Indebted (A Kingpin Love Affair 1)

“No…” Bree’s voice shakes as the lie escapes her lips. Anger rushes through me as my hand slips from her shoulder and up to the back of her neck where I grip her tightly, pulling her face into mine. Our lips are almost touching when I speak.

“Never. I mean never lie to me. Tell me whatever it is that you have to, but never lie to me. Dishonesty will get you killed faster than anything in this world. Even if it hurts to tell the truth, say it anyway because at least you said it.”

My eyes dart over her succulent lips, and the thought of taking her tongue into my mouth is sending my thoughts to all the wrong places.

“Now tell me what he did.” I try to hide to need from my voice and the fact that I want to take her against the wall right this second and forget about all the shit in our lives. The problems will still be here when I get done with her, right?

Her eyes gaze down and away from mine as if she is ashamed to speak. My heart starts beating out of my chest. If she has been with him, I don’t know what I will do. Will I kill her right here? Right now? That is the ultimate betrayal.

Her lip quivers, and I swear I see tears swimming in her eyes before she blinks them away.

“He got a little grabby and rough with me. I don’t like him and given the chance, I would stab him in the heart. Better yet, I might just shoot him.” She sounds vicious and sexy as hell when she is angry.

“When did he touch you?” I ask, withholding my rage. There is no point in showing her my anger. It wasn’t her fault. What am I supposed to do, though? I still have to somehow work with Mack. I have to find a way out of this, but he is my main man.

“That night he got me out of the basement, the night you came home with that girl,” Bree replies. Fire builds in her eyes when she says that girl. Who did she think I was bringing home? I don’t bring women to my private home.

“What did he do to you?” I clench my teeth, not wanting to hear what he did. Her eyes glaze over, and it is as if she is reliving the whole scene. Her body shakes as a single tear escapes her eye. Had I been that dark and uncaring that I hadn’t noticed someone who is mine, and mine alone, had been violated?

“He just wouldn’t leave me alone. He touched me and pushed me down on the stairs in the basement. He told me I was a distraction for you…” She sounds hurt, as if she wants me to contradict what Mack said. Except he is right, she is nothing but a distraction. She wove herself deep under my skin and somehow made her way into my black heart, causing it to beat again.

“Did he…?” I can’t even say it. If he touched her like that, my patience for anything will be gone. I will kill him. I will rip him to shreds, detach his limbs, and feed him his dick.

She shakes her head no, her dark hair cascading into her face. My heartbeat stops, and I suck a breath in between my teeth.

“I’ll make him pay… I promise. The second I’m done with needing him, he will die.” I say softly, placing a kiss against her warm skin. In this crazy ass shit hole, she is the one thing holding me together. Without her here, I would shed more blood. I would be bathing in my enemy’s blood.

“Why do we need him?” she squeaks out, my lips still against her skin. I peer down at her. “He’s our ticket out of here…” I mumble.

“Can’t we just run?” she asks.

“No. Running is for the weak. We will hide, and when the time is right, I will strike, killing every single one of them.” The need for vengeance can be heard in my voice, and I don’t even care if it scares Bree. What they have done to me is something that they will pay for.

“So we hide until the time is right and then you kill them all?” she inquires, tipping her head sideways. I release her head and sink back onto the bed.

“The only option is death, Bree. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you this, but that’s how things are paid for. If they can so easily attempt to kill me, then they should die for trying. It has always worked this way.” Frustration fills my body to the brim. How badly I wish I didn’t have someone whom I care about!

“You act like I don’t get it…” she whispers, getting up from the bed. Does she get it? I am not sure she understands the danger that she put herself in. Saving me should’ve been the last thing she ever did. She should’ve ran when she got the chance.

“Saving me put you here. If you didn’t want this, then you should’ve ran when you had the chance.” I don’t mean to sound like an asshole, but she has to know what will come from this.

She stops dead in her tracks just inside the bathroom door and turns to face me, her face a pure mask of anger.

“I saved you because it was the right thing to do. I saved you because, even though you’re a ruthless killer who has threatened to kill me on more than one occasion, I have grown to want you. I have grown to feel for you. Now, saving your ass by killing that fucker has put an X on my back too.”

As her words assault me and her eyes hold a fire so deep that I feel like reaching out and touching it to see if it really will burn me, it hits me. She made the choice, she made the decision. Running wasn’t even a thought to her when she pulled the trigger.