by Nikki Ash
Her brows crash together as she chomps on the cracker in such an unladylike way it makes me want to lick every single crumb that falls onto her thighs.
“You make me want to be better than I ever thought I could be. I never cared to be better until you. Now, this villain thinks he can be your hero.” I lean my forehead against hers. “I’m going to be really honest here. I’ll suck at it at first. You’ll hate me at least once a week. But I’m fucking trying, Talia. For you. For Zoe. For our family.”
She swallows and pouts. “You make it sound like I don’t appreciate you. I do, even when you’re an asshole.”
“I see your pretty face and every horrible thing I’ve ever done is forgotten. All that matters is you and our daughter. I fucking bask in your presence, whether you’re beaming at me or burning me with your anger. As long as you’re the one doing it, I fucking want it. All the warm, happy moments and the raging, hot terrible ones. You, Talia. I want you.”
“I want you too. I hate that we’re being deprived of our happiness because of him.”
I grip her jaw and kiss her softly. “I’m going to try harder. To leave the stress at the door. By bringing it in our home, I’m letting him win. I’ll be damned if I let that weasel win.”
“We win,” she tells me firmly. “You and me, Kos. We’re a team. A filthy king and his adorable queen.” She laughs and it sounds like music.
“Accept my apology,” I demand, nipping at her bottom lip. “Now, woman.”
“You’re such a prick,” she says with a sigh. “My prick.”
I grip her hand and run it over my cock. “Your prick’s right here.”
“Your prick is being punished,” she tells me primly. “Go on. Feed me some more. I’m enjoying the groveling.” She leans forward to grab the vodka and makes a seductive show of unscrewing the lid before wrapping her dick sucking lips around the bottle.
With my eyes on her so I don’t miss the way her throat bobs as she swallows down the burn, I fix her another cheese and meat cracker. The movie plays in the background—the soundtrack working in my benefit to seduce my wife. As the food disappears and the bottle empties, I warm my woman up. All anger has dissipated as giggles take over.
“What’s so funny?” I murmur, my lips tracing kisses along the side of her neck. “Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy.”
“This version is,” she snorts.
“A man tries to be romantic and this is how he’s rewarded.” I bite her warm flesh. “Maybe I should stop wooing you and just ravish you instead.” When I slide my palm up her bare thigh to just under her dress, she lets out a sharp breath and grips my wrist.
“I’m on my period, remember?”
“So?”
“Kostas!”
“You think I’m afraid of blood?”
“Don’t be gross.”
“Nothing about fucking you on your period is gross.”
She gapes at me when I push her dress up her hips.
“Lie back,” I order.
“Kostas…”
I reach under her dress and grip her panties. Her breath hitches when I tug them down her thighs. Once they’re tossed away, I kiss up her naked thigh.
“Kostas,” she whines. “I have a tampon in. This is weird.”
Ignoring her half-ass pleas to get me to stop, I run my tongue up her inner thigh. She moans when I suck on the apex of her thigh. Gripping her knees, I spread her open. The string of her tampon remains within reach, but I leave it alone to seek out her clit.
“I like the way you smell.” I lick her clit, loving the way she shudders. “I like the way you taste. You think I was a vampire in another life?”
“Do not go there,” she breathes. “Please.”
Maybe not today.
There’s always next month.
“Can I go here?” I ask, circling her clit with my tongue.
“Y-Yes. Go there. Mmm.”
Smiling against her pussy, I tease her bundle of nerves until she’s squirming on the sofa. I listen to the sounds of her breathing and pay attention to the way her hips lift each time she gets close to orgasm. When I know she’s about to fall over the edge, I suck hard on her clit. She screams in pleasure as her whole body detonates. I press kisses to her perfect pussy as I tug on the string of her tampon.
“What are you doing?” she hisses, her chest heaving.
“This.” I gently pull until her body releases the bloody plug. With my eyes searing hers, I drop the thing onto the empty cheese plate and then yank at my belt. Her pussy is open and inviting.
A little blood doesn’t fucking scare me.
I’m a goddamn villain.
Blood turns us the hell on.
