Forceful fingers brush against my nipples, sending volts of electricity through my limbs. But when he speaks, there isn’t a trace of decorum left in his gravelly, glacial tone. “Had your hot little cunt not been drenched after I fucked your face on the yacht, or you hadn’t stared up at me with those hungry green-blue eyes of yours, I wouldn’t have followed through on our vows. You were into it.” His lashes blink slowly as he glares at me. “I consented to a baby when the time was right forus—not him. The old fucker thought he could control me—control my wife. I guess you never could trust me with your secrets.” He unclasps his fingers and takes a notable step back. “I’d never trick you into getting pregnant. This shit stops now.”
“Dré… I wasn’t tricking you.” When I inch closer, he grabs a fistful of the material covering my belly and yanks me into him.
“Like fuck you weren’t.”
A lump forms in my throat. “No! When I woke up in our bed to find you there, looking anxious, I finally accepted our marriage for what it is.Till death do us part. You saved me and I committed myself to you. Don’t you see that? At that moment, I wanted to be your wife,” I whisper, my voice shaking. “I—I. Wanted. My. Husband.” My confession tingles all over me. “So there, Hotshot. Now you know my deepest, darkest secret.”
The whites of his eyes glow, the only color on his otherwise eclipsed features. He chuckles coldly. “Such a shame, Sin, because you’re one of many. You know that, right? Just another pussy to get high on before the rush fades.” His breath hitches as if he’s struggling to breathe—or he’s lying. “And the adrenaline hit from fucking my childhood friend has run out. Whatever you thought you saw in me was just a player playing a game. Whatever I had hoped to find in you obviously didn’t exist.”
“I don’t believe you!” I claw his merciless hand, praying he’ll stop looking at me with so much distaste. “You felt it as much as I did.”
His mouth presses into a firm line and he unravels his ringed fingers, yet even the tangled strands of my hair refuse to let go of his hand easily.
“I felt the thrill of a cunt milking my dick. It was a basic oxytocin hit. There's nothing between us, Sin… only bad blood.”
I scowl, furiously seething from his blatant lies. “Well, thanks for that. I’m glad I know where I stand now.”
Whenever we’re in each other's company, our eyes never wander. I can’t stop blinking up at him, regardless of his harshness. However, it appears as though it’s not just me who can't look away. His gaze burns into mine, molten mercury and deadly carbon.
“Don’t wait up. I have a house full of fuckers to slaughter.”
And there it is. The split in his character where he's a borderline psychopath—an intriguing mix of danger and desirability. He does a one-eighty and turns on his heel.
Panic squeezes my chest. I grab his elbow to stop him from leaving. “Are you going after Frankie? You need to tell me. I have to…”
He shirks me off and growls, low and foreboding, “The only thing you need to do is go back to bed. I’m done with your shit tonight.” As I bite my bottom lip to maintain a degree of composure, my emotions swell. The sight of him prowling through the doorway dressed for war rockets panic into my already tight chest.
“Our latest mission has nothing to do with Sapori,” he adds without looking back. “Not tonight. As for you, Wifey, I’ll deal with you tomorrow.”
Something unbearably oppressive creeps over me. A warm, sickly wave of dread crests in my gut and rolls down my spine.
“Whatever you’re doing tonight, Dré, please be careful.”
My concern for him earns a half laugh—not a playful chuckle, but rather more of a sinister grunt. He glances over his shoulder to meet my troubled gaze.
“It’s not me you need to worry about, Sin. It’s yourself. I went easy on you before—I even tended to your skull when it was pissing blood, changed your dirty clothes, watched over you after the doc left, and gave you permission to fuck me hot and slow. Yeah… I letyoutake a little bit of control, but that’s the one and only time.” He jabs a finger at me, almost shaking from anger. “From now on, you’ll do what I say, when I say it, and exactly the way I like it. And when I punish you, it’ll fucking hurt.”
27
ANDRÉ
Filthy bastards. Every single one of them.
As I stand in the stash house of a run-down Miami neighborhood, I barely quell my nuclear mood. My men have already detained six guys and I’m staring into the petrified eyes of their detained ringleader. I’m known for using harsh methods to ensure respect; however, given these harrowing circumstances, this guy faces immediate termination.
The punishment I deliver tonight will have to satisfy my unquenchable need for violence. After Sinéad’s heartless admission, I’m on the edge of stability. My veins run cold, but my heart—it fucking aches behind the pathetic bone cage that had failed to guard it.
The slowmeaningfulseduction of my wife was betrayal.
She didn’t offer herself to me because she cravedme—she did it to obey Sapori.
Something has shifted inside of me. I knew it was happening from the moment I slid the ring on her finger. Every time I closed my eyes, her scent burst through the darkness and lured my senses to the wild side. Rather than sleep to dream of her, I observed the living, breathing fantasy in the dead of night.
But when her soft flesh sprawled on top of me, I’d relinquished a sliver of control—I succumbed to the mindless idea of my wife becoming my one and only. Yet as life would have it, she’s still a closed-off stranger. The lust darkening her eyes was a hoax. Our connection forced. And those tantalizing kisses that had my blood scorching were filthy lies.
Tonight, I have zero tolerance and a painful fracture is working its way through my soul. How was I supposed to know I would need her so much? Marrying the woman wasn’t enough to make her mine, not even filling her cunt full of my cum could bring us closer together. Not when she has a singular mission to protect her mother.
I spit on the naked fucker tied to his cast-iron bedframe. “Have you forgotten who runs this city? I control everything and this…” Whimpers and cries from the next room plague my volatile mood. “I have no time for sick fucks like you.”
