I'd heard rumors. Everyone had. The Lucas children were supposed to be vicious. Crazy. His daughter especially. They said she'd killed a man at fourteen and smiled while she did it.
My stomach turned. The weight of who I had in my apartment sank in like a stone in deep water.
I didn't need this.
I heard her move.
I looked up and she was already too close for me to react.
The cold kiss of steel bit into my throat before I registered the blade.
I fucked up.
One of the boxcutters I used to open deliveries. I'd forgotten about it. It was on the coffee table last time I noticed it, right where she had been eating.. Sleep deprivation dulled my senses. Now I was paying for it.
Her eyes burned into mine.
There was something behind them. Something that should have scared me.
Amusement.
She wasenjoyingthis.
"Now what, papi?" she taunted. Soft as silk. Sharp as teeth.
A woman who grins with a blade at your throat has already decided she can live with the consequences of slitting your throat.
Good for her.
Too bad I wasn't scared to die.
I'd made peace with death the day I buried Sophia.
I held her gaze. Didn't blink. Didn't breathe.
"If you're gonna cut me," I said quietly, "cut me.
Chapter Seven — Jamie
He slapped me. Fast. Brutal. His whole hand to my face.
My head snapped to the side, skin burning like I'd been branded. The crack of his palm echoed in my ears, and the world blurred at the edges as my ass hit the floor.
The box cutter skittered out of my hand and spun across the tile.
I blinked up at him, stunned. The indifference on his face surprised me. He didn't seem like the type to hit a woman. Everything about him—the way he moved, the way he spoke, hell, even the way he fucking breathed—screamed control. Like a man who didn't dirty his hands unless absolutely necessary.
I thought he was soft. That was my first mistake.
And the last time I'd underestimate him.
Instinct kicked in. I scrambled back, bare ass sliding across the floor, heels digging into the tile—but there was nowhere to go. He loomed over me, his shadow swallowing me whole. His glare wasn't just angry—it was calculating.
He grabbed me by the wrist and yanked me up like I weighed nothing. My back hit the wall hard enough to rattle my teeth and knock the breath from my lungs.
His body caged mine, chest to chest, his heat searing my naked skin. Our lips brushed with every ragged breath. I froze. A sliver of fear crept up my spine. I didn't struggle though. I knew when I'd been bested.
His palm flattened beside my head, the other gripping my jaw tight enough to bring tears to my eyes.
