Page 48 of Cut Deeper

“Yes, let’s do it. What’s the worst that could happen?” I murmured.

Silence.

I felt him thinking, recalculating. Then he pulled my bodice back into place, slid the straps onto my shoulders, and smoothed them flat.

“We’re leaving,” he announced with the urgency of a man whose entire world had just shifted.

He twirled me around, grabbed my hand, and we practically ran for the elevator. Once inside, he cornered me against the cold wall of the lift, his back to the doors like a shield. The frantic energy inside me settled.

I breathed him in, wrapping my arms around his neck, clinging to him with a need I never knew existed.

He made me want to live—to discover what else I’d been missing.

“Ethan,” I whispered.

“I know, Anne,” he sighed.“I know.”

Chapter 26

Ethan

She scooped her dress inside the car before I slammed the door shut. Before she could change her mind. I wondered if she’d noticed I’d parked closer to the building, in a reserved spot. It wasn’t until I was in the car that the dull thud came from the rear. Anne paused, seat belt half-pulled.

“What was that?”

“What was what?” I asked, swiftly putting some music on.

The arsehole banged his bound hands or feet against my boot again.

“That,” she said, reaching out to lower the music.

“Did you think I’d let that bastard drool over you and do nothing?” I asked, ready to defend my actions.

“Seriously?” she gasped, turning to glare at me.“You can’t kill my buyers. They’re linked to the venue, and they pay large sums of money for my work.”

“He touched you and kissed your hand. Then had the audacity to kiss you again while I stood right next to you.”

“Maybe he’s French.”

Enchanté. The filthy fucker. I would enjoy gutting him, surgically removing each and every digit to leave him two useless stumps. Slicing off those lips and stitching his mouth closed before I—

She leaned over and kissed my cheek.

“After careful consideration, I’d have done the same,” she murmured.

I was going to marry the fuck out of Anne, lock her down before she changed her mind. I reversed out of the parking spot, and Anne turned my music up. Debussy’s Clair de Lune drifted through the car, each unhurried note settling like a hand on the back of my neck. The soft rise and fall of the piano smoothed some of my frenzied rage flat—but her presence did more.

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We didn't go to the bedroom. I guided her towards the basement. I wanted Eva to see a final show before I finalised my kill. She’d approached me in the club, and proceeded to mooch off me for the rest of the evening. It had been easy to avoid the security cameras by leaving from the back entrance.

Her lifeless eyes would still register the pain I would inflict.

Anne opened the door and the lights automatically flickered and stabilised in seconds.

The nameless man would remain in my car until the morning. This was our time. Our new beginning.

Anne placed her purse on the table and turned to face me.