Ryder: Hitman Mafia Romance by Lexi Cross Read Free Book Online Page A

he could have convinced himself that she didn’t want him and never would, he could have gone on with his life and put her out of his mind whenever she threatened to break in. But knowing was too much. He kept seeing her huge brown eyes and the way they yearned for him. Now, he’d have to follow her around, not touching her, but knowing what it felt like to touch her. Knowing that she wanted him. Knowing that every harsh word was a move in the game.
     
    He loved these games. He couldn’t wait to see her next move. Would she grow colder, harsher? Would she ignore him? Would she turn and suddenly be nice to him? Fat chance of that. Would she tell her father that he’d kissed her?
     
    That made his blood turn cold. She might. She might be vengeful enough, and if she wanted him and he didn’t fuck her, she might feel slighted. He scrambled out of bed and went to the videos. He brought up the footage on the laptop and scanned back through it to find their encounter.
     
    Watching it made him hot all over again. God, he’d have to jerk off again before going to sleep. He shook his head. He opened the video file and cut out the part where they’d kissed. When he watched again after cutting it, it looked like they’d had words and she stormed off.  Perfect. As long as whoever watched didn’t pay too much attention to the time stamp. Fuck. There was no way to fix that. He’d have to take his chances. At least if someone knew part of the video was missing, they couldn’t prove what was missing. It was still safer.
     
    As much as he wanted to keep that clip to watch it over and over and see her leg swing up to hug his waist, he had to get rid of the evidence. He watched it one more time, then hit delete and emptied the recycle bin. He couldn’t afford to take any chances.
     
    Of all the hits he’d ever done. All the times he’d had to sneak into tricky places, to hunt someone down and wait for hours and hours for the perfect shot. For all the tight places he’d gotten himself into and out of, this was the trickiest. This job was, by far, the hardest job he’d ever had. Shooting people was far easier than keeping his hands off Pia.
     

Chapter 4
 
    It had been two weeks since Ryder kissed her. After the kiss, which still felt unreal to her, she’d gone to bed and hadn’t slept at all that night. She kept thinking about sneaking into his room or finding some other way to see him. She was so exhausted by the next day that when she finally woke, it had all seemed like a dream. She wasn’t sure if it was a nightmare or not.
     
    She’d tried to pretend like it never happened. Like he was just her bodyguard and nothing more. She had nothing for him or against him. She only talked to him when she needed to and nothing more. She wasn’t nice or mean. She wasn’t really anything at all.
     
    That was on the outside. But inside, it was turmoil. Every time she saw him or he came near, her heart leapt. She would steal glances at him when she thought he wasn’t looking. She’d think about him all the time, even though she tried her hardest not to. He was always there. How could she not think of him? She had no choice but to be near him constantly. And it was driving her crazy.
     
    She clicked the fob of her car door and got in. A moment later, Ryder got into the backseat. She’d gotten good at ignoring him. Like he was nothing more than her shadow. She turned the music up and sang along as she drove to work. When they arrived, she unlocked the door and went through her morning routine.
     
    First, the lights went on. The inside of the store lit up suddenly as the lights flicked on one by one. She walked to the back where the office was. There, she opened the safe and pulled out the register till. Once it was in place in the register, she walked through the store. The long rack along the sides of the store held her priciest pieces. They had the prime spot and were the most visible. In the center were the slightly less