The Devil I Desire (Devil's Knights 4)

I heard footsteps, then the sound of twigs snapping, which sent my body into overdrive. My life amounted to nothing more than a series of bad decisions. The death of a Founder would be the end of my very long, miserable life. But I had to do this.

He was here.

I smelled Cillian’s musky cologne and expelled the air from my lungs. How could I kill him without someone on Founders Way hearing the gunshot? I hadn’t considered my plan. I couldn’t shoot him and leave him rotting on the beach, not without someone seeing me run.

The Founders had security cameras everywhere. This area was a dead zone, but knowing the Salvatores, they could see me from this vantage point. Their estate was down the block, with more guards on duty than a fortress.

“Hello, goddess,” Cillian said in that deep, sexy tone that once attracted me to him.

I was at a low point in my life when I let him touch me. Even though I knew better, I needed the escape, the release. He made me feel safe and protected… until he didn’t.

Cillian stepped toward me, dressed in a black tailored suit and a gold tie. For a man his age, he was still undeniably handsome. With a strong jaw and that piercing gaze that used to set my body on fire, it wasn’t hard for me to let him take advantage. Yet, as I stared into his eyes, I wondered what I ever saw in him.

My body trembled as he closed the distance between us. I clutched my bag, hoping it would steady my hands.

Cillian’s masculine scent filled my nostrils as he gripped my hip and pulled me into his chest. “Are you going to stop running from me, Rhiannon?”

“I’m not the type of girl who settles down.”

He slid his other hand beneath my chin and squeezed. “Don’t make me chase you again.”

“I’m here. But just so we’re clear, I’m not having sex with you. That part of our relationship is over, Cillian.”

He smirked, tugging on the button of my jeans. “Fight me all you want. You know how much I like it when you scream.”

I shoved my palms into his chest, knocking him backward, but he only looked more turned on by my defiance.

Cillian swiped a hand across his jaw with a wicked glint in his irises. “You’re going to regret that.”

Just take out the gun and shoot his ass.

You can do this, Rhiannon.

Chapter Six

Marcello

I sat in my Maserati, down the block from Rhiannon’s house in Beacon Bay. As I expected, she was sneaking out to meet with someone. Based on what I saw at the party, my guess was Cillian Cormac, of all people.

I never saw that one coming.

She ran across her neighbor’s front lawn, careful not to set off the motion sensors. I flicked on the lights and followed her as far as I could by travel by car. When she rushed past a group of drunken guys outside of The River Styx, I knew she was headed toward Finnegan’s Rock. You couldn’t gain access to this side of the bay without a boat or knowledge of the specific trail in the woods.

I parked my car on Main Street and hurried after her. The bouncer in front of The River Styx nodded as I passed. Occasionally, I came to Beacon Bay to hang out with Aiden. It was the only place we could go nearby without my father knowing about it.

I shuffled past two men in the dark alleyway, keeping a safe distance between Rhi and me. She dressed in tight jeans, a black halter top, and sneakers, running toward the woods. My reckless girl was probably going to get herself killed one day. She seemed to have a habit of attracting danger.

That was how we started this on-off relationship.

Rhi was at least a few minutes ahead of me when I entered the woods. I heard footsteps, though they sounded too heavy to be hers. Swatting fallen branches out of my face, I trekked through the underbrush with the grace of a panther.

Several minutes later, loud voices penetrated the silence like gunfire. Rhi was arguing with a man, his voice deep and rough. I couldn’t make out their words from this distance.

Her voice raised a few octaves.

Then she screamed.

“Get off me, you sick fuck! Help!”

Without a second thought, I took off in her direction.

“You’ll do whatever the fuck I say, you little bitch,” a man shouted.

Heart pounding, I pushed myself harder, moving at a record speed, until I stopped beside Finnegan’s Rock. I found Rhi pinned to the boulder by Cillian Cormac. He fisted the waistband of her jeans, pulling them down her thighs. She smacked him in the face, and he smashed her cheek into the rock. Her painful screams sent a shiver down my spine, the sight of the asshole forcing himself on her setting my skin on fire.