Page 146 of Sinful Sacrifice

I doubt his partners or ex-wife will care about his death. His daughter is better off without him anyway.

Pippa jumps off the sofa, careful not to hit Levi’s body, and scrambles as far away from him as she can. “What did you do, install a tracking device in my veins?”

I pop my neck. “Trust me, if I could, I most definitely would.” I slide my hands into my pants pockets. “When will you learn that I know everything you do?”

“I told you to stop that.”

“I told you I never would.”

“What about the pilot?”

“I didn’t kill him.”

“He knows I came on this plane with Levi.”

“He doesn’t give two fucks about Levi’s life.”

“You can’t just kill people who get in your way, Damien.”

I jerk my chin toward Levi’s body. “I can’t?” Smirking, I crowd closer to her, leaning in, and she falls back before collapsing in a seat. “I will kill anyone who gets in the way of your safety, my ownership of you, or really, who just pisses me off.” I kneel at her feet and rest my hands on her knees. “It’s a waste of your breath to preach it’s wrong to kill those deserving of death. It will never change my mind or convince me to be a better man.”

Violence is in my DNA.

It’s who I am.

So is protecting what and who I love.

“What happens when there comes a time I cross or piss you off? Will you hurt me then?” She gestures toward Levi’s corpse, where his blood is beginning to stain the flooring. “Will you hurt me like that?”

Anger is in her voice, not fear.

Deep down, Pippa knows I’d never hurt her.

“Baby, you’ve pissed me off aplenty.” I nudge myself between her legs and collect her soft face in my palm. “Even if I tried forcing myself, I physically can never hurt you. My body won’t allow me to hurt someone who’s embedded themself inside me. You’re inside my heart, and if I hurt you, it’d destroy me at the same time.”

I have limits in my violence.

I kill men who deserve it.

Never children. Never women.

She shudders, her body craving me, but she fights against it.

I brush my thumb over her cheek. “We’re going back to New York. You try to run from me again, I’ll chain you to my bed and lock you in my bedroom.” I pluck her bottom lip with my thumb. “Do I make myself clear?”

She glares at me. “Why don’t you focus less on me and more on your wedding?”

“I’ll focus on my wedding the day I marry you.”

49

Two Weeks Later

My emotions have been a wild mess the past few weeks.

Well, months, honestly.

Some days, I mourn my relationship with Damien.

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