Chapter 12 Everywhere, Anytime
❄︎ Viktor ❄︎
The tremor in her fingers pleased me, and I drank in the satisfaction of knowing I affected her, greedily.
But she pulled away, smoothing shaky hands over her tiny yellow dress, my satisfaction soured instantly.
One, she’d gotten another prosthetic. This one fit even better than the last and felt almost real when I’d felt it wrapped around the grip. And two, if I could see down her cleavage thanks to our height difference, so could every other man in here. And those bare legs went on for more miles than I was willing to allow.
“Luca Greco.” The name passed my lips with a hiss.
I turned toward the showcase. The man behind it paled under my stare.
“Yes?” he asked.
“Do you research your customers before deciding which to piss off?”
The slimy bastard immediately pointed to Rosalind, offering a patronizing chuckle like we were pals sharing an inside joke. “She ordered it. I knew it was a bad idea, but she wanted the photos on the target. Who am I to argue?”
I felt the heat of her glare pass over me and slam into Luca with full force.
“You little…” Rosa started, but I cut her off with a raised palm.
“Oh? So you disagree with your employer?” I said coolly. “I’ll leave that to her to settle. I wasn’t talking about that.” My eyes flashed.
“W-What are you talking about then?”
Good. Now he knew there were more serious things than my face on a paper target. I walked around with a fucking bullseye on my forehead every day.
I pushed off the glass, letting Adrian step forward.
“Last week, you delivered a bulk deal of M1911s. But the crates were full of gutted, nonfunctional clones. Care to explain?”
Adrian’s gun hit the glass with a thump. I didn’t need to look, I already knew Luca was sweating bullets. Adrian’s blank stare could do that.
But I wasn’t watching Luca. I was watching the heiress, dressed in a shade of yellow so garish, my fingers itched to tear it off and reveal the naked skin I’d seen last night at the hotel.
“What is this?” she seethed, glancing pointedly at the unfolding interrogation. Her made man stood stiff behind her, ready to put a bullet in me if things escalated.
“Your arms dealer sold me high-grade fakes. And now he’s going to pay.”
Her eyes widened, like she’d just remembered what world she lived in, before the cool mask slid back on. A near-pout tugged at her lips. I stared at it, wondering how she’d taste.
“I’ll issue you a refund and punish my man myself…”
“No. He knew who owned that shipment. He chose to rip me off, or worse, sabotage me. That could’ve gotten my men killed.” I stepped closer, her sharp gaze pulling me in. “I get to decide his punishment.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but something must’ve spooked Luca. I snapped my head toward the back door just in time to see him bolt through it.
Adrian gave chase, disappearing after him.
Rosa moved to follow, but I caught her arm just as a muffled pop sounded in the alley behind the range.
Moments later, Adrian reappeared, casually unscrewing the silencer from his gun.
“You fucking killed him?!” Rosa screeched, like a mother hen catching sight of an eagle swooping in on her chick.
Adrian’s cold stare met hers. “I did you a favor. He’s been stealing from your father since before you even knew what a gun was.”
Her small palms hit my chest in what was supposed to be a shove.
“You don’t get to just waltz in and kill my men whenever you want! How dare you!”
“What would you have me do, Rosa?” My smirk widened, knowing it would only piss her off more. Her brows drew together, eyes flashing. “I’m only protecting you.”
“I don’t need your protection!”
“You should’ve told me that before I tortured and killed your kidnappers. I would’ve let them roam free. Maybe they’d pick you up again, next time with orders to finish the job.”
“W-What?”
The clueless look on her face irritated me. I’d bet money she hadn’t even tried to track the men who’d taken her.
My hand found the nape of her neck, her arms pressed against my chest, trying to keep me at bay.
“They were nothing but bottom-barrel muscle for hire. Anonymously paid to scare you, they said. Imagine if they’d been paid to kill you.”
Fear flickered in her eyes, her breaths came in short, ragged bursts. Her lips parted as she absorbed the weight of my words, letting her imagination do the rest.
I let her go. She stumbled, I hadn’t realized she was leaning on me, and her guard caught her just in time.
My glare burned a hole where he touched her. I nearly shot the bastard.
She straightened, her eyes softening suspiciously.
“That’s why I wanted to talk to you,” she said in a soft and pliant voice. Deceptively soft. I smelled a trap.
“What?”
She glanced at her guard. The look said give us a minute. He didn’t like it, but he obeyed. I nodded at Adrian to follow.
When we were alone, she took a slow step forward. Her anger had vanished. Now her gaze was hooded, and dangerous. She looked so fucking sexy I could’ve pinned her to the wall.
“How about a truce?” she said. “For now. Let’s focus on finding our fathers’ killers instead of being at each other’s throats over… assets.”
“A truce?” I echoed dryly. “Meaning after you get whatever it is you’re about to ask for, the walls go back up and we’re enemies again?”
“Yes.” Her eyes twinkled. I felt the challenge stir in my gut. I liked games.
She twirled a strand of black hair around her finger, circling me slowly like a hawk.
“You want the hotel. You’ll do anything to get it. The contract makes me your responsibility.”
She stopped just inches from me, her jasmine-and-honey scent curling into my lungs. My fingers twitched with the need to touch her deceptively soft skin.
“So protect it. Protect me.”
Jezebel.
“I am not hired help, Rosa.”
“If you don’t, someone else will. Men are already falling at my feet, offering marriage just to protect me.”
Over my dead fucking body.
“And what would I get in return?”
Heat coiled under my skin, seeking release.
She leaned in, her heeled boots giving her enough height to nearly graze my lips.
“The satisfaction of knowing I’m alive.”
She stepped back.
My arm shot out, catching her upper arm, dragging her into my chest.
“We both know I won’t settle for that.”
“You’re not in any position to negotiate, Viktor.”
It was the first time she’d said my name. It came out as a half-breath, half-threat. My jaw clenched.
“You’ll allow me access. Everywhere. Anytime.”
She swallowed, her brave front cracking just slightly at the edges.
“Of course. You can’t protect me if there are too many boundaries.”
I let go, and she stumbled, and this time there was no one to catch her.
A dark chuckle rumbled in my chest.
“You just invited the devil in, bambina.”