Page 73 of Dirty Behavior

“Nothing to say? You don't want to thank me for not killing you while you sat in my parking lot?” Crouching down, Remo pushed the tip of the blade against his finger. “Because I could've, I thought about it. But then I remembered how I wasn't done with you yet.” His smile curved up high, reaching his ears.

Focusing on breathing, I pushed the air in and out. I wanted to charge him, I wanted to kill him. . .

But I had to use my head and not my emotions.

Remo started chuckling, his voice growing in volume. “Is that your shoe? Were you really going to try and hit me with that?” Pulling in heavy breaths, he sighed. “Oh, Love, that's a good one.” Standing back up, he pointed the knife down towards my face. “You couldn't possibly have thought that would work, did you?”

I could feel his eyes on me, and I wanted to claw them out of his head. He didn't deserve to look at me one more second.

Think of the baby.

Think of Dante.

Keeping my eyes on the floor, my teeth ground down so hard, it felt like I had eaten a handful of dirt. My tongue was gritty, a popping sound echoed through my skull. But I refused to let him win. If I looked up at him, I was afraid of what I might do.

My body wanted to react to him so badly. My heart was hammering inside my chest, my fingers were itching by my side and squeezing the life out of the boot. And that's exactly what he wanted, he wanted to watch me crumble.

But I couldn't risk letting my emotions win, there was a baby living inside me. It took everything I had to not spit in his face and tell him to go to hell.

His tongue clucked against the roof of his mouth, his fingers twirled designs over the mirror finish of the blade. “Look at me when I'm talking to you.”

I wouldn't. He didn't control me, he didn't own me. I belonged to Dante.

Dropping his hand into my hair, Remo yanked my face up. “I said—”

Snapping my wrist, I threw a handful of sand into his eyes. Coughing, Remo stumbled backwards, his hands slapping against his eyes and mouth.

Go! Go, Ivy!

Jumping to my feet, I bolted out the door. I was running, breathing heavy and trying to follow the path we took to get there.

But in the darkness everything looked the same. I remembered the numbers, I remembered the steps, except confusion had turned my brain upside down. I wasn't sure if I was running in the right direction, if it was a left or a right at the first split in the hall.

So I just kept running.

I didn't stop, my feet kept going. Rounding a corner, my shoulder slammed into the crisp edge of the wall, sending a bolt of pain down my arm. I forced it away, refusing to let anything slow me down.

Nothing was going to stop me. . . Nothing.

Remo's feet echoed behind me, his pace growing with every step. And as I skirted around the next corner, I was struck with a sharp thicket of pain against my throat.

An arm had jetted out from nowhere, slamming into my neck and knocking me off my feet. I was on my back, gripping my throat and trying to catch my breath.

“Got her, Boss.” Del's voice rang in my head, his beady little eyes glancing between Remo and me on the ground.

Holding my neck, my fingers rubbed up and down. My throat was scorching with hot sparks as my chest heaved and pulled painfully. My mouth gaped open, loud gasps choking out as I laid on the floor.

Fuck!

Where the hell did he come from!

Remo stepped into view, hovering over me with an evil smile. “You're finally earning your keep around here, Del.” Rubbing his eyes, he leaned over. His face shadowed as it blocked the light, eyes glowering in rage and red veins. “You fucking bitch.”

“What happened? Did she hit you?” Del slid his glasses back up his face, breathing in a slick gulp of air.

“No! She fucking threw dirt in my eyes you idiot!” His hands worked over his face, eyes blinking rapidly. “Get her up.”

Del reached down, nabbing the collar of my shirt and yanking me to my feet. “What now?”

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