Stalking His Assassin

Chapter 7

seven

GRACE

I'm not too proud to say that I'm freaking out right now. I'm in the shower, wasting water because it's an excellent excuse for not leaving my bedroom yet. I sat in bed petting Potato as the memories of last night assaulted my mind in the best way.

I had my first kiss and orgasm within minutes of each other. They were both better than I'd ever imagined. I should have regrets, but I don't. Which is why I'm freaking out. Everything about being with Christos feels so very right. Last night, I was considering the fastest way to get rid of him without giving up my identity and the location of my home, and now I'm thinking about keeping him.

He joked about being locked in my castle, and now I'm weighing the merits of keeping him locked in my apartment. I snort a laugh because I've read my fair share of dark romance books, and it's always the anti-hero who kidnaps the heroine. I'm an assassin with blood-soaked hands, so if anti-heroines were a thing, I am most definitely one.

Christos is an anti-hero, for sure. He's already tried to drug and kidnap me once, and he's been stalking me for years. Technically, we've been stalking each other for years. My mind runs through all the possibilities until finally settling on the riskiest one: I'm keeping him. Tomas sent him to me for a reason, and I'm guessing it's his fucked-up version of matchmaking.

It's hilarious that the Carver—one of the most brutal assassins to live—is now matchmaking fellow assassins. Retirement must be really dull. I should repay the favor and send him a woman. Harper's smiling face flits through my mind at the thought. She did say she's done with fuckboys and looking for a silver fox. Tomas qualifies. The idea is both crazy and tempting. No one could protect my best friend better than an assassin. I'll have to give it more thought. I need to figure out my situation with Christos first.

I spend way too long looking through my closet for something to wear. Normally I would wear something comfortable. Leggings and an oversized shirt. Something pink and pretty. I'm not ready for Christos to see that side of me yet. For now, I need to keep up the Eris persona. I settle on dark skinny jeans, a black tank top, and motorcycle boots. I eye my pink fuzzy slippers longingly as I slip my favorite knife into my boot. I put on the same bracelet from last night that doubles as a garrot and a swipe of mascara on my lashes.

I study my reflection and feel slightly disgusted with myself for worrying about how I look in my home just because Christos is here. I'm a little resentful that I feel like I can't be myself in the one place where I don't have to be the badass assassin dressed in black.

I take a deep breath and let it out. Just because I've decided to keep him doesn't mean I can show him every side of me yet. There's still a chance that I'll have to let him go in one way or another. The thought makes me nauseous, but I'm nothing if not practical. For now, I will focus on keeping Christos, and hopefully, he wasn't lying when he said he was good with being a prisoner in my castle.

The scent of bacon fills my nose when I open my bedroom door. I follow my nose to the kitchen and find Christos standing at the stove wearing nothing but tight, black boxer briefs and the ridiculous apron Harper gave me a couple Christmases ago. A giggle at how absurd he looks escapes before I can stop it. I mean, he looks hot as hell. The underwear is molded to his ass to perfection. Not to mention, his broad shoulders and thick thighs are on full display.

He turns at my laugh, a rueful smile on his face. Another giggle bubbles up at the sight of the frilly front of the apron struggling to cover his chest. It looks doll-sized on his big form.

"You look ridiculous," I say once I've composed myself.

His eyes roam over me, and he licks his lips. "And you look sexy as fuck."

My cheeks heat at the compliment. I both love and hate how good it feels to be complimented by him. I've had dozens of men tell me how beautiful I am, how sexy, how blah blah blah… Empty, useless words, but Christos complimenting me makes me feel seen. He's not the kind of guy to give throwaway compliments. He says what he means. Like me, he's a no-bullshit kind of person. His words have weight to them.

"I made coffee."

"Thank God. I'm a little murderous without my daily dose of caffeine," I say.

He chuckles. "Noted."

I pour my first mug of coffee and add a dash of vanilla creamer and chocolate hazelnut syrup. Christos watches me make my coffee and I get the feeling that he will be making my morning coffee in the future. I don't hate the idea. It feels domestic. That's something a boyfriend would do for his girlfriend.

