Page 54 of Stolen Seconds

Chapter 14

Irina

My gun was aimed straight ahead, even after the woman had fallen to the floor, bleeding out.

The adrenaline pumping through my veins was erratic and addictive.

I should’ve felt some sort of guilt for what I’d done, but that emotion never came as I stared at Luca, his head tilted in amusement.

“Are you going to shoot me next, Irina?”

“Depends on your answer to my question,” I replied, my fingers circling the trigger. “Who was she?”

Jealousy. A sick and vile feeling I’d never experienced before until now. It slithered its way into my bloodstream, blinding me with rage when I saw her with him. I hated it.

It was irrational when it was plainly obvious women swooned over him constantly. For what reason? I had no idea, but it definitely couldn’t be for his skill in ripping tongues out.

Okay. So maybe it was exactly that.

He was a completely different person in the ring. A possessed beast with one purpose: to kill.

“It hardly matters anymore when she’s dead.” With lazy strides, he closed the space between us. “Don’t you think?”

I stared him down, his piercing whiskey eyes full of mischief, his torso slick with sweat, and thick thighs stretching his shorts.

“I think.” I pressed the end of the gun to his chest. “You should answer the question.”

The air was heavy, suffocating me with its warmth as the seconds ticked by.

He bit his lip, gazing down at me with heavy lids when he stepped further into me, ignoring the weapon between us. “Are you jealous,piccola ribelle?”

“Of a dead woman?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Get over yourself.”

He flicked his gaze between the gun and my face before wrapping his hand over mine, forcing it down with a strength no human should possess.

With his other hand, he gripped my throat, his expression lethal as he pushed me against the wall. “Dead because ofyou. Don’t stand here and lie to my face.”

I lifted my chin in defiance, the pulse in my ears a thunderous rhythm. “Or what?”

The smirk plastered on his face was manic as he leveled his face to mine. “You couldn’t handle it.”

My breathing slowed as the gleam in his caramel eyes darkened to a dangerous shade.

This brute was mental, spearing through my hard exterior and invading my senses with his presence.

“And if it wasn’t already obvious.” The gun fell to the floor as he covered my body with his own. “Youare the source of all my desires.”

The charged air intensified, prickling along my skin.

We were treading on a thin line, stealing moments filled with insufferable tension while others were oblivious.

That knowledge shouldn’t have given me a rush, but it did and I couldn’t help but feed into it.

“Let another woman touch you again. . . ” I swept my tongue across his bottom lip. “And it’ll be your blood on the floor next.”

With a shove against his solid chest, I walked out of the room, the door slamming shut behind me.

I was so far over my head that I allowed myself to be reckless when I’d never acted irrationally before.

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