72 A Ferocious Dog

I left Cher behind in the loungeroom with an excuse that I had to handle a matter quickly. Once I was out of eyeshot pulled out my phone to send Mark a peeved-filled message.

Me: "How difficult is it for you to keep one damn promise!" Sending that I got a quick reply back, causing me to stop mid-walk and having me stand still in the middle of the hallway.

Private Number: "Well it depends how much worth keeping the promise is. But what got you so heated?"

Me: "I guess that means that keeping me in your life means nothing. Don't worry I'll gladly take my stuff and go somewhere where even you can reach!"

Private Number: "Kitten, I haven't broken that promise once. What happened?"

Me: "Don't act like you don't know what happened!"

Private Number: "I'm not acting. I truly do not have a fucking clue why you're so angry at me. I'm not spying on you anymore, remember?"

Huh, I guess he's keeping his promise? I thought pleasantly surprised.

Me: "So you have nothing to do with Sabrina's sudden disappearance?" I pressed. Seeing the next message pop-up, I narrowed my eyes.

Private Number: "Who?"

Me: "Don't play dump with me, Mark. Or I'll be the one who will disappear next." I threatened.

Private Number: "You know what? How about you come to my office so that we can talk about it properly."

Not sure whether it was a good idea to be alone with him in a room I wrote,

Me: "I still have a lot of work to do-" But simultaneously a new message from Mark popped up, intervening and preventing me from sending the message as it caused me to stiffen up in place.

Private Number: "I'll give you a real reason to run away if you don't come right now."

Grumbling as I erased my message I wrote instead, "fine." And send it before making my way to his office.

I had to drag my feet as I trudged deliberately. The stares that my colleagues threw at me were daunting, watching me intently how I shuffled my way to Mark's office. Standing in front of the wide black doors that formed the entrance to Mark's office I wondered if it was a wise idea to enter, not wanting to give the people inside the building more materials to gossip about.

The last thing that I want them to misunderstand about is that I went to Mark's office because of a booty-call. I was about to pull out my phone to tell Mark that I'll just talk to him when we get off work when the doors suddenly opened by themselves to reveal Mark standing there. "Are you planning to stand there for the rest of the day?" He mused with an arched brow.

Responding to that I shook my head in a surprised daze. Mark then reached his hand out to grasp me by the wrist and pulls me swiftly inside, bringing forth a startled yelp from my lips that even reached the ears of my colleagues until he shut the doors behind me- pushing my back against one of them. One of his hands was placed on my shoulder to keep me perched against the cold wooden door and his other hand rested above my head as he leaned in closely- invading my personal place, making me question whether he knew what a personal-space even was.

My heart skipped a beat seeing him up so close. His masculine scent penetrated my nostrils, triggering the memories that had been created at the night of our union. The sheen of sweat that glossed our bodies as we were mushed against each other creating passionate movements that left both of us breathless. The mere thought of it made my body react to him as it wanted to relive that night.

"So, who is this Sabrina person that's putting a wedge in our love life, hmm?" A dangerous edge could be heard in Mark's voice, turning the smile on his face that was meant to be sweet into something eerie and brooding.

I pushed his hand off me as I glowered at him. "Are you really going to keep acting like this? Weren't you the one who said that it would be shameful if you didn't know all the names of your employees? I didn't know that the men in black had arrived, cause they sure took a chunk out of your memory." I snorted sardonic, before folding my arms over my chest.

Tilting his head to the side while staring at me with his signature smile he started, "My sweet little kitten," Using his free hand to play with the locks of my ponytail. "There are millions of Sabrinas in this world and I only have killed a handful of them. So, you got to be more precise about which Sabrina we are speaking of."

Mark brought a hair strand to his lips, kissing it while keeping his piercing gaze focused on me and it almost took all of my willpower to keep my hardened gaze from withering away. "We are talking about Sabrina Hills. What did you do to her?"

