down my pants as I collected myself, cognizant of where we were and what had occurred—“you showing up last night.”
“Had I not, you would’ve been beaten until you became Temple’s whore. He wasn’t dead when you fell unconscious, he had quite a few things to say about his plans for you and me. Needless to say, he won’t ever get the chance to fulfill them.”
“It wouldn’t have happened,” I snapped. “I would die before I became anyone’s bottom bitch.”
Somehow, he found the scene smirk-worthy. “Now you won’t have to.”
Dozens of scenarios raced around inside my thoughts. I had an answer to who he was—criminal, more specifically, an assassin.
“Catch.” I used a soft voice to sway him with sugar and grabbed his chin, pulling his face toward mine.
Catch wrapped his slender yet brawny hands around my wrists, and I was sure he was going to push me away, instead he brought me closer.
“Blame it on my nature… I can’t help but feel while you’re helping me, it’s not for anything good. I’m good at reading when people lie to me. Or, at least I think I am, and you have one of those faces that can go either way; bad at lying or scarily good at misdirection. So, tell me which you are. Friend or foe?”
“I’ll have an answer for you after we get out of this hall.” Squeezing my wrists, he tried to guide me to follow his trek down the hall.
My feet were firmly planted. Wiggling my hands from his hold, I quickly put them behind my back, holding the handle of the gun stowed in the waistband of my pants. “I have your gun,” I hissed, “and I’ll shoot you, starting with your cock first, if you don’t answer my question.”
“The cops are convening in the lobby downstairs,” he informed me, steady and undeterred. “I bypassed them on my way here. I give them five minutes before they reach this level.”
I firmed my hold on the gun and hoped I had enough bullets to back up my threat if I needed to run. “Why is it so hard for you to give me a straight damn answer? Do you think I’m desperate and stupid? Newsflash, Catch. I’m not exactly scared of death. It’s life, right? You live, you die. It’s all the fucking same.”
“Am I your friend or your enemy?” he repeated. “I’m neither. If your concern is whether I’ll hurt you, I can only guarantee when you’re with me, I’ll never do anything to your body, physically, that you won’t be able to walk away from.”
“In other words, you’ll hurt me a little bit?” I sighed, fluttering the curly stray hairs around my face. “For some reason, you’re starting to sell me on the idea of taking the job.”
He looked down at his big-faced watch. A smidgen of a smile contorted his cheeks.
I opened my mouth to say more.
“Don’t speak,” he warned, shuffling me down the hall.
He picked a room a few doors down from his previous suite and pulled a funny looking card from his wallet; a wallet-sized motherboard.
He slid it through the door, allowing us inside. He immediately picked up his phone and walked to the window. Holding up his hand, he directed me to stay put. He had a hushed conversation with someone on the other line for too many agonizing minutes.
Long after he finished the phone call, he remained by the door, looking for something or someone.
“If you had that hacking device this whole time, you could’ve pushed me into the room instead of kissing me.”
A brow contracted, revealing more of his blue eyes, tinged in warmth. “This room was unoccupied; the room we were standing in front of wasn’t. I wanted to kiss you, and I didn’t need an excuse.”
“Oh,” I said as though he deflated my balloon. The man was full of surprises. His answer confounded me.
Twenty minutes of pacing the space in front of the door later, a soft knock on the door startled me out of my skin.
“It’s the concierge service, sir.”
Catch approached my position and moved me to the
“Had I not, you would’ve been beaten until you became Temple’s whore. He wasn’t dead when you fell unconscious, he had quite a few things to say about his plans for you and me. Needless to say, he won’t ever get the chance to fulfill them.”
“It wouldn’t have happened,” I snapped. “I would die before I became anyone’s bottom bitch.”
Somehow, he found the scene smirk-worthy. “Now you won’t have to.”
Dozens of scenarios raced around inside my thoughts. I had an answer to who he was—criminal, more specifically, an assassin.
“Catch.” I used a soft voice to sway him with sugar and grabbed his chin, pulling his face toward mine.
Catch wrapped his slender yet brawny hands around my wrists, and I was sure he was going to push me away, instead he brought me closer.
“Blame it on my nature… I can’t help but feel while you’re helping me, it’s not for anything good. I’m good at reading when people lie to me. Or, at least I think I am, and you have one of those faces that can go either way; bad at lying or scarily good at misdirection. So, tell me which you are. Friend or foe?”
“I’ll have an answer for you after we get out of this hall.” Squeezing my wrists, he tried to guide me to follow his trek down the hall.
My feet were firmly planted. Wiggling my hands from his hold, I quickly put them behind my back, holding the handle of the gun stowed in the waistband of my pants. “I have your gun,” I hissed, “and I’ll shoot you, starting with your cock first, if you don’t answer my question.”
“The cops are convening in the lobby downstairs,” he informed me, steady and undeterred. “I bypassed them on my way here. I give them five minutes before they reach this level.”
I firmed my hold on the gun and hoped I had enough bullets to back up my threat if I needed to run. “Why is it so hard for you to give me a straight damn answer? Do you think I’m desperate and stupid? Newsflash, Catch. I’m not exactly scared of death. It’s life, right? You live, you die. It’s all the fucking same.”
“Am I your friend or your enemy?” he repeated. “I’m neither. If your concern is whether I’ll hurt you, I can only guarantee when you’re with me, I’ll never do anything to your body, physically, that you won’t be able to walk away from.”
“In other words, you’ll hurt me a little bit?” I sighed, fluttering the curly stray hairs around my face. “For some reason, you’re starting to sell me on the idea of taking the job.”
He looked down at his big-faced watch. A smidgen of a smile contorted his cheeks.
I opened my mouth to say more.
“Don’t speak,” he warned, shuffling me down the hall.
He picked a room a few doors down from his previous suite and pulled a funny looking card from his wallet; a wallet-sized motherboard.
He slid it through the door, allowing us inside. He immediately picked up his phone and walked to the window. Holding up his hand, he directed me to stay put. He had a hushed conversation with someone on the other line for too many agonizing minutes.
Long after he finished the phone call, he remained by the door, looking for something or someone.
“If you had that hacking device this whole time, you could’ve pushed me into the room instead of kissing me.”
A brow contracted, revealing more of his blue eyes, tinged in warmth. “This room was unoccupied; the room we were standing in front of wasn’t. I wanted to kiss you, and I didn’t need an excuse.”
“Oh,” I said as though he deflated my balloon. The man was full of surprises. His answer confounded me.
Twenty minutes of pacing the space in front of the door later, a soft knock on the door startled me out of my skin.
“It’s the concierge service, sir.”
Catch approached my position and moved me to the
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