I cracked my eyes open and stared at the open doorway. He stood in it, and I could tell his back was turned to the room. The door slowly closed and only then did I breathe again.

Until the unthinkable happened.

Beep beep! Beep beep! Beep Beep!

I froze, but it didn’t matter.

Two seconds later, my hiding spot was missing its key element when the mattress and support were ripped from above me and effortlessly tossed away.

I looked up into the startling silver eyes of the devil’s envoy.

“Hello, pretty girl.”* * *“Should we fuckher up or keep her on ice?”

God, I was straining so hard that I wasn’t entirely sure exploding wasn’t the next step. I’ve been trying to make sense of the one-sided conversation since I was tossed over the broad shoulder of a man I hadn’t seen enter the room and was carted downstairs.

The one that found me had suffered a pretty hard blow to the kneecap so I could escape what was left of the bed.

Unfortunately, he’d managed to recover before I could escape…

“Give it up, girl. I’m bigger than you.”

I ignored his leering face and looked for an avenue of escape.

“Stronger than you.”

I scoffed and considered jumping from the window. Could I get it open in time?

“Faster.”

Guess not.

With no other option, I got into a fighting stance and prayed the meager training Angel gave me—one of the few things he did right—paid off. “So try me, bitch.”

The sudden glint in his silver eyes was my only warning a second before he launched.

Throwing myself out of the way just in time, I scrambled to put distance between us. He stood where I once was, and I moved closer to the door.

I expected anger and insults. The pretty man dressed in blue jeans and a fitted white tee stared back at me with interest. He certainly didn’t look the type to storm castles and scare little girls from under their beds.

Figuratively speaking, of course, since I did break in.

“Why are you just standing there?”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. His attention was no longer invested in me.

“Because you already lost.” The whisper came from behind, so close it tickled the hairs on my neck.

I’d forgotten he wasn’t alone.

Goose bumps spread from my neck to my fingers, and the voice materialized in front of me in the shape of a man. His blonde and black hair was pulled carelessly into a bun. His green eyes twinkled as he smiled. “Hi, there.”

I was lifted in the air before I could react and tossed over his shoulder. I jerked into action and pounded against his back, but I might have been throwing feather punches because he didn’t break stride or even indicate he was in pain as he carried me from the suite to the staircase and down.

I could feel the presence of the other man following, but then his voice speaking curtly into the phone confirmed he’d followed.

“It’s a chick, man. Yeah… she’s alone.”

Man-bun never took his eyes off me and with half a grin on his pretty face, he looked too friendly for what was happening here.

I sat on the marble floor of the entrance where he ordered me after I had socked him and sat crossed legged as he instructed. He stood in front of me with his hands shoved in his pockets,but something told me not to misjudge his easy stance. He could probably slit my throat before I untucked a leg.

The other one brooded a few feet away with his phone plastered to his ear. He wasn’t as friendly as his partner was, but he hadn’t hurt me either. I sat as still as I could and listened in on his side of the conversation but understood nothing. They either spoke in code or didn’t believe in complete sentences.

The defined muscles in his arms, powerful back and broad shoulders straining against the thin shirt he wore told me where he spent much of his time. I wondered if he was one of those guys who were all muscle and not much else. His dusty colored hair was messy in a fashionable way. Maybe he’d just rolled out of bed with someone who couldn’t keep her fingers from running through it. I knew I wouldn’t.

“You look like you have a question,” man bun commented. His lazy grin grew into a full-fledged smile when my gaze jerked from his partner. It was obvious I’d been caught ogling. I ignored his comment and his smugness and let my gaze fall to his chest. A pristine white button-up covered the area, but it didn’t hide the muscles bunched beneath them. He wasn’t as strongly built as his friend was, but he was no less impressive. The black jeans he wore emphasized his muscular legs and fit him like a glove but not tight enough to make me question how much air he was getting down there. Black suspenders hung from his jeans, giving him the appearance of a rugged geek. On his feet were black Nike high-tops.