Damn, she’s really starting to frustrate me.
“No,” I say calmly as I flex my fingers against her neck enough to remind her who has the power here.
I move so fast she doesn’t even see it coming. One second, she’s plastered against the wall, and the next, she’s draped like a sack of flour over my shoulder. My feet carry me deeper into the alley as I head for the other exit where the SUV is. I turn my head and can’t resist nuzzling my nose against the side of her ass and taking a deep hit. Her rose smell is strong, but what I smell under it almost has me drawing to a stop and putting her back against the wall. I bet if I slipped my fingers between those thighs I’d feel her little pussy wet and her clit throbbing for relief. I’m so fucking tempted…
“What do ya want me to do about him, Boss?” Andre asks me as I pass him.
“Let him go,” I say without looking at either of them. “And Paulie, don’t let me catch you again.”
Paulie’s sniffling ass runs down the alley away from us. Maybe I shouldn’t have let him go. I tell myself that I found him once, I can find him again.
A sick part of me wonders if she’s watching him escape the entrance she’d been caught at and wishing she’d never stepped foot in this alleyway.
“Keys.” I hold my hand out, palm up.
Torrin is beside me, keeping up with my pace as we head to where the SUV is parked. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice how he hesitates for a second before dropping the fob into my hand. I wonder what the fuck he’s waiting for. When I turn my head to glare at him, his eyes shift to look at Astra dangling over my shoulder. Then he slides his gaze back to me. Something is going through his head but he doesn’t say a fucking thing. I click the unlock button on the fob as I debate on if I’m going to say something to him or not. About this time, Astra regains herself and starts kicking and hitting.
“Hit me again and it will be the last thing you do,” I growl in warning. I’m done with this shit. Everything has gone fucking sideways and now I’ve got to figure out how to clean up the damn mess. The last thing I want to do is deal with a bratty one-time fuck and try to convince myself of all the reasons I shouldn’t kill the sweet, innocent beauty.
Torrin opens the back door to the SUV and I toss her ass in the seat, reaching between the soft leather to grab the cuff I have tucked away there. It’s welded in, so she won’t be going anywhere even if she yanks it to death. I snap it around her wrist, smirking when she gasps in shock and surprise.
“You bastard!” She swats at me with her free hand.
I pause and grin at her.
“You have no idea,” I tell her as I yank off my tie. I slot it through her parted lips before she even realizes what I’m doing, and give it a good yank as I tie it behind her head. “Good girls don’t talk.”
With that, I slam the door.
Andre takes the back seat next to Astra. I slide behind the wheel, angling the rearview mirror so I have a direct line of sight to her pissed-off expression. If she could spit fire, I imagine she’d be doing so now. I don’t look away from her as Torrin takes the seat beside me.
“Your hand,” he mutters, causing me to shake my head and look at him with brows drawn in concern. What the fuck is he talking about my hand for? “Look.”
I do, first glancing at the back of my hands before flipping them over, palms up.
The black lines are fading, almost as if they are slowly retreating up my arms.
I glance back at Astra’s reflection in the mirror.
Her unhappy expression has twisted into something more of surprise as she stares at where my hand is up in the air. But before I can understand what it means, her face hardens to stone as she turns and looks out the window.
A cold chill washes over me.
What the fuck is going on here?!
EIGHT
Astra
It’s strange, but I feel suddenly better. The ache is gone from my bones, and I no longer feel tired.
How is it possible?
I’ve been wondering this over the last twenty or so minutes while I’ve been sitting in this room in a househebrought me to.
I take in my surroundings for the third time. The room isn’t very big. It’s like a small lounge area with two couches and a few plush chairs. A clean black glass ashtray sits in the middle of the coffee table in front of me. That’s the only decoration on the dark wood table, and honestly, it’s not enough to keep my attention. Paintings dot the forest green walls, but I don’t really care to study them. There’s a small bar set up in the corner. It’s very sleek-looking with its pristinely polished dark wood. It has an air of a piece that’s been around for centuries, and is well taken care of.
Before moving in with my father, having a room such as this would have seemed foreign to me. Something only seen on TV or in movies.
