She licked her lips. Her nerves had found a lustful outlet, and that was honestly the best outlet she could ask for.
What were they talking about? Oh, yeah. He’d commented on the boring painting, for some reason. “It came with the place. Short-term rental.”
“Short-term?”
“Yeah. I don’t really stay in places for long.”
“Hmm. Have you always moved around a lot?” He drifted over to her couch and adjusted one of the magazines on the coffee table. They weren’t her magazines, either.
“Kind of. More so in the last couple years.” The ease of their conversation in the car had seemed to fracture. What were these questions? Perhaps he was feeling awkward?
She rubbed her hands on her thighs, surprised to find them a little clammy. Or maybe they were both nervous. Yes, that could account for the itching at the back of her mind. One-night stands weren’t foreign to her, but she hadn’t been with anyone in months, and it had been an eventful night. “I’m going to go freshen up in the bathroom. Why don’t you make yourself comfortable?”
“Sure thing.”
She was halfway to the bathroom when she froze, the itch becoming a full-blown alarm.
Wait a fucking minute.
In a fluid motion, she leaned down, pulled her switchblade out of her ankle holster, opened it, turned, and flung it in the direction where Krish had been standing.
She hissed when it clattered harmlessly to the floor because Krish ducked.
No time to waste worrying about that, though. She ran for the door but barely managed two steps before her invited intruder stopped her by wrapping his arms around her in a bear hug, pulling her up short against his massive frame, her back against his front. Her legs dangled. “Stop. Listen to me,” he said in her ear.
Her heart raced, her breath coming fast and hard. The noise in her head drowned out what he said.
No. Not again. Never again.
She slammed her head backward and connected with his nose. His arms loosened. Stars danced in front of her eyes for a second, but she took advantage of having her feet on the ground to bolt. He lunged after her, grabbing her a few feet away. She spun around and went for his eyes, her hands curled into claws.
She’d grown complacent and soft. So much for her gut. It had been so preoccupied with John, it had completely dropped the ball with her so-called savior. How had she not run away from him as soon as they’d parked? How had it taken precious minutes for her brain to click on?Fuck, fuck, fuck.
He used the whole force of his weight to shove her back onto the bed and landed on top of her. She arched up, nearly throwing him off.
He pinned her wrists above her head with one hand, and she kicked with renewed panic. “Jesus,” he said, and rolled off her. When she yanked her arm, she realized he’d handcuffed one of her wrists to a post of the bed. He stood at the side of the bed, hands outstretched. His nose was bloody, and she took a savage satisfaction in that. “What is your problem?”
The problem was that she and her instincts were going to have a nice long talk after all this was over.
Would you like to invite me up, Sejal?
“Come into my parlor,” said the spider to the fly.She was so sick of being the fly. She shook her head and opened her mouth. She wanted to scream it, but it only came out in a breath. “I never told you my name, you asshole.”
Chapter Two
Oh, fuck.
“Okay. Let’s talk, Sejal.”
“Go to hell.”
Krish could admit that he deserved that, but wasn’t his possibly broken nose punishment enough for misleading her?
With Sejal restrained, Krish was able to assess the damage. He put his fingers to his throbbing nose, pulling it away to find blood. Son of a bitch. This woman was a menace, but what could he expect from someone from a family of criminals?
Sejal Chaudhary. Has never held a steady job, short stints as a bartender or waiter. Tied to a drug- and gun-running enterprise in her early twenties, under suspicion of involvement, but was cleared. Small-time grifter, seems to make a living with bar bets and cons, likes to target married men. Never been arrested, has no close friends. No long-term romantic partners in a while. Estranged from her parents and sister, but had a close relationship with her aunt until Rhea wentWitSec. Aunt loves her; see marshal’s comments. No known involvement with Cobra or any other org. Could use her petty cons for leverage/info.
His brother had kept a slim unofficial file on Sejal, complete with the neighborhood and bar where she’d been spotted last. Krish had spent two nights he didn’t have lurking in said bar, waiting for her to turn up.
