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November 6 - November 13, 2022
me. I was a sucker for a feisty woman, and she was the feistiest I’d ever met.
“Three’s the magic number.” She smiled smugly back at me. “We don’t need anything else. We have righteousness on our side. We’re here to make sure you never hurt anyone again.”
“You don’t have to like me, sweetheart.” I grinned. “And I don’t have to give a fuck.”
She had a weakness, and I’d just found it. She didn’t like me being close. But just as I thought I’d gotten the upper hand, I felt something sharp dig into my side. Looking down, I saw a small flick knife, and I chuckled. “That’s cute. Are you flirting with me?” I glanced from the knife to her face, and gave her a sly wink. “I’d rather flirt with a viper,” she spat back, pushing the knife in a little further. I bit my lip and chuckled again, shaking my head regretfully. “I’ll bite back sharper than a viper, baby. Do you really think pulling a knife on me is going to make me back down?” I
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“If you’re going to threaten someone, at least make it believable. Down there you might pierce a vital organ, maybe an artery if you get lucky, but I doubt it. Chances are I’d get a nasty cut, there’d be a bit of bleeding, and I’d live to tell people what I did to get revenge. But here?” I moved her hand to tap the knife against my neck. “If you cut my neck right here, I’ll bleed out in minutes.” I pushed her hand forward, forcing her knife harder against my skin, and I grinned as I felt the sharpness of it penetrating me, the sweet trickle of blood rolling down to dampen the edge of my
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“Why would I have respect for a man who shows none for any woman he’s ever met?”
ears, because to me, it was deafening. “Everyone knows about you, Colton King. The Joker. And the biggest liar in Brinton Manor, because what you stand for is a far cry from the man you really are.”
“You know fuck all about me or what I stand for.” I crowded her petite frame with my own to overpower her, unnerve her, make her feel the weight of my presence. “You, little girl, need to stay out of things that don’t concern you. Take this as a warning.” “Call me little girl again and I’ll knee you in the fucking balls.”
Game on, sweetheart.
“If you pull a stunt like that again, you won’t like the results.” “Is that a threat or an invitation?” she purred, leaning to the side, propped up against the wall we’d just been against, giving me a provocative look. Fuck, this woman knew how to play me, and I fucking loved it. “Take it any way you want, sweetheart, but be prepared for the consequences.”
“You know…” She glanced at her nails nonchalantly, like this discussion meant nothing. “I googled who gives a fuck and I’m pretty sure my face didn’t come up on the search results.” Then a wicked smile crept over her face. “You should be the one preparing for the consequences. Karma’s a bitch… and she’s standing right in front of you.”
I’d never met anyone like her, and after today, I was glad she’d fallen into my life. Finally, there was a girl willing to hold her own and stand against me.
Shelley Masters was like me; she always wanted to have the last word. But she wouldn’t get it, not today.
My gut told me life was about to get interesting, and I was here for it. Every twisted, crazy, insane minute. Game on.
This was a game of chess, and today we’d both made our next move. What Colton failed to remember though, was a queen has more power than the king in chess. We would take him down.
“You know,” she carried on. “I’ve heard a girl can get lost in those eyes. Did he have any effect on you at all? Come on, Shelley. You can’t deny he’s your type. Tall, dark and deranged. Did he chip through any of that armour as he was growling demands at you?”
“He made me want to punch the wall, and his face, and not in that order. He’s smug, self-centred, and arrogant. There’s nothing remotely attractive about him as far as I’m concerned. Why would I want anything to do with a guy like him?”
“Do you think you can stay quiet long enough for this stakeout to work?” he asked me. I put my finger on my lips, but I couldn’t help myself. “If a mime artist gets arrested, do the police still tell him he has the right to remain silent?”
“I tried to start a professional hide and seek team once. It didn’t work out. Turns out, good players are hard to find.” Even Tyler laughed at that one. “You’ll be hard to find if you don’t start taking this seriously,” Adam spat.
