Page 75 of Heartless Sinner

“Yeah. I’m being careful.”

I search the storm of conflict brewing in her eyes. The intensity compels me to reach out and take it away from her. Since I can’t do that, I do the next best thing. “I’m not like him—Anton.”

Her stare becomes fractured and desolate. It grips my insides. “I know.”

“We may look like we’re cut from the same cloth, but we aren’t. Some monsters are more fucked up than others. And some are just the right amount of fucked up.”

She tries to smile at my analogy, but it doesn’t quite reach her lips. “He did a lot to me. I wasn’t always like this. Not so… fearful and likely to get in trouble.”

“Things are different now. You can trust me. I’d die before I hurt you.”

She anchors her gaze to mine like a lifeline in a storm, and my heart forgets how to beat. Then I realize I’m never going to be free of her.

“Micah.” She reaches out and presses her hand to my chest, against my heart, as if she wants to feel it. “That means a lot to me.”

“Come here.”

When she smiles this time, it’s different. She comes close and I close the space between us but linger before her lips so she can kiss me. I want her to make the first move this time. She does.

The kiss is tentative and testing at first, then something snaps between us, and we get sucked right back into delirium. Within seconds, I’m buried inside her and have her pressed up against the shower wall.

That’s how we spend the next few hours. I fuck her until the sun comes up and she falls asleep after that last release.

I’m still wide awake, so I watch her sleep in the soft glow of the rising sun.

She’s curled up on her side, tangled in the sheets. Her breathing is steady and soft.

My phone vibrates against the nightstand, Brahm's name flashing across the screen. I grab it and pull on my boxers, then head outside the room so the noise doesn’t wake Scarlett.

Something must be going on for Brahm to call me at this hour. I answer the phone as soon as I’m on the landing. "Hey, man, what's up?"

"It’s not good." Brahm's voice is tight. That's never good. He never sounds like that unless shit's about to hit the fan. "Anton's heading back to the States.”

“Fuck.”

“And he knows Scarlett is here in New York with you."

I bite down on my bottom lip and fist my hand at my side. “How?”

“I don’t know. Looks like he has eyes on us. It’s not her father. None of his men have been to her father’s place, and there’s been no correspondence between them. I’m tracking his calls and messages.”

“What’s he said about Scarlett?”

“A lot. He definitely wants her back, Micah. But we knew that. I guess now we know just how much.”

That bastard has another thing coming if he thinks he can waltz back into her life after what he did. “Has there been any mention of him heading to New York?”

“Not yet, but he’s gearing up to it. He’s talking about getting her back. I doubt he’ll go over specific plans over the phone. Guys like him know we’ll find a way to listen in, and he’ll opt for the element of surprise.”

“I’ll be ready for that motherfucker.”

"Micah—"

"Don’t." I walk to the window and gaze at the brightening sun. "If he wants a war, I’ll give it to him. She’s mine now.”

"Alright. What do you want me to do?”

“Make sure we know everything that’s happening in Denver.” I left a small team there for this very reason.

---