Chapter One
“I want their heads,now!” Evil Carter snarled at two of his men. They were supposed to hand him the heads of the two-bit drug group that had put a hit out on his woman. They’d failed to get their target as they had no idea he’d be the one watching her. Instead, they’d gotten his wrath, and now, he was on the warpath and intended to make them all pay.
The men nodded and immediately spun away from him, trying to get as far away from him as possible. He didn’t take kindly to sloppy behavior, and with Noelle’s life at stake, there better not be any fuck-ups.
Runninghis fingers through his hair, he spun around and came face-to-face with the woman he’d craved from the first moment he saw her—Noelle Benson. She wasn’t his usual type. Not even by a long shot. Blonde with pretty blue eyes, full-figured, and a kindness in her eyes that should have pushed him away. Yet, here they were.
As he stared at her face, a fresh wave of anger assailed him.
She’d been working forhim as his personal assistant on all of his legal matters for over six months. Noelle knew it was all a front. Evil Carter was not a good man and he’d never claimed to be one.
The bruises that covered her facewere a testimony to that. He hadn’t caused them. He’d never hurt her, wouldn’t dream of laying a single finger on her or harming her in any way.
His enemies, those stupid fucks, had done all the damage.
“Are you done?” Noelle asked.
“No.” He took a step toward her, cupping her cheeks and tilting her head back.
She had a swollen, bruised eye, a couple of cuts on her cheek, another on her forehead, and a split lip. The beating she’d taken was extensive. The men who’d attacked her hadn’t expected him to show up.
Evil couldn’t bring himself to leave her alone. She was his everything, and she had been for a lot longer than she’d been working for him.
He’d first met Noelle in a bar. Well, hehadn’t met her. She’d entered the bar, alone, looking entirely miserable, and sat at the bar, turning away men who came to ask her to dance. From the moment he saw her, he’d been hooked. It hadn’t taken him long to find out everything there was to know about her. She was twenty-nine years old. No family. Bounced from job to job with no real sense of direction. No current boyfriend and no proof of a previous boyfriend or husband.
When she went to that bar, she’d just been let go from her current waitressing job. She’d refused to sleep with the owner, and it had cost her. She had once told him that she never fucked her way into a job.
After twenty-four hours, he knew more about her than most of the men working for him. He’d found her shitty apartment and offered her a job as his PA. She had the experience as she’d worked in a similar field.
She’d known who he was, and much to his surprise, she’d taken the job without a second’s hesitation. That was six months ago.
He’d been able to keep her close, and that in itself had been hard. Whenever he wasaround her, his dick was rock fucking hard. All he could imagine was touching her beautiful body. Feeling those full tits against his chest.
Evil was hungry for Noelle.
Seeing her bruised face, he had failed her. “Should I get a doctor?” he asked.
“Andpay ridiculous amounts for him to say I’ve got a few boo-boos? Nah, not going to happen.”
“The pain level?”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s manageable. Besides, you know I don’t medicate forany reason.”
She really didn’t. Noelle even refusedpainkillers for headaches and would opt to lie down instead. Of course, he didn’t know this until her headache from a couple of weeks ago had turned into a migraine at the office. It was rare for her to get them, but she did.
“You should lie down.”
“You’re angry,” she said.
“And you’re a genius.”
“You don’t need to be cruel. This isn’t your fault,” Noelle said.
“Those menbeat the crap out of you because of me.”
“You saved me, Evil. They had a choice to make, and they chose wrong. There is nothing you can do about it.” She put her hand on his chest.
That touch alone sent a thrill down his spine.