Page 233 of Sweet Temptation

I only realized then that he was bleeding. Maddox had slashed his gun arm with the knife.

I took a quick inventory of the scene as adrenaline kept punching through me. Standard dirtbag motel room. A half-unpacked duffel bag on the floor, the bed unmade.

No one pounding at the door. No sirens.

I didn’t expect any. We hadn’t made all that much noise coming in, considering.

“It’s clear,” Maddox said, emerging from the bathroom. Then he went about searching the room for anything of interest.

I held Sanchuk down with the drill, studying his rat eyes. Anticipating those pre-attack indicators; if he was about to try to attack me, I’d know it before he did.

A small, primal part of me hoped he would, so I could go ahead and kill him.

The rest of me hoped he wouldn’t, so I wouldn’t have to waste my energy holding him down more forcefully.

I needed my energy for other things. Like holding myself back from exterminating his ass, like the cockroach he was, right here and now. I had him on his back on the floor, and I had the power drill, my weight, strength, and training over him, not to mention Maddox, a gun, a knife, and as many of my guys as I wanted to call in for backup.

But I could do a whole lot of damage with my one hand and a power drill. I was getting all kinds of creative ideas right now, and he fucking knew it.

He was watching me like I was watching him. And he was definitely thinking about fighting back… weighing his odds of doing any damage before Maddox pulled out that gun and shot him.

I pushed the sharp tip of the drill bit into his throat and gave the trigger a tap. The drill bit spun, destroying skin, and he grit out a growl through clenched teeth. But only for a couple of seconds.

“You move, next time I don’t stop.”

He didn’t move.

“Tell me why you’re after her.”

“I’m not after her.” His eyes darted to Maddox as he moved around the room. “You told me to leave her alone, so I left her alone.”

He thought I was a King, then, maybe.

I didn’t dispute it.

“I’m asking you the questions,” I said, “not him.”

Sanchuk refocused on me. “I wasn’t gonna hurt her.”

“Did someone send you after her? Tell you to target her?”

“No,” he grunted, as I pressed my knee harder into his chest.

“You’ve been trying to set up business here for the Bastards. Giving drugs to Summer’s friends at her shows. You got anything to say about that?”

“We were just partying. There’s no law against partying.”

Christ, this guy was dumb as fuck.

I could see his pulse beating fiercely in his throat, belying the icy calm in his eyes. I pushed the drill bit into his flesh, making him bleed…

Crossing more boundaries.

Breaking more rules.

Because I couldn’t fucking stand this asshole trying to hurt her in any way.

“Found a phone.” Maddox held up a battered iPhone with a cracked screen. “Just need that print…” He grabbed Sanchuk’s right hand, forced his thumb to the Home button with the fingerprint scanner in it. “Gotta fucking love technology,” he muttered, and started scrolling through the phone.

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