to his knees. Bastian grabbed the side of the man’s head and twisted.
There was a dry crack as the man’s neck broke. His body dropped into an ungainly pile on the dirty sidewalk.
Bastian’s gaze moved to my arm. “Are you okay? Did he stab you?”
I shook my head, then touched the slice on my shirt. “It’s just a cut.” There was blood on the fabric, but it wasn’t anything bad. It wouldn’t even rate any stitches or glue. “This was one of my favorite shirts, though.”
He shrugged out of his suit jacket. “Put this one. Why the hell didn’t you wear a jacket?”
“I’m fine?—”
“Now is not the time to argue with me, Lark.”
I slipped into the jacket and was immediately wrapped in his sandalwood scent. His lingering body heat warmed me.
“Come on.” He took my hand, his voice tight.
He kept to the shadows, towing me down the street. I noted that he avoided the security camera I’d clocked earlier on a nearby building.
“You’re angry.”
“I told you to stay in the penthouse. Then I find you gone, stalking a killer in a shitty part of the city, all while another killer is after you.”
“I got a tip. One of the girls that works the street here called me and gave me a heads-up about this guy. And I’m not a dog, Bastian. I don’t stay put when ordered.”
He spun me around and backed me up against the wall of the nearest store.
“You were already stabbed once this week.”
“I was about to take him down. I wasn’t in danger. I thought he could have been the Red Ribbon Killer, but he wasn’t.”
“He definitely wasn’t.”
“I know that now.”
Bastian leaned in. “You put yourself at risk. You could be dead, bleeding in a dirty alley.”
I stared at his face. God, he’d been…worried about me. “Bastian.” I pressed a hand to his cheek. “I’m okay.”
He blew out a breath. “You make me crazy.”
Then his mouth was on mine. The kiss was fast, hard, furious.
“Everyone all right?”
The deep voice made me jolt. I saw Cole emerge from the darkness.
