Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 60768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
His hands fist in the sheets. Anger flashes hot and bright across his face. “You enjoy this, don’t you? Playing warden. Dangling her like a treat.”
I step closer to the bed, arms crossed over my chest. “I enjoy results. And right now the result I need is you cooperating. You hate me. I get it. I’m not particularly fond of you either. But we’re stuck together until Serafina says otherwise. So you can keep snarling at me like a cornered dog, or you can start acting like someone who wants his sister to survive this.”
Poe swings his legs over the side of the bed and stands, putting us almost eye to eye. He is taller than me by a few inches. The air between us crackles with something ugly and electric. Enemies forced into the same cage. He smells like sleep and faint hospital soap and barely contained rage.
“You think a nicer cage makes any of this better?” he asks, voice low and rough. “You think giving me a computer and a pat on the head is going to make me forget that you people kidnapped my sister? That you’re using me to tear apart my friends?”
I hold his gaze, refusing to step back even though every instinct screams that getting this close to him is reckless. “Your friends are probably already tearing themselves apart wondering if you sold them out. That was always the plan. You can blame me if it makes you feel better, but the clock is ticking on Enley. Every minute you waste fighting me is another minute she spends in whatever hole they have her in.”
His jaw clenches so hard I can see the muscle jump. For a second I think he might lunge. Part of me almost wants him to. At least then I would have an excuse to put him on the floor and remind him who’s in control here.
Instead he exhales sharply through his nose. “Fine. We go to your fancy safehouse. But I want that call. Today. Not later. Not when you feel like it. Today.”
I study him, letting the silence stretch just long enough to make him uncomfortable. “You’re not in a position to make demands, Poe. But if you behave on the drive over, if you don’t try anything stupid like grabbing the wheel or signaling for help, I’ll see what I can do about that call.”
He laughs, short and bitter. “Behave. Like a dog. Is that what you tell all your prisoners?”
“Only the ones who look like they might bite.” I turn away from him and grab the clean clothes I had set out earlier. A simple black long-sleeve shirt and dark jeans. Nothing fancy, but better than the plain black tee he slept in, or the hoodie he came with. I push them at his chest. “Get dressed. We leave in ten minutes. Try not to look so much like you want to murder me in my sleep. It’s bad for team morale.”
His fingers brush mine for the briefest second. The contact sends an unwelcome spark up my arm. I ignore it.
Poe doesn’t move right away. He just stands there holding the bundle, staring at me with those dark eyes full of exhaustion and suspicion and something else I can’t quite name. Something that feels too much like heat.
“You really think you can keep me on this leash forever?” he asks quietly.
I meet his gaze head-on. “I think I can keep you on it long enough for Serafina to get what she wants. After that? We’ll see who’s still standing.”
The tension between us thickens until it feels like the air itself is charged. Enemies. That’s all we are. Two people thrown together by circumstance and orders from above. He wants to destroy everything I’m guarding. I want to keep him compliant long enough to earn my own freedom from this life.
He finally turns and heads toward the small attached bathroom to change, shoulders rigid with barely leashed anger. I watch him go, letting out a slow breath once the door clicks shut.
This’s going to be harder than I thought.
Not because he’s difficult. I’ve handled difficult men before.
It’s because when he looks at me like that, part of me wonders what it would feel like to stop pretending. To stop playing the perfect enforcer and see what happens when two predators stop circling and finally collide.
I shove the thought down deep with all the other dangerous ideas.
Serafina is counting on me.
Enley’s life is the leverage.
And Poe Cameron is the key I have to turn without breaking.
I check my gun, slide it back into the holster, and wait for him to emerge. When he does, dressed in the fresh clothes, hair still messy and eyes burning with defiance, the enemies vibe between us is stronger than ever.
“Ready?” I ask, voice cool.