Chapter One
Ashlyn
My heart jumped into my throat as soon as I stepped into my darkened apartment. Instinctively, I sensed danger. I knew the man was there in the split second before his hand clamped over my mouth, the pressure propelling me backward so I bumped into the door behind me. His movements weren’t violent enough to cause me pain, but they were terrifying enough to make my pulse hammer through my veins. My soft scream was smothered by his big hand.
“Shhh, Ashlyn,” he said, steel lurking beneath his horrifyingly gentle tone. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
I recognized the voice. I’d heard it once before. The low rumble haunted me in my dreams, leaving me sweating and twisting in my sheets at the memory of the darkness that lurked just beneath his skin.
Marco. Joseph’s frightening acquaintance. Marco, the dangerous man who had appeared one night and stolen the man I loved away from me, making Joseph disappear and abandon me; shattering my heart in the process.
Anger swelled along with fear, and I shoved at his chest. When that accomplished nothing, I curled my fingers into claws, ready to rake my short nails across his face.
He caught my hands easily before I could inflict damage. He released my mouth for a moment while he grasped my wrists. Then, he shifted them into one hand and pinned them over my head. His other hand returned to my mouth to cover my fresh scream.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said again. “I need you to calm down and listen to me. You’re in danger, and I need to get you out of here.”
I shook my head as best I could with his firm grip on my face. The only danger was the threat he posed.
“You don’t understand,” he continued. “Joseph didn’t tell you about who he really is. Who we are. The kind of men we are. He wanted to shield you from it, but that’s over now.”
My mind spun, struggling to process what he was saying. What could he possibly mean? Joseph had possessed a sinfully sexy bad boy vibe, but he’d worshipped me. He’d treated me like something precious and called me his angel. It was why I’d fallen for him, hard and fast. My first love.
It was why my heart was ravaged and I walked around with a hollow place in my chest, aching deep in my soul for the last month that had passed without him in my life.
“Our enemies will come for you,” Marco said. “I won’t put you at risk like that. I won’t let Joseph go through that. He can’t lose you again. Not forever. Not like this. I won’t fucking allow it.”
Enemies? What the hell was he talking about?
I twisted in his grip, sure that he was my enemy. He was pinning me against the wall and smothering my panicked screams. Fear I’d never known rolled over me in a toxic wave, making my head spin and my stomach turn.
Marco stared down at me. The faint streetlight streaming through the windows caught on his features, the shadows enhancing the hard planes of his face and stubble-covered jaw. The light gleamed on his close-cropped dark hair, and the illumination caught in his black eyes. They sparkled with keen intelligence as he considered me.
After a moment, his lips hardened to a thin slash, and he nodded.
“You’re not going to come willingly. I can see that. But I planned for this.”
He released my wrists, and my hands closed around his forearm, trying to pry his hand away from my mouth so I could let out the scream he was trapping behind my lips.
He swiftly retrieved something from his pocket. Dread flooded my system when I recognized the syringe.
I redoubled my efforts to escape as he removed the cap with his teeth. I tried to kick him, but he was too close for me to get any leverage, his thigh wedged between mine. My harsh cries caught against his hand, and mindless panic prevented me from fighting effectively. All I could do was try to free my face from his hold, and his strong arm kept me securely pinned, despite my frantic efforts.
The needle gleamed in the dim light just before the sting kissed my neck. His movements were careful rather than violent, and there was minimal pain.