The Villain Duet by Bella J.

The Rise of Saint

CHAPTER 1

Sneak peek continues

Mila

I caught a glimpse of silver followed by a deafening crack splitting through my eardrums. There was a rush of air as I gasped, and my eyes snapped shut. In a moment, a flash of a second, I dropped to the ground, instinct taking control of every muscle in my body as I covered my head with my arms.

The ringing in my ears was deafening, replacing every sound, the world around me cast in an eerie silence.

I knew I shouldn’t open my eyes. Something told me to keep them shut for as long as I could while my forehead pressed against the plush carpet. Once I opened them, my worst nightmare would be in plain sight and there would be no going back. There was a reason everyone knew curiosity always killed the cat, but the unknown had a knack for grating its claws against every bone in your body, and it forced me to open my eyes. It was an action I regretted instantly when all I saw was red, streaks of crimson soaking into the fibers of the carpet. Blood. Brad’s blood.

“Jesus.” My voice was nothing but a rush of air. I shuddered uncontrollably as tears started to burn grooves down my cheeks. “Brad?”

Two hands grabbed my shoulders, yanking me from the nightmare while pulling me from the floor.

“Please.” My lips trembled, fear making it impossible for me to keep my legs straight while I felt a hard fist grip the hair behind my head. Instinctively, I started pleading through the panic and tears. “Please don’t hurt me. I didn’t—”

“You shouldn’t have gotten into that elevator, Mila.” Ice cold fingers grabbed my jaw, forcing me to look up.

“I didn’t know…I don’t know—” My trembling lips made it almost impossible to speak, and I swallowed hard. “He was only supposed to drop off a package. I didn’t know—”

“Of course, you didn’t.” He leaned his head to the side, studying me with intent, a slight curve at the corner of his lips. “How could you have known when so many people went to such extraordinary lengths to hide it from you? Or rather, to hide you from me.”

I stilled, my eyes narrowed as every thought froze. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just came here with a friend—”

“To deliver a package?”

“Yes.” My bottom lip wouldn’t stop trembling as I looked him in the eye. I forced myself not to look away out of fear I might look down at my friend’s dead body and his blood which stained the expensive luxury carpet.

He twisted his fingers, tightening his hold at the back of my head. A shudder wracked through my already trembling body when I felt his thumb wipe at my tears. “Dear, innocent Mila.” His voice dipped low as amusement colored his every word. “You are the package.”

His words exploded into fragments my mind couldn’t possibly piece together. I was too scared, too numb to even try. The light blue color of his eyes was a deceptive contradiction against the darkness that radiated from him. While his fingers dug into my cheeks, his hand gripping my hair to a point where my scalp started to burn, every instinct I had screamed at me to try to run. But my legs were too weak, the icy tentacles of terror tightly wrapped around them.

“What are you talking about?”

“Shhh.” He dragged a finger down and past my lips. “Do not ask questions you’re not ready to hear the answers to.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I don’t expect you to. What I do expect of you is to not fight me, and to do exactly as you are told.”

“Why would I do that?”

He traced a gentle finger down the side of my face, my bottom lip quivering. “Because it’s expected of you.” A smirk tugged at his lips. “I can already hear your thoughts reeling with so many questions. Soon, they will all be answered.” He let go of my hair and put some distance between us. “But first we need to leave.”

I stepped back, wanting to be farther away from him as I shook my head. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

With a smirk, he glanced from me, to Brad’s dead body, then back to me—a silent warning powerful enough to let my last bit of courage wither away. “You will, Mila. You will.”

He nodded toward a man standing a few feet away. I didn’t even realize he was moving closer, not until I felt his fingers wrap around my elbow. I tried to jerk free without taking my eyes off the man who just killed my friend. “If you’re going to kill me, just do it now and get it over with.”

He smirked, those picture-perfect lips turning into the mouth of the devil. “Oh, sweet little Mila. Do I look like a merciful man to you?”

“Merciful?” I frowned in disgust.

He reached out to touch the back of his hand against my cheek, but I jerked away. He bit his bottom lip, eyes narrowed as he studied me, the wicked glint in his eyes giving me a glimpse of his evil intent. “Believe me, killing you would be me showing you mercy.”

His glare cut from mine to the man behind me. “Clean her up. We leave in half an hour.”

“No! I’m not going anywhere with you, and you can’t make me. You can’t do this!”

There wasn’t even a split second for me to take a breath before he had his hand around my neck, fingers biting into my throat so tightly I could only gasp for air. My eyes widened, the toxic mix of fear and my need to breathe sending a surge of panic thundering against my chest. His glare was as deadly as his grip.

“First lesson. Never raise your voice to me, ever. And secondly,” he pulled me closer to him, “there is nothing in this world I can’t fucking do, and that includes taking you. Now, keep your goddamn mouth shut, do as you’re told, and don’t give me a reason to ruin this already plain looking face of yours.”

If I wasn’t so desperate for a breath, his insult would have hurt more than the pain from his fingers clawing at my throat. My head felt like it was on the verge of exploding, my lungs aching as they pleaded for air, all the while his menacing glare swirled with dark warning.

Abruptly, he let me go, the force causing me to stumble backward. I gasped as air finally filled my lungs, and I reached up to place a shaky hand on the burning skin around my throat. There were so many things I wanted to yell at him, scream at him, swear at him. But my need to breathe was stronger, and I braved a glance his way. There was no remorse in the depths of his eyes, and his squared shoulders and stone expression exuded power—the power of a tyrant.

“I won’t warn you again, Mila. The sooner you start knowing your place, the easier this will be.” His jaw ticked as he kept my gaze, the fire of warning raging behind iced irises. “For all of us.” He turned, grabbed his drink, and walked off as if killing a man in cold blood and kidnapping a woman was just normal, everyday business for a man like him.

As tears streamed down my face, my chest rising and falling while fear clawed at every bone in my body, I watched him walk away. The man in the navy suit, with the light blue eyes and textbook perfect lips. A killer. A kidnapper. The devil.

End of sneak peek.

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