Page 5 of Madam Temptress
It had been a long time since I’d been this sore, and I wasn’t in the mood to beat around the bush. I’d been beaten enough. “Why are you here?”
“I was checking on an old family friend across the street, but the house was empty. I heard you scream. Thought I should check it out. Tried to ask the first dude what was going on, but he didn’t so much want to talk as he wanted to kill me. And, well, I’m guessing you can tell how that story ended.”
I choked back the lump in my throat. “Ernie.”
“Yeah, Ernie. You knew him?”
I shook my head, but since the man wasn’t shining the flashlight directly at my face, he might not have been able to see me. “No. I don’t know either of them, where they came from or why they were here, but—”
“It’s okay. Just ... put the gun down. Like I told you, unwilling women aren’t my thing.” The beam of the flashlight moved to his shoulder. “Did he get me? Because that fucking burns like a son of a bitch.”
That’s when I saw the blood dripping down his arm, and I lowered the shotgun. “Yeah. He got you.”
The light beam swung back over to me. “Looks like he got you too. Your face is busted to fuck. What do you say we help each other and do some first aid while we figure out where the hell you’re gonna go so this doesn’t happen again.”
“Go?” I glared at him like he was crazy. “I’m not going anywhere.”
He came toward me, and although I didn’t point the shotgun in his face again, I kept it handy.
“You really want to stay here? Because these might not be the only two assholes prowling around aiming to loot shit. This city is a fucking madhouse right now. I’ve never seen it like this before.”
He was right. It wasn’t safe for me to be here alone. But I’d stayed because the house was all I had. If something happened to it, I wouldn’t have shit, and I’d end up working the corner again. That was something I had to avoid, no matter what.
“I can’t leave the house. I gotta protect it. It’s all I’ve got.”
He crouched down in front of me. “Well, hell. I don’t much like the idea of you here all alone, a sitting duck for the next Ernie and friend to come along and ...” He trailed off, but I didn’t need him to finish the sentence.
I wouldn’t be as vulnerable again. Never again. “I’ll keep the gun closer. I’ll put a hole in whoever comes in this house next.”
“Why don’t you start with getting some clothes on first. That’ll be a right good start.”
I didn’t take orders, or actually even suggestions, from just anyone. But this person had literally delivered me from almost certain death. But why?
“Who ... who are you? What are you doing here? Let me see you.”
He angled the flashlight so the beam illuminated the most beautiful face I’d ever seen on a man. Chiseled and angular. Warm-toned skin. And green eyes that glowed like jewels.
“Like I said, I’m Moses. And, apparently, I was sent here to save you.”
Two
Magnolia
Present day
“He’s been lying to you since the moment you met him.”Mount’s words hang in the cabin of the car, mingling with the scent of the fancy leather.
My gaze cuts to Moses as my imagination goes wild. “What the fuck is he talking about?”
Moses’s glare could eviscerate a man, but Mount just smiles like he’s proud of himself.
Fucker.Right now, they’re both the damn enemy.
“I’m not sure what the fuck kind of game you two are playing, but I don’t want any part of it. I knew this shit was too good to be true.” I shake my head, reaching for the door handle. “I’m out.”
I yank the handle and climb out, not caring how expensive the car is when I slam the door as hard as I fucking can.
Another man, another liar. Why am I even surprised?
