Page 5 of King of Obsession

Both were quite dead, but none were my second mark.

I cursed.

Just then, a third man exited the washroom, eyes bleary, mouth slack.

Recognition was instant as I raked my narrowed gaze over him.

Fuck finally.

‘Chi sei? Who are you?’ he slurred.

His dilated eyes tagged the distressed woman still melded to me.

He lunged.

I lifted the butt of my gun and brought it down.

Blood spurted on his temple, and he fell to the ground, senseless.

The hellcat in my grasp bit my hand around her jaw so hard I growled.

At the same time, a hot heat seared through my left side.

Hell, not now.

My body ignored me and went numb, jerking, loosening my grip.

With a gasp, she twisted away.

But not before she stared at me, at my visible trembling, and realized her escape was involuntary on my part.

I saw her eyes understand and fill with an unexpected compassion.

I grunted, sucked my teeth, and clenched my muscles to try and control them, my gun hand quivering.

Taking the chance my incapacity gave her, she reached for her bag. Next, she slid her bare feet into the battered pair of shoes, her body shivering in the cold night air.

My shakes subsided, and I moved.

She froze.

Shaking my head to reassure her I meant no harm, I eased out of my Armani suit jacket and handed it to her.

She stared at me for a beat until I jerked my chin, and she took it.

While it’d been fitted and tailored to my contours, it hung over her like a drape. Yet it covered her up and provided her warmth, which I desired.

We locked eyes for another long moment, and I sliced my eyes to the world beyond, then gave her a slight nod.

‘Grazie,’ was all she whispered before turning to flee.

In seconds, she was gone, lost to the shadows.

My eye caught something shimmering in the faint illumination as it fell from her bag in a hurried escape.

I stalked toward it and picked it up.

The bracelet, a delicate cascade of luminous jade spheres intertwined with a silver feather, had slipped from her tote as she rushed away.

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