I've never had a boyfriend before. I can't see Christos as a boy-anything though. He's all man, and calling him a boyfriend seems wrong. He's my prisoner, even if he seems perfectly willing to be stuck here. The man made me breakfast instead of trying to find a way out of here. Not that he could've escaped if he tried, but he didn't try.

He puts two fluffy pancakes on my plate with three strips of perfectly crisp bacon. My mouth waters at how good the food looks. I'm a decent cook. I don't like strangers delivering my food, and having someone come into my home to cook for me is out of the question, so I had to learn to cook or starve. Having someone cook for me is a pleasant change.

I drown my pancakes in syrup before cutting off a big bite. I moan when the sweet, fluffy perfection practically melts on my tongue. Pancakes have always been my favorite. One of my few memories of my mom is her making pancakes with hot maple syrup. While I was at the training facility, my diet was strict, and every calorie was counted to make sure I remained thin and toned.

I hated it.

I have a sweet tooth and hated that every bite of bland food that passed my lips was under scrutiny. It was completely unnecessary to deny me foods I liked with how much physical exercise they made me do every damn day. I burned more calories than I took in most days. It was just another way to control me. Another way they used to try to break me.

Now I enjoy sweets whenever I want. I train hard and keep myself in peak physical condition so I can afford to splurge on a cupcake or syrup-drenched pancake occasionally.

"Good?" Christos asks with a smirk on his kissable lips.

"Delicious. Thank you for cooking. You didn't have to."

He tucks a stray hair behind my ear. "I wanted to. Taking care of you is a pleasure."

"I'm keeping you," I blurt.

His eyes widen in surprise.

"I can't let you leave," I say definitively.

I don't want him to think there's another option. Though, I suspect if he were to tell me he wants to leave, I would free him. Ugh. Why are feelings so messy? I want to keep him no matter what. I want to be the anti-heroine who kidnaps the hero and claims him for herself, but I want him to want to be kidnapped, too. I don't want to force him if he doesn't want to stay.

See confusing!

I want to keep him even if he doesn't want me to, but I don't want him to stay if he doesn't want to either. I blame this whole confusing mess on Tomas.

"I told you there's no place I'd rather be than locked away in your castle," he says earnestly.

I can read people. There's not a poker face that I can't see through, and Christos has nothing but sincerity on his face and in his tone.

"Do you have any contracts currently?"

He crosses his arms over his broad chest, and my eyes hungrily eat up the arm porn he's displaying right now. Who knew arms could be so dang attractive?

"Would it matter if I did?" he asks.

I lick my suddenly dry lips. What was the question… oh, yeah, contracts… I drag my eyes away from his body and meet his gaze. "I would complete them, if necessary," I reply simply.

He raises a brow. "You would take on my contracts?"

"You would collect the funds, of course. It would be solely to keep your name in good standing. Hades is one of the top assassins for a reason. We all know reputation is everything in this business."

"I don't need the money."

I shrug. "Me either. So, who do I need to go kill?"

He chuckles. "No contracts, little wolf. I've been distracted chasing a ghost."

That makes me blush because he's talking about me and our little game of cat and mouse. "Ghosts aren't easy to catch."

His hand darts out and grips the back of my neck, pulling me forward so our lips are a hairsbreadth apart. I could easily get away. His hold is firm but not tight. The possessive hold has me ready to melt into him. I don't understand it, but it makes me want to submit to his desires.

"And yet, I've managed to catch mine," he murmurs against my lips.

"You're the one that's trapped."

"Happily," he growls before crashing his lips to mine in a passionate kiss.

The grip on my neck releases in favor of him fisting the back of my hair. The tug on my hair flips a switch in my mind, and I become a hungry hussy. My arms go around his neck and crawl into his lap, straddling his muscular thighs. His free hand grips my ass, pulling me flush against his body so his hard cock is pressed against my pussy. I'm cursing my jeans right now.

We kiss and kiss until I'm panting with need and ready to beg him for more. Before I can completely lose my mind, my phone alarm goes off, breaking the sexual fog that's consuming me. I pull away, panting. I don't even have to look to know that my lips are swollen and slick from how desperately we were kissing. I heave out a sigh as I stand on wobbly legs.

