Page 12 of Chef's Kiss

I want to kill this man, and I have to be careful not to squeeze Charlotte too hard when she throws herself in my arms.

“Is there anyone else here he’s working with?”

“No,” she says. “Just him.”

“I need you to be brave and step outside the door for just a second, okay?” I ask gently, wiping the tears from her eyes and making a mental note to make him pay even more for making her cry.

“Okay,” she whimpers in-between sniffs, and my fists tighten.

I walk with her to the door, checking the store just to make sure and then move her out of the doorway and grab her face, staring her straight in the eyes.

“I need you to plug your ears and not look inside, okay?”

She nods and I just can’t take it anymore. My lips come crashing down onto hers, letting her know I’m here for her, that she’s safe, and that she’s mine in all ways now.

Her lips are pulled back, scared, but just as her lips give way and she starts to melt into me I pull back. It’s not right to kiss her when she’s in this heightened emotional state. Plus, I’m not done here.

I stomp back into this prick’s office, catching him reaching for the phone, his eyelids drooping.

“Oh no you don’t,” I say slapping it off the table.

I grab him with one hand and and the roll of duct tape with the other, before drilling him right in the gut with a knee. He doubles over and I hoist him in the air and get to taping him to the fucking wall.

Not three minutes later it’s done, and I make sure not to tape his mouth. I want to hear the pain he’s going to feel, that I’m going to enjoy inflicting. And I want Charlotte to hear it too. Want her to know that she can count on me to deliver swift justice to anyone stupid enough to think they can touch what’s mine.

“You like to stick your dick where it doesn’t belong, you rapey fuck?”

I step outside into the store, finding the biggest two cucumber I can and make my way back into his office. I stick one in his mouth, gagging him, as I tape it in place, and get to work putting the other somewhere he’s never going to forget.

CHAPTER 6

Christian

“Thank you for saving me. I can’t ever thank you enough.”

“You never need to thank a man for something he’s supposed to do,” I say, as I turn on my signal to enter the police parking lot.

“Where are you taking me?”

“This needs to be reported. The signs I saw back there tell me you aren’t the first one he tried this on, and…” I clench my teeth, pissed as fuck. “I bet he’s taken it to completion before.” I pause, gripping the steering wheel tightly. “I really wanted to kill him.”

“I heard the screams,” she says. “And the bones breaking.”

“Those bones were his hands and wrists. I made it so he can’t ever touch a woman again, and that letter opener came in handy for taking off the tip of his tongue so no one will ever have to hear that filthy sewer hole of his spitting out the vile garbage he’s trying to pass off as words from one human to another. He’s not even human. He’s filth.”

“You cut off his tongue?”

“Just the tip, and I can’t lie. After making literally a million slicing and cutting movements in my day as a chef, including things like beef tongue, it was easy. It was scary how much I enjoyed it, but I promise you I’m not a violent person, despite what you just saw and heard. It’s just…something came over me when I knew what he wanted to do to you, and how far he’d already taken it. I couldn’t leave any chance for him to ever try that again with someone else.”

She nods as I throw my Range Rover in park. “Do you feel like you can go inside and talk to the police right now?”

She purses her lips. “I’m not sure.”

“I know one of the guys on the staff. He’s the nephew of the security guard at my show. The security guard is a retired cop, really tough guy who doesn’t take any bullshit when it comes to abuse of women. I’m sure his nephew feels the same way.” I pause. “What if I have him come out here and talk to you, and you don’t have to go inside.”

She shakes her head. “I’m okay.”

“You sure?” I ask, not wanting to press her, but also needing this to be taken care of for good.

“Yeah, this needs to stop and realistically he scared the shit outta me, but he didn’t technically do…anything.”

“If he made you feel uncomfortable for a millisecond then he already did way too much. Don’t make light of this. Don’t give this man one ounce of pity.”

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