Chapter 1

One

ECHO

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” I ask as the guy stares down at me, a snarl twisting his pretty mouth. He looks pissed. Beyond pissed.

He growls – legit growls – at me. “Move.”

I scoff. Can you believe the fucking audacity of this asshole? I cross my arms and cock a hip. “I don’t think so.”

His dark eyes narrow and he sweeps them down my form, assessing me like an insect under a microscope. I’m not much to look at, but what I lack in height, I certainly make up for in sass and snark. I also know how to throw a punch, which this guy is gonna motherfuckin’ feel if he doesn’t apologise for pushing me out of his way. There I was, making my way back to the bar from the ladies’ room, and he walks into me with his firm pecs and custom tight-fitting suit.

“What you going to do?” I goad. “Make me?”

He groans and pinches the bridge of his nose. “I don’t have time to deal with this.”

“Well, tough shit.” I take a step forward, crowding his personal space. “Didn’t anybody teach you that it’s rude to barge into someone and not apologise.”

“You barged into me. I—” He cuts himself off with another growl. Clearly not into playing schoolyard games. Shame. He might be an arrogant asshole, but he sure is sexy as fuck. I wouldn’t mind playing a game or two with him. Whoever he is. I don’t know and I don’t care. I just want my apology and then I can go back to drinking and dancing with my friends. Especially since I snuck out. My dad is way too protective and sometimes a girl just wants to have fun.

“Just apologise, and I’ll go on my merry way.” I knew I was antagonising the guy, but I’d had a few cocktails, and my filter was definitely in the off position.

“Not happening, princess,” he says with a low chuckle that I feel all the way to my core.

I sneer at him. “Nobody but my dad calls me that.”

He leans in and I get hit with the smell of him. Fuck me, he smells delicious. Why is such beauty wasted on this dickweed? He smells like fire and smoke, spice and something dark. Like he came from the depths of Hell itself.

“No wonder you’re a spoiled little brat, then.”

A satisfying crunching sound fills the air followed by a sharp pain in my knuckles. I haven’t even registered what I’ve done until I see the murderous glare in his eyes.

And the blood.

So much blood.

Oh, fuck.

She broke my nose.

The little pint-sized hellcat broke my fucking nose! As if today couldn’t get any worse. After having my accountant excommunicated for cooking my books and skimming off the excess, I walk into this little hellion in the corridor, and she punches me. I’d be impressed if I wasn’t already nursing a wrath the devil would be loath to own.

“Fuck!” I yell, as I whip a handkerchief out of my pocket to soak up the blood streaming down my face. I hadn’t even seen the hit coming. I’d been too wrapped up in the betrayal of my accountant and the anger this feisty redhead inspired to even think about my own safety.

I shouldn’t have engaged with her, should have just moved on, but hell, maybe I was looking for a fight. Or an argument at least. Something to take my anger out on.

Well, that fucking backfired, didn’t it? I’m such a fucking moron.

I take in the woman in front of me. She can’t be more than five foot, but that’s well over a whole foot shorter than me. Her green eyes are wide with fear, as they fucking should be, and her mouth, which I notice would look impressive around my cock, forms a little ‘o’ in disbelief.

I take my phone out and go to message Niki but stop. Fuck. He’s not going to let me live this down. I groan. None of my brothers are but what choice do I have.

Me:

Come to me. Now. Back corridor. Code 2.

Niki:

thumbs up and gun emoji.

Good. He can scare her a little. The guy never said a word, thanks to a run in with a blade to his throat, and he was a cruel bastard. That’s why he was my hitman and general torturer. Although I did like to dabble in that when I wanted to. Like when it was personal. Perhaps I’ll steal this little hellcat and torture her. She certainly deserves it for this.

“I can’t believe I just did that,” she mutters with a nervous laugh.

“You’re going to regret this,” I say with a feral grin, not that she can see it because my mouth is hidden behind the handkerchief.

She cocks her head, her eyes bright with amusement. “You know, it would be more intimidating if your words weren’t muffled.”

The urge to punish her is strong. My hand clenches at my side as I restrain myself from unleashing a whole lot of pain on her pert little ass.

Footsteps round the corner and come thundering down the corridor. I turn to see Niki grind to a halt at the sight of me, calculating the risks.

I point at the woman. “Bring her.”

Niki cocks his head, his eyebrow raised.

“Don’t question me, just do it,” I snarl, sick and tired of people thinking they can get away with shit.

He huffs a breath, which is the closest the guy gets to laughing, but he does as I say and approaches the seething spitfire cautiously. Wise man .

“What are you doing?” she says as she takes a step backwards, suddenly realising I mean fucking business. I don’t care who she is, that dress she’s in is couture. She comes from money and I’m going to make her pay for what she’s done.

Niki pulls some duct tape and zip ties from one of his many pockets on his black cargo pants. To this day, I still don’t know what he keeps in them all, but he always seems to have what he needs.

