Page 10 of Coerced Kiss
“Naturally.”
She backtracks to the bar. “You son of a bitch. You made me an accomplice.”
I raise a brow. “Did you prefer I killed you?”
“Very clever.” She sounds on the verge of hysteria. “Now I can’t talk because I’m guilty too.”
Closing the distance, I say in a dangerously calm voice, “Telling me you were planning on talking is not very intelligent,tesoro. I didn’t take you for an unwise woman.”
She utters a laugh. “Do you prefer that I lie? Oh, wait. Yes. But only about having been with you.”
Now that the immediate danger is over, she’s losing her shit. She knows I’m not bluffing about not killing her. If I wanted her dead, she would’ve been so already. She’s bright enough to understand that. She knows as well as I do ten people saw us in that street. Yeah, I counted even as I kissed her six ways from Sunday while shoving my tongue down her throat to strangle her scream. That’s not taking Livy into account. If I kill Anya, I’d have to eliminate eleven people.
I don’t know Anya, but I sense the breakdown that’s coming. It’s the shock.
I keep her in my line of vision, ready to bolt and catch her if I have to as I go around the bar. “You need a drink.”
She doesn’t keep much on the open shelf under the counter. The bottle of cooking wine will have to do. I pour two glasses and carry them to her.
Offering her one, I instruct, “Drink.”
She doesn’t reach for the glass. From the meagre contents of her bar, I get the impression she’s not a big drinker, but this is non-negotiable.
“Drink.” I hold out the glass. “It’ll make you sleep better. I promise.”
She turns her face away. “I can’t.”
“Come on.” I tease her with a whiff, lifting the glass to her nose. “It wasn’t a request.”
She looks at me again, licking her lips as if her mouth is too dry to swallow when relief is within her grasp.
“I can’t,” she says again.
Fine. I’ll play her game. I lower the glass. “Why not?”
She hesitates, looking almost frightened before saying, “I’m pregnant.”
CHAPTER
THREE
Anya
Saverio looks at my belly. Without a word, he goes to the bar and puts the glasses on the counter. A tremor runs through my body as he returns, stepping right up to me. I have no idea what to expect from this unpredictable man.
When he reaches out, I wrap my arms around my stomach in reflex, but he takes my wrists and places them at my sides before untying the belt of my robe and brushing the ends away to expose my lower body.
Instinct wills me to fight, but I’m terrified of provoking him. Instead, I measure him like prey assessing a hunter, ready to defend myself if he pounces. I’m no match for his strength, but I won’t make anything easy for him.
He doesn’t touch me like I expected him to. He just stares. As he studies the spot on my pelvis where he pushed his knife not so long ago, his expression turns into something ugly. He’s difficult to read, but the emotion that flickers in his icy blue eyes seems a lot like disgust.
He can go fuck himself. I’m not ashamed of the life growing inside me. Yes, I’m single and penniless, but I didn’t plan this. However, I’m determined to see it through.
What’s wrong with Saverio? Why does he keep on studying my body with that mixture of loathing and anger? I cup my hands over my stomach in an instinctive reaction to shield the fragile life I’m carrying from the invasive leering of the murderer facing me.
Saverio isn’t going to kill me. I believe that now. He needs me. I’m his alibi. Too many people saw him near the murder scene. They all witnessed him kissing me. Yet there was a moment when he pressed the tip of the blade against the exact place where the baby is growing that I thought he was going to slice right through me. He must get off on violence, because it made him hard.
Then the people left the bar, and he kissed me. It was a strange kiss, one that was achingly tender while something disturbingly dark and dangerous flowed underneath. He only did it to prevent me from screaming, but the way in which he molded his lips around mine was surprisingly gentle. It reminded me too much of how he held Mr. Lewis in his arms as my boss blew out his last breath. The thought makes me shudder anew.