Empire of Lust (Empire, #4)

by Rina Kent

“I’m twenty out of twenty. But are you, King? The way I see it, either she’ll shatter against your hard edges or you’ll get yours...

“Are you sure your ophthalmologist isn’t blind? Someone needs to look into that license and give you a second opinion...

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I take away your toys again, Nic?”

“Yes, and you won’t get a word out of me unless you give them back.”

“Might want to visit your ENT and get those ears checked as well, because I told you she’s not my fucking woman.”

This motherfucker’s head will be hanging on his office door by the time she shows up. Instead of acting on what I’m thinking and inevitably getting myself killed by his guards,

“I’ll call my broker and invest in one of your legitimate businesses, and I get to choose which.”

“Three. One illegitimate.” “Two. Legiti...

I flip my Zippo shut. “Now, speak.” He offers me his box of cigars. ...

“She’s one of us.” “One of who?” He points a thumb at himself. “Us. Bloodbaths, laundering, and battery included.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Did you know Leblanc was her mother’...

important why?” “She was born Aspen Locatelli.”

“Locatelli…” I rack my brain for the familiar last name, then stop. “You don’t mean the man who killed for your father like it was an Olympic sport?”

“That’s the one. Bruno Locatelli, an extravagant killer with a taste for fine torture devices. He’s the family’s favorite Grim Reaper and Lazlo’s best dog, but he’s old, so there’s n...

“After all, she ended a strike even my boys had troubl...

“Aspen is Locatelli’s daughter?”

“Yes. But here’s the most interesting part.”

“She was the bird who sang to the FBI about one of his murders and landed him in prison. And in our world, snitches not only get stitches...

I’ve contemplated whether or not my earlier plan of putting Nicolo’s head on display would still work, then promptly decided I need to live for my angel’s sake.

There are a lot of things I gave up for Gwen. Including almost getting myself killed in a variety of dangerous activities or fully embedding myself into Nicolo’s blood-flavored world.

I want to do is trap her against the nearest wall and make her spit out the naked truth.

Or, actually, get her naked. Wait. Hold on. What—and I mean this—the fuck was that thought all about?

My type is mute, only screams when I’m pounding them, and doesn’t ever, and I mean, ever, talk back to me. In short, everything Aspen Leblanc—or Locatelli or whatever the last name the witch coven chose for her—fucking isn’t.

Soft and angelic wouldn’t touch this woman with a ten-foot pole. Even her younger self was a hellion through and through.

She’s been in constant survival mode since she was a kid.

“He’s my chief legal counsel until further notice,” Nicolo answers, still sucking on a damn cigar like it’s a Popsicle.

“Guess that means we’ll be working together.”

“Ag...

“This isn’t a marathon. First or last doesn’t matter.” I cock my head at Nicolo. “Toys and connections do.”

“Because I’m a woman?” “Because I don’t trust you…yet.”

“I trust his money, his profit-oriented mind, and his character that I’ve known for decades. You, however, are still on trial.”

“Will working with Kingsley cause any issues?” Nicolo asks on a puff of putrid smoke.

“Not at all.” She smiles at him, then glares at me. “We work so well together, he and I.”

“From my extensive background check, I gathered you two are rivals who, by a stroke of fate, happen to share a daughter.”

More like a stroke of the devil while high on his lush desires.

And alcohol. There was definitely an excessive amount of alcohol in both ...

“You heard the lady.” I offer her a smile that screams fake. “We ca...

In ...

While she’s riding my face under a volcano waterfall. I pause again, my fingers tightening on the cup. That’s the second erotic thought I’ve had...

What the fuck am I? An anim...

Kingsley strokes the handle of the door of his car—a special edition Audi—like it’s an old lover.

“Any objections, witch?”

“I get you’ve been interfering in my business and actively trying to kick me out of W&S in order to get me out of Gwen’s life, which will not be happening, by the way.

And while you’re a goddamn asshole, you’re not an idiot. So why the hell would you get your prim and proper hands dirty with the freaking mafia?”

“You could be hanging from a frozen mountain by your dick and the only thing I’d do is bring out the popcorn while I watch. So no, worry is the last emotion I’d feel for you.”

He dips his brows in mock reaction. “Sounds painful.” “It looks painful, too, in my head.” “Didn’t know my dick had a personalized section in your head.”

“All dedicated to torture. The ex...

“Seems kinky.” “Guess you’ll ...

“Have you thought about Gwen in your little plan to become besties with the mafia?”