If looks could kill, I would have died and been reincarnated a dozen times with how much fury she was throwing my way. I loved it.
She was unbelievable. Trapped in front of us without a leg to stand on, and yet she was still claiming to have the upper hand. It felt kind of fucked up that this shit was turning me on. I’d never met anyone like her before.
“Can someone spell this out for us? We prefer to make the riddles, not solve them.”
I’d always been that kid who ran out into the rainstorm, chasing the lightning as others turned away. And she was the perfect storm. From the thunder of her presence to the lightning of her words, her actions, her whole being. She set me on fire, made me feel alive, woke up parts of me that I’d buried years ago. She made me feel, and no one had done that. Ever.
If Colton were on fire, I wouldn’t spit on him.
“I know your type,” he said, making my back straighten in protest. “You’ll never be satisfied. I could burn the world down for you and you’d ask why I’d left the ashes.”
“I’d never do anything to hurt Grace or Rosie. So, that means I wouldn’t hurt you… not unless you asked me to.”
“And yet you seem to be drawn to me. I saw you watching me in the club, in the street, even now, you can’t take your eyes off me.” “Because I don’t trust you. Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer. Never take your eyes off the ball. If I see a snake, I’m going to watch it’s every move. And that’s what you are, Colton, a snake. You can play the saviour to my mother all you like, but that’s not what you are to me.” “And what am I to you?” he asked, pressing every one of my buttons. “The bane of my life.” “Wrong DC character, sweetheart. I’m The Joker.”
“I guess we’ll leave you to the staring contest and meet you outside when whatever this is, is all over.”
“You are the most infuriating, annoying woman I’ve ever met. You walk into a room, and I can’t even think straight. You make me want to punch the fucking wall, and I’ve always said, I’m a lover not a fighter.” “Yeah, right,” I scoffed, but he carried on. “Why is that? Why do you have this effect on me?” I closed my eyes and breathed in his masculine scent as I told him, “One look at you and I grind my teeth so hard its painful. You’re cocky, full of shit, and if you were the last man on earth, I’d rather jump off the closest cliff than spend a minute longer than I had to in your presence. You
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I hated him, but he felt so good. I wanted to push him away, but pull him closer–push myself into him and feel more, so much more. He kissed me like he hated me, like he wanted to bruise me, but I loved it. I kissed him like I was giving him a taste of what he’d never get, all the time knowing I couldn’t get enough.
“I didn’t know whether to kiss or bite you, so I went with both.” His voice was gravelly, low and seductive. Half of me wanted to pull him back to me for a repeat performance, and the other said I should slap him to retain my dignity. “I hope you enjoyed it,” I replied, using a finger to wipe the corner of my mouth. “Because that’s the last time you’ll ever kiss me.” He pushed his forehead against mine, and I couldn’t stop a gasp from breaking free. “It won’t be the last time,” he said with wicked authority. “But next time, I’ll be better prepared.”
She was holding a large black art folder and her knuckles were white from gripping the handle so tightly. It was the cutest thing I’d seen; cuter than the last time she’d lost her shit with me.
“On the contrary, I’m a ray of fucking sunshine when you get to know me. I’m that friend you can always call on if you ever need to hide a dead body, and we all know you’re not the best at covering your tracks. But remember, if you disrespect me or my brothers, I know how to hide a dead body.”
“Eric is a sweetheart,” she replied, glaring at me with contempt. “He’s more man than you’ll ever be. And the last time I checked, he’s one hundred percent gay. In fact, he’ll probably ask me for your number the next time I see him, and part of me wishes I hadn’t told you that. It’s fun seeing your ridiculous alpha bullshit, but I figure Eric deserves fair representation. He’s a good friend, and he doesn’t deserve to have you snarling at him.” “I don’t snarl, I smoulder.” She bit her lip and shook her head as she huffed and tried not to smile. “And I wouldn’t blame him,” I added. “I am a bit
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“Can I see your artwork?” I asked, gesturing to the folder in her hand. “Over my dead body.” “You know that can be arranged, but I’d rather you showed me without the theatrics.” She huffed again. Something she seemed to like to do a lot around me. “The day I show you my artwork will be a cold day in hell.” “I’ll get the ice-pops ready then.”
