Maid for the Hitman: A Steamy Standalone Instalove Romance by Flora Ferrari (lightweight ebook reader txt) 📗

I turn away under the intensity of his gaze.

“Look at me, Rosie,” he commands.

I tug my gaze back to him with an effort, my will smoldering under his captivated attention.

“If you want to ask, ask,” he snarls.

“Fine,” I say, my pulse shimmering through my body on anxiety-fueled wings. “How many men have you killed, Ryland?”

“Over a dozen,” Ryland says matter of fact.

I swallow, letting the force of the fact wash over me.

The menu grows limp in my hand and flutters to the table.

“For money?”

“I was paid for all of them except one, yes,” he says, still staring at me, unflinching.

“What happened with the other one?” I ask.

“He tried raping a woman within my hearing,” he says. “It was a late night and I was cruising through this piece-of-shit street to meet a contact. It was warm and I had the window down, and I hear her screaming…”

He grips the edge of the table, squeezing it so hard the wood creaks. His knuckles turn the color of bone.

“It’s okay,” I tell him, keeping my voice steady. “It’s okay, Ryland.”

“I go and investigate,” he goes on, in a low voice. “And this piece of shit was trying it right there. He had a knife. It was evil. I challenged him. He attacked me. He tore my forearm up pretty bad, but then I had him. I did what I had to do. It turns out he’d abused her for years—her and other women. I don’t regret ending his life.”

“You don’t have to regret it,” I say. “That’s pure evil.”

I touch his hand, stroking it until the tension in him relaxes a tiny bit. He’s like an enraged beast when he gets like this, every part of him amplified, ready to burst free.

“The others were all criminals,” he says. “I’m the best at what I do. My father’s name meant something. So I got to pick my jobs and charge as much as I wanted, too. I only ever killed men who’d done something evil. All of them were rapists. Some of them had murdered women. And the rest… I can’t even think about that sort of evil, Rosie, let alone taint you with it.”

“You’d never lie to me, would you?” I say.

He flinches. “Never.”

“Those men deserved it, then,” I tell him. “I’m not saying it’s the perfect career, but it’s like soldiers. You were in a war…”

“I am in a war,” he says. “I’ve got a cachet of evidence against the Mafia, the Cartel, the Yakuza. They all know not to cross me. This goes back years. My old man started it, and I carried it on. They all sign contracts every time they hire me, agreeing that I’ll release their organization’s evidence if they ever step over the line.”

“Whoah,” I say, shaking my head. “That’s crazy. I thought they killed people for that in the criminal world.”

“They do,” he smirks. “But nobody would ever be able to kill me, Rosie.”

“Ryland,” I say firmly. “You’re a human being. You bleed. You shouldn’t say things like that.”

He puffs himself up. His eyes are sharp and intelligent.

“I’m a professional,” he growls. “They’re amateurs. My father was Bucky Radley, an ex-Army man. He trained me when I was just a kid. He taught me everything a man needs to know by the time I was thirteen years old. I was born into this life. I served in the SEALs for several years in my early twenties, overseas. I’m a black belt in jujutsu and an expert in boxing and kickboxing. I’m the fastest shooter in this goddamn city, and I know my weapons more intimately.”

Pride flares in his voice as he sits up even straighter.

“I’m worth thirty of those motherfuckers,” he growls. “But it’s more than that. It’s you, Rosie. Before, I was fighting because it’s all I know. Now, I’m fighting for you, for us, for our future together. I wouldn’t want to be the bastard who tries to stand in the way of that.”

A shiver moves through me at the heat of his words, the conviction in them.

It’s like nothing truer has ever been said.

My wombs sings to me, telling me to believe. We are invincible.

But my reason refuses to shrink away.

“What if you’re wrong?” I ask. “What if they get you, and it’s all taken away?”

“I will never let that happen,” he snarls. “I’d die—no, I’d kill before I let anybody threaten our family.”

“I don’t want you to have to kill,” I murmur.

“I’m keeping you safe. That’s my job. My methods are my business.”

I flinch, and his hard beast’s voice softens slightly.

“I’m retiring, though,” he says “Once this mess with Vito is cleaned up, I’m done with this life.”

“What will you do?” I ask, reeling from all this new information, about his military background, about his dad.

“Build our lives,” he says firmly. “I’ll help you in whatever you choose to do… Wait a second.”

“What?” I smile.

“I want to ask you about your hopes and dreams, my beautiful little skeptic, but I’m goddamned hungry too.” He smirks. “So how about we order first?”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Ryland

“Tell me about your dreams,” I say, as I lay my fork down atop my risotto.

Harold has cooked it well.

My queen blushes.

“That’s a broad question.”

“Don’t be shy,” I tease.

She forks her steak. My seed quivers at the sight of her eating meat, a primal song from thousands of years ago. It tells me this is good. She’ll get strong, which means our children will be strong.

Sometimes, Rosie makes me feel like a caveman, atavistic and instinctive.

She makes it so tempting to let the beast in me take over, with that blush creeping down toward her fuck-me tits. They look even more delicious with her cleavage making a tempting passage for my cock. I could tear that dress down and get at her hard, needy nipples any time I wanted.

My cock pulses and I force myself to focus on the glittering copper beauty of her eyes.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”