I unfasten my pants and pull out my aching cock. After I shove my pants down my thighs and rip at the buttons on my shirt, I prowl over to her, deciding that’s enough stripping. I want inside her before she changes her mind.
“See this pussy?” I ask, teasing her opening with the tip of my dick.
She nods, frowning.
“It’s mine,” I growl with a hard thrust of my hips.
My dick slides into her warmth and I groan. Her lips are parted, her eyes soft. I want to fucking devour her. She cries out when my lips crash to hers. I kiss her hard and urgently, making her feel my apologies for what I’ve done and my hope for how I want to be. She kisses me back, equally as passionate.
Talia meets my fire with gasoline.
She taunts and draws out the beast inside me.
And rather than being fearful of the man I can be, she lets me own her with my mouth and punish her cunt with my cock. Begs and moans for it. Fucking loves it.
The sounds coming from her body are juicier than normal and it makes me hard as stone. It takes everything in me not to come without at least attempting to make her come again. Luckily, my girl is needy and tipsy, and the moment my fingers touch her clit, she clenches around my dick as she yells my name. I thrust into her several more times until my balls draw up, desperate for release. With a groan, I spill my seed in her bloody cunt. What a fucking mess we are. A beautiful mess.
With a peck to her lips, I pull out slowly, loving the way her blood is smeared over my thickness. If I didn’t just come, I’d have the urge to wrap my hand around my dick and use her blood as lubricant, bringing myself to climax. Talia fucking undoes my mind.
“I can’t believe I let you do that,” she complains, but her voice is breathless and happy.
“Believe it. Because in about five minutes, I’m going to regroup and do it again in the shower.”
“It blew up last night.”
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
“Planes don’t just blow up,” I growl to Adrian. “Fucking Aris. What did airport security say?”
“They’re investigating and looking through video footage to see what happened.”
“We know what happened. Aris wanted to fuck around with me.”
He lets out a heavy sigh. “I’ll look into it. But good news is, I have a lead.”
“Oh?”
“Wesley said the vehicle Basil took had less than a quarter tank of gas.”
I lean back in my office chair. “And?”
“And all the service stations have been checked. He never arrived to refuel.”
“So it means Basil is close. Aris is close.”
“Any hideouts within fifty miles or so?” he asks. “I could start checking in on some.”
We pretty much own everything worth owning within that radius. My mind flits to a few motels that we don’t. One particular shithole is known for shady motherfuckers staying at. It would be stupid for Aris to go there, especially with a fifty-mil price tag for his head, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t try it.
“Let’s check it out,” I order.
After a quick kiss to Talia and Zoe who are napping, I grab my keys. I find Phoenix in a heated discussion with Fowler, but I don’t stick around to break it up. Phoenix has taken command over these men, so
if Fowler with the wandering fucking eyes needs an attitude adjustment, who am I to step in and interfere.
Adrian and I climb into my Maserati before zipping through town toward the shitty motel. Fifteen minutes later, we creep up to the building. On the side, a vehicle is parked with a blue tarp covering it.
“Basil’s car,” Adrian growls, jumping from my car before I get it in park.
We didn’t have a plan coming here, just following yet another lead. Most leads are pointless. It’s surprising as fuck this one might lead us right to Aris.
“I want at him before you kill him,” Adrian hisses over his shoulder. “Give me that. I want to ask him straight to his face why he’d turn on his best friend.”
I follow him along the sidewalk. We creep, listening in at each door. Nothing seems of interest until I hear him. Moaning. Lifting my leg, I kick in the door hard. Adrian rushes past me, his gun drawn. When he stops suddenly, I slam into his back.
“What the fu—” My jaw drops, ending my words.
“No,” Adrian whispers. “No.”
Basil, in nothing but his boxers, whimpers at the sound of our voices. Aris, that sick motherfucker, did this to our friend. A friend who we wrongfully thought was a rat was nothing more than a victim. He’s lying on the bed, his torso cut from throat to groin. His body has been pulled apart to expose his organs. I step closer and notice that he’s been freshly packed with ice. Lots of it.
“He’s here,” I hiss.
“N-No,” Basil croaks. “Gone.”
