Chapter One
“I want their heads, now!” Evil Carter snarled at two of his men. They were supposed to hand him the heads of the two-bit drug group that had put a hit out on his woman. They’d failed to get their target as they had no idea he’d be the one watching her. Instead, they’d gotten his wrath, and now, he was on the warpath and intended to make them all pay.
The men nodded and immediately spun away from him, trying to get as far away from him as possible. He didn’t take kindly to sloppy behavior, and with Noelle’s life at stake, there better not be any fuck-ups.
Running his fingers through his hair, he spun around and came face-to-face with the woman he’d craved from the first moment he saw her—Noelle Benson. She wasn’t his usual type. Not even by a long shot. Blonde with pretty blue eyes, full-figured, and a kindness in her eyes that should have pushed him away. Yet, here they were.
As he stared at her face, a fresh wave of anger assailed him.
She’d been working for him as his personal assistant on all of his legal matters for over six months. Noelle knew it was all a front. Evil Carter was not a good man and he’d never claimed to be one.
The bruises that covered her face were a testimony to that. He hadn’t caused them. He’d never hurt her, wouldn’t dream of laying a single finger on her or harming her in any way.
His enemies, those stupid fucks, had done all the damage.
“Are you done?” Noelle asked.
“No.” He took a step toward her, cupping her cheeks and tilting her head back.
She had a swollen, bruised eye, a couple of cuts on her cheek, another on her forehead, and a split lip. The beating she’d taken was extensive. The men who’d attacked her hadn’t expected him to show up.
Evil couldn’t bring himself to leave her alone. She was his everything, and she had been for a lot longer than she’d been working for him.
He’d first met Noelle in a bar. Well, he hadn’t met her. She’d entered the bar, alone, looking entirely miserable, and sat at the bar, turning away men who came to ask her to dance. From the moment he saw her, he’d been hooked. It hadn’t taken him long to find out everything there was to know about her. She was twenty-nine years old. No family. Bounced from job to job with no real sense of direction. No current boyfriend and no proof of a previous boyfriend or husband.
When she went to that bar, she’d just been let go from her current waitressing job. She’d refused to sleep with the owner, and it had cost her. She had once told him that she never fucked her way into a job.
After twenty-four hours, he knew more about her than most of the men working for him. He’d found her shitty apartment and offered her a job as his PA. She had the experience as she’d worked in a similar field.
She’d known who he was, and much to his surprise, she’d taken the job without a second’s hesitation. That was six months ago.
He’d been able to keep her close, and that in itself had been hard. Whenever he was around her, his dick was rock fucking hard. All he could imagine was touching her beautiful body. Feeling those full tits against his chest.
Evil was hungry for Noelle.
Seeing her bruised face, he had failed her. “Should I get a doctor?” he asked.
“And pay ridiculous amounts for him to say I’ve got a few boo-boos? Nah, not going to happen.”
“The pain level?”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s manageable. Besides, you know I don’t medicate for any reason.”
She really didn’t. Noelle even refused painkillers for headaches and would opt to lie down instead. Of course, he didn’t know this until her headache from a couple of weeks ago had turned into a migraine at the office. It was rare for her to get them, but she did.
“You should lie down.”
“You’re angry,” she said.
“And you’re a genius.”
“You don’t need to be cruel. This isn’t your fault,” Noelle said.
“Those men beat the crap out of you because of me.”
“You saved me, Evil. They had a choice to make, and they chose wrong. There is nothing you can do about it.” She put her hand on his chest.
That touch alone sent a thrill down his spine.
“Don’t blame yourself.”
“Your face is hurt because of who I am.”
She tilted her head back and smiled. “Are you telling me those men lived? They’re breathing now?”
They didn’t cross this line. Noelle knew who he was, but they never talked about it. Never.
He stared at her, not exactly sure what he should be doing, and she smiled.
“See, you don’t know how to respond.”
“What do you want me to say?” he asked.
“The truth would be a good thing. You know, that thing you do when you admit what you’ve done.”
“Are you ready to know the answers?”
She sighed. “Evil, I’ve known about you for a long time.” She patted his chest and stepped back. “I still haven’t run for the hills.”
“So, you don’t care that I tortured those men?”
“No.”
He stared at her, a little shocked.
She licked her lips. “You don’t believe me.”
“Noelle, you believe in Christmas, and being good, and shit like that.”
She smiled. “I believe in good, and fun, and just living, because I know what it’s like out there.” She pointed at her face. “You think this is the first time I’ve been beaten up? It’s not. My dad used me as a punching bag whenever he ran out of alcohol. My mom, if I hadn’t run away when I did, she was going to sell me for the drugs she wanted. Trust me, I understand all the bad shit in the world, better than you think.” She turned from him and walked away.
Evil couldn’t help but admire the round curves of her ass.
Fuck, having Noelle under his roof was going to test his restraint.
****
Noelle had never told anyone about her past before. Not a soul. Not a boyfriend. Those had been few and far between. Since leaving her parents, without graduating high school, she’d had three boyfriends. Two of which had been serious. The third, they’d never even had sex. She had caught him fucking his way through her apartment building, looking for any pussy that would have him.
That had ended badly. He’d tried to scare her. Attempted to slam through her apartment and force her. What he hadn’t expected was to get a leg to the dick, a fist to the eye, and to finish it off, his hair thoroughly tugged.
Growing up with a drunk father and a drugged mother, Noelle had learned a few things about protecting herself. More importantly, one of the guys at school had wanted to get into her pants, and he’d taught her how to defend herself.
If Evil wasn’t so focused on what happened, he would’ve come to realize she could take care of herself. Yes, she had a bruised face, and some pain throughout her whole body, but that was all. She’d gotten a few hits in herself.
She didn’t care that those men were now dead. They’d tried to take what belonged to Evil. His turf, but she also knew that he considered her his. Not that he’d said anything to her, or even tried to stake his claim. Unless she counted overhearing him telling a man who’d tried to buy her a drink when they’d been on a business dinner. Otherwise, Evil said nothing.