Kite slammed my head into the window, holding me there as he ripped the gun away. I was stunned, brain ringing like a bell. The cold tip of the Ruger stabbed against my temple.
“You made too many mistakes.” His tone burned into my ear and left destruction as it went. “Let me list them for you, so you can learn. One.” He dug the gun in harder, but I was too terrified to wince. “You forgot that I'm faster. Two, you forgot that I'm stronger. And three.”
He squeezed his hand. The 'click' was a landmine.
I was going to die.
Have you ever seen your life flash before your eyes? I expected a slide-show to appear. It wouldn't have been a great one, but it would have been better than nothing.
Somehow, I didn't get to see my own blood splatter on the window.
Shaking violently, I watched as he turned the gun over. Purposefully, he yanked the bolt back. He said, “You forgot to check the chamber. I told you, always examine the clip when someone hands you a gun.”
There had been no loaded bullets. He'd known that.
The breath I let out was really a sob. Kite hadn't killed me, but he'd taken years off my life.
“Number four,” he said, dropping the gun into the bag. “You are not a killer, Marina Fidel.”
The engine rumbled, the car pulling down the street. As we passed the sleeping man, I looked away. My hands were in my lap; I opened them, made fists. The sight of my sweaty palms disgusted me.
Jacob's words, the ones he'd blessed me with as we'd sat in his kitchen, haunted me now.
Anyone can be a killer. That's the beauty of it.
I didn't think so.
Not anymore.
- Chapter 12 -
Jacob
––––––––
The instant Marina and Kite had left, I'd shut my shades, crawled into bed, and given into the exhaustion that plagued me.
My dreams were fluid, pulling me down one path and then dropping me onto the next. At one point, I found myself stretched out on a sea of pillows. Everything was shadow.
Everything but her.
Marina glowed like new bronze. She twisted and spun, bending so that her perfect breasts hung before my eyes. Hard nipples begged for me to graze them with my hands.
My cock was painfully stiff, even before I touched her.
Groaning, I curled her against me, exploring the stairway of her back. The groove there led me up to her neck, her hair, then down again to her plump ass.
“Fuck me,” she purred.
Smoldering like a new coal, I gripped my shaft. Forcing Marina's ass up, I shoved her face into the pillows. The tip of my cock swayed over her sweet cunt.
I never got any further; sleep evaporated around me.
I remembered little of my dreams when I awoke. Only the siren's call of silky lips, wild eyes, and the gentle grooves criss-crossing open palms.
Snapping my eyes open, I stared at the ceiling and didn't see it. I was still longing for the warm embrace of my private thoughts. Reality was less welcoming.
Here, in my bed, I was alone.
There was no Marina.
Sitting up, I cradled my forehead and smiled cynically. She's done something to me. How else can I explain it? She was a stranger, but I felt like I knew her. Simultaneously, she was a mystery.
Throwing the blankets aside, I stumbled into my shower.
Routine would save me. It, alone, would keep that woman from burrowing deeper in my skull.
As much as I wanted to understand the reasons for my growing obsession, I knew dwelling on Marina in any fashion would just increase it.
At this rate, I'd never shake her out.
Scrubbing my arms for the third time, I eyed the suds in the drain. They were melting down, vanishing into the tiny holes. Soon, none of them would remain.
I wiped a palm over my wet hair. When was the last time I had anyone around for more than a few hours? Beyond even that... when had it been someone who recognized me for what I was? A killer, a meticulous monster.
I knew the answer to all those questions.
The only other person that understood my character, my flaws and sins, was Kite. There wasn't another living soul who understood what I was capable of. Until now.
Marina had been so keen. She didn't watch me with disgust, and she even reacted like I—on some level—captivated her.
She certainly captivated me.
Twisting the shower knob, I turned it off. The water stopped dripping, but I remained standing there for a few minutes. My struggle to brush her aside had crumbled. As I'd feared, my thoughts had turned back to her and now they were stuck.
Well, I thought in defeat, If I'm pulled to her because she isn't scared of me, I can easily change that. Flicking water from my eyes, I wrapped a towel around my hips. I needed to get moving. There was a lot on my agenda.
Marina had told me about her family's massacre. I was certain I could use those details to narrow down who Frank's accomplice had been. It would mean potentially long, grueling hours on the street, but it was a start.
It was also the key to getting Kite and me out of her shackles.