Ruthless Creatures by J.T. Geissinger

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I say firmly, “This is private property. My property. I’vealready asked you to leave, but you haven’t. So not only areyou harassing me and scaring me, you’re trespassing. Andconsidering our past relationship, your obsession with myneighbor, and your history of stalkerish behavior with theconstant drive-bys—which I’m sure your boss could trackfrom your phone or the equipment in your squad car if heneeded to—it would look very bad for you in front of a jury ifI felt compelled to use this weapon.”His eyes bulge. His face turns red. He sputters, “A-are youth-threatening to shoot me?”“I don’t know, Chris. Check to see if I’m glancing up andto the right.”After a moment of stunned silence, he says loudly, “Youbitch!”That almost makes me smile. If nothing else, it makes mefeel better for going all Rambo on him. “Charming. Now getoff my porch before I put a hole in your chest big enough tosee daylight through.”He clenches his fists. Steam billows from his ears. Hestands there shaking in rage until he spins on his heel andstalks off, cursing.I’ve never been much of a gun enthusiast before. I onlyhave the thing because my dad left it behind when he and mymom moved. But right now, I’m feeling all sorts of ClintEastwood tough, and all it took was resting my hand on thisweapon.This weapon that couldn’t blow a hole through anything,human or otherwise, because it isn’t loaded.As Chris peels off down the street in a cloud of smoke, Istand in the open doorway, unsure if I want to laugh or cry.I go to bed depressed.When I wake up sometime later, it’s still dark. The room issilent and still. For a moment, I’m disoriented, listening hardinto the darkness and wondering with a little flutter of panicinside my chest what made me wake up.
Then my heart starts to pound, because I realize I’m notalone.Someone else is in the room with me.
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RUTHLESS CREATURES
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CONTENTSPrefacePlaylist1. Nat2. Nat
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This is a work of fiction. Names, c
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For Jay, my poison of choice.
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P L A Y L I S T“Desperado” Rhia
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Chris isn’t a bad guy. He’s not
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David and I rescued him when he was
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Today marks five years since David
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I take my sweet time using the toil
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I’m shocked. This is unprecedente
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walk into a room without automatica
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2N A T“Earth to Natalie. Come in,
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I wonder what she’d do if I dumpe
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thousand feet above sea level isn
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“Because I’m awesome, obviously
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me up on Steelhead, so I thought I
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3K A G EIt shouldn’t make a diffe
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I run my tongue over my furry teeth
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“Breakfast it is.”After I’ve
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I mean, if I can handle this, I can
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palpitating.When the front door sla
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5N A T“Itold you he was a widower
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“Him who? Reschedule what?”“I
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I make a show of polishing off my s
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Whoa. That was my stomach dropping.
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He murmurs to himself, “She’s f
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Not angry, exactly, but more like u
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He’s breaking out the manners, I
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the set of Sons of Anarchy, and und
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My mouth opens. For several moments
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life, not even my fiancé.”He wai
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I settle on, “I’m not the girl
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“Oh, come on! You would not!”
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“I just feel like…I don’t kno
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I lose the battle with trying to ho
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run a hand over my hair, and try to
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But it must’ve been only a day or
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An extra set of house keys is there
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He glances bashfully at the ground
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“I have one just like it. Same si
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“Tomorrow night, then. Tuesday ni
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“So I thought about what you said
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He doesn’t turn around. He simply
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The voice on the other end of the l
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1 0
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Getting through class Monday is she
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She holds my ID up against her comp
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The interior of the box is simple.
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were toast.”It’s true. He was a
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“Your Honor, I present to the cou
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N A TAmonth goes by. Then another.
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When I only stand there staring at
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The ghost of a smile lifts the corn
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He’s thrown his wool overcoat ont
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He murmurs, “I want everything yo
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heartbeat in every part of my body,
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N A TTover the line.he next day, I
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“What?” she demands. I can almo
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Aaand here comes the heat in my che
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In his pause, I feel his surprise.
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“We’ve been over this. We’re
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“Don’t worry,” he says in a h
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N A TWHa!hen Kage knocks on my door
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out of my head, and I’ve tried. H
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I say, “Okay. Let’s say I accep
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Then he breaks away suddenly and st
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I whisper, “So either don’t tel
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1 4
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Upon laying eyes on Kage, every one
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“Here. Boston. Chicago. New York.
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The table falls into silence when t
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He murmurs, “We’d be pleased to
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He pushes me against the wall. His
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When my orgasm hits, I lose myself.
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K A G EWhorror.“What was that?”
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No—not cowers. Her legs are curle
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If we’re lucky, they won’t see
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N A TKage is silent as he drives. H
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“In a nutshell…yes.”Now I’m
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His voice gravelly, he says, “It
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He knows what I’m asking.Knows th
Page 164 and 165: He pulls his brows together. “Of
Page 166 and 167: N A TIalready knew Kage was intense
Page 168 and 169: Harsh, guttural Russian, the words
Page 170 and 171: The moment when I finally give myse
Page 172 and 173: Into my hair, he whispers, “I hav
Page 174 and 175: I kiss him softly on the lips. “Y
Page 176 and 177: N A TWe talk for a while, then Kage
Page 178 and 179: When the plate is empty, he sets it
Page 180 and 181: His voice has dropped an octave and
Page 182 and 183: “I love this greedy wet cunt—
Page 184 and 185: So of course I have to keeping roll
Page 186 and 187: That’s the last thing I remember
Page 188 and 189: N A TWhen I open the door, I find t
Page 190 and 191: Pause. A daring stare. I say nothin
Page 192 and 193: Men.“I don’t know anything.”H
Page 194 and 195: “Jesus, Nat. That guy? Are you ki
Page 196 and 197: “We landed in Rome. Now we’re o
Page 198 and 199: Then I click over to Kage.
