Free Dead Ink: A Karma World Romance (Karma Series Book 4) by Donna Augustine

finished off the last slice of cheesecake when she hadn’t had any yet? She couldn’t possibly be feeling disappointed. She shouldn’t even want this cheesecake. He was definitely the type that would make her sick for sure; way too rich and creamy. She grabbed a stack of plates and walked over to the table, telling herself life was much better without him around. Everybody knew cheesecake was bad for you.

Chapter Nine
     
     
    Faith closed the door to the bedroom, took a step inside and immediately jumped back, slamming her spine against the door. Right outside her window was Keith, Malokin’s man, the one person she’d never wanted to see again. His tawny hair curled slightly over is forehead and his pale blue eyes stared at her. No one that bad should look so much like an angel. He stood barely a foot or two away from the window, only glass separating them.
    “I wouldn’t scream,” he said. “Or did you already tell them about us?” he asked in the smuggest way possible, guessing she hadn’t.
    He was right. She hadn’t said a word. Who would, with the way they’d acted, especially that guy, Fate. He’d looked like he’d wanted an excuse to kill her. What was she supposed to do? Hand him one?
    Her hand gripped the doorknob at her back as if it were a lifeline between Keith and the guys downstairs. But he was outside. He couldn’t get in. If he could’ve, she wouldn’t be standing in her room alone. She was still safe here. She could let this scene play out without raising the alarm and bringing more doubt crashing onto her.
    “What do you want from me?” She knew some of the desperation she was feeling leaked out into her voice. He heard it. She saw the glint in his eye.
    “Why did you leave?” He said it as if she’d committed a crime against him, and not the other way around.
    “Because I don’t belong with you. I was killed so that you could have me. Why would I possibly want to stay with you?” He really was crazy. Inhuman and insane added up to a very bad combination. Why was she was trying to speak rationally with someone she knew wasn’t sane? It was pointless, and yet she couldn’t help herself from trying to handle this situation like they were two normal people with an everyday difference. 
    “You were going to die that night, either way. I had nothing to do with the man who stabbed you. You were his third victim that night.” His chin went up and his lips pursed. He paused, as if waiting for some sort of reaction from her. Did it matter that her death had been inevitable? No, not to her. He still stole her life. She should’ve moved on from this world. Even if she refused to mourn the loss, he’d still been the culprit. There was also the problem of who he was. She’d rather cease to exist at all then be with him in any way.
    She walked closer to the window, feeling more and more confident that he couldn’t get in or he would’ve already.
    “Will you come with me now?” he asked, obviously getting the wrong impression.
    She dragged both of her hands through her hair in exasperation. “Never. I would willingly slit my own throat before I went with you.”
    His eyes narrowed. “You’re making a mistake, and I’m not a patient man. You’ve already put me to a lot of trouble. You were promised to me and you will be mine, however long it takes or whatever the cost.”
    Growing braver with each minute that he didn’t breach the room or try to come inside, she walked up to the window and grabbed the Roman shade’s cord. “Bye, bye,” she said, smiled wide and dropped it down in front of him.
    She walked away and into the bathroom, telling herself she wanted to take a shower and she wasn’t doing it to hide. And when she stayed in there longer than normal, she told herself it was because the water felt that good on her skin.
    By time she dried off and got dressed, she’d worked up the nerve to go back over to the window. Refusing to be a coward, she pulled the shade up. He