by CR Robertson
Xavier’s foot connected with the jaw of the man who’d held me. His head snapped back, even as Xavier’s knee connected with the sensitive area between his legs. He groaned and staggered back a few paces. Xavier took the opportunity to kick the man with the wounded shoulder in the face. He landed on his ass on the floor.
Jordan appeared from further down the room, his arm wrapping around the throat of the man stalking him. His hand grabbed the wrist that held his gun. Another shot echoed, the bullet lodging in a monitor beside where I sat on the floor.
My focus moved to that hole, and the way the monitor fractured around it. That could have been my head, that gaping hole left in my temple. I retched onto the floor; my hands braced on the ground. Feet moved in my peripheral vision.
Every instinct in me told me not to look up, but that didn’t stop my eyes from travelling from the remains of my pizza to the men fighting in hand-to-hand combat. Xavier had the massive man on his knees, his arm around his neck while his other hand held it in position. The man struggled, his arms flailing, eyes bulging, and mouth opening and closing.
My attention moved and I couldn’t look away from Xavier’s face. Gone was any semblance of the man I’d spent two months with. In his place was a stranger with a tight jaw and fixed expression on his face. There was no emotion. He was strangling a man, and his reactions were dead.
A strange crack sounded and the man struggling with Jordan let out a muffled cry. His right shoulder hung at a strange angle. My breathing turning into gasps as Jordan’s arms around his neck moved rapidly before the man slumped to the floor. I’d watched action-adventure films, and they always depicted that loud crack when someone’s neck broke. They lied because it was surprisingly quiet.
Jordan calmly walked over to the unconscious man on the floor and fired a round into his head. My mouth opened in a silent scream that refused to vocalise. His body jerked and fell back, blood pouring down his forehead.
I must have screamed or made a noise, because Xavier released the man and was knelt in front of me in an instant. My eyes never left Jordan as he wandered over and casually felt the pulse at the side of the man’s throat. I wanted to ask if he was dead, but I was too terrified to know.
“Breathe, Cas. You need to take steady breaths since you’re in shock.”
I turned disbelieving eyes to Xavier. He’d returned to the man who’d stolen my heart, heat and compassion in his eyes.
“She good, or do we need to talk?” A voice sounded to my right.
“Fuck off, Jay. She’s in shock.” Xavier kept staring into my eyes, all the while rubbing my arms.
“I don’t fucking need this tonight,” the maniac with the gun muttered. My eyes would not leave that gun because I wasn’t sure who was going to be his next target.
Jordan was always so cold and detached. I used to think it was because he was one of those men who knew he was gorgeous so he could afford to be aloof and arrogant. Now I realised it was because he was a psychopath.
My hands gripped the front of Xavier’s T-shirt, the fabric soft under my fingertips. “They’re dead,” I finally managed to grate out between my chattering teeth. “Dead.”
Xavier lifted me, his arms strong and solid around me, his lips on my forehead. “It’s not the first time that men like this want us because they think they’ll get a big payday.” He sighed and it sounded like it came from the depths of his soul. “This is the reason why Dad wants me to have a constant security presence around me. Money tends to draw the human cockroaches out of hiding.”
I closed my eyes as he carried me away from the room filled with death. Cool air surrounded me in the darkness of wherever we were, the sound of Xavier’s heart in my ear. If I hadn’t just witnessed what happened in that other room, I’d think everything was normal right now.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No,” I gulped out. “I want to go home. Alone.”
His silence engulfed me, and I felt his chest expand and deflate. “I’m not leaving you alone right now, Cas.”
There were some sights in this life that couldn’t be unseen, some sounds that would be forever engrained in your memory, and some smells that would forever stain your soul. Blood and gunpowder were an essence I hoped I’d never experience, yet I could still smell them.
I no longer knew who I was or what was happening. The man I was falling hopelessly in love with didn’t even blink when the gunshots rang out. He calmly continued strangling the man who’d been trying to do the same to me.
My emotions and thoughts were in turmoil. I wanted to run but was terrified the psychopath with a gun would follow me. All those weeks a murderer had been sleeping in my bed and I had no idea what to do about it…
***
Chapter Three
Xavier
I felt her slipping away from me, even as I held her in my arms. I should have left her safely at home, but I wanted Cassandra to be a part of my life. If I’d ever guessed our alarm-tripping was a trap, I’d never have brought her.
Grabbing her face, I stared into her wide green eyes in the dim light. “Listen to me, baby. Those men would have raped and murdered you. They would have happily beat me into a pulp and cut every one of my fingers off to send to Dad. They were not good men.”
A huge tear formed in her eye and trickled down her cheek. Another followed.
“Nothing else matters but keeping you safe. Please don’t cry.” Fuck, her tears nearly destroyed me, clawing at the inside of my chest like a wild animal trying to escape. I’d never been a good man, Uncle Lucas showing me how to defend myself so I could try to live a normal life.
“They’re dead,” she repeated, her teeth chattering and bottom lip wobbling.
