Chapter Two
Priest watched her run, and the truth was, he loved it when they had some fight in them. The sobbing, begging, giving up, and just … blubbering always annoyed him. But this woman had a real fight inside her, such a will to live. He didn’t know what it was about this naughty little cleaner, but the game turned him on.
She was an innocent, in the wrong place at the wrong time.
He blamed himself to some degree.
In his line of work, it was rare for him to go to a scene to find an innocent who wasn’t part of the plan. She shouldn’t have been there. He was aware there were women within trafficking who actually sided with the men who took them. They helped to capture women, luring them into a false sense of security. He fucking despised them the most. Trafficking was one of those aspects of life he would love to see wiped off the face of the earth, but while there were monsters walking around, there would always be some form of it.
“Please let me go.” She panted as he had her trapped. Her cardio was weak.
Was she turned on by this position?
Staring into her blue eyes, Priest was stuck. Killing her should have been so easy. Just one swipe of his blade across her neck, and it would be done. Problem solved.
As he stared down her body, he looked at her, really looked at her.
Full ripe tits, dipping into a nice-sized waist, going down to big hips, and then thick thighs. He did love a full woman. There was something quite irresistible about these kinds of curves.
She was young and beautiful. Innocent. Something stirred inside him that he tried to ignore.
“I don’t want to die. If what you say about that man back there is true, then good riddance. It’s one less criminal walking on the streets, right? You made the world a safer place.”
“I’m not a hero. Stop telling me what I want to hear.”
“Please, just don’t kill me. I don’t want to be a prisoner either. Can’t you just … trust me?” she asked.
Priest couldn’t help but internally laugh. The very idea of trusting this woman was disturbing. In his line of work, he never trusted anyone. “I can make it a quick death.”
“No!” She growled and started to wriggle even more. “I’m twenty-four years old. I haven’t even had a chance to live yet. I have no family. All my life I wanted a family. A big one. I’ve never had a single boyfriend. Never kissed a guy. Never had sex.” She released another growl. “I won’t tell on you, please. Do you think you’re the first bad man I’ve seen? I know how to mind my business.”
Priest was curious now. “You a foster kid?” he asked.
“Not anymore. I got out the day I turned eighteen.”
“I know what you’re trying to do, but it’s not going to work.” She wouldn’t be the first woman to try to humanize herself. When death was around the corner, it was fascinating what people could come up with to live another day.
She tensed up, thrusting her body hard against him. He felt the warmth of her pussy against his dick. Priest gritted his teeth.
Years of training stopped him from reacting. His body was a machine. If he wanted sex, he got hard. When he refused to, he stayed flaccid. It took him many years to learn to train all his responses, but when he could, he shut everything down. Business and pleasure were two different beasts.
It was one of the reasons Boss picked him for this task. Some men would take the opportunity to play with willing women, like back at the hotel, and use them. He had no desire to do such a thing. He got in, did the job, and left. Short and sweet.
What little Cleo Bennet didn’t realize was he had no intention of killing her. He couldn’t even hand her off to Boss with a clear conscience.
His one firm rule. He never killed innocent people, only sinners.
It would have been nice to end this with Cleo, but it wasn’t going to work. She wasn’t part of their world, he could tell the moment he saw her.
“Haven’t you ever been in my position?” Cleo asked.
“That being?”
“Needing money so you take the first job you can find. That’s why I work at that damn hotel. I went for fifteen job interviews last month but no luck. My rent was due, and I had to make some quick money fast. So I took extra shifts.”
“You didn’t think of stripping?”
She glared at him. “Yeah, I did actually, and they told me they didn’t have a market for fatties. I’m a damn hard worker. Use me. Is there anything you need cleaned? I’m a good organizer. I have an eye for detail.”