Rising from the Ashes (Andrew and Lauren) novel Chapter 1140

"No, that's not my kink." Chantelle's voice was sharp as she glared at him with clenched teeth. "I just figured that if you were stupid enough to try something on me, I'd finally have a reason to end you myself."

Andrew raised a brow, still amused. "Can I ask… have you ever actually dated anyone before?"

Her tone went cold. "Once. It didn't last."

"Only once?" Andrew said, surprised. "Sounds like the guy couldn't keep up."

Chantelle gave a humorless laugh. "He couldn't. Before we got together, I made the rules clear—no touching without permission. But that jerk was even worse than you.

"The moment we were official, he tried to grab my chest and whispered disgusting things. So I broke both his arms, shattered his legs, and dumped him into the water."

Andrew winced. "So… you killed the guy?"

She scoffed. "I wanted to. Unfortunately, he got lucky. Some fishing boat pulled him out of the water before he drowned."

Andrew shook his head. "Still can't figure out how Mr. McCormick decided you of all people should be his right hand."

Chantelle headed for the front door. "That's because I earned it. You don't need to understand. And now that you've seen what you wanted, can I leave?"

Andrew was about to give a casual 'sure' when his phone rang.

The screen showed Aspen's name, but the voice on the other end was not hers. It was a smug, mocking male voice that instantly turned Andrew's blood to ice.

"Hey, Andrew. Thought you were good at hiding, didn't you? Why don't you come on over and kneel in front of me like the little dog you are? Otherwise, I'll have some real fun with Aspen. Inside and out, I'll break her in ways you can't imagine."