Page 30 of Alluring Darkness
“People say that you’re crazy.” I can feel his brothers stiffen around me, but I keep my eyes on Eli in the mirror as he pulls into the now deserted parking lot outside the school. “Are you?”
His eyes find mine. “People say that you’re crazy too. Are you?”
“Maybe.” I flash him a grin tinged with insanity. “Let’s just say that there’s a reason why my family didn’t want me to be a hitman.”
He lets out a huff that sounds like half surprise, half amusement as he parks his car next to Rico’s. Their cars are the only ones left in the lot. Well, except for my bike, which is locked to the rack closer to the doors.
Instead of replying, he just unbuckles his seatbelt and gets out of the car. His brothers follow suit. Once they’re outside, I slide out as well.
“I’ll see you back at the house,” Eli says to his brothers while I straighten and close the door behind me.
They nod before starting towards their own cars. I take a step forward as well, intending to get to my bike. But before I can move any farther, Eli steps in front of me, blocking my way.
A thud echoes across the empty parking lot as he plants a hand on the driver’s side door and pushes it shut as well. While his brothers start their cars and drive away, Eli moves closer, backing me up against the side of his Range Rover. He places his hands on the car on either side of me, caging me in.
My heart jerks in my chest. He is standing so close that I can almost feel the heat from his body seeping into mine, and I have to tilt my head back to meet his gaze.
“Remember what happened back at that house,” he says.
How can I forget? My clit throbs at just the memory of the power and control he wielded back there.
“And remember what I told you in the car,” he continues, his golden eyes boring into mine. “Thatis what I can do to you if I decide to stop playing nice.”
It feels as though he’s waiting for me to cower before him. For me to tremble and panic. To beg his forgiveness for what I’ve done to mess with him.
But I don’t. I don’t fear him at all. Because no matter how crazy people thinkheis, I know that I have him thoroughly outclassed in that department. He might think that he is dangerous and unhinged, but he’s got nothing on me.
So I just raise my chin in a cocky gesture and give him an unimpressed look.
He takes one hand from the car and instead places it around my throat, positioning his thumb so that it’s pressing under my chin and holding my head tilted back like that. A wicked smile spreads across his lips.
“So if you want to live,” he begins, his voice dark and laced with threats. “You’ll also bend over and take it in the ass like a little bitch.”
“Metaphorically?” I match his insane smile. “Or literally?”
Surprise flickers in his eyes for a second, as if he doesn’t understand why I’m not trembling like a leaf right now. But it’s gone almost as quickly as it appeared.
He tightens his fingers slightly around my throat as he cocks his head. “Tread carefully.”
Reaching up, I grab the front of his shirt and pull his face down closer to mine. “Funny. I was just about to say the same thing to you.”
14
ELI
The front door rattles in its frame as I slam it shut behind me. After kicking off my boots, I stride into the hallway.
“You here?” I call.
Only silence answers me.
Grinding my teeth, I stalk into the laundry room and yank open my duffel bag before tossing my sweaty clothes and damp towel into the basket.
I had thought that two hours of grueling physical training would calm me down, but tension still coils around my body like steel vines. I normally don’t sleep a lot, and I can handle the exhaustion and the feeling of constantly being high-strung that comes with it. But in the past three days, I’ve barely slept at all.
After our little excursion last Friday, I spotted Raina a couple of times during the weekend. But come Monday morning, she just disappeared off the face of the earth. And now, no one has seen her all week.
I can’t concentrate. I can’t sleep. I can’t fucking breathe properly.