“No, don’t. Please.” She takes one look at me, and I know she’s going to run. Just that look of fear has my heart racing and dick pressing against the zip of my trousers.

I wipe my face and tuck my handkerchief back into my pocket. “Are you going to run, princess?”

Her eyes are frantic as they flick between Niki and me. Her chest heaves as she takes another step backwards.

There’s a moment of silence. Of resignation. She knows she’s not going to escape, but she’s going to try anyway.

She takes another step. “My friends?—”

“Will be taken care of,” I interrupt. “They won’t know you’re missing until at least tomorrow evening.”

She’s probably got her phone on her, tucked in the little bag dangling by the curve of her hip.

“You won’t get away with this.”

“Doll,” I say with a chuckle, “I run this city. I can get away with anything.”

Niki tightens his grip on the zip ties and judging by the feral glint in his eye, he’s ready to chase. Poor girl won’t know what’s hit her. The guy is as tall as me but broader, with thick muscles and a wide chest and he likes to play with his food.

Hmm, maybe I should tell Niki to stand down. I don’t want to kill the girl…

Fuck it. She broke my goddamn nose.

“Niki.”

He turns his manic ice blue eyes towards me.

I grin. “Fetch.”

Maxim gives me the signal and I lunge forwards toward the pretty girl. She’s all legs and curves and clearly has a mean streak judging by the state of Maxim’s nose. I wish I’d seen it. The sight of him covered in blood does something to my insides and I’m not sure what to make of it. But that’s a thought for later. After I’ve caught the pretty little rabbit.

She stands there for a minute, frozen and my heart rate kicks up a notch. Such a pretty little rabbit.

“Might want to run, princess,” Maxim shouts from behind me and it jolts her into action.

She turns on those killer heels and starts to run down the corridor.

“Help!” she screams.

Silly little rabbit. There’s nobody coming to rescue her. I made sure of that. We own this place and I’ve pulled all the guards back and set up a perimeter. When Maxim sent me that Code 2 message, I immediately cordoned off this section of the club. No one in or out apart from me and Maxim.

I wasn’t expecting to find him nursing a broken nose and this tiny woman staring at him in disbelief.

I’m glad he told me to chase her.

The fact that she punched the head of the Mafia did things to my dick.

She’s fast, even in those stilettos.

But not fast enough.

I grab her arm and propel her into the wall. She throws her elbow back, connecting with my ribs. Cheeky fucker .

I narrowly miss the sharp heel of her shoe as she tries to kick backwards. I cage her against the wall, pinning her arms into the small of her back. Her curvy ass rubs against me and I have the sudden urge to grind my hips into hers.

“Get off me, you animal!” she seethes, bucking against my hold, but her tiny frame is no match for me.

I fasten the zip ties around her wrists, loving the delightful little gasp that escapes her mouth.

She continues to buck against my hold and it’s starting to piss me off. I press against her, squashing her between my chest and the wall. She feels so small beneath me. So fragile. So breakable.

A groan tries to escape my throat but it’s nothing more than a grunt of breath. Losing my voice had been devastating. I’d lost a sense of who I was and communicating became nearly impossible. I learnt to sign but sometimes, the loss of my voice still feels debilitating.

I pat down her sides, making sure she isn’t hiding any weapons.

“Get your filthy hands off me, you heathen.” She writhes beneath me, trying to wriggle her body away from my grasp. “This dress is worth a fucking fortune, and I will not have you ruin it.”

I snort and roll my eyes. Spoilt little rich girl. What the fuck is Maxim getting us into with this one? I mean, the dress is fucking sinful and it’s short enough that I can almost see the globes of her ass, but it’s covered in silver sequins and gems. Probably hand sown on by silent nuns in some backwater part of the world or some shit.

“Untie me right now, you brute.”

Well, that isn’t going to happen. I pull the duct tape out of my pocket and rip a piece off with my teeth. I press even harder against her so she can’t move, then I grip her chin and force her head backwards before slapping the duct tape across those luscious lips. Her eyes are wide, and I can feel her pulse throbbing in her neck. God, she smells so fucking good. I press my nose against the top of her head and breathe deeply.

She squirms and makes noises behind the tape. Such beautiful little whimpers and mewls and fuck do I wanna hear what she sounds like with my cock buried at the back of her throat.

I trace my tongue behind her ear and shit, that was a mistake. She tastes sweet, like candied apples and a musk that’s all her. A tang that hits my tongue and I wonder if her pussy is going to taste the same.

She whimpers again, but I don’t think it’s in fear.

Interesting…

“Stop playing with your food,” Maxim chuckles before pulling her from my grasp. I have a sudden urge to steal her back.

“ Give her back ,” I sign rapidly, but he just laughs and drags her behind him as he heads towards the exit.

I huff but follow, like an obedient dog. Sometimes, I really wanna gut the guy. I don’t care if he’s the boss, there are times when he can be a right prick. Part of me worries that one day I might actually do it. But not today. I am, however, looking forward to watching Angel re-break his nose. The thought makes me feel a little giddy.