Free The Executioner: A Love Story by Melissa Silvey

say to him. What he called this case was her life. And the last person on Earth she wanted to discuss her life, and her crimes with, was Special Agent Argento. “I think I’ll go back to bed.” She tried not to sound angry, but when he frowned she knew he could hear the emotion in her voice.
    “Listen, Arianna, I’m sorry that I stormed in on you while you were confessing to your boyfriend.” The way he said boyfriend made the hair on the back of her neck rise. He thought Jordan was inferior. He was probably one of those jocks who bullied kids like Jordan in school. “There were two men in suits who were staking out your car. I didn’t know what their plans were.” He placed his hand on her shoulder and she flinched.
    He took a defensive posture, stepping back and crossing his arms in front of his chest. “I know what you’re thinking,” he sighed. “I know you don’t trust me. You think I’m trying to manipulate you.” She turned to walk away, but he grabbed her wrist. That was the second time he’d done it.
    “Are you so touchy feely with everyone?” She snapped at him.
    “I’m sorry,” he said intently. “I come from a big family. We use our hands to talk a lot, and we’re always hugging and…” He paused when he realized that didn’t make her feel any more comfortable with him. “You and I are a lot more alike than you realize.”
    She scoffed at him. “I doubt that you and I are anything alike.” She ran out of the kitchen and back to her temporary bedroom.
    She lay in the bed and thought about Argento. Vince, he’d said. Why did he constantly have to touch her? She shivered as she remembered his eyes when he grabbed her wrist earlier. She’d never seen such intensity, such raw emotion. She felt something when his eyes met hers, and it upset her.
    She’d finally met a man she liked, a man that she wanted to be around. He was a gentleman in every sense of the word. His heart was kind and his soul was pure. She never thought she’d meet anyone like him.
    Argento wasn’t pure. He was nearly as angry as Arianna herself. Arianna had been around enough angry men to spot one quickly. But Vince Argento wasn’t like the others; he wasn’t a criminal. His job was to put criminals away. And what business did he have being so damn good-looking?
    As she thought she heard a knock. She fully expected it to be Argento, but she heard a low, “Arianna, it’s Jordan.” She flew to the door, opened it, and pulled him inside. There she shoved him against the door and laid her head on his chest. The tears came then, racking her body with almost violent sobs. He rubbed her hair gently, standing patiently against the door. The knob dug into his side, but he didn’t mind. He was holding the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen in his life.
    Arianna, he had to get used to the name, wasn’t just pretty, she was spectacular. She was the kind of woman that made men stop and stare. Her sky blue eyes jumped out against her tan skin and dark brown hair, which lay in perfect waves around her shoulders. Her lips formed the perfect bow, and framed her straight white teeth. Her cheeks were soft and round, like a teenager, but her neck was long and graceful like a swan.
    He could feel her soft full breasts against his chest. When her arms went around his waist and pulled him closer he couldn’t breathe. He was so aroused it hurt, and he hated himself because she was hurting and he couldn’t control his reactions to her.
    “I’ve got you stuck against the door, and you’re probably uncomfortable,” she finally said after she cried herself out. She wiped the back of her hand across her eyes, and pulled away from him. Then she took his hand and led him to her bed, and sat down. She looked up at him and he thought things he shouldn’t think. But she patted the bed beside her, and he obediently sat down.
    “I heard you talking to Agent Argento,” he said gently. She hated his observations, because he expected her