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“Shall I leave?” he asks. “Do you have any concerns about me?” I fire back. His mouth opens, but his eyes dart straight to Declan. Guilty. “Sit.” My tone leaves no room for refusal.
“Stephanie is my wife and will remain my wife until I fucking die. Do I make myself clear?”
“Nothing you can say or do will change that. She makes me…” I pause, searching, grinding through my chest for the right word.
happy. Happier than I’ve ever been in my entire fucking life. She is part of our family now, and she will be treated as such.”
“I did that because her parents were abusing her. Starving her. Beating her. And…” My voice fractures. I can’t say it. Fuck. “Doing everything to her.”
“I found out about her abuse long before she died. And I… I decided to take the brunt of it. For her.” Declan’s jaw drops. “You mean?”
“I thought I could handle it better than her. That I could find a way to save her. I was ten. Ten. I didn’t know what to do, just that I had to try.”
“But one night she didn’t come out. I snuck to her window, and I saw her. Throat slit. Bleeding out on her pink rug. The one with the ballerinas on it.”
“The lights went out in me that night. And they didn’t come back until Stephanie.”
The energy shifts in the room. My heart slams against my ribs. I turn, and my lungs seize. “Holy shit, love. You look breathtaking.”
“Absolutely beautiful, temptress. Gorgeous. Stunning. A masterpiece. Perfection.” My lips hover over hers. “All fuckin’ mine.”
“I’ll look good as an accessory on your arm, Dr. Quinn.” “No. You’re the main event.”
“I want to kiss you, but I don’t want to get red lipstick on you,” she whispers. I ignore her, crashing my mouth onto hers. “Nothing gets between us. Remember that.”
“Frankie and Zara Falcone.
Ahhhhhh
“Nikolai and Mila Volkov, and their leader, Mikhail,”
Ahhhhhhg
“That’s how we met too, wasn’t it, d’yavolitsa?” Nikolai rumbles, looking down at Mila like she hung the stars. Her lip curls, eyes full of adoration. “It worked out for us eventually.”
“It’s beautiful here, Finn.” “Hmm. It is,” he rasps. A blush spreads up my neck as I glance at him. He isn’t looking anywhere else other than at me. “Smooth,” I tease.
“I’ve never had to worry about the safety of my wife before. Or my own life, really. Now, I have something to live for; it feels heavier. I’m not sure what to feel.”
“Temptress.” His voice is dangerous. “Do not leave my side. If anything feels off, it probably is. And, remember, every single one of my men is there to protect you.”
“Call another woman darlin’ again, and neither of you will be walking out of here alive,” she says with a straight face.
“I hear you. No problem. Never again.”
“Well,” she smiles.
“I wouldn’t threaten me with death again though, love,” I whisper in her ear, and she shivers against my touch.
“Why is that, Dr. Quinn?”
“Because that makes me hard as fuck,” I tell her, feeling her skin heat. “Noted.” She wi...
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My tongue sweeps over her skin, licking the champagne from her chin. “Don’t moan like that in public,” I growl against her mouth. “Why not?” Her eyes spark with challenge, blue fire burning me alive.
“Because your moans belong to me,”
“My husband wants to dance with me? In front of everyone?” “Careful,” I warn. “Keep pushing and I’ll fuck you in front of them too.”
Her mouth falls open, shock and heat clashing across her face, and I smirk. We both know I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. She’s mine. Only mine.
“Whatever my wife wants, she gets,”
mattered. “I just want you.” That does it.
“Well, neither do I. Looks like we’re perfectly paired.”
“Finn…” she whispers, like she knows. Like she feels the storm tearing me apart inside.
“I love you,” she breathes out. She truly is a fuckin’ menace. “That’s great, love.”
“That’s all you have to say? Seriously?” I can’t help but grin. “You’re the one who stole my line, temptress. Now, are you gonna let me say my whole declaration properly?”
“I get a whole speech?” she whispers. “I’ll give you the whole damn world if you’ll let me. So, yes.”
“Stephanie Quinn. I love you,”
“I love you, temptress. More than I can stand. More than I ever thought I was capable of. I thought love was a weakness. I thought it would destroy me. But you—”
“You’re the only thing that’s ever made me want to fucking live.”
beautiful. “I’ve loved you since the second you terrified me into noticing you. And I’ll love you for the rest of my life. I want to be your wife for as long as you’ll have me.”
“So, forever? Does that sound okay? In this life and the next,” I whisper. “Yes.” She hiccups. “I’d love that.”
And when I kiss her, it isn’t the kiss of a man who’s claiming. It’s the kiss of a man who’s surrendering. I might as well be on my fucking knees. Because I’ve finally fucking found the one thing stronger than the darkness inside me. Her.
And a hand clamps over my mouth, yanking me back before I can scream. The bag slips from my grip, hitting the ground with a heavy thud. I fight against him; my arm smashes against the wall, and the gun clatters to the floor before the world goes black.
“Reggie. The bag.” I motion for him to come over. I need to be okay so I can get to my wife. “I need to find my brother,” Reggie says, full of pure anger.
“My cousin, Ben, ran a strip club in America for me while I was pretending to be dead. He used to talk about an Angel that worked for him. Red hair. Fine ass. But he was always fucking some blonde chick. Until he got himself caught and I got his head delivered back to me.”
Ben. The sleazy asshole who employed me. The club. All of it is tied to this. And here I am—back in their orbit. It was always leading me to Finn. “I’m sorry about Ben,”
“Ask your husband how he died.” Good. I think viciously. At least one of them is gone.
“Then let me go in. I’m the one he wants revenge on. I’m the one who disfigured him.” I square up to him, nose to nose. “And leave Liam without a father? Not a fucking chance. Don’t you dare.”
“This isn’t a fight. It’s a trial. Just like Decadence. James thinks he’s the game master, but he isn’t. He’s the fucking prey. He needs to believe there’s a way out, and I’m going to let him think that—until I take his head off.”
“You’re walking into the lion’s den unarmed.”
