“It’s for you, sir,” I said, and held it out for him to take. “I thought you would like to try a blackberry lemonade.”
Bringing his gaze to my face, he stared at me, perplexed. “I don’t want it.”
I tried to keep smiling so he wouldn’t notice my disappointment. Did he dislike blackberries or lemonade? Did I make him angry because of what happened in the break room, and now he wanted to punish me?
“Oh...Okay,” I said softly. I set the cup on the table and sat on the leather sofa. “Eat up.”
I took out the Styrofoam boxes and pushed his food toward him. Mr. Volkov was still standing, watching me as I unloaded our lunch. His gaze remained on me, quickening my heartbeat. I blinked and looked at him, watching as he crossed the office and went to the bar on the other side of the room. He grabbed a glass cup, put ice in it from the icebox, and came back to my side, sitting beside me.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
Mr. Volkov ignored me as he pulled the lid off the lemonade, poured some of it into the glass cup, and then set it back down. He left the plastic cup with the restaurant’s logo on it half full and gently pushed it toward me.
I stared at it with my mouth open. It took me a couple of seconds for it to sink in.
Mr. Volkov was sharing it with me.
I smiled and handed the plastic silverware and napkins to him. He gently took them from me, his fingers brushing mine and sending electric zaps through the touch. I swallowed the tiny moan and pulled my hand away from his. Mr. Volkov peeked at me from the corner of his eye, and I swore I saw a flash of desire in that glance before he turned his gaze back to the food. He dug in, and all I could do for a moment was watch him with a grin.
There is most definitely a sweet side to him. He just doesn’t want to show the world.
An owl hooted from the treetops, and an alligator hissed from its spot in the swamp. Snowflakes flittered from the sky and wove between the many branches that covered the bayou. I brought attorneys Andrew Lawson and Richard Edwards here for the privacy of what I planned to do to them. Rage boiled in my veins as I stood five feet away from them. They still slept, completely unaware that I had grabbed them from the safety and comfort of their homes. Soon enough, the chilly December weather would wake them.
Even though it’d been hours since what happened with Emma in the break room, I still couldn’t get the image of Emma’s tears out of my head. I had overheard some things Andrew and Richard said to her, and it had taken every bit of self-control to stop myself from unleashing my wrath on them in that small room. I didn’t want to scare Emma by slitting Andrew’s and Richard’s throats and letting them bleed to death. I also didn’t want to deal with the human pigs they called cops.
As they said those horrible things to Emma, they reminded me that all humans were filth that should have been eradicated millions of years ago.
“We wouldn’t have our mate if it weren’t for humans,”my demon reminded me with a hiss.
I clenched my jaw and glared down at the shivering men.
Emma’s face popped into my mind’s eye again, my love for her tightening my chest. Her glistening emerald eyes that had pled for me to help her. The single tear dropped down her cheek that I had lovingly swiped away and soaked up every second as I touched her, wishing that she would remember who I was to her. The following image was of her smiling at me when I folded by sharingher favorite goddamn lemonade. Emma didn’t remember when she went to that restaurant and discovered their blackberry lemonade. When I saw the look of defeat on her face when she offered it to me, I couldn’t stand it anymore and shared it with her.
My sunshine was the sweetest human on this planet, and these two wretched humans made her fucking cry while she hallucinated.
I watched as the two humans shivered from the snowy night. Andrew reached down, grappling at nothing as if he expected a blanket to cover him and keep him warm. I stepped closer, crouched by their feet, and rested my forearms on my knees. Cocking my head, I observed the two sleeping men. Andrew wore sports shorts and no shirt, and Richard wore a navy-blue silk sleep shirt and pants that matched. There was nothing to keep them warm on this December night, and I reveled in that.
My demon peered through my eyes and stretched against the mental bonds that kept him beneath the surface.“They’re waking up,”he growled.
“I know.”
He bared his sharp teeth.“Let me out.”
I ignored him, watching as Andrew woke up first. He blinked open his eyes and squinted as he took in his new surroundings. Craning his neck, Andrew glanced around in confusion. When his eyes adjusted to the darkness, they landed on me and widened. He shot up in a sitting position with a gasp. “Mr. Volkov? What are you doing here?” He frowned and glanced around the bayou. Snowflakes floated down and gently landed on his messy, dark hair.
“Think hard, human,” I said.
“Human?” Andrew returned his gaze to me.
“Let me out!”Demon snarled and banged against the barriers.
A groan came from Richard, and my gaze slipped to him, watching as he roused from his sleep. He did the same thing as Andrew, casting a confused look at his surrounding before looking at me as he sat up. “What the fuck are we doing here?” he snarled, sleep still thick in his voice.
Rage surged through my veins and had me baring my teeth.
“What? You don’t like your graves?”Demon said through me. Our voices blended together, one deep and raspy, the other grating and sounding more like growls.
The humans’ eyes widened, and they shot to their feet.
