Don't Judge a Book

by Suzanne Steele

  “It’s a conflict of interest for you to be working for my competition. I have already informed them that my wife will no longer be doing their write-ups for advertising.”

  “Don’t fuck with my money, Bill!”

  I watched as a dark shadow clouded his expression and his voice came out as more of a sinister threat, “You belong to me now—lock, stock, and barrel, little girl. I will fuck with your money, your mind, your body, your emotions, and any fucking thing else I decide I want to fuck with.”

  His cold stare never left my face as if awaiting an answer. I just rolled my eyes signifying what he had said didn’t bother me. Deep down inside I knew he had a hold on me and that every day his grip became tighter, but he didn’t need to know that I knew it.

  “Mmm, hmm, I thought so,” was all that he said. He rose to exit the room and leaned over and hissed, “Boo.” Then he laughed when I jumped. He had done exactly what he set out to do—he had let me know he was in control and would remain that way. I knew Bill Covington would never let me go. The odd thing about it was I had no desire to go anywhere, for now…

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Miller sat slouched down in the seat of his black SUV doing what he did best; multi-tasking. It took a certain kind of man to be able to watch more than one thing at a time, but it was a necessary evil in his line of work.

  His job of making sure Bill’s wife was kept safe while he was incarcerated was over. Now he would be able to spend more time doing surveillance on the woman who was supposed to be his next hit.

  He couldn’t ever remember a time he had felt so conflicted about killing someone. He had standards, and one of those standards happened to be not killing women. He had taken on this job under false pretenses. Her ex-husband had lied; insinuating that the death of their child had been by her hand. He still had some things to work out on this case—after all—he wanted to be certain to kill the right person. Conscience had no place in the make-up of a hit man, but then again Miller wasn’t your ordinary hit man. He already knew this would be the first time that he would fake a mark’s death in order to save her.

  He watched the computer screen as the woman moved through her apartment as if she floated on air. There was an innocent elegance about her. She was tall and thin, but had large breasts. He guessed that they were probably implants, even though they did appear to be real. Miller had been with enough women that he knew there was no such thing as a Barbie doll figure—not without the help of a good surgeon or trainer.

  He knew he took unnecessary risks when it came to this mark. Hell he had almost been caught putting surveillance up in her penthouse. She had woke up and seen him, only to roll back over and go back to sleep. The only thing that had saved his ass was the fact that he had drugged her and she would awaken the next day just thinking it was a dream.

  He could feel his cock harden when he noticed that he could see through the sheer gown she donned. Her long blond hair flowed down her back and thoughts of tugging at it while he fucked her from behind invaded his mind.

  There was something so innocent and vulnerable about her, it made him want to protect her from the jackass of an ex-husband of hers who had hired him.

  Over and over he had gone through scenarios of how he could insert himself into her life. Miller wasn’t the kind of man to give up easily, and with the way the thoughts of her invaded him, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to let her go.

  Even though he convinced himself she needed to be protected from the man who had lied about her being the cause of her baby’s death; he knew he was developing feelings for her.

  It was normal to connect with people he was hired to kill. You couldn’t help but connect with someone you watched day after day. Normally it was a connection of malevolence, malignity, and feelings of a need for due process. This wasn’t any of those things. Whether Miller wanted to admit it or not—he had bonded with his mark. Now he was dealing with thoughts of how he could protect her. What if her husband hired someone else to kill her? What if he hired some street thug with no convictions or morals?

  Yes, Miller was going to have to find a way to insert himself into her life without her becoming suspicious of how he became aware of her. The fact that she was agoraphobic only complicated matters. The thing he had going for him was the drive to protect her. She would need him and when she did, he would be there in full force. Anyone who knew anything about the hit man knew he was not an enemy that you wanted to make. God help anyone who tried to harm this woman who he had taken under his wing; because God would be the only one who could…

  Kirk sat at his desk glaring at the newspaper article of Bill and Angelica’s wedding announcement. Though the photo had been taken was just a shot some random local paparazzi had managed to shoot of them walking hand in hand down the street, Angelica still looked beautiful. He didn’t quite understand the fixation he had developed on her, but he really wasn’t trying to figure it out. All he knew was that she needed to be saved.

  Ironically enough the case that bothered him the most was that of a woman who had been killed while under his protection. He had managed to talk her into pressing charges on her drug dealing boyfriend after he had beat her to within an inch of her life.

  He could never get past the issue that she died while under his watch. Her boyfriend had managed to enter her house through a window as she slept, and this time… he beat her to death.

  When Kirk had gone to the scene of the crime she had been beaten so badly her face was nothing more than bloody mush. Every bone had not only been broken, but ground and shattered. He had only been able to identify her through the tattoo she had on her left hip.

  Years later, he was still plagued with nightmares of the horrid site of a woman who had literally been beat to death while under his care. Though no one else blamed him, he blamed himself.

