Page 19 of The Hitman's Forbidden Obsession
Avery
Dante follows Victoria out of the dining room, offering to help with the dishes. His hand brushes my spine as he passes, a fleeting touch meant to be affectionate, but it’s tight. Tense.
Something changed in him as soon as he rose to his feet to help my stepmom. I saw it. I felt it.
And I don’t know why, but it unsettles me.
Dad takes another sip of wine, smiling across the table. “So, he seems like a good guy.”
“Yeah,” I say, my voice softer than I mean it to be. “He really is.”
Except that strange tension is still lingering like a shadow in my chest, and I can’t seem to shake it.
“I think I’ll go help too,” I offer, standing and gathering two of the empty wine glasses from the table. “Victoria will have a fit if she thinks I’m just letting my boyfriend do all the heavy lifting.”
Dad chuckles and nods, lifting his glass in mock salute. “Good idea, pumpkin. Should never piss off the lady of the house.”
I smile, but it’s a little strained around the edges. “Be right back.”
I walk down the hallway with slow, careful steps. The glasses chime faintly in my hands.
The light from the dining room fades behind me, and the murmur of conversation disappears entirely. Ahead, the house is quiet, but not in a peaceful way. It feels like the silence before a storm.
Something about it makes me slow down.
I’m not sure why I pause a few steps from the kitchen door. Maybe it’s the way my chest tightens, or the prickling sense that something is… wrong. Off. Like the air is too still. Like I’ve stepped into a moment I’m not supposed to witness.
And then I hear Victoria’s voice, sharp and full of hate.
“I had no idea becoming her boyfriend was part of your plan to kill her. But I don’t care if you want to use the bitch before putting an end to her, I guess. Just don’t take too long about it. I paid you to do a job, after all.”
My entire body goes still, like the air just got sucked out of my lungs. My heart lurches so hard I swear I hear it thud against my ribs. I can’t breathe. I can’t think.
Did I... hear that right? He plans to kill me?
My knees feel like they’re going to buckle.
I flatten myself silently against the wall beside the kitchen doorway, gripping the glasses so hard I’m amazed they haven’t shattered already.
Victoria hired someone to kill me?
She hired Dante...
No. That can’t be right.
The man who made me laugh. The man who devoured every inch of me like he could never get enough. The man who pulled me closer in his sleep like he was afraid I’d disappear.
That man is a killer?
My thoughts spiral in a dizzy, chaotic rush.
Was I just a job? Is he still planning to kill me? How could he treat me the way he has and call me his angel if he was only going to hurt me?
I don’t even realize I’m crying until I taste the salt on my lips. And then I hear his voice.
“You really are a piece of work.”
There’s a pause, and I squeeze my eyes shut, bracing for whatever’s coming next.
