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  “Well ma’am, no one told you to stand so close to someone making a drink. If you had sat on the couch the entire time you would have been fine,” I told her.

  Roman looked at me over her shoulder, giving me a silent nod. I’m glad, because I didn’t even know if I should be kissing her ass or not since she was Rosie’s family.

  “Ugh! I’ll be right back. Roman, which room is mine?” She spat.

  Roman just smirked and said, “The same one as always ma’am.”

  Ah, so she was someone who visited often. Filing that information away for later, I picked up my own drink and sat down in the high back chair closest to the door. I didn’t trust her. She didn’t even seem to remotely care that Rosie and I had obviously just walked in from a night out together.

  Looking over to Roman, I asked, “Who is she?”

  Shaking his head, he responded, “Rosalina’s one demon she wasn’t allowed to kill. They were the best of friends until Rosalina returned about three or four years ago. I’m not sure what happened, but it wasn’t pretty. Ricardo, Rosalina’s father, had to remove a man from his position when he got too close to Rosalina. Well, I’m sure you can imagine what I mean, she was seventeen and, after that incident Amalia wasn’t allowed here if Rosalina was home.”

  Sipping my drink, I stared at the wall. I had finally told her what I really wanted and she didn’t say anything. Didn’t she feel the same way I did? I felt like we were on the right path, but like tonight, I could never tell what she was thinking.

  “Here,” Roman said, handing me another drink.

  “Gracias,” I said in thanks.

  I knew I wanted to actually propose to Rosie, but it was all a matter of when and how. Movement by the door dragged my attention back to the room. Great, she was back, and what the fuck was she wearing? I rolled my eyes at her need for attention.

  “Aww, Tony I wanted you to sit with me,” Amalia said with a pout.

  Holding up a hand to stop her from going any further, I glared at her, “My name is Anthony. Not Tony. At least not to you. Now if you will excuse me, I have a gorgeous woman upstairs waiting for me.”

  Placing my drink on the table in front of me, I stood up to leave. A rare smile peeked out on Roman’s face. Well, at least I did something right in his eyes, even if I could tell he didn’t trust me completely.

  “If you ever decide to play with a real woman, you know where to find me,” she called out as I left the room.

  Making my way upstairs, I thought of the way Rosie lit up earlier when she was at the range. On our next date, I was taking her shooting at a course I’d found, not far away from here. Entering her room, I saw she was still awake. Stripping down to my boxers, I laid down next to her. Reaching over to pull her closer, she didn’t roll into me like she had begun to do recently. Damn, I fucked up and I didn’t even know how.

  19

  Rosalina

  I had been lying in bed for about an hour when I heard the door open. Finally, Tony had decided to come to bed. Glancing at him in the soft light the lamp gave off, I noticed that he wasn’t wearing his suit jacket anymore. Stripping down to his boxers, he laid down next to me. I rolled away from his touch as he went to plant a kiss on my cheek. I could smell her. Not that I thought he had done anything with Amalia, but he had stayed with her instead of coming to me.

  “What’s wrong, amor?” He quietly asked.

  “Nada,” I responded as I closed my eyes.

  With a deep breath, I heard him roll onto his back and fall asleep. I lay in bed for hours before I decided to walk down to the kitchen for a glass of water. The cool water was just what I needed. Placing my glass in the sink, I turned around to see Amalia in her barely there nightie. Smirking at me, she walked over to the cabinet my mother kept the glasses in.

  “So, Anthony is handsome. I saw the looks you were giving him before you went to bed,” she mused.

  “Yeah, he’s something,” I agreed.

  “Well, I hope you don’t mind, but we were up for a while together and, well, you know how that goes… right?” She taunted.

  “No, Amalia I don’t know how that goes. Please explain what you mean,” I bit out.

  Fanning herself, she smirked, “If I must spell it out for you… he is quite the kisser of all kinds of lips. I’m sure you…” She tried to say, unable to continue. I had one hand wrapped in her long brown hair, the other was wrapped around the paring knife I held to her throat.

  “Let’s get one thing clear right now. Anthony is not here for you to play with. And the next time you so much as bat your fake eyelashes at him, I will slit your throat. Entiendes?” I angrily spat out.

  “Okay,” she croaked out in a whisper.

  Removing my hand from her hair and placing the knife back in the holder, I looked over to her.

  “We didn’t actually do anything,” she mumbled.

  Laughing I just replied, “Oh I know. That was just a warning if you ever decide to try.”

  Rubbing her throat with a shaky hand, she looked into my eyes. “You’ve never been this way over a man before. What changed?” She questioned, still shaking.

  “Life. And he’s different. So don’t think about it at all or, well, you know how that goes right?” I asked smugly. Walking out of the kitchen, I couldn’t help feeling paranoid. I felt like someone was watching me.

