Page 10 of Vengeful Lies

“And you’re what, a trained assassin or something?” Dutton asks. My scathing glare has him realizing his mistake.

A slow smile crosses her fuckable, plump lips. It was only by chance that I noticed her tonight, and I still don’t have any information on this woman. I still don’t even know her fucking name. Dutton asking that question outright gives her that revelation.

“I couldn’t possibly be,” she says sarcastically. “I’m just a woman. I couldn’t possibly be deadly.”

I smirk at that, thinking of an ample number of women who people should be terrified of. “The wound to my leg might say otherwise.”

“I was being polite. I could’ve aimed for your chest.”

“So why didn’t you?” I ask, twisting my features into an uncharacteristic smirk. “Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for me already, sweetheart.”

She seems to shrivel at my smile. “Hey, pretty boy, you’re going to have to train him better at smiling because that shit is creepy as fuck.”

In my peripheral, I can see Dutton is trying his hardest not to grin.

“Leave us,” I say to him. He seems hesitant as he looks between me and Kitten, the tension palpable, but he makes the better judgment to excuse himself. Because I don’t take disobedience well. The length of time it takes him to leave the warehouse sobers her up enough to realize the precarious position she’s in.

I drag a chair closer to her and hang my hands casually over the back of it. I’m curious what she looks like. I can tell she has high cheekbones, come fuck me lips, and a sharp nose. I pull the knife from my pocket, and she swallows hard. Her jaw is clenched, and I can tell she’s trying her hardest to save face. I’m impressed.

“Are you sure you want to die for this cause? I can be very accommodating if you tell me the truth. Tell me who sent you,” I say as I casually lift the blade toward her face.

She’s grinding her teeth but doesn’t break eye contact. I can sense and smell the fear on her all the same, even if it doesn’t break through to the surface.

“I told you I don’t know,” she responds tightly.

“Vengeful lies will have you winding up dead, Kitten,” I explain. Curiosity gets the better of me as I slice the ribbon of her mask, and it falls to one side. My eyes widen slightly at my first glimpse of her.

Too beautiful.

Too tempting.

As most deadly things are.

And those iridescent amber eyes, despite the hint of fear flaring in them, refuse to look anywhere else.

A tigress indeed.

When she doesn’t speak, I do. “What’s your name?”

Her eyebrows crinkle in confusion. It’s barely noticeable as she tries to mask her reactions, but very few things go unnoticed by me.

“I don’t have any family to go after if that’s what you’re angling at.”

My lip twitches. Beautiful and smart. But deadly being the most vital factor to remind myself of.

“I’ll make you a deal. You tell me your first name—yourrealfirst name—and I’ll let you go. Lie to me, and I’ll kill you.”

Her eyebrows bunch again. “And why would you let me go?”

“Perhaps I’m feeling merciful tonight.”

She bursts into laughter, and it’s the wildest, most unhinged, beautiful thing I’ve ever heard. “You’re fucking with me, right? You’re just going to let me walk out of here?”

“I’m a man of my word.”

She looks me up and down. “Even though I put a knife in your leg and I’m still most likely going to try and kill you?”

She’s either too honest or cocky to mention the fact that she’ll still go after my life. Maybe I’m a sadist, but I feel hardly satisfied by this short-lived cat and mouse game. And I can’t help but feel there’s something more going on here. I need to figure out who the puppeteer is pulling her strings.

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