Page 90 of Erik's Salvation
“I can’t give you any of those things, so why are you here?”
He was now so close that if he reached out, he could touch her. And every step she took away from him brought her closer to the back of her office. She could always try to dodge around him, but the man was big. There was no way she could outrun him.
“Youmay not be able to give me those things, but Erik can help. You see, both of us have made names for ourselves in our…industry.”
“Names for yourselves?”
“Yes. I am stepping into a career change, and I would like Erik to come with me.”
She shook her head. “He won’t do that.” No way would he do anything with this guy, let alone go into business with him. Not after how he’d been acting for weeks.
Marco ran a hand down her arm.
She pulled away as if he’d burned her. “Don’t touch me!”
“You fear me,cara.”
She ground her teeth, not wanting to answer.
“You should,” he said quietly. “I am good at hurting people…just like that boyfriend of yours.”
She forced the air to move in and out of her chest. The urge to shove him away was overwhelming. Or to kick him between the legs, but that would be a bad idea. This man was a predator. Threaten him, and she’d pay. “Erik was a special forces soldier. Of course he knows how to hurt people.” He probably knew a thousand and one different ways.
Marco shook his head. “No,stella. He has far more recent blood on his hands. Do you know where he was Monday night?”
“Doing a job with you.”
He raised a brow, like he was waiting for her to explain what that job was. At her silence, he lowered his head. “He was on the roof of an apartment building, murdering a group of men. Family men. Some had wives. Children.”
Erik had never told her details about his job, but he’d told her enough for her to suspect. “He works for the government. If he’s killing people, they need to die.”
“Has hetoldyou the people he kills are bad? Or just that he has blood on his hands?”
Her heart started to beat faster. He’d only told her the latter.
At her silence, the corners of his lips tilted up. “And I wouldn’t be so quick to believe that all his kills have been government sanctioned.” He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “They haven’t.”
A cold numbness slipped over her skin. “You’re lying.” The words were so quiet, they barely touched the air.
He straightened, hands going to the wall on either side of her head, caging her. “No. Your boyfriend is an assassin who doesn’t always do what’s right, Hannah. The best in the business, in fact.”
Nausea crawled up her throat, threatening to break free.
“You are associated with a dangerous man. A man with many enemies.” His breath brushed over her face. “You know what happened to his wife, don’t you?”
She swallowed, unable to form words.
“No?” His hand returned to her arm, but now she was too shocked to do anything about it. She could barely feel the touch, she was so numb. “She was murdered,cara. His enemy entered their home and killed her. Stabbed her so many times, she was almost unrecognizable.”
It took every ounce of strength she possessed to stay upright. To not keel over and be sick at the picture he presented.
His mouth barely touched her cheek as he whispered, “Tell him to take the next job he’s offered and not to make an enemy of me. You don’t want to end up like her.”
* * *
Erik rana towel over his hair, his gaze shifting to his phone again. It was getting late. Hannah should’ve been here by now. But not only had she not arrived, and her car wasn’t next door, she also hadn’t answered his last text.
He threw his towel into the laundry basket. He’d finished his workout, expecting her to arrive during his shower. She hadn’t.