His brow rose up, amusement dancing on it. "Why are you so sure that I had something to do with it?"

"I have known you longer than a day Mark. Also, I can just feel it in my gut that you had a hand in it."

"Or you're just hungry?" He commented to have me narrow my eyes at him as I growled at him disgruntledly. "Stop derailing the conversation and start answering me already."

He hummed in complacent before staring heavenwards; combing through his memories about Sabrina Hills. The smile that was already present on his face then increased in width before his eyes went back down to meet mine as he chimed, "Ah~ her? Yeah, she's dead."

"What? Why?" Alarmed, using both of my hands, curled my fingers in to the soft fabric of Mark's suit- clutching against his chest as my eyes became wide with worry. I already had feared that Sabrina's life was no longer salvageable, but hearing the blunt words of Mark confirming her dead made my heart start to thud incessantly as anguish invaded my core at the thought of her dead being my fault.

"She annoyed me so I told Snake to kill her." He shrugged the death of somebody who worked for him for years off him as if their life meant nothing. The disinterest in his voice was unsettling. The coldness of it seeping through my skin and freezing my heart over. I had to use my hands to wrap myself in as his presence was suffocating me.

I broke eye contact with him, lowering my head to turn away from him as I reached for the doorhandle.

"Where are you going?" Came the curious tone of Mark.

"Far away from you. I can't stand to be around a person who breaks his promises so brazenly." I answered him with my back still facing his way. I opened the door until it was ajar to have it slammed right back close in my face. I jolted in fright.

A hand placed above my head kept the door firmly closed, preventing it from opening again. Following the line of the arm I craned my head up to look over my shoulder to see Mark standing right behind me. The smile that he wore before was nowhere to be seen as it was replaced with a disapproving frown. "I told you that I didn't break any promise, kitten." He said calmly.

"I asked you not to kill anybody, but you did. If that's not breaking a promise then I don't know anymore." I retorted through gritted teeth as I tried to open the door again; using both of my hands to frantically push the doorhandle up and down.

I was then forcibly yanked away from the door by Mark, dragging me against my will to the sofa couch. I kept struggling against his impeccable hold that he had over my arm, yelling at him, "Let me go! I told you to let me-!"

I was pulled over to sit on his lap as he sat down on the couch, cradling me against his chest as he wrapped his arms tightly around my waist. "If you don't silence that pretty mouth of yours immediately, I will scar your neck with hickeys and love bites. So, unless you want to feed your colleagues with even more fantasies you will stay put." He growled lowly in my ear- immediately rendering me speechless. Not wanting to gain any more decorations on my body as the ones from last night still needed to fade away became rigid on his lap.

The smile on his face came back at the sight of my obedience. "Good girl," He purred to which I gave him a side glare.

"First of," He begun as he stuck up three fingers, ticking them off one by one. "I didn't kill her, Snake did. You didn't say that no one else could kill someone."

"That's-ouch!" I wanted to retail at that statement but a sharp pain run through my body, starting from my neck as Mark had latched his mouth on to it. Puncture marks had been formed on my skin fitting the set row of teeth that belonged to Mark. "And that's your first bite. Keep that up and you'll be covered in it." His eyes gleamed with something mischievous, telling me that he was enjoying the situation and I wasn't pleased by that- feeling the column of my neck stinging from the pain.

He then continued, "Second of all. She was killed way before we even made the promise." Those words made me bite my bottom lip as I casted my eyes down on my lap. My fingers fumbling with each other nervously as the words that he had spewed were right. The promise was made yesterday and from what I had acquired of the information given to me by Cher it seems that Sabrina wasn't seen for a while.

A heavy sigh that belonged to me filled the room at the recognition of my own mistake. My mind had finally clarity after Mark sat me down and I knew now that I was too hasty with my judgments. I immediately thought that Mark had broken his word at the news of Sabrina's "transfer" and even though he did have a hand in it he hadn't broken his promise. I was about to apologize to him, but he wasn't done yet.

