Page 14 of The Stalking King

“With me,” I tell her. “We need to go to your place. Check if they’ve pulled anything there. My only goal here is to keep you safe.”

“And that means hugging me, does it? That means pretending you’re a good guy?”

“I’m the guy who just saved your life,” I snarl. “The word you’re looking for is thanks.”

She folds her arms. Softens for a moment. Then grows hard again. “Don’t hold your breath,” she says. “Maybe I’ll thank you in a text.”

“Smartass,” I grunt, then gesture at her to follow me.

When she hesitates, I move to take her hand. She snatches it away.

“I am smart,” she says. “But you’re the ass.”

The laugh takes me by surprise. It’s been a long time since I’ve laughed with anyone except for my brother. She walks at my side, looks at me, then starts laughing too.

“You’re crazy, and you’re making me crazy,” she says.

I grin. I want to tell her I know the feeling. I want to tell her she’s made me crazy dozens of times over the past few months, when watching her was the only release I got from this dark world.

How can I say that? How can I ever tell her the truth?

But dammit, lying to her hurts badly.

CHAPTER 7

LIA

I’m next to this stranger, the man who casually stopped my potential assailant.

I was shocked by how fast Maksim moved for such a big man. He surged across the lot. Snatched up the attacker’s leg and swept him to the ground in a flash. I was reminded again of a big cat, the languid, easy movements drilled into instinct.

And then the embrace…

How can a simple, short embrace strike me just as fiercely as everything that came before? There’s so much tension in me. So much pain. For a few moments, it was like I could let it all go. Then I remembered… well, everything.

“It’s time for answers,” I say, my arms wrapped around myself as he drives us through the night. We’re stuck behind a motorcade with some important politician inside. “Who are you, really? Why do they want that phone?”

He grits his teeth, gripping the steering wheel hard. He’s huge and powerful, his muscles swelling through his tight black sweater. The streetlights shimmer off his dark, streaked hair.

Despite everything, attraction surges through me. A hot and hungry need that should have no place here.

“Hello, Earth to Maksim? Okay, let’s start with something simple. How do you have my cell number? I didn’t give it to you.”

He looks at me, his eyes glinting for a moment. “It’s not a difficult thing to get.”

“So, you’ve been following me?”

He stops at a red light, jaw tight.

“You can’t just ignore me,” I hiss. “You just assaulted a man outside my place of work.”

He chuckles darkly. “That’s one way to put it.”

I know I’m trying to needle him, but it’s easier than facing the confusing mess of feelings swirling inside of me. “That is what happened.”

“I saved you,” he grunts. “If I hadn’t been there, do you have any idea what would be happening to you right now?”

“No. Why don’t you enlighten me?”