Page 12 of When He Hunts

“What do I have to do?” A husky question from Luna.

Do not say what you’re thinking, Ronan. Do not. Control the impulse.He’d always had dark impulses that needed to be controlled. With Luna, those darker impulses seemed to be pushing against the normal restraints he kept on them. Ronan swallowed. “You have to follow my rules. Don’t be a pain in my ass. We keep a low profile, and youdon’tcause any trouble for me, understand? And you absolutelymusttell the Feds everything you know about the business in Atlanta. No holding back. I don’t care if it destroys the life you had before.” Hell, that life was already destroyed. Boom. “You share every bit of intel you have. And then you tell the Feds what an amazing job I did keeping that sweet ass safe. I’ll probably get a bonus when the job is done.” Total bullshit but…

She didn’t know that.

There is no big payday for me. I work undercover. I get the job done. I fight against the scum of the earth.For him, that was payment enough. He did the job over and over because the bad guys out there never stopped. There were always more waiting in the dark.

“I think…as a show of trust, you should uncuff me,” she said.

Yeah, he probably should. Gray wouldn’t be thrilled to know he’d kept her cuffed this long. But what Gray didn’t know wouldn’t annoy the guy. Ronan studied his prey. Tried to decide if she was gonna follow all the rules. “No running.”

“Because running would make me a pain in your ass. Check. Right. Heard that the first time.” Her fingers wiggled. “Uncuff me? Please? Pretty please?”

He shoved his left hand into the pocket of his pants. Hauled out the key and put it at the lock.Snick.The cuff popped open. He lowered her hand, rubbing his fingers along her wrist. Was that a bruise already forming? Dammit, he’d have to remember to be extra careful with her because Luna was so delicate?—

“You drugged me!”She slammed her whole body into his. Because Ronan was perched on the side of the bed, he tumbled right off the edge and down to the floor where he landed on his ass. Completely humiliating. He had to outweigh her by at least one hundred pounds, but she toppled him and as he fell, she didn’t come down with him. Instead, fleet of foot, she danced across the mattress, jumped off the edge of the bed, and hauled ass for the bedroom door.

He leapt up to give chase. “Luna!”A roar.

She slammed the door shut behind her. He barreled into it. And?—

Locked.

Sonofafucker. He’d been the one to install the lock. Just in case she gave him problems. And she’d just used the lock against him. His fist slammed into the wood of the door. “Luna!”Another roar. One that almost shook the wooden door. “Don’t do this! You need me!Luna!”

No response. Only, hell, had he just heard the cabin’s front door slam?

Ronan ran to the bedroom window. The clouds that had hidden the moon and stars earlier had vanished, and he could just make out Luna’s form as she rushed from the cabin.

Hadn’t he just told the woman he was going to protect her?

Hadn’t he just said his job was to keep her safe?

Dammit. He hauled open the window. Jumped his ass out. And gave chase. “Luna!”

At the thunder of her name, she paused just long enough to glance back at him.

Then she took off even faster. Right into the heart of the bayou. Toward the sludge. Toward the gators. Toward the freaking snakes.

Barely free two whole minutes, and already, the woman had broken a cardinal rule.

She is totally being a pain in the ass.

So much for being the nice guy. Time for the evil hitman to play.

Chapter Three

Fear had her running blindly.

Hello, story of my new life.Her bare feet sank into the cold, wet ground. She hadn’t even realized that her shoes and socks were gone, not until she’d jumped off the wooden porch. As soon as the sludge oozed up between her toes, she’d realized that fleeing without shoes probably wasn’t the best plan.

But then the hitman had leapt through the window as he shouted her name, so stopping and grabbing shoes hadn’t exactly been an option.

Oh, he sounds pissed.

A pissed, confessed killer. How wonderful for her.

Fleeing without shoes was bad.

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