Reviving Izabel (In the Company of Killers, #2)

by J.A. Redmerski

She is so beautiful to me, even in the ravaged condition she’s in.

He likes her, it’s obvious to me and he probably knows as much. But he also knows that I’ll kill him, too. Though, I trust him more than I worry if he’ll ever revert to his dark side and harm her of all people. Fredrik Gustavsson is a beast of the most carnal kind with a love for women and a love for blood, but he has boundaries and standards and he takes loyalty and respect and friendship very seriously.

“Well…if you’re worried I’m going to fall in love with you and cling on to your every move, you don’t have to worry.” “You’re not in love with me?” he asks and it seems like nothing more than a simple inquiry. “No, I don’t love you, Victor.” He nods, completely accepting it. “Good. Because I’m not in love with you, either.” I don’t think either of us truly knows what the word means in this kind of situation. We both display the same accepting, yet somehow confused expressions.

nodded nervously. “Now what did I tell you is key?” She shook my shoulders from behind. “Answer me!” “Eye contact,” I said. “And what’s the right way?” “The skirting of the eye,” I answered more quickly. “Shy and not desperate.” “Sí. You want the men to feel as though you’re fresh meat, that you haven’t already been passed around to a hundred men. You want to appear coy and inexperienced, not as though you’re a seasoned whore looking for a good time. Only old women do that. And how long do you give him your attention?” “Two seconds,” I said. Izel turned me around to face her, my shoulders gripped tightly beneath her hands, her long red fingernails pinching my skin. “Sí, Sarai. Two seconds and look away. The longer you look, the more desperate you appear. Make him come to you.”

I’m not afraid of Stephens. I’m not afraid of what he’ll do to me. I’m not afraid of being tortured. I’m just afraid of how long it will last.

I see someone more attuned to vengeance than I could ever be. And finally I’m terrified.

“I wanted to hurt you.” “Why did you want to hurt me?” I love you. I despise you. “Because love is pain,” she says and I swallow down the truth of her admission. “Because love is the greatest scam of all time. And because as much as I fucking love you, I hate you for inflicting it upon me!”