Page 50 of Possessive

"I also know you're traumatised by what he did." Gianni stopped short of the front steps. "Trauma and fear can make people hesitate."

He was right, but not in this situation. I couldn't let myself freak out. If I did, Kurt won. Fuck that.

"I won't hesitate," I insisted. "I can do this. Not to mention, there's nothing you could say that would make me back away now. We're doing this."

He sighed out his nose. "Woman, you're making me hard as fuck again. Fine, just be careful, okay? The longer this goes on, the more desperate Kurt will be. The more desperate he is, the more chance there is that he'll do something stupid. The stupider it is, the more likelihood we die. The more dead we are, the better chance I haunt his ass. No one wants that because I will be noisy as fuck." His teeth flashed white in the darkness.

"I'll be careful," I promised. "I don't want either of us to end up dead." The reality of that surprised me. At some point during the last few weeks, I'd started wanting to live again. I had things to live for now. Hope that my life wasn't a complete cluster fuck. I also really, really didn't want Gianni to die. The idea made my heart hurt.

"Okay, let's do this." He slipped his hand into mine and we took the front steps together, side-by-side.

A single light illuminated the front door. Painted off-white, it looked fresh, as though the whole house was recently renovated.

Gianni tapped on the door.

A shuffling came from inside the house, followed by footsteps.

"If you're looking for Courtney she's not—" The door slid open smoothly.

My heart bottomed out. The man standing just inside the door wasn't Kurt, but the resemblance was strong enough to knock the breath out of my body.

"We're not looking for Courtney," Gianni said easily, like they were having a pleasant chat. "Although, she's a lovely person. Really sweet. No, we were looking for someone else. A guy named Gustav. I know he lives around here somewhere. Do you know which house is his?" He twisted his upper body and gestured back toward the street.

The man looked confused. "I don't know no Gustav. I only just moved in here, I don't know anyone in the area. How do you know Courtney?" His eyes narrowed like he was trying to figure out what Gianni's angle was. And if he could get the door closed fast enough.

Gianni grinned. "I don't, I was just guessing. You seem like the kind of guy who likes his women sweet. I mean, don't we all?" He glanced over at me.

I smirked in response. I wouldn't consider myself to be sweet. Anything but.

"I guess so," the man said uncertainly. "Like I said, I can't help you."

"That's a shame," Gianni said. "That's okay though, we'll keep looking. He must be around here somewhere. A guy like Gustav is difficult to hide. He's the kind who stands out in a crowd, if you know what I mean." He turned away from the door and back towards the steps.

Before I followed, I pinned the man with a look. "Do you know Kurt Lasalle?"

His brief moment of hesitation was all the answer I needed.

CHAPTER 20

MINA

Before he could take another breath, I had a knife to his throat and was pushing him back into the house, my fingertips barely touching his chest.

He stepped back so fast he almost tripped and fell. He spread his arms to either side to balance himself and lunged for a gun that lay on a table beside the door.

"Don't fucking touch it," I said. The tip of my knife was right against his jugular. It would be a simple matter to slice it open.

He froze, his hand hovered over it before he pulled his arms back in.

"Where is he?" I snarled.

"I don't know," he stammered. "I swear. He contacted me through a mutual acquaintance. Offered me ten grand to come here. That was all. I never met him and I don't know why he wanted me to come here."

His voice was high. He seemed ready to piss his pants.

"Who is this mutual acquaintance?" I asked.

"Let me guess." Gianni followed us inside. "Courtney?"

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