“If I knew it was you, I would have stabbed deeper.”
His chuckle is low, vibrating through me. “So brave… even when I have you in a position to snap your neck.”
My breath hitches. The way he says it isn’t a threat—it’s a fact. And he’s right. I shouldn’t be pushing him. He was a senior for all five minutes during my high school career. I don’t really know him or what he’s capable of. And whyishe here? Did herethink the whole accomplice thing and decide I’m a loose end? Did he already take care of Nix?
“Let me go…” My voice comes out panicky and breathless. Because if he did something to Nix…
“Aww, are you scared, Kira?” His voice drops low, taunting, and when he tilts his head, his cheek brushes mine. The contact is barely there, a whisper of heat against my skin, but it sends a shiver down my spine. “Tell me you’re scared, and I’ll let you go.”
“No,” I spit without thinking.
It’s a knee-jerk reaction to resist appeasing him—physically painful to even consider giving him what he wants. It would be easier if I just played along. But I fucking hate games.
“Then I guess we’ll just stay like this all night…” His smirk curves against my cheek.
Narrowing my eyes at the parking lot—and ignoring the heat crawling across my body—I contemplate elbowing him again. But he’ll be ready for it. And my elbow is already sore. With a quick prayer, I jerk my head back.
Expecting to feel the crunch of his nose, I’m thrown off when he dodges it. The movement shifts our balance, and my feet slip. But he doesn’t let me go. He adjusts, twisting us and planting me against the wall. Dizzy, I slowly realize I’m now trapped—the wall to my chest and him to my back.
“You done?” he asks, voice rough but amused.
“Not even close,” I grit out.
He chuckles and pins my wrists above my head with one hand, the other pressing into my hip, keeping me locked in place. I resist the urge to buck, which would only cause me to rub against his cock—something I’m annoyed that I’m aware of. Jesus, he’s big. Is he hard? Does this turn him on? Does this turnmeon?
My lower stomach swoops in confirmation, and I clench my teeth. He. Is. A. Murderer. Have I lost my fucking mind?
“You know,” his lips brush against my ear, causing me to shiver, “most people in my debt would be nicer.”
“Fuck you. I’m not in your debt.”
“On the contrary, you’re half a mil in the hole.”
Five-hundred-thousand.The same amount he alluded to while pulling up the flooring and, probably, the amount he threatened to make go up if I didn’t stop trying to resist him. What I could possibly owe him that much money for, I have no idea.
“Oh, yeah?” I snort. “For what?”
“Hmm,” he brushes his lips against my ear. “Disposal of a body… forensic cleanup… public destruction… packmuling.”
“You lit amatch.” I scoff. I can’t believe he thinks he’s going to charge me for that. “And what the fuck is ‘packmuling’?”
“Well, in certain countries, they have these small ponies that carry things up—”
“I know what a mule is!” I snap, blowing a strand of my hair off my face.
“Do you? Because—”
“You carried me down a hill,” I cut him off, sure that’s what he’s getting at. “You carried asickgirl down a hill. And now you’re charging her for it. Well, good luck. Report it to the credit bureaus, because I don’t have it.”
“Oh, Kira,” he purrs. “I know you don’t have it. But there’s other ways to work off debt…”
His voice sinks into my marrow at what he’s insinuating, and if I weren’t pinned to a wall, I would attempt to shake it off—even if I do find myself contemplating it. But I can’t. And to add insult to injury, he runs his hand down my hip.
“Hey.” It’s an attempt at a snap, but it comes out more like a plea, given the way I’m melting from the heat of his palm.
If he doesn’t let me go, andnow, I’m going to do something I regret when the sun rises.
“Wh—what do you want?”