I grab my phone and groan at the reminder. I'm supposed to be leaving for the office right now for a meeting with Lance, the second in command at Shield. Well, as in command as a control freak like me allows. I don't hide my screen from Christos as I silence the reminder.

"Do you have a contract?" Christos asks.

"No contracts. Most of my assassining is Syndicate related these days. Or passion projects like Germany. But I do have a meeting I can't miss."

"What kind of meeting?" he asks, eyes narrowed, and if I didn't know better, I would swear he sounds jealous.

"The work kind."

"Not Eris's work, though?"

I shake my head. "No Eris today."

"Who are you today, little wolf?" he asks with a growl that makes my pussy clench in response.

My kneejerk reaction is to refuse to tell him my name, but since I'm keeping him, he will find out eventually. There's no reason to keep it a secret from him.

"My name is Grace Silva. I own and run Shield Security. My meeting is with Lance, the operations manager."

Christos gives me a shocked look. "You own Shield?"

I smirk. "Yep. Shield is my baby."

"Your tech is top-notch. I use it for my cyber security," he says.

"I know."

"That explains how you've been able to track me so easily."

I laugh. "Even if you used something else for security, it would barely be a challenge for me to hack your computer and accounts. Your home security is surprisingly easy to override. You really should upgrade that to a Shield system."

"You're pretty confident in your abilities, little wolf."

"I have no reason to be any other way. I'm the best at what I do. My systems are top-of-the-line technology. I've personally created every program and device Shield sells."

I'm not trying to brag; I'm just stating facts. I'm confident in my work because there is no one out there better. If someone created a superior product, I would gladly give them the credit before creating something better than whatever they made.

I enjoy competition, but losing isn't an option. I will always make sure I'm the best at everything I do. Just because Shield Security is the best doesn't mean I rest on my laurels. I'm constantly upgrading my programs and creating new innovative security features for the security systems. I'm proud of what I've built Shield into and won't quit striving to improve it.

"When is your meeting?"

"I'm supposed to meet Lance at Shield headquarters in twenty minutes, then I have a meeting with one of my teams after."

"You going to tie me up to make sure I don't try to escape while you're gone?" he asks with a teasing lilt.

I roll my eyes. "Unnecessary since you can't disable my security system yourself. You're well and truly trapped and at my mercy."

Christos pulls me between his spread knees and presses a hard kiss to my lips. I return the kiss, losing myself in his touch. He ends the kiss, making me pout because I would much rather spend the rest of the day kissing him than be holed up in my office in meetings.

"You're going to be late, love."

"I'm not going in today. I can do a video conference from my office here. It's actually what I prefer. I only go into headquarters every few months unless there's a problem that only I can handle. I'm not much of a people person."

He laughs. "Never would've guessed."

I shrug. "People suck, which is why most of the people I meet end up dead."

Christos tucks my hair behind my ear. "I'm very glad that I'm not one of the ones that ends up dead."

"Never know what the future holds," I tease.

I decide to be bold with my desires and kiss him. I don't wait for him to coax my lips open with swipes of his tongue. Instead, it's me who licks at his lips. As soon as he parts them, I delve inside. He lets me control the kiss even though I know he could easily steal my control away. Part of me feels powerful that this dominant man is letting me lead. A more prominent part desperately wants him to wrest power away from me.

My phone beeps with a five-minute reminder for my meeting. We're both breathing hard when we finally part. I'm tempted to say fuck it and text Lance to handle things himself, but we're in the process of rolling out a new product, and I want to make sure everything goes smoothly. Lance is qualified to do the job, but it's my company, and something this big goes through me first.

I give him another quick kiss before pulling myself away. For the first time ever, I resent my hands-on role at Shield. I might have to change things now that I have something else to take up my time.

Lance isn't surprised that I changed my plans to come into the office. It's not the first time and won't be the last. It's expected at this point. Lance goes over the financials for the quarter, letting me know that we've exceeded our projected profits yet again. He tells me about our newest corporate accounts, which include two Fortune 500 companies and an up-and-coming medical tech company.

