Boss - Killer of Kings

“I’m not in the mood for games,” he said.

“Good, because I’m not playing.”

“You’ve been playing games since the moment you got here. I’m not biting.”

“I’d say with the way you’re holding me, you’re biting just enough.” She smiled and his grip was suddenly around her neck.

It was odd, she wasn’t afraid.

“You know, the last man to hold me like this never saw the light of day again.”

“I’m not hurting you, and besides, if you really wanted to, you could get out of this. We both know that, Widow Maker.”

“You’ve been following me?” she asked. Widow Maker. The name didn’t bother her. People had a tendency to create nicknames to fit the person. She was just a woman in a man’s world, doing a better job than the cock in it. Still, she didn’t like how her body responded to Boss, or that she liked the thought of him following her.

No man would get beneath her skin.

“The man is going to live, if you’re curious,” he said.

“But he’s going to do it without a dick, and every woman is all the safer.”

“So you’ve got a thing against men? And cock?”

“I’ve got a thing against assholes who don’t take no for an answer,” she said. “Like, no, thank you, I’m not working for Killer of Kings.”

“The offer of work was revoked. You know about the drugs,” he said. “Tell me.”

“I’m not talking.”

She cried out as he suddenly grabbed her, jerking her forward. Instinct took over. No one manhandled her. She brought her knee up, and he blocked that. Next, she tried to pull free, but he held on to her arms. Again, he anticipated the move, and at each point of her breaking free, he knew what to expect. It pissed her off not to be in charge.

In the end, she dropped her entire body weight as if she’d fainted. He had no choice but to let go and catch her or she’d fall. The moment he did, she reacted, spinning around and putting a few feet between them. Now, she was near the entrance of the alley, and he was the one trapped.

“Interesting,” he said.

She glared at him, not saying a word.

“You’ve got trigger points. You don’t mind me grabbing your neck, or holding you in place, but if I grab you as if I’m about to drag you someplace like an animal, you can’t stand it.”

“You want to know about the drugs, you tell me what you’ve got, and I’ll tell you,” she said. He wasn’t going to psychoanalyze her reaction. It didn’t take an expert to know she was a woman with issues, but she dealt with them in her own way.

If Boss wasn’t right there looking at her, she’d touch her chest. Her heart raced and not that she’d admit it to him, her hands shook a little. This reaction, this feeling, it was the first one she’d experienced in months.

“That’s not the way this works.”

“This is the way I work. Take it or leave it. I don’t give a fuck!” She wasn’t going to be bullied by men or forced into doing anything.

How dare Boss try to intimidate her.

“You know, I thought you were better than that,” she said, blurting out the words before she could stop herself. She was so angry.

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t care if I’m a man or a woman? Yet you used your force there to control me,” she said.

He laughed. “I don’t care that you’re a woman. It’s good to know you’ve still got feeling inside you somewhere.”

“Fuck you.” She was done with this conversation and done with him. She had more investigating to do and right now, all she wanted to do was put Boss at the top of her kill list. She turned to leave.

“El Diablo wants to see you,” Boss said.

She stopped.

El Diablo.

The only real family she had left. She stopped and turned toward Boss. “I’ll see him when I want to.”

“You can be the biggest bitch you want, but it’s not a bad move to have friends.”

This made her pause. “Friends. You consider yourself my friend?”

“I could be. I’m not the worst guy in the world.”

“But you’re still a guy. Don’t think for a second that I don’t know everything there is to know about you.”

“I doubt that,” he said.

“The man without a past. A man surrounded in history. I’m starting to believe, Boss, that you’ve made yourself out to be invincible and you’re beginning to believe in your own lies. It’s going to get you killed. You’re just a man like everyone else.” She stepped toward him, feeling more herself with each passing second. Now that she had the spotlight and wasn’t taken by surprise, she was in her element. Stepping up close to him, she placed a hand on his heart. “You’ve still got a beating heart and it’s pumping blood around your body.” Down she went, her hand going closer to his pants. “You could die if I were to puncture just the right artery.”