Cold Hearted Bastard (Underworld Kings)

I felt a flush move through me so powerfully it was hard to catch my breath for a moment.

My gaze landed on the gun sitting right beside his hand on the dining room table.

Without looking up from the paper in front of him, he said in a deep, low voice, “If you’re a coffee drinker, there’s some in the pot. If not, all I have is water.” He flipped a page on the paper. “The pastries were just delivered and are in a box on the counter.”

I didn’t move for a second, and he looked up at me, dark gaze slowly moving up and down my body. My shorts were high up on my thighs, my T-shirt long enough to cover them. It probably looked like I wore nothing underneath.

Although I was fully dressed, I couldn’t help but feel like I was totally nude in front of him. I tugged on the hem of my shirt before diverting my gaze and making my way toward the kitchen. I could smell the coffee, and although I wasn’t much of a fan, I figured now was as good a time as ever to get a little caffeine fix.

After I poured a cup, not bothering with sugar or milk because I didn’t want to go rummaging through his things, I opened up the box and grabbed the first danish I could see. I could still feel Arlo looking at me, but I refused to meet his gaze.

Although I had so many more questions, I didn’t know if he’d be forthcoming with the answers. But then again, I wouldn’t know unless I asked.

After I swallowed a bite of danish and washed it down with some coffee, I set the cup on the granite counter and looked up at him. He was back to reading the paper, and from the distance I could see it was in another language—Eastern European if I had to guess by the letters.

Although he didn’t have a noticeable accent, a few times I had heard a difference in the way he pronounced certain words. “I didn’t realize you could get international papers in Desolation.” Truth was, I didn’t know if you could or couldn’t get anything in this godforsaken city. I hadn’t been here long enough, and it wasn’t as if I’d checked out the lay of the land.

He leaned back in the chair, and I forced myself not to look at the way the muscles under his tattooed, golden skin flexed with that small movement.

Arlo was a big man, broad shoulders, a wide chest, and a ridiculously defined abdomen. I could see the gray sweatpants he wore from this vantage point, a very outlined V of cut muscle starting on either side of his waist and disappearing underneath the material. I picked up my glass and took a drink. As soon as I swallowed too much liquid, I regretted it.

I sputtered and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, my eyes watering, my tongue burning because the coffee was so damn hot. I turned my back to Arlo and coughed a couple more times, patting my chest and only turned around once I could breathe again. He still had his focus on me, but the corner of his mouth was tipped up ever so slightly, as if he thought it was amusing. I found a spark of anger and annoyance moving through me, but I didn’t say anything.

“Desolation can get anything you want, Lina.” He lifted his coffee mug to his mouth and took a long, slow drink as he watched me. Don’t look at that bulging bicep. Don’t watch the way it clenches and relaxes just from him picking up a damn ceramic mug.

“Italian, Russian, Spanish. Any language you want… anything you want, you can get for a price.” He set his mug down but kept his fingers curled around the handle. His other arm still rested over the back of the chair beside him. His position was easygoing and relaxed, and God, he made it look sexy.

Maybe I was suffering from some instantaneous Stockholm syndrome? But I knew that wasn’t true. I’d felt this dark desire for him the moment I saw him months ago. Now that I was in his home… forced to stay here for my “own good,” I felt like I was losing my mind slowly.

“Do you know how to fight?”

His question took me off guard, and I eyed him as I swallowed another bite of danish. “I think?” I felt my face heat at the stupid words that just spilled from my mouth. “Well, I’ve taken a couple self-defense classes and always carry pepper spray on me. I can defend myself if needed.” I wondered if he’d seen me in the alley after I doused the asshole in the face with my pepper spray before kneeing him in the nuts and taking off.