Ruthless Creatures by J.T. Geissinger

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A C K N O W L E D G M E N T SWhew! That was intense. Please excuse me while I go pourmyself a drink and replace the batteries in my vibrator.(Just kidding, any relative of mine who’s reading this.)Can you believe this is my twenty-sixth novel? I can’t.Normally, I have the attention span of a squirrel. Most of mylife has been spent going from one thing to the next, followingwhatever shiny object catches my eye. I’m the queen ofpassing phases. But number twenty-six it is, and now that Iknow I’m capable of at least one kind of sustainedconcentration, my career goal is one hundred novels.Thank you to my husband, Jay, for doing all the dishesfrom now until then.Thank you to my cover designer, Letitia Hasser, for yourpatience with all my changes, suggestions, and tweaks. Onlyyou know that once I’ve approved a cover and paid you for thefinal files, that’s just the beginning of what will surely be abarrage of unexpected emails at three in the morning,wondering if we couldn’t fix just this or that tiny thing that noone else in humanity will ever notice.Thank you to Linda Ingmanson for catching mymultitudinous snafus.Thank you to the universe for giving me a career where Ican legitimately use the word “multitudinous.”Thank you to Daniela Prieto Cereijo and Anait Simonianfor the Russian translations! You guys are the BEST. Googletranslate needs to hire you.
Thank you to my fifth-grade English teacher, Mrs. Prouse,for dealing with my fifth-grade self, and also instilling in myyouthful brain a love for language so devout, it’s almost areligion. Along with a flair for exaggeration so pronounced, itmade my father roll his eyes and sigh heavily on manyoccasions. (He was an engineer. He disapproved ofexaggerated speech. Which is a bit of a mystery, because mymother never missed an opportunity to make any story moreinteresting with the addition of at least a few embellishmentsthat were not based in fact.)Thank you to my cat, Zoe. Next to Jay, you’re my bestfriend. I don’t even care if that’s weird. Mommy loves you.And finally, thank you to my wonderful readers for readingmy brain droppings and sending me such fantastic emailsabout how I’ve improved your sex lives. I’m honored. Thenext time a stranger asks what I do for a living, I’m going tosay I’m in the public service sector.It’s my duty and pleasure to write stories for you.Stay well.
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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
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He pulls his brows together. “Of
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N A TIalready knew Kage was intense
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Harsh, guttural Russian, the words
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The moment when I finally give myse
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Into my hair, he whispers, “I hav
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I kiss him softly on the lips. “Y
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N A TWe talk for a while, then Kage
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When the plate is empty, he sets it
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His voice has dropped an octave and
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“I love this greedy wet cunt—
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So of course I have to keeping roll
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That’s the last thing I remember
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N A TWhen I open the door, I find t
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Pause. A daring stare. I say nothin
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Men.“I don’t know anything.”H
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“Jesus, Nat. That guy? Are you ki
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“We landed in Rome. Now we’re o
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Then I click over to Kage.
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N A T“K“Good morning. I left yo
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“Mine, of course.”He sounds so
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trying very hard not to break out i
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—”“Mr. Santiago from MoraBanc
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N A TFor the next few weeks, I exis
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I call my parents in Arizona, but t
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“—is a liar, a career criminal,
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I say firmly, “This is private pr
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2 2
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He winds his arms around my back, p
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I give up with a grateful sigh and
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My voice comes out in the barest of
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“You’d let me tie you up and bl
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I giggle a little when I picture my
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2 3
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I think for a moment. “Where were
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giving me a great view of his beaut
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“Was that planned?”“No.”I s
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I cover my mouth with both my hands
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2 4
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Too addictive. I’m too far under
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N A TAfter the shower, I pour Kage
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It’s not gruesome. It’s not eve
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He squeezes my butt when he says,
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That makes me snort. “Not even cl
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“I know you’re not giving me sh
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His voice breaks. “Not even for l
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2 6
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“Not that.”His voice is serious
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“I mean when I told you my life w
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Still advancing slowly, he says sof
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2 7
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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.
Page 378 and 379: N A TWhen I come to, I’m lying on
Page 380 and 381: “Okay, that covers the first few
Page 382 and 383: He murmurs, “I never wanted to hu
Page 384 and 385: for me? Not knowing what had happen
Page 386 and 387: “I don’t understand.”I try to
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Page 390 and 391: years ago or you are. My money’s
Page 392 and 393: Behind him, an attractive brunette
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Page 396 and 397: It’s obvious she can tell by the
Page 398 and 399: I’ll leave her alone all she want
Page 400 and 401: but he does care about gaining adva
Page 402 and 403: “Max is dead.”She blinks. I nod
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Page 406 and 407: in a bit of a state.”“A state?
Page 408 and 409: She’s unimpressed. “Puh. He’s
Page 410 and 411: “To bed.”I don’t bother fight
Page 412 and 413: pulling it out and stroking it from
Page 414 and 415: N A TOver the next week, what seems
Page 416 and 417: He chuckles. “Yes. That one’s t
Page 418 and 419: “Answer the damn question.”“
Page 420 and 421: “Headstrong? You’ve been readin
Page 422 and 423: E P I L O G U E
Page 424 and 425: Shaking my head, I snort. “There
Page 426 and 427: Oh boy. This doesn’t look good.I
Page 430 and 431: A B O U T T H E A U T H O RJ.T. Gei
Page 432: STANDALONE NOVELSPerfect Strangers(
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Ruthless Creatures by J.T. Geissinger

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