He frowns, and a look of annoyance flashes across his face before he replaces it with a fake smile. He’s not in uniform, or a suit like I normally see him in at Wonderland; instead, he’s wearing workout clothes, dark sweats with a ball cap pulled low over his face.
“I have a couple of questions I want to ask you.” His smile, while meant to be reassuring, just sends waves of nausea and a chill down my spine.
I narrow my eyes. “Are you here on official police business?” I ask, since there’s no sign of a badge in sight. “Do you have a warrant?”
He frowns, and that’s all the answer I need. I try to slam the door, but I’m too slow. Daniel lunges forward, shoving his shoulder hard into the door, pushing both me and the door back, and snapping the pathetic little chain.
I fall on my ass from the force of it, scrambling to my feet just as Daniel steps into my apartment, shutting the door behind him. I notice then that he’s wearing gloves when he slides the deadbolt into place.
“What do you want?” My eyes dart around the apartment, careful to keep the distance between us even as he comes closer.
“Gio told me what he did.” He shakes his head. “How he gave you toKoen O’Rourkeas collateral. He said you and him have adealand that he’ll let you go on your merry fucking way once you’ve held up your end of the bargain.”
I don’t say anything, though it’s reassuring to hear that Gio mightactuallyplan to keep his word after everything is said and done.
Daniel keeps coming closer, while I keep backing up. He’s between me and the exit, and my eyes shift to the island, where my phone is charging. I can’t get there either, so I start edging toward the hallway, remembering the gun I keep locked in my nightstand.
“I’m up for a promotion next month, you know?” He puffs out his chest, and my lip curls slightly in disgust. “To Corporal.”
“Good for you,” I offer, though my words fall flat of any actual meaning.
“It is good,” Daniel snaps.
“I don’t understand what that has to do with me?” I ask, though my voice shakes because I’m pretty sureI know.
Daniel frowns, giving me an apologetic look. “You can blame Gio for this. I handed you to him on a silver platter and what did he fucking do? He botched it all up!” I wince when his voice rises in volume, the rage in it setting off my fight or flight. “You shouldbe on a plane, one bound for Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Russia even! But now I have to worry about you running that mouth.”
“I won’t say anything. Giovanni’s made sure of it,” I tell him, but he just scoffs. “Bella, Bella, Bella,” he laments, releasing a rueful laugh. “I’ve been around a long time, and there’s one thing I’ve learned; whores can’t help but run their mouths. I’ve been waiting a long time for this promotion, and I’m not about to let some bitch fuck it all up.”
There’s no mistaking the dark intent in his eyes, I bolt for my bedroom, hoping to get past him, but he’s too fast, catching hold of my arm and hauling me backward. He throws me so hard against the wall, it knocks the breath out of me.
He lunges toward me and I scream, the sound raw and desperate. Daniel struggles to shut me up, but I’m fighting hard. He’s got me pinned to the wall, while his hands grapple for my throat. I reach blindly to the left, feeling nothing but air, until the back of my hand knocks into the lamp and I grab hold of it, ripping the cord out of the wall, and pitching us into darkness when I smash the ceramic base over Daniel’s head.
The lamp shatters and he yells, cursing at me as he stumbles, falling to the floor. I run for the door. But I didn’t knock him out, and his hand wraps around my ankle before I can get clear of him. I fall forward, my momentum taking me down hard. He drags me backwards and my fingers claw at the floor, trying to get away.
“Oh no, no—you’re not getting away this time you little bitch. Gio should have taken care of you a long time ago. Did you really think he was just going to let you walk away from this?” He laughs, which freaks me out even more, because he’s laughing while trying to kill me.The sociopath.
I kick and twist but despite my struggles…he’s winning.
“Take your fucking hands off of her.”
Koen.
We both freeze. My gaze snaps up at the sound of his voice, my eyes connecting with his for all but a second before he turns his attention to Daniel. His gun trained on his head.
“Hey now, you don’t want to do this,” Daniel sneers, his hand tightening around my ankle. “I’m a cop?—”
Bang.
Silence.
My ankle falls to the floor and I push myself away from him, eyes wide, staring—staring at Daniel’s dead body.Dead. He’s dead.Koen killed him.Holy shit. Everything happened so fast.
“You shot him.”
“Aye.”
Keeping his gun on Daniel, Koen comes closer, crouching down to check his pulse, confirming that Daniel is, in fact,very dead.
