Her Obsession (by Sheridan Hartin) novel Chapter 41

High As Hell And Loving It. (Sort Of)

Naomi

I was not that drugged. Okay. Maybe I was a little drugged. But my hands still worked, my trigger finger was still twitchy, and I was one hundred percent sure Liam had a really nice jawline. Very… clenchable.

“Slow down,” he hissed beside me as I nearly walked into a wall for the second time.

“I am slow!” I whispered back. “I’m like… ninja slow. Stealthy.” I paused. “Are my feet loud? They feel loud.”

“They’re literally slapping the floor.”

“Rude. You’re lucky you’re hot.”

He groaned.

I crouched behind a stack of crates, immediately regretted it as the world tilted sideways, and then blinked through the swaying air. “Where is he?”

“Straight ahead, twenty meters. Moving toward the exit,” Liam whispered, one hand steadying me by the shoulder.

God, he smelled good. Like gun oil and salt and sin.

I inhaled deeply. “You smell like a well-trained mistake.”

“I have no idea what that means,” he muttered.

“It means I’m gonna kiss you or stab you someday, and I haven’t decided which.” I tapped my temple. “Yakov says don’t mix work and pleasure but he also said I wasn’t allowed to keep a sugar glider in the safehouse and look how that turned out.”

“…What.”

“Never mind.”

Focus. I had a mission. A kill. My mark. Last seen: smug, tattooed, and carryin

a transmitter that damn near got us all killed. I needed that kill. My kill.

Because if I didn’t do it, Yakov would. And he wouldn’t be nearly as cute about it.

I peeked over the crates. There. Him. Jacket still bloodstained from earlier, favoring his left side. He hadn’t seen us yet. Perfect. Easy!

I rose slowly, gun raised, vision swaying but locked in. “Hey, asshole,” I called softly. “Remember me?”

He turned, and his eyes widened. “You.”

“That’s right,” I purred. “And I’ve had just enough sedative to be in the perfect mood for murder.”

I squeezed the trigger and missed. By, like… a meter.

“FUCK!” I screamed, stumbling forward as he ducked behind cover and returned fire. Liam yanked me down just in time, bullets peppering the crates behind

Us.

“You said you were good!” he yelled.

“I am good!” I shouted back. “The crates moved!”

“They did not move!”

1/4

High As Hell And Loving It. (Sort Of)

“Well then you moved!”

“I did not!”

0171

“Your muscles were distracting!”

He made a strangled sound like a dying seagull and fired back over the crates. I tried to steady myself again, but the world tilted just enough to make my arm go wobbly. Damn it. Damn it! I pushed up anyway, lined up my shot, and -BANG.

The mark dropped. Not from my bullet. From Liam’s. Silence fell. A ringing still echoed in my ears, but the bastard lay still now. One shot. Clean. Right through the skull.

I stared. “You…”

Liam turned to me, breathing hard, hair tousled, eyes fierce. “You were about to get shot. I took the kill.”

“You…” I blinked. “You killed my mark.”

“I saved your life.”

“You killed my mark.”

He groaned. “You’re welcome.”

I blinked again.

Then smiled slowly. “I owe you a kiss.”

He looked up sharply. “Wait, what?”

I held up a finger. “But. You owe me a kill.”

He stared at me like I’d sprouted wings. “What, you want me to just find some random guy for you to murder because I saved your life?”

“Yes.”

“No!”

“I have a ledger,” I said solemnly. “One kill. It’s only fair.”

“I just stopped you from dying!”

“And I said thank you! And offered you a kiss! That’s more than most people get.”

He looked like he wanted to scream. Or laugh. Or possibly cry. I patted his cheek. “Don’t worry, sugar. I’ll collect later. Maybe someone with a goatee. Or a

man bun. You know Real crimes.”

He stared at me. “You’re terrifying.”

I beamed. “That’s the drugs talking.”

“No, Naomi, That’s all you.”

“Well aren’t you two just the perfect match,’ another voice drawled from the shadows. Oh right. Sage. I forgot she was even here, though in my defense, I am high as a kite. She was leaning casually against the back wall like she hadn’t just watched us nearly die, arms crossed, one boot braced up behind her like this was a wine tasting and not a goddamn shootout. Her eyes sparkled. Sage was actually smiling, which, given her usual cryptic ghost vibe, was as good as a full-blown belly laugh. She should be smug. I get it now. Why she stalked that other Irish fellow like a jungle cat with unresolved issues. There’s just

2/4

8:08 pm P PD D.

High As Hell And Loving it. (Sort of)

something about the accent. And the muscles God, the fucking muscles. They move like sin dipped in confidence. I might be drooling. Whe’s ton day!

“Sage, Liam groaned, looking utterly betrayed, “where were you in all of this? I thought you were going to set up the kille

Sage shrugged, a picture of chill “It looked like you two had it handled. Plus, it was a great bonding experience. No?”

“You’re out of your mind,” he muttered.

“Maybe. But you’re the one who stepped in and shot her mark, so who’s the real daredevil here?”

1 gasped, hands pressed dramatically to my chest. “Right? He swooped in like some kind of Irish Batman! One minute I was lining up my shot, the next, bang, down he goes! My kill. Gone. Tragic.”

Liam looked between us like he was in a hostage negotiation with two feral raccoons.

་|

“I saved your life.”

“Did I ask you to?” I fired back, jabbing a finger at him. “I had it. Sure, the floor was spinning and I might’ve had double vision, but that just means I had

two chances to hit him.”

He looked skyward like he was praying for divine intervention. Or a tranquilizer gun. “I want off this ride.”

“You can’t,” Sage said with a smirk, pushing off the wall and sauntering over. “You’re bonded now.”

“Bonded?” he echoed, horrified.

“Oh yeah,” I said, turning to Sage. “He totally owes me a murder and possibly a date.”

“I’m right here,” Liam hissed.

Sage ignored him, eyes already scanning the corridor. “We’ve got five minutes before security starts crawling over this place. Naomi, can you walk or do we need to do the fireman’s carry thing?”

“I can walk,” I said, indignantly trying to stand straight. I immediately teetered sideways and caught myself on Liam’s shoulder. “See? Strong foundation.”

Liam grunted “She’s going to puke on me.”

I gave him a sugary sweet smile. “Not unless you’re into that.”

He turned to Sage. “I hate everything about this mission.”

*Think of it as character development, she offered cheerfully, already pulling up blueprints on her phone. “Now let’s move. We’ve got a second mark to plan for

“Oh?” I perked up “Who’s the lucky bastard?”

Sage’s smile turned lethal. “Mirov.”

“Ohhh,” I breathed, all trace of druggy fürtation gone. “Now that’s a kill worth fighting over.”

“Dibs,” Sage said, already walking ahead.

“Shotgun,” I called after her.

“Not how it works!”

“I call it anyway!”

3/4

8:08 pm P P D

High As Hell And Loving It. (Sort Of)

Liam looked between the two of us, muttered something about hating his life, and followed. Poor guy. He’ll learn. Eventually. Maybe.

Chapter Comments

R

Visitor

7 days ago

best book ever

18

SHARE

1 Reviews >

2

8:10 pm

Her Obsession.