Technically, that monstrous motherfucker who’d put his hands over her was still alive. I wasn’t going to point out that he would be dead once Jordan finished extracting information from him. Right now, I felt like going in there and beating the crap out of him all over again. It was a rare occasion that I needed to resort to using a weapon, but Jordan didn’t have the same opinion. He could turn just about anything into a weapon. Cassandra was lucky he decided to use his gun instead of beating the guy to death with a chair.
“Are the police on their way?” She buried her head into my chest.
We’d arrived at the first crossroads of our relationship faster than I’d ever wanted to. “The police won’t be coming.”
She stiffened, her head slowly coming up. “Those men are dead.”
“Our security firm will deal with the fallout.”
“They have families who need to know what happened to them.” Her hands left my shirt to brace herself on the table I’d set her on.
“Cas…” I didn’t know what to say, because no one had ever got this far into my life before. “I live in a world filled with predators and villains. There will be no police and no investigation. Tonight never happened.”
Her eyes were huge saucers as she stared at me like I’d spontaneously started speaking a different language.
“I need to go.” She tried to push past me.
“Cas…”
“No!” Her finger came up to point at me. “What they did was wrong, but two wrongs don’t make a right.”
She hauled the door opened and stopped to stare at the main office. The bodies were gone, and the scent of bleach hung in the air. Jordan moved fast. By tomorrow morning, the best crime scene investigator in the world wouldn’t be able to find a trace of blood or gunshot residue in here.
“Where are the bodies?” Cassandra demanded, her spine straight.
“Hey, cupcake. What’s up?” Jordan sauntered into the room like he’d just popped out for a cigarette.
She swivelled to where the monitor had been—the one that had taken the shot aimed at her. My heart had nearly stopped earlier when I saw how close she’d come to being injured.
Her hands landed on her hips. “What did you do with the bodies?”
“What bodie
s?” Jordan asked innocently. “You feeling okay?”
The carpet was different coloured tiles that meant it could be changed quickly. There was no doubt in my head the bodies were already in his interrogation room down the hall with the damaged monitor and carpet tiles. All this in under ten minutes.
Her gaze scanned the room, and I noticed her legs shaking.
“Let’s get you home.” She jumped when I wrapped my arm around her waist.
“I…”
“Come on, baby.” I shot Jordan a weighty glare on my way past. He replied with a shit-eating grin. Trust him to play psychological games.
I’d alerted him with the panic button on the controller earlier before I set it down. This place was rigged with cameras and discreet alarms everywhere. All of them would be wiped by the morning.
Cassandra let me lead her from the building, her steps wobbly. There was no way I was getting her home on my bike, but we kept cars here that no one knew existed. She didn’t say a word the entire way back to her apartment. All the fight had drained out of her when she walked out of that room and there was no trace that anything had happened.
In her apartment, she stood at the kitchen sink, her fingers gripping the edge of the counter. “I think you should go.”
Every word cut through my soul. If I left now, there would be no way to repair or fix this. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Cassandra slowly turned to face me. “You can hide bodies and remove monitors, but we both know what happened tonight.” Her eyes closed for a few seconds. “I can’t do this.”
Right now, I didn’t care if I had to beg and plead with her, I needed to stay. I grabbed her hands, my fingers lacing through hers. “I’m not going anywhere,” I repeated.
Her gaze met mine wearily. There was fear in the depths of her eyes that broke something inside me. She was afraid because of me.
“How many?” she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.
“How many what?”
“How many men have you killed? How many lives are destroyed because you played judge, jury, and executioner?”
I learnt a long time ago that keeping track of details like that wasn’t good for your soul. It tended to eat away at you. “Not tonight,” I replied. “We can talk about this all you want tomorrow. Right now, I just need to hold you. He was going to fucking kill you, Cas. Did you really expect me to just stand there and let him?”
Her eyes widened until I could see myself in them.
“When are you going to realise that I protect what’s mine? He put his filthy hands all over you and threatened to rape you. He’s lucky to still be alive.”
Her gasp was nothing more than a startled breath. She opened her mouth to say something else, but I shook my head. “Tomorrow.”
My soul was weary with all the shit we had to deal with.
“You need to go,” she whispered, her head lowering.
Anger blazed deep in my chest. No one ever got to see the real me, to know who I was behind the public mask. My hands pinned her wrists to the counter behind her. “You don’t get to freeze me out,” I said in deadly tone. “I told you months ago that if you accepted me, you had to take all the pieces of me, and you agreed.”
She squirmed. “I never thought that murder was included.”
“I didn’t murder anyone tonight. You should have read the small print, sweetheart, because it’s too late to back out now. You’re mine.”
This was the part where she was supposed to be disgusted and angry. Instead, a light ignited at the back of her eyes that scorched into my cold soul. My lips claimed hers, and even though she struggled against me, I felt her reaction. Neither of us could resist the other. As pissed as she was right now, she still felt something for me. I could work with that.
“Fuck you,” she hissed when we broke apart.
“Only you’re upset right now, I’d take that as an offer.”