That sneer of hers became more menacing. I loved it.
“I thought you said my stalking skills could use some work?” She turned her head to glare at me, and I pulled back slightly, looking from her eyes to her lips. “Doesn’t mean I want you to stop.” I licked my lips, waiting to see how she’d react.
“Why did you do that?” She touched her lips, and then frowned at me as I rocked back and forth on my heels and smirked. “You said I needed practise. The last time I kissed you, I went all in and bombed out, so I figured I had to start simple and work my way up to the big stuff.” Her brows knitted together as she took a step away from me. “Don’t use me, Colton. I’m not your plaything, so don’t make fun of me.” “Who says I’m playing?”
“You know,” I shouted out from the spot where I stood. “There is such a thing as protesting too much. And I hear there’s a fine line between love and hate. Wanna walk that line with me?” Her responding middle finger that she put into the air, without turning around or breaking her stride, made me throw my head back and laugh. Seems we both got the last word after all. We were a match made in heaven.
“We love a riddle, but yours are shit. Just speak in plain English and tell us what’s going on,” I said, losing what little patience I had.
“That right there is, or rather was, Alex Cross. Clive to his friends.”
“You might be into horror porn, Colton, but dead guys don’t do it for me.”
But moments later, he rested his chin on my shoulder like a fucking dog, and in a low voice, he asked, “What do you see, sweetheart?” On instinct, I wriggled my shoulders to get him away from me and when he moved back, I turned to face him, ready to stand my ground. “One, I’m not your sweetheart. And two, I see nothing.” “Is me being near clouding your spidey-senses? Are you missing what’s right in front of you?” he teased. “What, that you’re annoying and about three seconds away from having my elbow shoved into your ribs? Count yourself lucky it isn’t my knife. I know how much you like to
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“Why did you drag us all the way here? You saw me today; you know that hit wasn’t ours. Why am I even here?” He took a step towards me. “Maybe I missed you.” “You saw me hours ago. Don’t bullshit me.” Another step, and he was right in my space, his face close to mine. “Maybe I didn’t get to say everything I wanted to say before.” “You did nothing but talk. What more is there to say?” He reached up and ran his thumb along my bottom lip. “Maybe I wanted another chance to practise my skills.”
“Why would you have Gemini tattooed on you?” I asked, trying to hide my embarrassment. “It’s my sign. You know, the twins. Split personality. Two sides of the same coin. That’s me. You never know which one you’re going to get, but it keeps things interesting.” “Both sides are insane.” “How do you know you’ve seen both sides?” His eyes darkened, and then that cocky face of his glowed with pride. “You thought it was a woman’s name?” He shook his head, then cocked his brow at me. “Were you jealous, Miss Masters?” “I wasn’t jealous. I felt sorry for her.”
“If you think I’d be stupid enough to have a woman’s name tattooed on my body, then you don’t know me as well as you think you do.” I was going to reply that I didn’t know him and didn’t want to, but when he turned and pointed to his butt, I shut my mouth, stunned into silence, waiting to hear what was coming next. “I might consider getting ‘Shelley Masters can kiss my ass’ here though. Do you think that’d work?” He slapped his ass cheek for effect, and I felt my hackles rise.
“You’re right on one thing, though. We are drawn together. And the sooner you admit why, the better.”
Eight bodies, eight pairs of eyes, and two kickass groups of maniacs were better than one. Who’d have thought the Soldiers and Masters would ever be working side-by-side.
“Still can’t trust yourself around me, can you?” “I can’t trust that I won’t gut you like a fish for pissing me off.” “I love it when you talk dirty.”
“Children, please,” Kate butted in. “We have a job to do. Can we focus on that?”