"And lastly I'm now a contract killer." He stated to have me pull my eyebrows together in confusion. "I know?" I gave him a small nod of acknowledgment. "But you won't kill people outside of your job, right?" I asked, staring him deeply in the eyes. Even though it doesn't sit me well I know that he will have to continue kill people for some more years to appease Casper, but he shouldn't kill for his own amusement.

Mark nodded his head in agreement, "Yeah, that's right, I won't kill people outside of my job." A relieved smile made its way on to my face as I released the breath that I didn't know was holding- placing my hand on top of my caved in chest. "But that doesn't mean that I may not kill people by mistake." He added to have me whip my head around, my eyes fixed on him with an incredulous look.

"What do you mean?" I questioned, trying to keep my voice calm, but the nervousness surrounding it was very apparent. I felt the rhythm of my heart picking up its pace and I felt it skip a beat when Mark's smile turned eerie; the corner of his mouth not reach half his eyes.

"A hiccup may occur in delivering the information about the target, which causes somebody else to receive the sharp end of a knife. It's a mistake that takes place once in a while which no killer, especially Casper cares about, but" His eyes stared down at me intently and his voice slowly turned cold an hallow, sending a shiver down my spine. "It would be tragic if one of somebody's loved ones would become an innocent victim, don't you think?"

The color was quickly drained from my face as I knew what he was hinting at. I could feel my hands starting to shake in an odd trembling rhythm. I tried to still them by clasping them, but their movement didn't go unnoticed by Mark's scrutinizing gaze.

I flinched when his hand took a hold of mine, bringing it to his face as he deliberately touched my fingertips. "They are cold." He stated. Despite the room being warm a cold wave embalmed me and my mouth ran dry, making it difficult form me to enunciate my thoughts out correctly.

"Y-You promised to not kill and hurt anybody. You promised no dirty tricks." I couldn't withhold the turbulence from leaking out. Mark smiled at my words, the back of his tantalizing fingers caressing my cheek as he spoke calmly, "And I won't break those promises as long as you keep yours. Do you know how sad I was when you said that you would disappear out of my life?"

I was transfixed by his sharp gaze and I wasn't able to response as the words just kept getting stuck in my throat and I could only swallow back a lump of nervousness.

"You don't realize how much control you have over me kitten. Just to keep you by my side I'll become your loyal dog, heeding to your every wish." The fingers that were caressing my cheek then trailed down to the column of my neck were the bite mark was. I winced feeling his fingers touching it. His eyes then darken, thunder brewing behind them as he discarded his smile. "But a dog that loses his owner will turn into a ferocious beast. Do you want to see that happen?"

I shook my head. "N-No." I croaked out.

His lips curved back into a smile at my words and the storm behind his eyes was slowly clearing up. "Good." He patted my head, treating me like a child. "You also don't need to be worried about me hurting our child." He stated, derailing to a whole different subject that I wasn't ready to talk about.

The caressing on my head discontinued as I didn't make an attempt to respond to his words, only having my gaze skitter around the room. My cheeks were then clasped by his broad hands, forcing me to face him. Any sign of mischievousness on his face was washed away taking a turn of seriousness. "I'm not lying, April. You mostly likely think that I'm making an excuse, but I assure you that I am not. How could I even think of harming the child that will inherit your features?"

"But you were quiet when I asked you before if you would use our child to keep me at your side." I whispered.

"I couldn't respond to you because I was wondering if you truly thought that low of me. For your information I haven't ever hurt a child in any shape or form."

A smile threatens to come to the surface at his words as I felt the anxiety from before subdue. "Well, yeah, you did give such an impression." I shrugged.

He hummed thoughtfully, "I guess I will have to change that." His eyes then flickered to my lips and I felt my breath getting snagged at our distance being slowly diminished.

"Yes, you do." I breathed out, earning a rakish grin from Mark before he dipped down for a tantalizing kiss.