Kill me now.
My nostrils flare, my dick lengthening with each second. I swallow a groan when the tip begins to leak.
Hatred and arousal, a razor-thin edge between them.
“If you want Maxwell to live, and little Levi to grow up with a dad, you’ll marry me. This isn’t a choice.” Slowly, I sit up. My gaze drops to her full lips. Plump. Red. Enticing. How will they taste now? Will she bite me? Draw blood? “Trust me, I won’t miss twice.”
My words snap her out of her trance, and she backs up, her arms crossed over her chest.
“No. I’mnevermarrying you. I fucking hate your guts.”
“It’s either me or them.” I jab my thumb at Agron, who’s observing us like the calculating COO I saw in his father’s office the first time.
“You think they’ll let you live? That The Association will let your family off the hook after all this?”
My pulse jerks as I take her in—if her eyes could kill, I’d be a dead man five times over.
A masochistic streak sears through me. She hates me so much. How will it feel to tame that passion into something else? Let her burn me to a crisp?
“Marry me or bury him. You have a brain, Lana. Use it.” I lean in and murmur, “Don’t get any ideas. The cops, the Feds, all in my pocket or The Association’s. There’s nowhere you can run where we won’t find you. And you should know by now, I kill without remorse.”
Her face blanches. I ignore the pinch behind my rib cage and keep my focus on her. She’s wavering.
One more little push. “You’re strong, Lana. Only five months of marriage for your family’s safety. A small price to pay.”
She balls her hands into tight fists.
Checkmate.
I see the moment she realizes this is the only way out if she wants everyone to stay alive.
“You fucker,” she seethes. “I. Will. Kill. You.”
“Get in line.” I arch my brow.
Edon clears his throat. He studies me through the computer screen.
I roll my lighter over my knuckles again.
“You said it was an impossible task. Part two. You mentioned you didn’t get what you wanted with the letter. That’s why you need her.”
Click.A new flame bursts from the lighter. I snuff it out.
“This will solve everything. Multiple birds with one stone. I’ll watch her. Keep her by my side. She’ll be bound to me by marriage, and de facto, the Andersons as well. If they want her safe and happy, they’ll kneel to The Association.”
And I’ll finally claw into the heart of The Association and find my answers.
Click.I restart the flame.
The sounds reverberate in the room, dense with silence.
“Leverage, my friends. It’s all about leverage.”
Edon purses his lips. “It’s out of the box. I’ll need to convince the Scheduler. He’s strict about the Rites. Especially something so impossible.”
Click.I snap the lighter shut.
“No task is impossible,” I say softly, smiling at Lana even though every inch of me singes with a satisfaction I don’t dare name. “Not for Elias Kent.”
