Page 30 of Power of Shadow

“He wasn’t your target; he was mine.”

I jump to my feet and kick him in the face with the tip of my shoe. His next groan gives me a hell of a lot of satisfaction.

“Get in my way again and, God help you, you won’t live to see the next morning.” I take another look at him lying there, into his amused eyes, and rush from the living room.

Chapter 6

Ryker

Too often, my thoughts turn back to the night I met Shadow. Her last words, with the threat hidden in them, haunt me.

“I’ll be looking forward to our next meeting,” I shouted to her.

But when I got up off the floor and followed her, as soon as I crossed the threshold of the living room, I knew she was no longer there. It was as if my soul knew I was alone. Without her.

The plan for the meeting with David was very simple. I just had to get the information I needed from him. However, I didn’t expect complications.

Complications in the shape of Shadow.

My first thought was, Who dares to get in my way? followed by, I’ll strangle the bastard. However, something inside me told me to stop, and I listened to my intuition. Only after a moment did I realize that the figure who caught my eye wasn’t a man.

With every second, with every move she made, my interest grew. Until the point where I had to address her; only then did she notice me in the darkness.

Watching her work... It was like a lightning bolt. Suddenly, it dawned on me: I was dealing with an underground legend. Shadow. I had no doubt about it.

She was dazzling in her craft, captivating, mesmerizing. There was something light yet overwhelming about her. Every move she made was precise and deliberate. I couldn’t stop watching her.

And now I can’t get her out of my head.

I try to work. I’m really trying when the guys barge into the office at Feather.

The music thumps beneath our feet. It promises to be another night flowing with dollars.

Their eyes are on me, though none of them has said a word yet. No doubt that will change soon.

Without a word, I get up from my desk, pour us all whiskey, and move the meeting to the couches. I can’t do anything productive anyway.

Because of her.

Eli and Theo sit down facing me. After a tense moment, Eli finally can’t take it anymore. “What the fuck happened to your face?”

I shrug, though once again I have a strange urge to smile. Me. Made of ice and rock.

That’s another thing I don’t understand.

What’s been happening to me lately?

First the girl who robbed Eli, and now Shadow. Both of them have something damn magnetic about them. For years, I’ve had neither the time nor the need to spend time with a woman outside of a quickie in her apartment or a hotel room, and yet...

I won’t even mention aloud that for the first time in ages, my lips did that strange thing commonly known as smiling. First when I saw her at the club and then yesterday evening at David’s apartment. Don’t tell me everything’s fine with me.

“I’m in love,” I say, surprising myself with the words that come to mind.

Eli chokes on his whiskey. He puts his glass down, and Theo, staring at me like a hawk, slaps him several times between the shoulder blades.

I roll my eyes.

Dramatic.