With Everything I Am (The Three #2)(19)

She yanked her head back.

“Okay, Callum, this is what I know,” she stated. “Two guys break into my house, they grab me, discuss raping me and, suddenly, even though it’s the middle of the night and I haven’t made a noise, you’re there to save the day. Instead of calling the police or an ambulance as I’d lost consciousness, you take me out of the city to a remote cabin in the woods. A cabin which conveniently has brand new clothes and toiletries, all that perfectly suit me. You’re all sweet, but bossy at the same time, and I know your game. You’re not my rescuer. You know I’m wealthy. Name your price, give me your phone, I’ll arrange the money for you, no problem. Then you take me home so I can get on with Christmas and you can go to the beach or find someone else to con.”

He studied her a moment seemingly unperturbed by her understanding of the situation and the blunt way with which she informed him of that fact and replied, “All right, Sonia, now you’ll listen to what’s actually going on.”

“This should be good,” Sonia muttered sarcastically.

“No, it won’t be good,” he returned severely. “It’ll probably freak you out, it’s likely you won’t believe a word I say but it’s also the truth.”

She glared at him.

He sighed.

Then he spoke and committed sin number three.

Furthermore, he was right. What he said freaked her out. But the way he said it made her know he believed it, which made it all the worse.

“Last night, two men broke into your house. I knew they were going to do it because I had intelligence delivered to me eleven hours earlier informing me of the plot. I am, for the sake of you understanding this, the leader of a gang that has hundreds of thousands of members across the world. They were soldiers from another, rival, gang. You, little one, are important to me. They know this and wanted to take you from me. What they did broke a treaty that was fragile at best. Now we’re at war.”

Sonia was no longer glaring at him.

She was gawking.

She wanted to stop the questions from coming. She just couldn’t.

“You’re the leader of a gang?” she asked.

“Yes,” he answered.

“That has hundreds of thousands of members?”

“Yes.”

She stared at his handsome face.

He was good-looking. No doubt about it.

But he was crazy as a loon.

For some reason, she carried on, “I’m important to you?”

“Very.”

“Why?” Her voice was getting shrill. “You barely know me.”

“We’ll get to that later.”

She blinked, shocked out of her skull then idiotically continued, “What do you mean they ‘were’ soldiers? What happened to them?”

“Last night, I executed them.”

Sonia gasped at this news and then tensed, ready to flee.

His arms closed tight around her, negating any attempt to flee.

He was too strong, she knew it and in an instinctive effort at self-preservation, she gave up.

“You killed them,” she whispered, horrified that he’d do such a thing and equally horrified that he’d tell her he did it so… very… calmly.

They were not good men. They were menaces. Not menaces in a getting drunk and getting in fights, being too loud at baseball games, catcalling and doing kissy faces at women when they walked by kind of way. No, they were a much, much worse kind. She knew this. She’d sensed it about them more than once. And they were new, the menacing presence had only been around for a short while but she knew they’d been tracking her for weeks. And they’d invaded her home and discussed raping her.

But executing them?

“They touched you,” Callum replied.

“I know.”

“They intended to violate you.”

“I know!” she shouted and regardless of his strength, the fact that he could subdue her easily and even harm her, she started to struggle in his arms.

His hand slid into her hair and twisted.

She stilled at the onset of pain which was gentle but if she moved, it would get worse.

His eyes were still tawny when he brought her face to his.

And his expression was fierce and ominous and very, very frightening.

“You’re my mate, Sonia, my queen,” he announced, his voice the exact same as his face, his words, quite simply, were mad. “You were destined for me before you were even conceived. I’ve been waiting for you for longer than you can imagine. And they touched you before I touched you. They committed high treason and for that alone their execution was just. But they f**king touched you before I touched you and for that their deaths were not quick.”

Sonia found she was holding her breath.

Callum didn’t seem to notice.

“I’ll explain more as the days pass but this you know now. You’re mine, Sonia Arlington. You’ve been mine for centuries. You have a week… one week… to get to know me and understand the ways of my culture. I wish it could be longer but because of what happened last night, my people are at war. I’m their king, they need me. I have no time to give but, regardless of that fact, I’m giving you one week. I’ll use it wisely and I suggest, strongly, little one, that you do as well. This will go much better for you if you do.”