Eloise

The door was torn off it's hinges and before I could even register who was standing there, a mountain of a man shoved past me. He wore a dark, cheap suit, and his face was carved into a sneer. I recognized the man as the bald man from the cafe.

“Where is he? Where’s the kid?” he asked.

They were here for Eian, or maybe for the man I’d just kidnapped. I was so stupid. Of course, they’d track him. He is rich.

I spun around, my hands already up in a defensive, half-crazy gesture. “Get out of my house! You can’t just—”

The man didn't even glance at me. He was already kicking over the small coat rack in the hallway. Behind him, three other men, all dressed poorly, poured in.

“Listen to me!” I stepped forward, pushing my body between them and the living room. “There’s no one here. You have the wrong house! Just go, before I call the—”

“Shut the fuck up, lady.”

One of them shoved me hard in the shoulder. I stumbled back against the console table. The little antique lamp I inherited from my father crashed to the floor.

“You son of a b*tch!” I lunged at the guy, not thinking. My sharp nails raked across his cheek, leaving three bright red lines.

He roared, grabbing my arm and twisting it behind my back. “Crazy bitch! I’ll snap your arm, I swear to God!”

The others were already tearing the place apart. A man with a neck tattoo flipped over the sofa, sending cushions flying. Another kicked through the door of my little utility closet, searching for goodness knows what.

“I said, where is the boy?” the bald man who was apparently the leader demanded, grabbing the collar of the gold-chain guy and yanking him away from me. “Forget the psycho hag. Check the back.”

They charged toward the kitchen and the back hallway. I took a quick, painful moment to rub my aching shoulder, then I followed them.

They reached the door to the back bedroom, where I’d stashed my kidnapped man who had claimed he was Eli, and the leader kicked it open.

I stopped dead in my tracks at the comical sight in front of me.

Eli was standing there. He was fully dressed, somehow. He had clearly snatched the first thing he could find which was my brother’s pants, who, thankfully,is not around at the moment.

Eian was inches shorter than Eli, and maybe a hundred pounds lighter. The pants came up to Eli's mid-calf. The waistband looked stretched thin around his narrow hips. Above the pants, he was naked.

It was so completely absurd that I almost burst out laughing, except I was in trouble.

The bald man wasn’t moving. He was just frozen, staring at Eli like he knew him.

“Ben,” Eli drawled, like he was bored. “Tell me this isn't what you are reduced to.Terrorizing weak women?”

Weak women? I had just bitched and clawed my way through these thugs, and I’d head-butted him half an hour ago! I felt a surge of defensive indignation.The audacity!

Suddenly, Baldy Ben whipped out a gun and aimed at Eli’s chest. But before he could even straighten his arm, Eli moved. He kicked out the gun clean out of Ben's hands. In the same breath, his foot slammed into Ben's stomach making him to double over.

The other two goons rushed at Eli but he was ready for them. His fists hit one on his jaw and he stumbled back into my dresser. He grabbed one's head and hit it against the wall. My mouth dropped as I watched

Holy sh*t.

This man was lethal. He has done this before. In less than five seconds, Eli had disarmed and disabled three grown men.

Suddenly, a hand wrapped around my mouth and held a gun to my head.

“Move or I will splatter this bitch’s brains all the floor,” he snarled.

“Let her go,” Eli said, his voice dropping an octave. “You let her go, and I might just let you live.”

“Might? I’ve got the gun, you rich fuck. You think I’m scared of your little ‘might’?”

“You should be,” Eli responded, his eyes hardening to the color of frozen glass. “I told you once. Drop her. If a single hair on her head is damaged, I swear to God you will regret the day you decided to walk into this house.”

The thug, clearly enjoying the leverage, pressed the gun harder. “I don’t think so, don! You’re coming with us.”

Before Eli could move, another man appeared in the damaged doorway. This man was tall, sharp-looking, and dressed impeccably in a dark, well-cut suit. He took in the overturned furniture, the unconscious goons, and the stalemate in the bedroom door in one quick, dismissive glance.

He smiled, a wide, genuine, almost cheerful smile. He looked completely unconcerned about the bodies he might have to clean up.

“Hey, listen to the man, buddy,” the new arrival said easily. His voice was warm, friendly even. “He said drop the girl. You really don’t want to cross him on this one.”

“Who the hell are you?”

Eli didn't look away from the thug’s face, but he addressed the new man. “Took you long enough, Ivan. Did you stop for a damn latte?”