  In his mind, if Bill had the connections to have Riley killed—then he was a possible danger to Angelica in the future. Though Bill stated he would never do anything to harm his wife, Kirk wasn’t convinced of that.

  As he sat staring at the article in front of him the answer became clear to him. If he wanted to get to Bill then he needed to take down his hired muscle, Miller. Why hadn’t he thought of that before? If he took down the people who worked for Bill it would render him helpless and if he was weakened, he would be more vulnerable to an attack. Yes, it was settled, he would go after the people who did Bill’s bidding and then work on getting charges brought against him that would stick. He just needed to get him out of the picture and then he could have the thing that he coveted most, Angelica…

  “Wake up my little vixen, my cock is hard.”

  I slid out of bed before my husband could latch onto me. I had to pee and I desperately needed to brush my teeth. I needed coffee too, but knowing my husband the way I did I wouldn’t be getting any until he pounded the day lights out of me.

  “Get your ass out here before I come in there and bend you over the sink and fuck you raw.”

  “Your ability to romance the opposite sex is impressive, Bill.”

  “I don’t give a shit about romance or impressing anyone, I take what I want and right now I want that hot, wet, little pussy of yours.”

  “It isn’t wet,” I stated, jumping on top of and tackling him beneath me. “Who is the Alpha dog now?” I sneered.

  He picked me up by my hips and lowered me down on his hard shaft.

  “Then show me what you’ve got, Alpha bitch.”

  I smacked at his face and he grabbed my wrist. “Don’t call me a bitch.”

  “You said dog, and you’re female.”

  “Fuck you,” I hissed.

  He wiggled his hips beneath me as he spoke, “Oh Alpha queen, please do.”

  “No, I think that you need discipline. Maybe some orgasm denial—you know, to teach you how to address the Queen.”

  “The fuck I do,” he stated, lifting my hips and plunging me back down on him.

  I lifted my weight up
on the balls of my feet and palmed my hands on his chest, lowering myself up and down on his hardened member. A growl emitted from somewhere deep in his chest and it only spurred me on.

  His fingers began manipulating the pearl of nerves that had already become stimulated by this man who rocked my world sexually and now emotionally.

  “I love you girl, I don’t know if you know that or not, but I fucking love you…”

  Talon sat on his bed eyeing the box the man who he had dubbed ‘CEO’ had sent him. He was shocked he done what he said that he would do. His life had been hard and full of lies. To see someone follow through with a promise they had made, meant more to him than he could ever put into words.

  He let his mind wander as he fingered the different objects that had been sent in the care package. There was cologne, shaving utensils. Everything he had specified, right down to the candy and the notebooks and pens he had asked for.

  He let his mind wander as he thought about wearing the cologne the next time that little do-gooder lawyer who kept begging him to let her take his case came in.

  She was a bleeding hear, a do-gooder, who worked pro-bono on cases where people had been wrongfully prosecuted for crimes which they didn’t commit. He wasn’t naïve enough to believe she would get him out, he just liked her visiting. She smelled good and she was great fantasy fodder. He shifted on the bed as he felt his cock twitch, better to think of her later on, at a more private time.

  He did wonder why a high-powered career driven woman like her would give a shit about the likes of him. Every time he saw her she oozed confidence and power. She was just his type in many more ways than one; she was fair skinned, blonde haired, hazel eyed, sex in heels.

  Every time she whipped out her briefcase and eyed him over those sexy glasses she wore, he wanted to throw her down on the metal slab table and fuck her brains out.

  There was nothing Talon enjoyed more than taking a woman who wouldn’t give a guy like him the time of day under different circumstances, and making her come so hard she screamed out his name in agonized pleasure.

  Normally it would be the thought of taking a highfalutin, high society, high-minded woman and turning her into a hapless puddle of sexual need that would turn him on. But this chick was different, even though she was educated and successful, she was compassionate and kind. He could only guess the fact that she was a contradiction of terms was one of the many things that turned him on about her.

  Talon was one of the few who had a cell to himself. He knew it was due to his connections on the outside that the warden made sure that he had a private cell. After all he didn’t want his house going up in flames with his wife, kids, and dogs in it. Yes, it was an unspoken rule that Talon got privileges the other inmates only dreamed of receiving.

  Inside, life was good for him… but he wanted out. If he stood a chance—even a fraction of a chance of getting out, because of the hot little number who had taken his case, then he had to at least let her give it a try. Or he would always wonder what could have been. Plus, she looked and smelled so damn good…

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Bill’s mother chuckled as she situated the veil over my face.

  “You’re going to do fine. The hardest part is over, you’re already married, this is just a formality.”

  “How many reporters are out there?”

  “One, the one my son wanted out there.”

  I chuckled. “Has he always been this controlling?”

  “Since he was a child, it’s just his personality. I can’t help but wonder if it isn’t because of the way his father left us.”

  I could hear the guilt in her voice and it tugged at my heart. I really had come to love Bill’s mother. She was a good woman and I was lucky to have a mother-in-law who would be a joy to have around. I’d heard so many horror stories that it made me grateful to have her.

