“You wouldn’t actuallykillsomeone for me, Hunter.”
I say it, but I don’t know if I mean it.
Hunter’s been in a lot of trouble in his life.
He’shurta lot of people, even if they usually deserved it. When kids bullied him, they always ended up bloody or bruised.
And once, I saw him punch a guy directly in the jaw in the hallway back in high school after the guy called his own girlfriend a “whore” for wearing fishnet stockings.
But had Hunter Knox really killed someone?
Did he have the capability of it?
What happened to him in London? Or… what did hedoin London?
“Quit acting like I’m your enemy,” he tells me, something flickering in his eyes. “Yes, I’m following you. No, I am not going to stop. I’m going to watch you. Ilikewatching you. And you like it, too, when you let yourself admit it.”
My heart pounds in my chest.
“Why did you leave London?”
His eyes flare for a moment but he ignores the question.
He always ignores it when I ask about his life.
Instead he reaches out, putting his hand on my hip.
“Are you the jealous type, Rayne?” he asks me. “Sure looked like it when you saw me touching Briar in the Colossus earlier. You wished it was my hands on you, didn’t you? Is that what you wanted me to do after I made you choke on my cock? Give you tender loving care afterward and rubyourback?—”
I come at him fast, shoving him forward hard.
But he’s faster.
As always.
His hand moves to grab the knife again and by the time I have him shoved back against the wall, he moves one arm up.
And he puts the cold metal knife against the center of my chest, pushing it forward.
It’s like I’ve gotten the breath knocked out of me.
It takes me a second to register that the knife hasn’t sliced into my skin.
Where I expect to feel a sharp pain, all I feel is a dull, pointed pressure.
I look down and see that he has the knife flipped in reverse, the sharp edge pointing away from me and the blunt edge pushing into my chest.
My heart rate ratchets up as I see the look in his eyes.
He looks wild. Unpredictable.
Truly unhinged, more than I’ve ever seen before.
“Are you asking to see what I’m capable of, Rayne?” he murmurs, and his free hand comes down to slide around my wrist just like he had it the other day, gripping tight.
He’s so close to me.
“Chill out,” I say, but it sounds meager coming out of my mouth.
