man. I knew how to cover my tracks. I had no problem doing whatever the hell I had to do to see another day. My new leaf was all about walking away from the noise from the past, but if Angela had been planted, if she had come to find me, well, that new life was going to be fucked.
As if thinking his name, I remembered the last full conversation I’d had with the man who was my enemy.
“Viktor, you’re up,” Maksim said, coming to me and banging his fist against my bedroom door. I rolled out of the cot, grabbing my gun from underneath my pillow in the same movement. I checked the clip, cracked my neck, and yanked open the door.
“What’s the mark?” I asked.
“Anton Lebedev,” Maksim answered.
“I thought Ukhov had him.”
“Ukhov missed.”
I knew what that meant. If Ukhov missed a mark, he became a mark. Maksim didn’t take shit from anyone. If you didn’t do the job right, he blew your fucking brains out, no questions asked. Wasn’t how to run a business, he always said. If you start accepting excuses, you build your house on a foundation of fucknuts and fools.
Now I was the backup.
“I know you’ll handle this.”
I nodded. It was an easy mission. I had to take out the guy from a rooftop. He followed a set routine: he went to dinner with his wife and twin girls every Friday night and spent Saturday evenings at the titty lounge with the boys. That was his first mistake. Routines killed you.
“Viktor,” Maksim said when I headed out, the case with the rifle under my arm. “Don’t miss.”
“I won’t.”
“Good. I’d hate to have to take care of you, too.”
Could I kill her if I had to? Anyone else, my answer would be an easy yes. But her? Those eyes pierced my soul, as if she knew my business inside and out. If she did, she would run in the other direction. Who could look twice at a man who had taken so many lives, ripped so many families apart? I was barely able to look at myself anymore. I couldn’t imagine what someone like her might think of me.
As if she could read the thoughts consumed by her, the beauty awoke from her slumber. She appeared suddenly, like a vision. Her long slender legs were bare. The vision of her exposed skin far too enticing to look away.
I wanted her. I’d never wanted someone so badly. It was alarming - considering I had no idea if she could be trusted.
I wanted those legs wrapped around my waist. Holding her close, my cock plunging deep into her until she moaned. I wanted to feel her nails dig into my back and the sounds of her pure voice in screaming in ecstasy.
She looked in all directions as she walked towards me. “You’re cooking out here?”
“Welcome to my cabin. Not exactly a 5-star resort. I don’t have a lot of heat inside, but I manage.”
She nodded as she reached me. She still wore the t-shirt, and she had pulled one of my winter jackets around her shoulders. She was so small, she drowned in it. In her seated position, it hung almost to her knees.
I didn’t like how much of her it covered up.
“Who are you?” I asked bluntly when she sat down on one of the bigger rocks nearby.
She rubbed her hands together, drinking in a bit of the warmth from the fire. She didn’t seem surprised by my question. “Angela Becker,” she said. “I told you that already.”
I shook my head. “Don’t fuck with me.” It came out harsher than I meant it.
Her eyes widened, though not with fear. Defense. “Excuse me?”
“If you’re here to find me, you might as well give up now.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, her eyes narrowing. “And I don’t appreciate the tone you’re taking with me. You may live in a cabin in the woods, but you can still use your manners.”
I blinked at her. Did she just scold me like a child?
“You don’t belong here,” I grouched, scowling.
She gaped at me. “Excuse me, but this is a strange situation for both of us. All I want is to get to know the man who saved me and brought me to his cabin. Is that so wrong?”
The fire in her eyes was so fucking hot, my cock twitched again. I wanted to kiss her so badly. Dammit, this woman is intoxicating.
“What’s your deal?” Angela asked, her voice a