“Rowan.” I shake her gently, lifting her until she’s sitting up. She blinks hard, her head lolling a little. “You have to wake up.”
“What’s wrong?” I hold a finger to my lips before pulling her off the sofa and hurrying her across the room, then into her bedroom.
“Stay in here. Do you hear me? Don’t make a sound, and don’t come out until I say it’s okay.” I push her toward the closet and wait until she’s inside before creeping out of the room, back toward the front door.
I should let the bastard break in, whoever he is. Let him hear the screeching of the alarm, so he knows what a mistake he made. But no, the alarm isn’t set.
That’s fine. Whoever it is, I’d like to deal with them one-on-one without police presence.
The lock clicks. I wait, tensed, prepared to end the miserable son of a bitch. When the door opens and reveals who’s on the other side, I understand just how miserable he is.
I should’ve had them kill him when he threw a fit in my club.
Glen’s bent at the waist, looking in all directions as he creeps into the apartment. He closes the door behind him, then tiptoes into the living room while I watch from the shadows outside Rowan’s bedroom. There’s a telltale bulge in his back pocket. The folding blade he’s carrying.
Bile rises in my throat when I understand the sort of damage he planned to do to her tonight. I doubt he would’ve left her alive. When desire is thwarted, it becomes perversion.
When perversion is thwarted, it becomes deadly.
“Who are you looking for, Glen?”
He whirls around, mouth hanging open at the sound of my voice. “You? What are you doing here?”
“I was going to ask you the same question.” I step out of the shadows, then away from the bedroom. I want to keep him away from her. “You have no business here.”
“You don’t know that.”
“So, what? You have to break in? Is that part of the fun?” It sickens me since I’ve done something similar. Only I had no intention of harming her. I wasn’t trying to cut her up to make myself feel better.
He’s sweating already, eyes darting back and forth. “I only wanted to?—”
“To what?” My voice cracks through the air like a whip. “I know what you wanted to do. We both know. Spare me the bullshit.” Suddenly, I look toward the door, and he does the same, turning his attention away from me.
And that’s when I strike.
I throw myself at him, and we both tumble to the floor between the living room and kitchen. His head hits the hard linoleum floor, and he grunts. I use the opportunity to straddle his chest, pinning his arms to the floor with my knees.
“What? You don’t like it when somebody else is in control?” I slam my fist against his face, relishing the blood that oozes from the split flesh over his cheekbone. “You’re not much of a man without your knives, are you?” Another blow, then another.
“Pl-please—” It’s all he can manage to say before I hit him again. Again.Every time my fist makes contact, a rush of pleasure runs through me. I can’t stop myself, and I don’t want to. Soon, he’s unconscious, limp underneath me.
But I can’t stop. I hit him until his face is nothing but jelly. Until nothing about him looks remotely human. By the time I get tired and stop, I’m breathing heavily, but he isn’t breathing at all. There’s blood all over the kitchen, all over me.
I’ve never felt like this. Victorious. A lion defending his mate. Before getting up, I spit on him—sick bastard. I don’t know how he found out where she lives; he might’ve followed her home that night when I first took her away from him. Now I’m glad I didn’t have him killed. I had the pleasure of doing it myself.
I wash my hands in the sink before calling Alexei. “There’s a mess at Rowan’s that needs cleaning.” With that, I go to her room, then open the closet door.
She’s sitting in the corner with her knees against her chest, hands over her ears, eyes closed. It’s enough to break my heart. I’ll make sure she’s never in this position again. “Rowan? Everything’s fine now. You’re safe.”
She scrambles to her feet and throws her arms around me despite the blood on my shirt. “What happened? Are you hurt?”
“It’s not my blood.” She stiffens in my arms but doesn’t pull away.
“Whose is it? Who’s out there?”
“It doesn’t matter now. Come on. I’m going to take you home.” She lifts her head, eyes searching mine. “My home. Where you’ll be safe. Close your eyes, and I’ll get you out of here.” She buries her head in my chest and lets me lead her out of the room, then out of the apartment. I manage to spare her the sight of the corpse in her kitchen.
We wait in the car until Alexei arrives. I didn’t want to leave without knowing he got there. I have a short exchange with him, describing what he’ll find inside, and from there, I know he can handle things with no further instruction. Nothing matters as much as getting her away from here, keeping her from all of this.
