I UNLOCKED my apartment door and notice a parcel on the floor. Shutting the door, I ripped it open and saw the fake passport, credit cards and phone. There were other documents all under the name of Milan Prince. I walked to my bedroom, admiring my photo in the passport then walked into a hard chest. Amber eyes looked down at me, amused.
"Hello, Malia."
"Again? I know you're a criminal but I'm sure you know this is illegal," I exclaimed, moving away from him. As usual, he was dressed in black, the only color coming from his eyes.
"I'm pretty sure that having fake ID is as well," he shot back, glancing at the passport in my hand.
I held it closer to my chest. "I thought I told you to leave me alone."
"Sorry, baby but I can't do that. Did you know there's a guy following you?"
Worried, I turned to go back outside but Ghost grabbed my hand, forcing me to stop. "What are you doing? I'm going to arrest him."
"I've already dealt with him."
I removed my hand from his grip. "Did you kill him?"
"You expect the worst from me," he replied. "I didn't kill him because it would be suspicious if a normal guy has bullet wounds in the chest but I did make him follow a different person. You're welcome."
Glaring, I pushed him out of my room. "I can deal with a stalker for your information."
"He's a rapist."
"What? And you're letting him stalk someone else?" I hurried to the door before Ghost could stop me again but as soon as I pulled it open, it was slammed shut by his hand. I spun around, now caged in his arms and tried to push him away. "Let me go!"
"There is no way in this world that I would allow you to go to a rapist. It's out of the question, Malia," he snapped.
"I'm not allowing another person to be in danger because of me," I pleaded. "Let me arrest him, Ghost. He won't hurt me."
"Not a risk I'm willing to take."
"F*ck you," I yelled, punching him. He grabbed my wrists and pinned them above my head with one of his hands.
"In five minutes, he's going to reach for his chest in pain. The people around him will turn to him briefly, not understand that this man is going into cardiac arrest. By the time people realize he's dying, he will die and the ambulance will arrive to find the man dead on the sidewalk," he spoke quietly. "No one will get hurt by him again and you will be safe here with me."
My heart pounded in my chest as I took in what he said. Ghost brushed the stands of hair out of my face then traced the outline of my lips. "I thought about you for a whole year, wondering what you were doing, if you were safe, if you would taste the same," Ghost murmured, heat behind his gaze.
I moaned as he leaned into me, bringing us closer. "We're not-"
He released my wrists and pressed me into the door as he held my jaw gently. "I've already told you. I want you to beg, angel."
"Never."
Smirking, Ghost shook his head. "If you say so. So far you haven't been right about many things."
The spell now broken, I narrowed my eyes at him. "Why do you want the De Vil case opened? Because I know you didn't do this out of kindness and concern."
"Does it matter? I need you to go to Vegas so I can leave here. I'm not a fan of New York and I miss home."
"You have a house?" I scoffed.
"Do you think I just jump from rooftop to rooftop and live in the forest?"
"You don't?"
Ghost chuckled. "I'm not a movie character. I have a living room, kitchen and a bedroom just like you. Maybe a bit bigger though."
"You're an assassin."
"A well paid assassin," he corrected. "I don't kill for fun."
"Seems like it to me," I challenged and made my way to the kitchen, ignoring the presence shadowing me. As I turned on the kettle, I thought about how strange it was that a killer was sitting at the kitchen island watching me make coffee. "Why haven't you killed me?"
"I don't feel like it yet and you owe me more than an hour."
"You're an asshole." I added sugar to my mug. "I don't understand why you keep following me if you don't like me."
"There's no underlining romantic reason, angel. I just need a place to crash until we leave for Las Vegas."
"You're not staying here. There's no bed."
He winked. "I can stay in yours."
"I have a f*cking boyfriend. He will go crazy if he sees you here."
"I don't care what he does. He's lucky we're in New York because I would have shot him a long time ago."
"You say you don't like me but you want to kill my boyfriend. I'm confused," I said exasperated and drank my coffee.
"Then stop bringing him up. Do you start bringing me up when you're with him? No. Do I bring up any girls with you? No. Actually, let me tell you about Stella. She could really suck-"
"I don't want to know," I interrupted. "You can't stay in my room."
"I'll stay on the couch."
Rubbing my temples, I could feel a headache coming. "It's only two days, right?"
"No more, no less."
"I just have to keep Duke from finding out."
"Do you lie to all the guys in your life?"
I flinched slightly at the question. "He's seen you before and he gets jealous easily."
"I can see why," Ghost answered. "If I was with you, I'd probably chain you up."
"What the hell? I fear for your girlfriend."
"Fear for yourself. You draw attention wherever you go. It's enough to make someone become possessive."
My phone began ringing and I looked at the screen to see Duke's name. I answered, motioning to Ghost to be quiet. "Hello?"
"Hey, baby. You free tonight?"
Glancing at Ghost who was glaring at my phone, I decided it would be best to stay at home. "I'm really tired. Tomorrow?"
A car honked in the background. "That's fine. I'll pick you up at four."
"Okay. Bye." I hung up and put my phone away.
"What did he say?" Ghost asked, casually.
"None of your business," I replied. "The couch is all yours. If you need anything, sort it out yourself. I have a meeting first thing tomorrow so don't wake me up."
"Do you have any spare clothes?"
"Duke might have-"
"Never mind. I'll just wear nothing," he decided then pulled his shirt off revealing his chiseled body. I closed my eyes, horrified.
"Put your shirt on," I demanded, ignoring the part of me that wanted to see.
"I'm going anyway. Don't wake me up, I have people to find tomorrow."
There was no sound to tell me if he had gone so I counted to ten before opening my eyes. Thankfully, he had left. I entered my bedroom and I felt guilty that he was in my living room sleeping on my tiny couch. Picking up pillows, I tiptoed to where he was and peered inside.
"Are you awake?" I whispered. No response. His body was draped over the couch, clearly too big for it. I moved closer and knelt down to put the pillows around him. He looked calm for once - long eyelashes brushing against his cheekbones, lips slightly parted, his chest rising and falling slowly-
"What are you doing?" He asked, eyes still shut.
Heat crept to my cheeks and I leaned back. "I brought pillows."
Grabbing them, he then looked at me with a devilish grin. "Were you worried?"
"No," I said getting up. "I don't worry about people I don't care about."
"Sure, angel. I believe you."
I smacked his head with one of the pillows. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight."
"Night."