“I figured for sure Daddy would keep a better eye on his little girl, so imagine my surprise when there you were.” He dragged her back a few more steps, then shoved her away, snagging her wrist, the momentum sending her spinning around. Orianna’s back hit the wall, her breath escaping in a whoosh as his hand locked onto her throat. The matte black gun shifted from her midsection to the center of her chest.
Of course the idiot was holding the nine mil like a gangster, all crooked and at the perfect angle for the shell casing to hit him square in the face. Not that it would matter. The bullet would no doubt hit its target—her—from this close.
“Not sure why he never mentioned how pretty you are,” he crooned, his calloused thumb grazing her chin.
Okay, so hedidn’tknow Amber? If not, why the hell did he think she was her sister?
What the fuck?
If it hadn’t been for the fact he was the only lead she had on Amber, Orianna would’ve laid waste to the bastard. Instead, she feigned an innocence she’d long since shed.
At twenty-four, it wasn’t like she’d lived a long, haggard life, but considering the shit she’d endured, that warped sense of expectancy and faith had long been sucked right out of her, replaced with a heaping helping of pessimism and disappointment.
Keeping with the facade, she let her eyes go wide, ensured there was a slight tremble in her voice when she said, “What do you want?”
“To warn your father,” he snarled. “He owes me quite a bit of money, sweetheart. Makes me angry when he tries to hide from me.”
His gaze dropped down to her chest, and she didn’t need to be a mind reader to know what he was thinking. There was evil in his eyes, highlighted by the sneer on his mouth and punctuated by the fowl stench of his breath.
“Though a conversation could cover it, I’m thinking something a bit more … tangible.”
He squeezed her throat and she had to force her arms to remain at her sides. The asshole had no idea how vulnerable he was right then. It would’ve taken little effort to relieve him of the gun and put him flat on his back, balls lodged somewhere in the vicinity of his sinus cavity. After all, Krav Maga had been the only class she’d paid much attention to in high school.
Except she needed answers, so she would handle this. Easy peasy. After all, she’d found herself in worse situations before.
Orianna added wild-eyed terror to her expression. “I don’t know where he is.”
“No matter. Once I’m done with you, he’ll find me.”
She glared at him, two seconds away from putting him out of his misery when his hand shifted from her throat to her jaw. Orianna saw stars momentarily when her not-so-thick skull high-fived the brick at her back. The move rang her bell enough to have her losing her edge, her brain rattling inside her head, white lights flashing behind her eyes.
“Bet you’ll be nice and sweet, huh?” He leaned in, sniffed her.
Could he be anymore cliché?
“Fuck you,” she snapped.
His laugh reminded her of a hyena. “Got some backbone in there, do you? I look forward to beating it out of you. But first, perhaps we’ll have a little fun.”
When he shoved his hand between her legs, Orianna’s muscles tensed, her weight shifting to her heels, arms bracing to send him flying, but before she could, he jerked away, stumbling in his cheap-ass loafers as though pulled by some invisible force.
From deep within the alley, a man appeared, his larger-than-life body stepping into the halo of light cast by the streetlamp. He walked with the grace of a jungle predator and the menace of death. She couldn’t see his eyes because they were shielded by dark shades, but she knew he was focused on her attacker.
“You better back off, man,” the gun-wielding asshole warned. “I won’t hesitate to shoot you in the face.”
“Too late.” The stranger’s deep baritone echoed through the alley. “You already hesitated.”
Orianna considered her options. Flee the scene and risk losing the best opportunity she’d had in months of finding her sister or wait it out. She opted for the latter, continuing with the terrified routine even as she admired the beast of a man who had seemingly come to her rescue. He was massive, his shoulders so broad she wasn’t sure he was real. But to be fair, she was most impressed by the mohawk. There was something innately sexy about a man who could rock it the way this guy did.
“Last chance,” the asshole warned.
Her attention was divided between the two men until the midnight-haired stranger’s head canted slightly, as though he was looking her way. Something happened in that moment. Orianna felt it deep inside her. A connection, perhaps. She had never seen this man before, but there was something strangely familiar about him. As though she’d met him in a previous life or something.
Orianna flinched when a shot rang out. She was still staring at the newcomer when the bullet slammed into him, the force sending his shoulder lurching back. He staggered but didn’t go down, white teeth flashing as he turned his attention to the asshole with the gun. Her breath lodged in her throat.
Were those … fangs?
“I warned you,” the gun-toter screamed, his voice quivering. “Back off or you’ll get another!”