Her right hand wiggled free and she slapped my face. Cassandra was a hellcat with a temper to match my own. I wanted to put her over my knee and spank her for her outburst, but it wasn’t every day you saw three men killed in front of you.
“I’ll let you off with that tonight, but remember, I hit back. Next time you slap me, be prepared for me to warm your ass cheeks until you can’t sit on them.” I grabbed her chin between my fingers in the way we did during submissive training. Her body automatically stilled in response.
Our eyes locked and I knew she wanted to rebel, to lash out at me because she’d been thrown into a world of darkness and pain. Cassandra had been the sunshine in my life since she arrived in it. There was no way I would let her go now that I’d found her.
“It’s been a long day. Let’s just go to bed and we can sort this mess out in the morning.” I leaned my forehead against hers.
“I promised to uphold the law,” she said in a very quiet voice.
“The law is an ass that can’t protect people.”
Her lips pursed and her hands formed fists at her side.
“That man would had raped you and given you to his friends. He would have most likely made you watch while I was tortured. The world is no longer black and white, it is created in various shades of grey, Cas.”
She squeezed her eyes closed but a tear escaped anyway.
I didn’t give her the chance to argue or pull away. Instead, I wrapped her in my arms and carried her into her bedroom. She was still in shock, her mood ranging from scared to sad to angry. Her eyes bored into me as I removed our clothes and tucked us into bed, Cassandra lying on my chest the way she did every night.
Tonight was the first time I didn’t sense any love or passion from her. Her breathing finally evened out and I felt her slowly falling to sleep as I rubbed my hand over her still-trembling body.
When I found out who ordered the attack on my business, every single one of them would be sorry they’d ever heard my name. Jordan was a scary sonofabitch when he got started. In contrast, I was slow to anger, but when provoked, I would visit the wrath of evil onto anyone who harmed me or anyone I cared about. The fact that that huge oaf had his hands on her, and bruises were slowly appearing, set my blood on fire with rage.
She burrowed into my heat and I tightened my grip on her, staring at the ceiling as for the first time in two months my insomnia returned. Cassandra had been my dreamcatcher, keeping me safe from the ugly world I was born into. That world had broken through our defences tonight and polluted our happiness.
I would do everything in my power to ensure it didn’t destroy what I’d found, because I didn’t think I would survive without this woman who’d burrowed herself deep under my skin and set up home in my heart.
***
Chapter Four
Cassandra
Heat surrounded me in a delicious blanket that made me snuggle closer. A smile touched my lips when I felt kisses being pressed down my body, strong hands widening my legs. My mouth opened in a sigh as that mouth was joined by a tongue that should be stamped with a health warning. It caused tremors and fever, leaving its victims breathless in its wake.
I loved early morning orgasms, the type that left you ready to face whatever the world threw at you. My hands gripped the sheets as Xavier sucked my clit, his tongue moving in that zig-zag pattern that made me scream his name and drag his hair out.
“Morning,” he said against my lips, his thick length stretching me.
He rocked into me slowly, taking his time to rub that place that made my insides tighten, his piercing hitting just the right spot. I loved hard and angry sex, I loved all the different positions that made my insides explode, but this right here was my favourite. Our bodies moved together in perfect synchronicity, still languid from sleep. I arched my back to get more pressure on my aching clit and Xavier drugged me with one of his deep kisses designed to make smart women stupid.
My nails dragged down his back and he growled into my mouth.
The pressure steadily built in my stomach until it exploded in t
hat magical morning orgasm that made me grab his ass and hold him deep inside me as I ground against him. He finished himself off with thrusts so deep and slow that all I would feel for hours was his imprint.
It was only when I was falling back to awareness that all the memories from last night hit me full force. My eyes flashed open and I pushed his chest.
“No!” One word and my gaze locked with his. He pinned my arms to the side of my head, his cock still buried deep inside me.
“Get off me, Zee.”
“No more fighting, baby. Please.” His eyes pleaded with me, but I was on full rebel alert, squirming to free myself from his grasp. It was only when I felt him hardening again in me that I realised the situation I was putting myself in.
His eyes bored into mine like brilliant sapphires.
I shouldn’t want him. Last night I witnessed the type of man he was, but when he began to move in me, I moaned.
Victory shone in his gaze.
My head shook and I tried to free my hands. His pelvis kept moving and my traitorous hips tilted up, even as my mind screamed an objection. Xavier grunted with every thrust, his hair falling over his forehead. We stared each other down while he claimed me.
Neither of us wanted this, there was no emotion involved apart from anger and betrayal. He let go of my hands and he gripped my hips, his body pounding into mine. My nails dug in and scored down his back. He hissed but continued on his quest.
“If you’re going to fuck me like you hate me, do it from behind.”
He stared at me for several seconds, his body stilling over mine. “Fuck!” he shouted, his neck arching back so he could stare at the ceiling. When he looked back down at me, the Xavier I knew stared back at me. He lowered himself to me, his lips coaxing even as I tried to turn my head away.
