Page 16 of Falling for the Enemy

Unfazed by their arrival, she tucks her purse beneath her arm and bends forward. Grasping the rapist’s hair while still holding onto her knife, she yanks him to his knees, allowing his back to lean against her front. For her size, she’s strong, but for a reason I can’t explain, I don’t like him touching her.

Not. At. Fucking. All.

“You may be one of the many monsters who go bump in the night, Alejandro Santiago,” she says, pressing her blade to the man’s throat. “But one thing you should know is this…” Her lips pull up in a wicked grin. “I’m the suka that bumps back.”

Red sprays from the man’s throat when she slices through his sweaty skin, severing his carotid artery. His unfocused eyes widen, then dull, as she releases him. He hits the ground with a thud, fresh waves of blood staining the asphalt with each pump of his dying heart.

Now I stand corrected.

Contrary to my earlier beliefs, it seems her reputation may be earned after all. Not only does she appear cold and calculating, but also vicious. All three are traits that, when combined with her beauty and sharp tongue, have my demons sitting up and taking notice.

And that’s not a good thing.

“Damn, Jefe.” Back pressed to the wall, both hands on his raised Glock, Christian speaks up, his expression one of shock and appreciation. Like me, he’s impressed, and rightfully so.

Benito, for once, is silent.

“Remember what I said,” Arianna continues, ignoring Christian as she cleans her blood-stained knife with a crisp, white handkerchief before tucking it back into her small purse. “Leave while you still can. And never come back.”

Without another word, she turns and walks away.

I open my mouth to tell her retreating back that I won’t be going anywhere, but I never get the chance. Above me, from the roof of the building that neighbors my club, someone whistles.

A split second.

That’s all the time that passes between when I look up and first spot a man, his face shrouded in darkness, and when he drops a small object down to the asphalt. I don’t even get the chance to warn my men or draw my weapon before the black object hits the ground before us, exploding on impact with an eardrum-shattering bang.

My world instantly falls silent.

FIVE

Alejandro

A stun grenade.

Two hours later, my ears still ring from the flash bang that one of Arianna’s men dropped into the alley, temporarily blinding and deafening me, allowing her to escape unthreatened.

I didn’t even see her leave.

But after I recovered and ordered the mess she’d made in my alley to be cleaned and disposed of, I still followed.

It took time to locate her, but thanks to the trove of information Christian uncovered on Angelo’s computer at the club, I learned the addresses of both her homes. The first, a hundred-year-old Colonial-style secluded mansion seated on the banks of the Ashley River, is where I found her.

Now I stand next to my parked car on a nearby bridge, peering through a pair of military-grade binoculars that a pissed-off Benito, who leans against my rented Range Rover’s rear door, handed me an hour ago.

Since then, I’ve been watching.

Learning.

Fucking stalking.

No matter how hard I try, I can’t drag my eyes from the window of the room where she’s been sitting since my arrival, her face bare of makeup and hair damp as if she’s just showered. A picture of relaxation, an open book rests in her right hand as she sips a glass of red wine, a silk robe concealing her hourglass body.

At the club, I thought she was gorgeous.

But seeing her like this? Words elude me.

Her beauty is unmatched, and I can’t help but wonder what she’s reading, along with what brand of wine she’s sipping. Does the taste of it linger on her lips? Would she moan and writhe beneath me, silently begging for more if I licked along the seam of her mouth in order to find out? Better yet, would her smooth legs willingly part for me as my tongue slid along hers in a teasing caress of what was to come?

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