Page 5 of Devil Mine

I stop in my tracks, disoriented and confused by the sudden, unexpected assault to my senses. I’m caught off guard and Ineverget caught off guard. That’s the difference between life and death in my line of work.

I’m immediately on high alert.

My pupils dilate at the potent scent. It wafts around me in this open space, teasing me and making me desperate for more. I sniff at the air like a dog, searching for the source of the bewitching smell. My eyes track the people traveling between the two different sections of the floor, looking for something I’m sure I’ll know once I find it.

And then I see her.

She’s across the room and walking in the opposite direction, getting progressively further away from me, and taking her scent with her. It follows after her like a shadow, robbing me of the enthralling experience that almost brought me to my knees.

Her back is to me so I don’t see her face, but my dick twitches for the first time in months regardless. She’s piqued my interest and awakened my long dormant curiosity and for that alone I want to follow after her.

Long legs peek out from under a tight skirt that hampers her progress but highlights the curve of her very delectable ass. A tailored jacket hugs and emphasizes the slope of her flat stomach and perky breasts. I wonder if she has it buttoned all the way to the top or if she’s left a hint of cleavage visible to torture the men and women around her.

I couldn’t miss her even if her scent wasn’t causing a cataclysmic reaction inside me. She’s wearing pink from head to toe, from her stilettos to the clip holding back her long, blonde hair from falling in her face. She’s incongruous with her surroundings, a burst of color amongst a sea of dreary dark tones.

She turns her head slightly to the side to acknowledge what her colleague is saying and I get my first partial glimpse of her features. Magnetic blue eyes enhanced by dark makeup peek out from under thick eyelashes and rest above high cheekbones. A slightly upturned nose scrunches in response as a hint of a smile curls her full lips.

It’s only a sliver of profile and I’m breathless.

‘Beauty’ is far too small a construct to describe her. It’s a designation that’s been used to describe too many people.

She’s the kind of perfect that deserves its own word, one that is hers alone, that describes no one else.

Who the fuck is she?

The question is bouncing against the walls of my brain on repeat, getting louder and more clamorous.

My eyes don’t leave her, the need to blink long abandoned. She doesn’t notice me, somehow doesn’t feel the weight of my gaze as it burns an imprint into the side of her face.

My cock is rock hard in my trousers and demanding I go after her. But more concerning is the foreign feeling that squeezes my ribcage and chokes my major organs. There’s a pinch that’s almost painful and definitely unrecognizable.

I shake my head to rid myself of those thoughts.

Maybe it’s time I get laid. It’s been way too fucking long, that’s why I’m having this confusing and altogether overly dramatic reaction to a stranger.

Nevertheless, I plan on following her.

I’ve only taken one step before a voice yanks me back to reality.

“Thiago.” I look over my shoulder and find Arturo standing with his hands in his pockets, his brow pulled into a quizzical furrow. Marco is nowhere in sight. Clearly, I fell behind them and, based on the confused expression on Arturo’s face, he wants to know why. “Are you coming?”

I look back at where I saw her, hoping to see the figure in pink in the distance, but she’s gone.

My fists clench in irritation and my mood darkens out of nowhere. What is this reaction I’m having? It’s unexplainable. It has me rattled and unsteady, both feelings alien to me.

Popping a cinnamon candy in my mouth to calm me, I stalk past Arturo and down the hall before throwing the door to the swanky corner office wide open.

It bounces against the wall and rattles in its hinges as the eyes of the man who sits behind the large desk find mine. They widen in abject fear before he manages to school his features into an emotionless mask.

But it’s too late. He’s fed me his fear and my anger is ready to feast on it. Marco smirks when I take my knife out and open the blade, the silver shining with deadly precision under the bright lights. My own sadistic grin pulls at my lips as I turn to face the man who can’t pay his debts.

“Alexander Noble,” I announce, voice reverberating against the office walls. “Tell me, are you ready to meet your maker?”

???

Chapter Three

Tess

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