  I made my way to the front door to check the locks. Seeing they were all secure, I checked the back door as well. The only other entrance was on Roman’s side of the house. Deciding to look - just in case - I made my way down his hallway. Every door was locked, so there was no reason to feel this worried. I walked up the stairs to my room. I needed sleep. That’s all it was, I mentally chided myself. Lying down next to Tony, I curled onto my side as his arm wrapped around me, pulling me close. I fell asleep within minutes.

  Waking up to a loud knock, I heard a commotion outside of my door. Glancing at the clock on my bedside, I saw that it was only seven am. I didn’t feel Tony beside me, so that must be him outside, but who was he talking to. Crossing the room to my dresser, I pulled on a pair of yoga pants. I would get dressed properly later, right now I needed to find out what was going on. Snatching the door open, I was met by the faces of Roman, Tony, and Nico. Damn, this wasn’t going to be good news.

  “What’s going on?” I asked to anyone who would answer.

  Nico said explaining, “Jefa, when I got to the kitchen this morning, I saw a glass busted on the floor and barstools tipped over. I don't know who was in there, but it looked as if someone had been trying to grab something to hold on to.”

  Roman began to explain, “When I woke up just a bit earlier, I saw the back door wide open. We are trying to figure out what happened because all of the men were accounted for and no one had heard anything.”

  Gasping I covered my mouth. I didn’t even answer Tony calling my name as I ran down the hallway to the room Amalia was staying in.

  Throwing the door wide open, I saw her bed was barely slept in. Calling out her name, I walked into the adjoining bathroom. She wasn’t in there either. All three men stood at the door with worried expressions on their faces.

  “Roman, pull up the feed from the back entrance. Nico, get all of the men to search the grounds for her. Maybe she went to the guardhouse with one of them late last night,” I commanded.

  Tony stood in the doorway looking at me with concern. “Amor, who knew she was coming here? From what I gathered last night you weren’t expecting her anytime soon,” he asked.

  Shaking my head, I replied, “I had only found out yesterday she was coming for a few weeks. We don’t get along as you could probably tell, but she is still family. She was here to hide from her last conquest and his wife.”

  Taking my hands in his, he led me to the bed. “We will find her Rosie. I’m sure there is a simple explanation like you said, she may have gone to the guardhouse,” he said rubbing circles on my back.

  I thought back to the night before. The feeling o
f being watched had made me paranoid. Then I remembered the man at the restaurant.

  “Tony, do you happen to know what ‘Skoro’ means?” I asked, hoping it wasn’t what I thought.

  Giving me a confused look, he said, “That’s Russian if I’m not mistaken.” Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he searched the meaning.

  “It is Russian. It means soon,” he said as he handed me his phone.

  Looking down, I dropped Tony’s phone.

  “Oh no!” I jumped up and ran into Roman’s office. The look on his face told me he knew.

  “Señora, listen to me. We will find her and they will pay,” he assured me.

  Looking at his computer, I saw the man from the restaurant, his hand around Amalia’s mouth. Next to him, I saw a man who looked just like him. A man I recognized from my police contact’s email, Oscar Kruse...

  Coming March 2018

  The Reaper

  La Asesina Bonita

  Book Two

  Acknowledgments

  Okay here goes, this list is long so bare with me.

  Thank you to my wonderful husband, Rex. I could not have and never would have pursued this dream without your support from day one. You didn’t look at me like I had lost my mind at all. You just told me to go for it.

  To my betas: Amy, Erika, Geynar, and Tania; thank you all for putting up with me while I wrote my heart out. You ladies are the best. And I hope you will always be around to read all my words.

  Dani, thank you so much for being around when I needed you. And thank you for my gorgeous cover. You are a designing genius.

  Courtney, my fantastic editor, thank you so much for not quitting on me for my lack of commas. You are an editing hero!

  Yolanda, I cannot thank you enough for even reading my book. And thank you for not thinking I’m strange for asking how cutting body parts and stabbing something sounds.

  Niki and Jennifer, thank you both for being so supportive. You don’t know how much that has kept me sane over the last few months. I love you two.

  To the readers, and bloggers, thank you for taking a chance on me when you didn’t have to. I can never thank you all enough for just reading my words.

  About the Author

  Michelle Brown has always been an avid reader and music lover. She lives in a small town located in North Carolina. She spends her off time reading for her blog A Woman & Her Books, when she isn’t with her husband and son. Michelle Brown is expanding herself into writing as well. She is a debut author, but her history with dark romance makes her anything but new. Having been a personal assistant to some of the top dark romance authors in the genre, she has always been a reader and a lover of the dark and twisted. 'Pretty Killer, La Asesina Bonita' is her debut novella.

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