Page 89 of Falcon's Prey

I turned to look at her as she drove. The weight of my stare pinned her down.

“You don’t want to find out.”

The strong smellof alcohol lured me awake. My head felt fuzzy. At least this time it didn’t hurt.

“Come on, sweet cheeks. Time to wakey, wakey.” The English accent was by my ear, and I felt something—or rather, someone—patting my cheeks…and not the ones on my face.

“Stop touching me,” I mumbled.

My throat was on fire, mixed with the smell of alcohol. I sat up, coughing up half a lung.

“Shit. I should probably give you some water.”

I was gasping for air when a water bottle made its way to my hand. I drank some too fast, and it made me sputter. Once I got my cough and myself under control, I noticed my surroundings. I was in the back of a car. It was dark outside, and I had no idea where we were or if we were even in the state anymore.

“Aw, you’re awake.” Gideon opened the door to the back seat, smiling at me like he hadn’t kidnapped me or choked me until I passed out. “Come on. Let’s go before Falcon levels the whole city.”

My mind was still a little messed up from the lack of oxygen, so I didn’t pay attention to what Gideon was saying. He grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the car. Once I was out, he patted my head, trying to fix my hair, and pulled my dress down so it covered my ass.

“I think I made Falcon suffer enough. I was going to make him think I took you on a happy, bouncy ride, but if he’s mad, he won’t listen to me.”

What. The. Hell?

I closed my eyes, trying hard to make sense of this guy. He was…there was no word to describe him.

“He won’t like that you took me, though,” I said.

Gideon put a hand on my shoulder and gently squeezed. “You see, that’s where I have my advantage. While Falcon has some sort of code, I sure as fuck don’t. It’s a dog-eat-dog world, and don’t take this the wrong way, but you were just a means to an end. Nothing personal.”

Seriously? Nothing personal?

“I hope he kills you,” I spat at him as he dragged me across the street.

“I can see the appeal,” he muttered with amusement.

Luckily for me, I didn’t have to ask for him to elaborate, because he did it on his own.

“Men like us, we don’t do easy. There’s strength, then there’s forged-in-fire strong. We tend to go for the second choice. Your skin is unmarred, pristine—bet it drives him crazy.”

I gulped, and I wondered if that was why he was always pulling his scalpel on me.

“Is that what you like?”

“Broken petals and thorns don’t scare me. I’ll take a body full of scars any day.”

Having no idea what that meant, I kept my mouth shut. That was, until I noticed we were at the front of the building Ren and Pam called home.

“Mate!” Gideon shouted as he knocked.

He was certified crazy. There was no doubt in my mind.

“I’ve found what you lost!”

“Found? You fucking stole me!”

“Technically, I wo—”

As soon as the door opened, Ren aimed his gun at Gideon, and Gideon aimed his at my head.

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