Ivan chuckled, spreading his hands in a gesture of exaggerated apology. “Sorry, don. Traffic was a bitch, and your tracking signal was running on dial-up.”

"Traffic for two days, Ivan?"

He shrugged, "It was hard to find you."

The thug was completely distracted, trying to process the sudden appearance of the cheerful, suit-wearing Ivan, and that was all the opening I needed.

Weak woman, my ass.

I had been held at gunpoint for too long. My neck hurt. My father's lamp was shattered. My home was ruined. So I acted before the thought was even fully formed.

I bit down. Hard.

My teeth sank into the back of the hand gripping my mouth. The man roared in pain and stumbled back.

I didn't pause. As his hand flew up to hold his bleeding wound, I dropped low and located the most vulnerable, essential part of a man’s anatomy.

I grabbed him by the balls, wrapped my fingers around his precious jewels, and squeezed with my stilettos manicured hands.

The scream that erupted from the man was truly phenomenal. It was a high-pitched, desperate shriek that belonged on a horror movie soundtrack. He dropped the gun, forgetting it completely, and crumpled to the floor, curling into the fetal position, both hands clamping over his groin. He whimpered, crying out a string of curses I hadn’t even heard Eian use.

Both Eli and Ivan stared at me, before Ivan bursted into laugher. He doubled over, clutching his stomach. “Oh my god—she went for the d*ck! Brutal!”

Eli's mouth twitched, the faintest display of amusement.

“Well, damn,” Eli murmured, gazing down at the whimpering mound of manhood on the floor. “You must have an obsession with cocks, woman. First you try to stare at mine, now this?” he asked flatly.

My face burned. “I was defending myself, you arrogant ass!”

Eli simply grunted, a sound that clearly said he didn’t believe a word of my "instinct" defense.

Ivan wiped a tear of laughter from his eye. “Oh, that was beautiful, El. Absolutely beautiful. A world-class squeeze.” He stopped laughing abruptly, his face turning professional in a blink.

He walked over to the man writhing in pain on the floor, who was still too busy protecting his family jewels to notice the shift in atmosphere. Ivan pulled the man’s head up by his hair, not gently.

“Who sent you?” Ivan asked, his cheerful voice now flat and stern.

The thug just groaned, shaking his head slightly. “Go fuck yourself.”

Ivan sighed, a sound of disappointment. “That’s a shame. Could’ve gone home tonight.”

He brought out a gun from his suit and shit him on his head.

I screamed again, this time actually scared. .

Eli sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He looked utterly exhausted.

“Stop screaming all the time, woman” Eli commanded, his tone sharp and irritated, like I was a noisy alarm clock he couldn’t turn off. “It’s unnecessary. Ivan, next time, use the knife.”

I stumbled further back into the hallway, my hands covering my mouth, trying to hold back another shriek.

“Y-you… you killed a man!” I stammered. The sight of the corpse and the easy way Ivan had executed him finally brought me back to my scenes.

Eli looked at the dead man on the floor, then back at me. “He was going to kill you, Eloise. He was going to kill me. He got what he deserved.” He shrugged one shoulder, completely nonchalant. “You know how this goes.”

“I don’t know how this goes!” I hissed. “I make coffee! I make damn pastries! I don't see people get murdered in my house!”

Eli ignored me. He addressed Ivan, who was calmly kicking the gun under the couch. “Get me new clothes. And get this cleaned.”

Ivan grinned, pulling out his phone. “New clothes, check. Clean up, check. But first,” he said, aiming his phone at Eli. “I have to capture the moment. Nobody is going to believe the don took wore this.”

Eli shot him a lethal look. “If you send that anywhere, Ivan, I’ll send your head to your mother in a gift basket.”

“Too late, sent it to the secure server,” Ivan chirped, completely unbothered by the threat. He slipped his phone away. “Be back in twenty, boss. Don’t let the lady grab your nuts.” He gave me a wink that was both horrifying and strangely charming before he vanished back through the broken door.

I stayed pressed against the corner of the room, breathing hard, watching the man who had brought this absolute nightmare into my life. The hazel eyes were still calm, but they were no longer looking at me with amusement or anger—just a cool, assessing patience. He looked like he was waiting for me to finish my tantrum.

I took a deep, shuddering breath. I didn't care about the pants, the screaming, or the dead man. I needed to know the truth.

“Who exactly are you?” I asked,

“You asked that before, Eloise. And you didn't believe the answer.” He paused. “I am Eli Montero and you shouldn't have kidnapped me, Eloise Carter.”