and his hand reaches back — for a gun. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m being monitored. I have to go back.” I open the door of the small lake house.
The eerie night stakes claim outside. The lake rests in a black, endless silence. No moonlight shines on the surface so it appears like dark bottomless ink. Only the small hisses of air through the tall, bent trees can be heard. They’re like ghosts of the past, suffocating my breathing.
I need to be out of here before Shadow finds Liam and –
A rustle sounds from across the dark lake. Call it instinct, paranoia or a sixth sense, but I know it’s Shadow.
There’s only one boat and it’s wrapped around a pole on our side of the lake. That should delay Shadow’s arrival.
I turn towards Liam and push him to the boat. “Leave.”
He resists. “What about you?”
“I’ll be fine. You need to go! Both of us could be compromised.”
That seems to convince him since he gives a curt nod and heads to the deck. I follow him while keeping a close eye on the lake and our surroundings. Shadow would need a boat to get here, so I’m safe. At least I try to feel that way.
The sound of troubled water fills the air.
Shadow is legit crazy and that makes him impossible to predict. I have no idea what he’s planning.
I usher Liam into the old boat and even push it, creating a disturbance and a splash in the previously calm water. As soon as Liam sails away, my heartbeat calms a little.
There’s still the sound of the boat in the water, but no sign of Shadow.
I approach the deck to make sure Liam arrived to the shore.
The water is pitch black like the night surrounding it. Silence pierces the air. I release a breath when Liam heads to the main door. The metal clinks and creaks in protest when he opens it.
Realisation hits me like a hurricane. What if Shadow is waiting for Liam outside? What if –
The water splashes and a hand clutches my ankle. I scream as Shadow’s head spurts to the surface.
Overcast eyes swallow me in as he grins. “Gotcha, beautiful.”
Chapter Twelve
That thing about stirring a monster? He’s standing right in front of me in all his wet glory.
Shadow shakes his head like some animal and water splash on my face. Curls of dark blond hair fall on his forehead in a perfectly imperfect mess.
His white T-shirt has become see through, and is sticking to taught tattooed muscles. The jeans hang low on his hips, teasing to a defined V line that points like an arrow to his groin. I can’t help following the water trails that snake down from his neck and his biceps to underneath his trousers.
I mentally shake myself from his spell. How could I be so transfixed with him? He’s arrogant, remorseless, and without any ounce of humanity — beside the vain hope Nonna still hangs to about her precious Angelo.
Angel, my arse. He’s a demon bred by Satan himself.
Despite drenching with water, Shadow’s undivided attention falls on me. Under the dim light coming from the lake house, his eyes are darker and more ominous.
I cross my arms over my chest and stare at him head on. To say I’m not scared of him would be the lie of the century. He’s provoking a part that I want to keep dead. What he brings out from deep within frightens me more than what he does. But if he thinks he can intimidate me, then he found the wrong girl.
Shadow ruffles his wet strands and lets them fall haphazardly. “Nice save.”
“What?”
He hooks his thumb towards the deck on the opposite side. “You saved your boyfriend within a second of his life.”
Isn’t the saying ‘within an inch of his life’?
It’s best he believes Liam is my boyfriend instead of suspecting that we’re from the police. Shadow needs to keep his destructive hands as far away from Liam and Elle as possible.
“We were done and he was leaving anyway.” I pretend to be bored and examine my green-polished nails. “Don’t flatter yourself.”
In a second, Shadow is toe-to-toe with me.
“Keep it up, beautiful. Tell me more.” He grins, and now, I know how he masterfully hides his monstrosity behind these endless smiles. He’s so freaking charming, he almost appears normal. However, I see it. There’s barely anything behind those hollow eyes.
Was he ever a human in the first place?
According to Nonna, he was. Despite his harsh abandonment, he still withheld some