The Beast

Chapter 2

Chapter Two
First Impressions

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LEV

   She's pretty.

   My eyes narrowed to slits at the thought before focusing on the careless woman in front of me. She's pretty clumsy. She's fortunate I spotted her running in my direction. Otherwise, I would have reflexively pointed my SRK into her jugular without much thought.

   I watched impassively as she caught herself after bouncing off my chest while considering if the cartel was using her to distract me. I flicked my eyes over her head to ensure we were alone while twisting the knife in my hand impatiently.

   Xarya, one of the men working alongside the Albanian fraction in New York, mentioned that he heard rumours that one of the heads leading this stupid rebellion against the Dynasty was in the city. He promised to bring him to me, but it's been ten minutes.

   I pride myself on being a patient man, but the longer I'm forced to wait here like an imbecile, the more I'm tempted to end the man's life for wasting my time.

   "I-I'm so sorry," the woman in front of me stammered, and I regarded her coolly.

   The terror in eyes was evident, and my mouth almost rose. While I'm used to people staring at me with such fear, it was humorous how she didn't even attempt to hide her emotions.

   Naturally, I shifted my attention to her hair and cocked my head while studying the unusual colour. Despite standing in the shadows, her hair could be considered a dark red. I haven't seen anything like it.

   I wondered how she would react if I sliced some hair for myself.

   "Hannah!" Someone called out in the distance. I drifted my gaze off her hair to see her panicked eyes falling on me.

   While I wasn't the best at understanding wasteful emotions, I found myself being close to an expert at reading body language. Reading people's fear. Panic. Terror. It was why I excelled at achieving information through excessive means. I was good at pulling the right strings. Asking questions to get the answers I could slowly torture out.

   Despite all these credentials, I didn't expect what happened next.

   The frantic girl ran around me and hid, using me as her shield.

   The mere thought made me stiffen with a tight jaw, wondering what on earth could be so terrifying that this woman needed to use me to protect herself. Me.

   I didn't protect. I ruined.

   And yet, I didn't move away. Not when I felt her tremoring behind me, and not a second later, when a newcomer stood at the entrance of the alley.

   If I could, I would have laughed because my foot was more intimidating than the man blocking the entrance. He was tall, sure. But he was as wide as a stick and stumbled as he walked. Not to mention his face. Thin lips. Big eyes covered by glasses. It was almost comical.

   His chest puffed out when he met my eyes. Behind me, the girl shrank further into the shadows. I took this moment to assess the situation.

   I considered that he must have tried to attack her and she escaped his attempts. But he knew her name, and his eyes lit with an anger you wouldn't have for a victim. Breakup gone wrong, I supposed.

   "Who are you?" The stick tried to sound threatening but failed.

   Instead of answering, I narrowed my eyes on his throat. There was a temptation to exercise my aim on the newcomer, simply for my own enjoyment. But I stopped the thought when I remembered the girl behind me. I wasn't above killing in front of a witness, but there was a small voice in the back of my mind, encouraging me to play with her.