She’s a witness.
She’s a loose end - a leak in the dam. As sexy as I think she is, even I shouldn’t be thinking that, this girl is potentially the enemy. She and her mouth and what she saw could fucking break me, and I’d do well to remember that next time I start thinking about the way those sweet lips tasted, or any time my thoughts wander to wondering what they’d feel like wrapped around my cock.
Fuck, there I go again.
This is all going wrong. This isn’t neat and organized, not like my life and not how I like things. I mean, hell, I’ve got my vinyl collection organized by release date, for fuck’s sake. I’ve got my books arranged on the shelf in perfect alphabetical order, by author’s last name.
My fucking cereal and canned goods in the kitchen are organized by height and color.
I have control, and I have simple, efficient organization, and a girl like this shatters all of that control.
Hell, I never even bring women here. I bring them to my car, or a bar bathroom, or their place, if I’m feeling especially wild that night.
But never here. Never to my sanctuary. Not like this.
This is messy, and I don’t make messes, I clean them up.
I’m so lost in my thoughts that I never hear the footsteps come up behind me. I’m so busy weighing out the possible consequences of bringing her here that I’m oblivious until something heavy connects solidly to the back of my fucking head.
I groan, my jaw tightening and stars dotting my eyes. The room spins, and I start to try and stand when my knees give out and I stumble to the ground. I stumble, fumbling for the gun in my holster when something hits me again
Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
My only thought is wondering how the hell the Ukrainians found me here, and I’m whirling again, my hand closing on the butt of my gun this time, when I freeze.
Yeah, not Ukrainians.
Sierra.
“What the fuck are you-”
“Take your hand away from your gun.”
I blink, the room still fuzzy at the edges and my balance still off. I can feel something that’s probably blood drip down my neck from whatever the fuck she nailed me in the head with.
The irony that I was just thinking about the consequences of bringing her here is not lost on me.
“What are you doing, princess,” I groan, squinting to make out which of the three of her is actually her. My eyes focus for a second, and that’s when I notice what’s in her hands, pointed right at me.
A taser. The taser I keep in the bottom drawer of my bedside table.
“You’re going to want to put that down.”
She’s trembling, her eyes wild as she shakes her head side to side. Her cheeks are flushed, and she’s got her leather jacket and her boots back on.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m getting out of here,” she hissed, leveling the taser at me.
“I can’t let you do that.”
“What, so you can just keep me here? Yeah, no fucking way.”
“Hang on, there’s more to this than you know,” I growl. I haven’t told her about the Ukrainian shit yet. I haven’t told her that whatever she thinks of me, outside of this place is far more dangerous for her right now than being in here with me.
“The Ukrainians - those guys from the bar, I mean. They’re looking for us both. You can’t just walk out there and-”
“Stop, no,” she shakes her head. “Whatever bullshit you’ve got lined up, save it. Look, I’m not going to the police, I swear. I just want to get out of here, and I just want you to leave me alone, okay?”
She’s still shaking, and I start to weigh the probability of her actually pulling the trigger on that taser.
“Sierra, you need to-”
“Don’t follow me,” she says, her voice shaking. “I’m not going to say a word about what I saw, I just…” she swallows, and her eyes flick down for just a second.
That’s all I need.
I lurch towards her, my hand drawing the gun from the holster. Sierra screams, and I’m just about to get my hands on her when everything goes white and pain lances through my body like liquid fire.
I roar, the gun dropping from my hand entirely as I go dropping to the floor like a fucking brick. I groan, clutching at my sides where the prongs are sticking into my skin and trying to stand when the jolt comes a second time, and this time, everything starts to fade.
The pain claws at me, dragging me down into the darkness as I drop back to the floor, and it all goes quiet.
Chapter Twelve
Sierra
“Thanks for coming to get me,” I mumble, looking at the floor of the car.
Jayson clears his throat. “Yeah, of course.”