Page 73 of Silent Vendetta (Vendetta Duet)

“Whoever left that note was at the courthouse today. I’ll start looking there.”

Hunter was normally methodical with these things. But when it came to me…

“You have no idea who this person is or where to find them. What are you going to do, prowl the streets, hoping he walks past you?” My voice was nearly a shriek. “You’re being reckless.”

To this, he leaned down so close, I could smell the toothpaste on his breath.

“If there’s one last thing I can do, I’m going to end the person who’s threatening you.”

Good God, there were a lot of layers to unpack there. One last thing—as in one last thing before turning himself in? Or going out with a bang, even if it meant dying to protect me?

I wasn’t sure, but my eyes stung from fear. It wasn’t until this moment that I allowed the prospect of him dying to enter my thoughts.

Hunterwoulddie to protect me—of that, I had no doubt. But he needed someone to protect him from himself. I mean, my God. Look at the rage pumping through the vein on his forehead and his whitened knuckles around the knife’s handle.

I pressed my palms on his chest. He was still wearing the suit he’d worn to court this morning. The fabric was smooth beneath the pads of my fingers as his heartbeat smashed into them.

“Drop the knife, Hunter.”

Hunter’s chest ballooned. “No.”

He released my chin and tried to walk around me.

I stepped in his way. “Drop. The knife.”

Clenched teeth. “Move, Luna.”

“No.”

He tried again, and again, I blocked him.

It wasn’t lost on me that I, an unarmed woman half his size, was obstructing a killer brandishing a blade with one hand, fist clenched with the other. A killer whose eyes were wild.

This time, when he stepped past me, he almost made it, and I had to grab his belt buckle to jerk him back. A man of his strength could have easily yanked free, but doing so would’ve sent me to the ground, so here we were.

Chest to chest, in a standoff.

When he grabbed my chin again—a soft breath escaping my lungs—his gaze darkened into a cobalt blue.

“You’re playing a dangerous game, Little Leopard.”

“Your recklessness could get you caught or killed, and I won’t allow either.”

I tugged at his belt again, making it clear I wouldn’t let him leave without a fight. His gaze dropped down to my hand, then slowly dragged back up.

Hunter twisted the knife’s handle.

The atmosphere in the room shifted as his piercing eyes devoured me as if they held the antidote for his fury—the air between us crackling like a live wire, charged with electricity that ignited a fire through my body, pooling between my legs.

Especially when he looked at my mouth and then crashed his lips to mine.

I moaned, aching to forget the chaos around us, to lose myself. I longed for him to claim me, to smother me with his weight, and for a fleeting moment, let the world outside cease to exist while our bodies entwined.

His anger pulsed through his touch, his mouth pressing so harshly against mine that it hurt.

I missed this.

I missed him.

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