Page 58 of Phantom Riders MC: Hawk

Darling, sweetheart, I couldn’t take his endearments anymore. “What the hell, Dane? Why should any of this matter when we both know what you’re going to do to me?” My eyes grew big when he sat down next to me.

He sighed, reaching toward me. I shrank back into the cushions as far as I could go, getting a smile for my useless efforts. “Don’t touch me!” I hissed sharply. He hesitated, but for only a second and then his eyes hardened.

“I intend to touch you, Audra, you’re mine.” He ran the back of his hand against my cheek. “I was going to kill you for running away, did you know that? No, of course you didn’t. But I’ve had time to think about our little situation, and I’ve made plans for you, plans that will allow me to keep you. Forever.”

I stared at Dane, digesting his insane comments, more afraid of him now than ever. What the hell did he mean by that, what plans? He’d never been a cruel man, at least not to me, but knowing what I knew now I knew that he was capable of anything. There was no way he was going to touch me again. As far as I was concerned, any feelings I had for him had disappeared the day he’d taken his hand to me, demanding that I keep my mouth shut and forgot what I saw.

He’d misled me into believing that he was a good, kind man, wooing me with gifts and promises of a future by his side. I’d been a fool. Maybe the truth had always been there, but I hadn’t wanted to see it. Seeing it would have meant accepting it. I looked into Dane’s eyes now, seeing the truth in the cold, ruthless orbs that appeared more dead than alive.

My head was spinning. “You’re crazy,” I finally said, brushing his hand away.

He shrugged. “We’ve had a lot together, darling, for it to all end with a bullet in your lovely head. I wasn’t worried that you’d seen me kill a man. I didn’t want it to get out who I’d killed. Now I have control back.”

I frowned, not reminding him that I still didn’t know who he’d killed. “I saw you kill a man in cold blood,” I said coldly. “I’m not just going to forget that.” Something told me that I should just shut my mouth, but my instincts warned that whatever Dane had planned wasn’t going to be good. As soon as he’d said ‘control’ my blood had turned cold. If I could fight him physically, I would. I think he knew that.

“In time you will come to love me again.”

Over my dead body, I thought, getting angrier by the second at his calm, condescending tone. He clearly believed what he was saying. I glanced around at his men, who were all standing there like pillars of fucking stone. Couldn’t they see the mad man that I saw?

“I’m afraid until then I will need to keep you safe.” He gave me no time to react before adding, “I have a secure estate in Canada, where no one will be able to get to you.”

So that was Dane’s plan, to keep me as his prisoner. I swallowed with dread, forcing myself to stay calm and breathe slowly. Otherwise I would have lost it and that, wouldn’t accomplish anything. I watched in a kind of stupor as he slowly rose to his feet.

“And now I must take care of the man who brought the woman I love back to me.” He paused. “The same man who shot her.” One of his men had positioned himself behind Keg, and Dane gave him a significant look.

I didn’t understand what the look meant, but Keg must have, because his eyes got big as he reached for his gun. He started to swing around, but he didn’t have a chance. The man behind him had already withdrawn a gun from inside his suit jacket. My eyes rounded, and I know I opened my mouth, but before I could utter a single word he put the gun to Keg’s head and pulled the trigger.

I screamed.

And screamed.

And screamed.

Until a black void sucked me under into a blissful state of darkness.

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