I quickly decide to offer a steep discount to the medical tech company. They are doing great things for prosthetics. After a quick search, I'm pleased to discover that they provide prosthetics to military men and women who are either given subpar limbs or none at all. Plus, they have a division that works with children with birth defects or who lost a limb due to illness or accident. Basically, while making strides in creating new and exciting improvements to prosthetics, they are donating time and resources to help improve the quality of life for people with disabilities.

Lance doesn't question my decision as it's not my first time doing something like this. While he drones on about other business things, I make a large anonymous donation to their company and add them to the list of people I send money I acquire as Eris too. They might not be my typical charitable contribution, but they deserve it and will put the funds to good use.

Twenty minutes later, Lance is still reviewing financial statements. I can feel my eyes crossing at the minutia of this meeting, which could have been an email. Definitely going to make some changes and loosen the reins in the future.

"Thank you, Lance," I say, interrupting him before he can dive into another report projecting next quarter's financials. "I trust you've got this under control. I'd like for you to handle the team meeting today as well. Have Patty message me the meeting minutes and have Grayson send me the beta test results from last week. I want to ensure we are set to roll out next month as planned."

Lance's eyes are wide in shock, and his mouth is gaping. I'm amused, but years of hiding my feelings prevent me from showing anything but the cool confidence that the owner of Shield Securities is known for.

"Will that be a problem?" I ask, raising one brow.

"N-no, Ms. Silva. I'll take care of everything."

"Good. I'll be making some changes to your role going forward. I'm stepping back in several areas of the business. You'll be the CFO of Shield Security going forward. I'll send you a contract of what will be expected of you. Of course, there will be a significant raise. Patty will remain my administrative assistant, so you'll need to contact HR about acquiring your own."

That look of shock is back, and he's apparently speechless. He gives me a jerky nod in response.

"Good. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. I would also like you to find viable candidates to replace you as business manager to work directly under you. Please handle the first round of interviews yourself. I will do the second round, taking your opinion into consideration on the candidates since you will be working closely with them."

He's still nodding, and it's taking all my training to keep a straight face. Lance is uptight, and he's never been speechless in the years he's worked for me. He's quick-witted and positively brilliant, so this is unexpected.

"Is this acceptable?" I ask.

"Y-yes. Of course. Sorry, Ms. Silva. I'm just a bit surprised."

"Understandable. It's quite sudden. I trust that you'll continue to do excellent work for Shield. I look forward to seeing what you'll accomplish given more freedom."

"As always, I will do my best."

"Good."

I disconnect the call, feeling satisfied with my decision. It may be spontaneous and a little reckless, but it feels right. I prefer the creative side of things, and with Lance taking a more active role in the business side, I can focus on creating new and innovative tech.

I open the camera feeds for my apartment and search for Christos. I find him sitting in the living room with Potato sprawled on his lap. My chest feels warm at seeing such a dangerous man petting my cat while watching television. It's so domestic. Having someone else in my space should feel awkward, but I like it. That sense of loneliness that usually permeates my apartment isn't there.

I run a quick check of Shield's security system, ensuring everything is as it should be, and then I check my personal systems. There have been zero attempts against either system. Slightly disappointed that no one has tried breaking into Shield recently. I enjoy the challenge a good hacking provides.

The next hour is spent writing up the new contract for Lance to send to my lawyers for approval. I give him a twenty-five percent raise and increase his bonus package to compensate for the added responsibilities. I also work up a new contract for Patty since I'll need to rely on her more going forward. I offer her a twenty-five percent raise too. Once I've sent those to my lawyer, I order some things for Christos.

I enjoy the hell out of him in his boxer briefs, but I'm sure he would like to have clothing and some of his own bathroom products. I spend an hour ordering him clothes, shoes, and bathroom things. I feel a flash of guilt when I realize I can order his favorites without having to ask… It makes my obsession with him completely obvious.

Oh well.

It's not like he's not been stalking me for years. We're on equal footing on the obsessiveness. I'm starting to understand why Tomas did what he did. I'm also quickly forgiving him for throwing a wrench in my life. He facilitated something that may never have happened without that push.