Chapter 7

Ethan

"For fuck's sake," I curse under my breath as my vision clears and the throbbing pain drumming in my skull eases to a faint buzz. I'm going to need a bottle of painkillers when I'm done with my target and Harlee. I never thought this woman would drive me crazy, not in a good way. But here we are.

With quivering hands, I tuck myself back into my pants, completely ignoring the stains of our mixed arousal that stand in stark contrast to my black suit pants, turn and chase them down the stairs.

As I step back into the great hall, my eyes sweep over the crowd gathered around the room, all eyes focused on the stage where the Bratva are holding their fundraising auctions. They sell a wide variety of services, from escorts to even assassination offers, all the way to the simplicity of artwork and more.

Eventually, I spot a blonde woman maneuvering through the masses, a red mask adorning her beautiful face. Gotcha, sweetheart.

Ignoring the complaints, I push through the crowd, shoving people out of the way to catch up with her. With only an arm's length between us, I throw one arm around her waist, the other flying to her face, covering her mouth and nose with my hand as I pull her close to my chest, pushing her to the edge of the crowd.

I lean down and put my mouth right up to her ear. "Going somewhere?" I whisper roughly, and her whole body stiffens against me. She turns just enough to give me a dirty look over her shoulder, her eyes sparkling under heavy lashes. I lower my hand from her mouth to her jaw, just so I can shut her up faster if she decides to act out.

"Get your filthy hands off me," she hisses, her voice honey-sweet but laced with venom. She struggles in my grip, her body arching back against mine, her ass grinding into my crotch. Blood begins to pool between my legs again. But I've just had an orgasm; her little attempt to distract me won't work again.

Instead, I tighten my grip on her, preventing her from moving an inch. "Stop the act. You won't get any closer to him without me."

"You need to quit the act," she shoots back, "You think you're in control here, big guy?" The slightest smirk pulls at her lips, and damn me if I don't have the urge to let her go just so I can grab her by that pretty throat, bring her to her knees and make her choke on my cock.

"Well, baby, right now? With you trapped in my grasp, I'm clearly in control." Her lips part, about to speak, but my hand flies back to her mouth, silencing her. Her breath is hot and wet against my palm. Her eyes widen, and for a second, she's silent, but I can see the spark in her gaze, the fight inside her to keep giving me an attitude or to stay silent for now. But I'm done playing. "You're going to shut up right now," I growl, leaning down so only she can hear, "or I'm going to break your spine right here, right now, and you'll be lying under a tree in a body bag by midnight."

The way she stares up at me— unapologetic, unafraid, with a remaining teasing glint in her eyes— I know my threat doesn't scare her. But the way her muscles relax in my grasp and her lack of resistance tells me she's thinking about it, and for now, that's enough.

I let my hand fall from her mouth again. Her lips curve into a slow, dangerous smile. "Hoho, Merry Christmas to me," she murmurs. "So, what is your brilliant plan?"

"We share him."

"Share him?" She furrows her eyebrows.

"Let's discuss this somewhere else," I say, grabbing her hand and pulling her along with me. Hurried steps follow me, but I don’t slow down until we’re in the underground parking lot right where I have my car parked. I glance around the dimly lit concrete hall, making sure it is empty, before removing my mask and turning to face her. Her eyes are wide as she looks up at me, studying my face. She then removes her mask as well and my heart skips a beat as I see her full face for the first time tonight.

I take a deep breath and calm myself before speaking again. "Okay, you see, I have no requirements as to what the body should look like when it is delivered to my contractor. We get him, drain him in a safe place, you go on your merry way with the blood, and I keep the body," I explain. "I should have thought of this sooner, but thanks to a certain temptress, things were a bit of a mess earlier."

She crosses her arms over her chest and looks up at me. "As long as I'm the one who gets to finish him off, I guess that's the best idea."

"Why?"

"He deserves to die at the hand of a woman."

"For what reason?"

"He has taken advantage of countless women over the years, abusing and raping them by exploiting their physical disadvantages. It's only fair that he dies at the hands of someone he considers weaker."

Her words hang in the air, the weight of their meaning making sense to me. I can't help but sigh. And here I thought I was just going to take out a man who used his position as a financial advisor to scam the wrong people, but apparently, I was also about to do a good deed and rid the word of another piece of shit who likes to use his power to force people he deems weaker to do what he wants.

"Okay, you can end it," I say. At the vibration in my pants pocket, I pull my phone out, finding the caller ID of Logan on the screen. "Just a minute," I tell her, swiping across the screen and lifting my phone to my ear. Before I can even get a word out, Logan's voice booms from the speaker pressed to my ear.

"Would you mind telling me what the hell is going on?" he asks.

"Merry Christmas to you too," I say, glancing back at Harlee who is leaning against my car with her arms still crossed over her chest.

"There's nothing merry about this Christmas, why did I just get a message that our guy is on his way home? What is taking you so long?" I remain silent as my gaze travels over Harlee, taking in the beautiful sight before I speak again.

"I ran into some trouble but I got it under control now."

"Trouble? What happened?"

"Someone else is after him, too, and we got into a little... quarrel about it."

"A quarrel?" Harlee asks and Logan remains silent on the phone, my hand connecting with her face, covering her mouth to silence her.

"Was that a woman's voice? Who was that?"

"The someone else," I say to Logan before turning back to Harlee.

"Wait, you didn't get rid of them?" I remain silent at the question before letting out a sigh.

"No, I didn't." Harlee stares back at me, furrowing her brows. But even as her lips part and her tongue runs over the palm of my hand, I don't pull away. Instead, I apply more pressure to her mouth.

"Why not?"

"Because I can't," I say and Logan huffs on the other end.

"So what are you going to do? Richmond has to die tonight."

"Send me his address. I'll take care of everything."

"With that mysterious lady?"

"None of your business. All that matters is that he dies tonight and that I take the body to our client."

"OK. I'll send you the address. But, Ethan, please, no more trouble."

"No more trouble, I promise." I say, lowering my phone and ending the call before finally pulling my hand away from Harlee's face.

"What's going on?" she asks, wiping her mouth with her fingertips.

"Richmond's on his way home. Perfect for us. It's less crowded and no more distractions."

Her lips curve slightly at the corners. "Awesome. Then let's go." Her voice carries the same confidence I’ve been met with all night.