Empire of Lust (Empire, #4)

by Rina Kent

Bruno Locatelli is a made man, a hitman for an influential Italian crime family, and has an assassin’s cult that worships at his monstrous altar.

I turn around and come face to face with none other than Nicolo Luciano. The underboss of the Luciano crime family.

“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 extreme type.” “Seems kinky.” “Guess you’ll never know.”

But that’s not the worst of my illogical reaction. Bats explode in sickeningly loud squeaks in the black cave of my chest and the running away option becomes mandatory instead of optional.

“Jesus.” I sigh, joining her side. “Not sure he can do anything. Some people are just off his mercy radar.”

Karma and I are cut from the same bitch cloth and have a similar dark sense of humor.”

“Aspen, honey, you’re not supposed to admire him when we’re planning to cut off his dick and feed it to my dogs. What do you guys call it? Right, conflict of interest.”

“There’s nothing hollow about Kingsley, Callie. He’s bigger than the world and could be seen from space.”

“You’re arrogant, too, but since you have a dick between your legs, it’s called charisma. Yet when a woman has confidence in herself and her work, she’s labeled an egotistical bitch. If we’re going to be fair, you should be called an egotistical dick.”

“Oh…God.” “Stop praising him when I’m doing all the work,”

Still buried deep inside me, he walks with purpose to God knows where. While kissing me. And all I can think about is that maybe he’s the yin to my yang.

“I’m better than an animal. I’m always in heat.” I roll my hips to prove a point.

“How did you know Caroline has dogs?” “When I talked to her on the phone earlier, she said Cain and Lucifer say hi. I honest to fuck hope those are only some edgy dog names and that you didn’t invite actual demons to your apartment.”

“If you fuck another woman, I’ll fuck a man and make you watch.” “Oh, I won’t be watching, sweetheart. He will, as I make you scream my name while you bounce on my cock like a filthy little whore, and just when he gets a hard-on, I will slice his throat and fuck you on all fours in his blood.”

“You’re sick, Kingsley.” “And you’re blushing.” “I’m fuming.” “Semantics.”

“I only heard the rich and attractive part.”

Due to her witch blood and alleged relations to Satan himself, she’s a hard one to win over.

“Goddamn you, Kingsley.” “God-fucking-damn you, Aspen. Just say the words.” “I’m not your plaything, asshole.” “No, you’re not. You’re the whole fucking game.”

“I thought we weren’t friends. Let go of me.” “That’s true. We’re not friends, sweetheart. You’re my fucking woman.”

“You were never a second fucking choice.” I hoist her head up with a savage grip on her hair until her face is eye level with mine. “Other people mean fuck to me as they should mean fuck to you. The only thing that matters is that you’re mine, body and fucking soul, Aspen. I was your first and I’ll make sure to be your last.”

“Like how I’ll fuck you with this mask on when the illegal ban is over and you’ll scream my name like a little whore, not a femme fatale.”

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby becomes a monster. And if you gaze into an abyss for long, the abyss gazes into you.” I stroke his face. “Don’t become a monster, Kingsley.”

“Whatever you did, undo it,” Nate tells me, subtly pushing me in the direction of Kingsley’s office. “And what makes you think I have something to do with any of this?” “The fact that he looks at you like he wants to fuck you, then kill you. Or kill you, then fuck you. I’m not entirely sure about his hard limits and if they include necrophilia.” “You’re being dramatic.”