  My heart raced as I heard the Wedding March begin and she patted my hand as if reading my mind. “You’ll do fine, dear.”

  Flashes went off as cameras snapped, to get the perfect shot. Though I could see them in my peripheral vision, I had tunnel vision when I saw my husband awaiting me.

  The lighting bounced off of the highlights in his curly copper hair and the tux he wore gave him a commanding presence. As happy as I was to have a formal wedding, I really just wanted to get this part of it over with. The stupid thoughts plaguing my subconscious were troubling to say the least. What if I trip over my dress and falling face first into the isle—only to have a reporter get the shot and plaster it on the front page of the society section. I just needed to get this over with.

  Bill must have sensed my anxiety because he leaned over and whispered in my ear, “I’m going to tie you up and fuck your brains out on our honeymoon… honey…”

  By the heat that flushed over me and the look the preacher gave me, I knew that I must have turned beet-red.

  Oh God, just let this be over already…

  I stood on the balcony holding the railing as I watched the Puerto Rican sunset. My life had gone in a direction I never could have contemplated in a million years.

  I was still the same Alpha business woman I had always been, but now I enjoyed my submission in the bedroom. I was a contradiction of terms. I had no intentions of ever letting any man run every aspect in my life, it wasn’t in my nature. Yet I enjoyed the dominance that he exercised over me in the bedroom. It was the one time I could let go of the reins and let someone who I trusted be in control. Ironically enough it made me a better business woman by being able to let go of some of the day-to-day stress.

  “What are thinking about, pretty lady?” my husband asked as he wrapped his arms around me as I held onto the railing.

  “Nothing, just watching the sun set.”

  “Are you thinking about the pitter-patter of little feet in our home?”

  “No, I am not! I am focused on my career, thank you.”

  “Oh, we’ll be having some babies, little girl.”

  “Not anytime soon,” I argued.

  “We’ll see about that.”

  “Yeah, we will won’t we?”

  “It’s good to see you haven’t lost your fighting spirit, young lady.”

  “You don’t ever have to worry about that happening, Mr. Covington. This is who I am…”

  And they lived happily ever after, for now…

  THE HIT MAN

  PROLOGUE

  Laura

  I sat at my computer doing what I do best—tapping away at the keys to not only pay the bills, but to fill the void in my life that nothing but words can satisfy.

  I am what the professionals term as: agoraphobic. Really to be honest with you it seems to bother everyone else much more than it does me. I have found that living online is not that big of a deal. I am able to do everything from behind the screen in anonymity and I love it.

  Although I’m able to do anything that needs to be done from the keyboard of a computer, I never anticipated meeting a man from here. I’m not quite sure how it happened—he just kind of appeared one day. I write a blog on my condition as a way to support others and I guess that he ran across it and was intrigued.

  I have never seen him and I only know him as Miller.

  Miller

  Miller sat in his car watching the woman who had a hold on him and she wasn’t even aware of it or maybe she was.

  She flowed through the apartment in a sheer long sleeve white shirt with dainty pink panties beneath it.

  She crossed her legs and seated herself in the chair that gave her an ample view of the highrise apartments across the way. Binoculars were in her hand as she began to scout out the unaware residents.

  Miller grabbed his phone that was placed in the passenger seat.

  “You’re such a little voyeur.”

  He waited a moment watching as she grabbed her phone.

  “Me? I would say that is a little like the pot calling the kettle black. I would have thought you would be busy with one of your m
any women.”

  “I would have thought that you would be ready to get busy with me. Touch yourself for me baby girl, I don’t want another woman. I want you, now be a good girl and tell me when are you going to let me come up there and see you?”

  “You first.”

  Miller pulled his cock from his jeans and began to stroke it as he listened to her voice.

  “Are you stroking your pole while you daydream about fucking me, Miller?”

  “Oh girl, you know that I am.”

  Laura’s fingers made their way between her legs and moved her panties over.

  “Don’t make me come up there. That’s no fair, let me see.”

  She slid her panties off and spread her legs in front of the window as she eyed the black SUV with tinted windows parked on the street below. She could hear his breathing and it gave her a sense of control that she needed.

  “Oh, you are a dirty boy,” she taunted him pushing her finger into her soaked opening.

  “And you are a voyeur, but you can’t see me because I’m a ghost. Now put that finger in your mouth and tell me what you taste like, you little tease.”

  “I taste like your big thick cock doused in honey. Now stroke it or I’m stopping and making you put the window down.”

  “No, can do. The day that you agree to me coming up there is the day that you get to see this handsome mug. Oh, girl you would feel so good. Knowing that you are up there touching yourself while I watch is much better than any other woman could ever be. You’re going to make me come baby girl.”

  Laura’s moans became music in Miller’s ears as she came while he watched her on camera. She had no idea that Miller was a hit man and he had bugged her apartment months ago…

  Coming soon... The Hit Man.