Page 200 and 201: N A T“K“Good morning. I left yo
Page 202 and 203: “Mine, of course.”He sounds so
Page 204 and 205: trying very hard not to break out i
Page 206 and 207: —”“Mr. Santiago from MoraBanc
Page 208 and 209: N A TFor the next few weeks, I exis
Page 210 and 211: I call my parents in Arizona, but t
Page 212 and 213: “—is a liar, a career criminal,
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Page 218 and 219: He winds his arms around my back, p
Page 220 and 221: I give up with a grateful sigh and
Page 222 and 223: My voice comes out in the barest of
Page 224 and 225: “You’d let me tie you up and bl
Page 226 and 227: I giggle a little when I picture my
Page 228 and 229: 2 3
Page 230 and 231: I think for a moment. “Where were
Page 232 and 233: giving me a great view of his beaut
Page 234 and 235: “Was that planned?”“No.”I s
Page 236 and 237: I cover my mouth with both my hands
Page 238 and 239: 2 4
Page 240 and 241: Too addictive. I’m too far under
Page 242 and 243: N A TAfter the shower, I pour Kage
Page 244 and 245: It’s not gruesome. It’s not eve
Page 246 and 247: He squeezes my butt when he says,
Page 248 and 249: That makes me snort. “Not even cl
Page 250 and 251: “I know you’re not giving me sh
Page 252 and 253: His voice breaks. “Not even for l
Page 254 and 255: 2 6
Page 256 and 257: “Not that.”His voice is serious
Page 258 and 259: “I mean when I told you my life w
Page 260 and 261: Still advancing slowly, he says sof
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This one, apparently.He’s an evil
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The skin on his cock is the softest
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My entire central nervous system is
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Kage breathes, “Fuck, baby. You l
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2 8
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threads a hand into my hair and gri
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“Color?”Panting, I whisper, “
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“Hush now. No more sound unless I
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I arch, gasping, out of my mind wit
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He makes me feel safe. Safe and pro
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N A TA We don’t talk about it, bu
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Kage comes back and this sour littl
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surfaces.“What about you? Are you
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didn’t go over well. By the time
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“Oh, I know. I also know your mat
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3 0
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She stares at me like I’ve just s
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I look at the ceiling and heave a s
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Silence.When I glance up at her, Sl
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Of all the times Kage has probably
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K A G EWhen the text comes through,
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He wants to know what to do with th
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warehouse, headed back to their fam
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“Yeah. She broke it off with Stav
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I can’t.Because for the first tim
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N A TAfter that night, three days g
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Because I’m hearing the ringing o
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His lids drift lower. He licks his
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He swallows and tightens his arms a
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could get you killed.”His laugh i
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N A TII lie in the dark in Kage’s
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I close my eyes. A lone tears slips
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I say, “Green. Do it.”A gentle
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He winds an arm around my waist, wr
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K A G EWhen the view outside the be
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I want to sink my teeth into every
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“What you said to make Chris go a
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3 5
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It’s a Saturday. I’m up early,
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The footsteps in the snow. The nigh
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He exhales a short, disappointed br
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deafening. I scream, purely on inst
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N A TKage drops the shotgun and fli
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When he stays silent, I prompt, “
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K A G EA My father told me that. He
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She takes it from me silently. She
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“When were you going to start ask
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As she points the gun an inch from
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When I return an hour later, her ho
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N A TThe instant the door closes be
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Catherine Zeta-Jones played the par
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I pack a bag, call my parents, and
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N A TThe Villa Camilla Hotel in Pan
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I try to make my smile look as sane
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I also can’t wait to set it on fi
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4 0
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Nobody threatens my baby.
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N A TWhen I come to, I’m lying on
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“Okay, that covers the first few
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He murmurs, “I never wanted to hu
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for me? Not knowing what had happen
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“I don’t understand.”I try to
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4 2
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years ago or you are. My money’s
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Behind him, an attractive brunette
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4 3
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It’s obvious she can tell by the
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I’ll leave her alone all she want
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but he does care about gaining adva
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“Max is dead.”She blinks. I nod
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4 4
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in a bit of a state.”“A state?
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She’s unimpressed. “Puh. He’s
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“To bed.”I don’t bother fight
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pulling it out and stroking it from
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N A TOver the next week, what seems
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He chuckles. “Yes. That one’s t
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“Answer the damn question.”“
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“Headstrong? You’ve been readin
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E P I L O G U E
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Shaking my head, I snort. “There
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Oh boy. This doesn’t look good.I
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A C K N O W L E D G M E N T SWhew!
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A B O U T T H E A U T H O RJ.T. Gei
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STANDALONE NOVELSPerfect Strangers(
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Ruthless Creatures by J.T. Geissinger

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