I wasn’t sentimental.
Every woman I’d ever fucked has always begged me for a taste, and while Violet did beg, I had to work for it. But she’d finally given into my charm, so I shouldn’t care.
A fuck today, forgotten tomorrow.
So why the fuck is she the only one I can’t get out of my head?
Three men stepped out of the car, and I sat up straighter. I was too far away to make out their faces, but my attention snapped to them anyway, sharp and immediate.
My pulse kicked up, hard enough that I noticed it.
Why did they send three men? Seemed a bit overkill for a single woman. Okay, yes, she was armed. But they didn’t know that. As far as they were concerned, she was restrained, compliant, delivered gift-wrapped and helpless.
“Look,” I said, forcing reason into my voice, needing to hear it out loud, “they specified she was to be unharmed. I doubt they’d want her hurt if they didn’t want her harmed in the first place. Right?”
Thelogic sounded solid enough. Almost convincing.
Yet I couldn’t look away, my heart slamming against my ribs as they disappeared inside.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuuccckkk.
The seconds stretched, my nerves wound so tight I felt on the verge of combusting. They reappeared with Violet, and I watched her essentially be dragged, her arms wrapped around her waist to protect herself from the cold.
I probably should have given her my jacket, or put her in something warmer…
“I think I’ve fucked up.” My fist slammed against the wheel. Once, twice, until the sting in my knuckles was all I could feel. “Christ… is having a conscience always this exhausting?”
Maxim stayed quiet. Instead, he drew a gun and rested it on his knee, giving me a pointed look.
“Yeah, yeah, no need to shout.” I shoved the necklace back into my pocket like it burned and turned the key. The engine growled to life, vibrating through the frame. “So, on a scale of one to fucked, how pissed do you think she’s gonna be?” I sighed.
One of the men shoved her forward violently, and heat exploded through my veins. It flared so hard it startled me with its intensity, so I slammed the car into gear and hit the accelerator.
Chapter 37
Violet
The wind was harsher outside, my dress barely able to protect me as I was shoved forward, almost tripping over my own feet.
“Keep moving,” one of the henchmen said, shoving at me again.
“Get off?—”
A slap across my face caught me off guard, so hard I fell to the side, landing on my hip. My palms came out to catch my fall, my dress falling down and the knife clattering away. I sucked in a breath, quickly reaching out to grab it before anyone noticed.
“Fuck’s sake,” one of the men snarled, reaching down to grab me by my upper arm so he could haul me back to my feet. I barely managed to grab the knife in time, curling it into my palm and holding it against my bare breast.
“I’d be very careful what you do next,” Jürgen said calmly, the only one with a name out of the three. He was shorter than the others, his expensive suit a stark contrast to their bulk and brawn. “You know she is to remain unmarked until she’s home.”
The brute who’d struck me bared his teeth. “Move it,” hegrowled, fingers digging deeper into my skin as he dragged me toward the waiting car.
I was shoved inside to sit beside another man, the impact rough, aggressive, before the other brute dropped heavily into the seat at my side.
Jürgen slammed the door shut behind us as a seatbelt was crossed over me, the car abruptly lurching into motion. The outside blurred, the window barely registering. All I could hear was the roar of blood in my ears, my pulse hammering so violently it felt like it might tear its way out through my skin.
The man sitting to my left crossed his leg over his knee, watching me with cool interest. “I suggest you remain calm,” he said smoothly.
He wasn’t one of the men from the warehouse, his neat suit looking almost absurd beside the brute pressed against my side.
