Page 56 of Sardonic Burn

“What the fuck, Noelle?”

“It’s a gift.”

“And this man is?”

She shrugs. “Didn’t ask for his name. He’s the bullet maker, though.”

Quickly, she sits down in Niko’s chair and gulps down the drink from his glass. It drips down her chin and if we were alone, I would’ve licked it off her.

Noelle always looks so… edible.

And tastes sweet, too.

I’m curious to know how she would taste mixed with alcohol. Imagining the divine combination threatens to ruin the remainder of my sanity.

“Was this truly necessary?”

Noelle turns to Henrick with a raised brow. “Why, of course. You see, he tried to use a rifle on me.”

Henrick narrows his eyes. “But you already put a bullet between his eyes.”

“The decapitation part was an impulse.”

“What in the world did you use?” Ray asks, pride in his voice and the biggest smile on his face.

“An ax.”

“That’s my girl.”

She smiles, proudly.

“Anyway.” She turns serious for a second. “I killed him because I got what I went there for. I have a name.”

Ray and Henrick exchange an odd glance.

“The Silencer.”

Suddenly, the air shifts with tension, and the atmosphere thickens to the point all I can hear is the sound of heartbeats. Ray’s jaw clenches, and Henrick’s lips thin into a line. They don’t utter a word, but it’s evident they’re familiar with the name.

Since they seem to be in agreement, it’s a bad sign.

“What?”

Noelle asks before I do. She’s shifting her eyes between her father and mine with suspicion written on her face. She’s getting impatient for an answer, her brow twitching as another minute of silence passes.

“It’s impossible, right?”

Henrick doesn’t reply immediately, thinking about his answer.

“Right, Henrick?” Ray presses, his words sharp and dark. “You said you killed that motherfucker.”

“And I did,” Henrick defends. “I watched him bleed out and die with my own eyes.”

“Well, I don’t know him,” Noelle chimes in. “But unless he rose from the dead, he didn’t really die in front of you, did he?”

She really doesn’t know how to read the room. Or she doesn’t give a single fuck. That innocently deviant face of hersmakes my cock throb all over again. I can never understand how the fuck he reacts to her. Or why, for that matter.

Henrick doesn’t lose his shit, which is a rare sight. Instead, he takes a deep breath to calm himself, then responds.

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