Page 19 of Himbo Hitman
He’s still glaring, slightly shaking, breathing an uneven mess as he slowly nods. I’m half expecting him to attack when I slowly release my hold on him, but he doesn’t, and I take it as a good sign.
I set the safety and tuck my gun back into my pants before going for his buttons again. He lets me this time. He doesn’t say anything, and the lack of conversation is starting to make things really, really awkward. I’ve never undressed a man before, andsure this might be a life-or-death situation, but I’m not sure that makes it any easier.
“Why are you sneaking around a dark alley anyway?” I ask him, tugging the shirt from his shoulders. “I couldn’tnottake a shot when you went to the trouble of setting it all up for me.”
He doesn’t answer, and I try not to hold it against him.
“You really made this more difficult than it had to be, you know? If you’d just let me kill you …”
If anything, his glare gets glarier.
At least he lowers his hand when I lift the shirt, and his cringe of pain as I set it in place gives me a quick break from his death stare.
I should probably tell him I have no clue what I’m doing, but it doesn’t seem right to freak him out anymore. So I do what I can, hope it’s enough, and once I’ve got the thing tied tight to his head … I make the mistake of looking down at him.
His blond hair is in bloody tufts near his ear and chaotically spiked where I’ve tied the shirt. His eyes are confused and wary and scared and full of hatred all at once. But the photos and article didn’t do him justice. There’s asomethingaround him that he doesn’t need a leering skeleton mask to produce.
“You can go now,” he grits out.
I’m about to do exactly that before I remember that I can’t let him waltz off into the night. “Actually, there’s one more thing.”
He looks ready to hit me again.
“Have you ever heard of a pinky swear?”
CHAPTER SIX
ST. CLARE
I run.Hard. Ignoring that I’m shirtless and bleeding. Ignoring the way people stop and stare and one woman calls outAre you okay?as I bolt past her. My heart is hammering so fast I feel like I’m about to vomit it up, and I’m pretty fucking sure that’s not a good thing when you’re trying tostopthe rapid bleeding.
I need to get to Saint Clare’s. To Lars. Until then, I can’t stop in case this is some sick game. Nearly kill me, set me free, then hunt me down like prey.
My ear is fuckingburning, and I don’t know if the bleeding has stopped, but I’m woozy from the adrenaline flooding through me. The through road behind my building comes into view, but I don’t feel any better running down it. It’s as empty as the alleyway was, and every second that passes, I expect to be shot in the back.
I can barely process what happened; my brain is too full ofrun, run faster, and that’s what I do.
The courtyard gives me an illusion of safety, and I think I take my first breath once I get back inside. I don’t stop running though, just fly along the hall, then sling myself up the stairs two at a time.
Even my office door can’t bring me relief, and my hand is trembling and sticky with blood as I try to get the door unlocked. It finally clicks open, and I stumble inside, then slam it, lock it, and the relief hits all at once. I stagger toward my desk, and the last ofmy energy leaves me as I sag to the floor, leaning back against the wall.
What. The fuck. Just happened?
I pull out my phone and quickly text Lars to get his ass here now. He’s going to be pissed I went alone, but I doubt it will come close to how pissed I am about being shot.
And then … everything that happened afterward.
I close my eyes, and the masked man flashes in front of my face. He was … that was … I don’t even know what to make of it.
Watching him gesture like a madman with that gun in his hand was fucking terrifying, but …
Well, it’s the “but” that has me thrown. Because I’m sure he helped me at the end there. I reach up to touch the shirt he’s tied tightly around my head, remembering the concentration on his face. Those huge brown eyes that looked better suited to a dog than a person.
I open the messages to Lars and quickly add:
Bring painkillers.
Now that the rush is slowing down, the pain is coming in hot. It’s less like a burning sensation and more like a whole head explosion with the way the migraine is building. He said he only hit my ear, but did he? Am I actually dying and don’t fucking know it?
