Page 26 of A One Woman Job

No, nothing about this is the least bit amusing to him and I can only tremble harder when all ten of his fingers stretch at his sides, as if they want to wrap around someone’s throat. Mine? He’s looking right at me and there’s a deranged facet of his expression I haven’t seen before. Somehow, I know this is how he appeared when he killed the man for looking at me in the office building. This is Koen, the killer.

“I love you,” I breathe, winded. “I fell in love with you.”

“Earlier, when you said you would stay with me even if I went back to work as a hit man…” He walks toward me slowly, those long fingers flexing at his sides. “You were still trying to play your angle?”

“I’m sorry. I’msorry. My brothers and sisters are at stake, Koen.” I realize I’m backing away from him, my knees wobbling more and more with every second that passes. So badly that I fall into a kneel in front of him, my hands automatically lifting in prayer. It’s this beggar’s position that makes me realize I need to be terrified right now. I’ve betrayed a very dangerous man and he’s angry with me, looming above me with his hands prepared to strangle a throat. This is worst-case scenario. “If you see fit to kill me, I’m begging you to please help them. Please don’t let her hurt them.”

Koen’s steps halt abruptly, a choked sound leaving his mouth. “You think…you think I’m going tokillyou?”

“I don’t know,” I whisper, my tears splattering on the ground.

Five seconds pass in a heavy, charged silence and then I’m being lifted off the ground. Swiftly. I’m tossed up into his arms like a sack of grain, Koen staring straight ahead while he carries me back in the direction from which we came. “Apparently, Meg, I haven’t done a good enough job expressing how fuckingprofoundmy obsession is with you,” he says through his teeth. “You could betray me twice a day for the rest of your life and my sanity would still hinge on there being breath in your lungs. If you die,Idie. No matter what you did to me, I could never harm you. I’d turn a gun on myself first.”

Relief assails me, carried on a wave of love so heavy and consuming, I can’t stop myself from turning in his arms and rubbing my face in his neck, wanting to climb inside of him and live there. “But you’re so angry,” I whimper, tasting the salt on his skin.

“Of course I’m angry. Ather.”We’re in the parking lot now, not far from his SUV, his legs eating up the distance with purposeful strides. “I’m not going to lie, though, Meg. I’m…feeling a little fucked up. Knowing you were on my beach with a motive, I’m not as convinced that your feelings for me are genuine now. Not as positive as before. I’ll need to take certain precautions to make sure you don’t try and run.”

My throat constricts to the point of pain. “My feelings are real, Koen. They are.”

“Say what you want, I won’t risk you leaving.” We’ve reached the SUV and he stands me up, using his body to pin me hard to the side of the vehicle, his eyes scanning our surroundings, a new, heightened awareness in his gaze. Does he think we’re being watched? By her? “I’m bringing you back to our home while I handle this.”

“No.” I reach up and stroke his face. “Let me help.”

“Meg…” He laughs without humor, the sound so dark it rivals the night. “If your precious skin got so much as nicked, I would go on a fucking rampage. No.” He opens the passenger side door, picks me up by the waist and installs me in the seat, his forehead pressed to mine while he engages the seatbelt in its slot. “No, you’re going to remain safe and sound at our house.” He kisses my mouth. “I’ll make sure the cuffs aren’t too tight.”

Koen

I’mon the edge of violent oblivion, trying to prevent myself from being caught up in that addictive whirlwind. I want to let the beast inside me out of its cage, but my ire involves a threat to myMeg, making me worry that if I set that animal free, I’ll never get him locked back up. And I can’t be a beast when I have a woman to love.

A woman who thinks I could hurt her.

As I carry her into my study and sit her down on the edge of my desk, I want to howl with pain at the memory of how she dropped to her knees in front of me, as if to beg for her life to be spared. How could she love me and fear me at the same time? Is that even possible? No. Yes? I’m unsure.

That’s why she’ll be chained until I have a clearer understanding of her feelings for me. The fact that she can experience fear in my presence only proves I need to retain my manhood. My humanity.

But my God, it’s hard.

I’ll slaughter Etta for what she’s done. I’ll slit her throat with my sharpest blade and be a mile away by the time she loses enough blood to expire. Threaten my girl? Threatenmyfucking girl? I’m going to make an example out of my former boss. I’m going to inspire even more terror in the underworld than I already have, but the focus of it will be Meg.

Look at Meg and die.Speakto Meg and die.

That’s the message I’ll send tonight.

I keep one eye trained on Meg while I cross to the hidden door on the other side of the room, punching a code into my phone to make it pop open. Not bothering to keep the contents hidden, including weaponry and disguises, I retrieve restraints from a higher shelf, followed by a knife and I close the door once again.

“Please don’t chain me up,” she sniffs.

My heart slams itself into my ribcage. “You know I have to, Meg.”

“No, you don’t.” She scoots off the desk and books toward the door, but I anticipate her move, catching her with an arm aroundthe waist. The metal restraints hit the ground with a clang, because she’s struggling so much and it takes both hands to wrestle her down to the floor, using my body to flatten her petite one on the rug. Looking at me with a fighting spirit in her eyes, she tries with all her might to free herself, but every movement she makes causes the nightshirt she wears to twist around her body, eventually uncovering her pussy and tits, so blessedly bare and young. Chafed from my whiskers and love bites.

Ignoring the eager swelling of my cock, I lean down to bring us nose to nose. “It’s only until I get back.”

“Get back from where?” she cries.

“Dealing with Etta.”

Meg is already shaking her head, the fight mostly gone from her frame. “I don’t want you to kill anyone else on my behalf. I want you to live a lifewithoutviolence. That’s why I had such a hard time doing what I came here to do in the first place.” Tears pool in her eyes. “I want you to be free.”

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