Page 13 of Falling for the Enemy

“Well, I’ll be...” The man rips me from the unanswered questions flitting through my mind when he palms the back of my thigh. “Aren’t you a pretty little thing?”

I force a smile worthy of an Oscar and turn my attention to him. It takes every ounce of control I possess not to pull my knife from my clutch and stab him right here. The sleazy, forty-something-looking svoloch has no idea what I have in store for him.

He’s about to find out, though.

Reaching over the bar, I pour the tainted drink into a small sink and turn to face him once more, the lascivious grin he’s wearing one I can’t wait to make fall. Tucking my purse beneath my arm, I fist the front of his polo shirt, my nails digging into my palms, and tug, forcing him to stand.

“How about we go somewhere quieter where we can be alone?” I sink my teeth into my bottom lip before releasing it. “I know just the spot.”

His grasping hands find my hips, burning my freshly showered skin like acid. “I’d love to, baby.”

I offer him one last saccharine smile and take his hand in mine, lacing our fingers together. My mouth falls the moment I turn and lead him to the rear of the club. Once we’re through the employee-only exit, the same one Capone always used when visiting his uncle, we step into a dimly lit alley, hidden from the street and parking lot.

The heavy door slams shut behind us, and I catch sight of Casper standing forty feet away, hidden in the darkness. Never far, he acts as my shadow, more than ready to step in if things go left whenever I decide to handle business myself.

But it’s rare he ever has to intervene.

Adrenaline surges within me as I ready myself for the fight that’s coming. A good six inches taller and a hundred pounds heavier than I, my prey has the potential to quickly hurt me if I slip up. I must be fast.

As well as smart.

Needing to act, I don’t hesitate further.

I turn and face him as he reaches for me, his head undoubtedly swimming with all the dirty things he expects he’ll soon be doing to my body.

If he only knew he’ll never get the chance.

In a move he never sees coming, my knee meets his groin half a second before the heel of my hand greets his nose in an upward thrust. He bellows in pain and bends at the waist, close to falling on his face.

Again, I don’t hesitate.

Popping open my clutch, I pull out a pre-filled syringe and slam it into the side of his neck, injecting him with enough Midazolam to put an end to whatever fight he may have.

Combined with the alcohol I’m sure is coursing through his veins, the sedative works fast, and his legs give way, dropping him to his knees.

Any threat he posed is nullified.

No longer needing to keep up an appearance, I grasp his chin, my teeth bared. “How many times?” I ask though I know I won’t receive an answer. “How many times and how many women?”

His unfocused eyes stare blankly at me, his jaw slack and mouth hanging open. The sight of him makes me sick. Knowing what could’ve happened to that woman, who didn’t look a day over twenty-one, if I hadn’t intervened…

The back of my hand slams against his mouth, crunching his teeth and tearing my knuckles. I’m generally not a hitter since I don’t have the same physical strength as my men, but the rage crackling beneath my skin is close to tearing me apart. I should take my stiletto off and beat him half to death with it before slitting his throat.

I’m about to do just that, the love for my Louboutins temporarily forgotten, when a door further down the alley opens, and someone steps outside, the smell of cigars and expensive cologne accompanying them.

Like a sixth sense, I know who it is.

With blood trickling down the backs of my fingers, I smooth down my blonde locks with my shaking palms and turn, my heels scraping against the cracked asphalt.

“Hello, Alejandro,” I say, spotting a cloaked form leaning against the building, watching me from the shadows. With his back facing Casper, he doesn’t even see my bull. “It’s about time you joined—”

Alejandro steps into the dim light.

In an instant, I’m rendered speechless.

FOUR

Alejandro

---