Adrian jolts from his stupor and sits beside Basil on the bed. I mimic his actions, coming up on the other side. As Adrian grabs Basil’s hand and lets out a choked sound, I drag my stare over his open torso. His intestines have been pulled out some and hang over the sides of his ribs, dripping in sticky blood. He has to be in agonizing pain.
“We need to call an ambulance,” I mutter, fixated on the horrific sight.
Adrian jerks his head my way. “That shit isn’t fixable, Boss.” His cheeks are wet with tears. “I thought he was a rat.”
I sit down next to Basil and frown at him. “We didn’t think you were a rat,” I explain. “We just figured you were with one. And we were right. Where’s he headed next? Give me anything and I’ll put you out of your misery.”
Basil’s face scrunches. “H-He wants b-back at the h-hotel…”
“Why?” I growl. “We’ve not even been there.”
“Info…info…” He groans.
“Information?”
“Yesss,” Basil whispers.
Aris is nothing without his numbers and he wants them back. Makes fucking sense. Over my dead body.
“You served me well,” I tell Basil. “Say goodbye to Adrian.”
Adrian makes a growling sound of a pained animal. He leans forward and presses his forehead to Basil’s. “I love you, brother,” Adrian tells Basil. He sighs hard and then he’s gone, leaving me alone with Basil.
“Thank you,” I mutter, pulling out my Glock. “A promise is a promise.”
Holding the barrel against his temple, I stare into Basil’s dark eyes so he doesn’t have to die alone, and I pull the trigger.
Aris will pay for this.
His time is running out.
Talia
“How are you doing?” I ask Kostas. He’s standing in front of the mirror, tying his tie, and looks like he’s a million miles away. When he got home last night, he filled me in on everything. His private plane has been blown to bits, and Basil was found in a shitty motel, alone and dying.
I didn’t know him well, but from what I’ve seen, Kostas, Adrian, and Basil were all close. As close to friends as three men in this world can be. The way he looked at me, with sad, distant eyes when he told me about his death, had me wanting to hold him close.
Kostas won’t ever say it, but I think he blames himself for Basil’s death. If he had looked harder, maybe he would’ve found him in time. My poor husband has suffered so much loss in his life, I don’t know how he even gets out of bed in the morning. If I were knocked down as many times as him, I don’t think I would be able to get up.
But in typical Kostas fashion, he quickly schooled his features and pretended like everything was okay. He made love to me slowly and told me no less than a dozen times he’s going to catch his brother.
“I’m okay,” he says for the millionth time, glancing at my reflection in the mirror. “How about I pick up dinner on my way home to make up for the one I fucked up the other night?”
He walks over and sits on the edge of the bed where Zoe and I are still lying. Zoe likes to wake up at the crack of dawn, have a bottle, and then come back to bed with Kostas and me for early morning snuggles. I warned Kostas the first time she did it, she would keep doing it. He just shrugged and said he hoped so.
“You already made up for that dinner.” I smile, recalling the way he made up for it several times. First with his tongue, and then a couple more times with his cock.
Kostas smirks, knowing what’s running through my head. “Still, I’ll pick up dinner.” He leans over and kisses my lips. Groaning into his mouth, I grab his lapels and try to pull him back into bed.
He chuckles and stands. “Not happening, moró mou. I have another appointment with the insurance adjuster.”
“For the plane?”
“Yeah.” He pecks my lips one more time. “I should be home early. Behave.”
A little while later, Zoe wakes up drooling and cranky. I think another tooth is coming in. After she’s changed and fed, I give her to my mom to hold so I can find one of the men to go to the store to pick up medicine.
As I’m opening the front door, I run straight into Fowler. Our bodies collide and his hands land on my hips. Not wanting him to touch me, I move out of his reach, but his fingers are digging into my skin, preventing me from moving.
“Let go of me,” I hiss, swatting at his hands.
“Would you rather I let you fall?” He smirks evilly.
Anger burns through me and I’m seconds from clawing his face apart.
“Get your fucking hands off my sister,” Phoenix growls, walking up behind Fowler. “Now.”
Fowler stares me down in an arrogant way that leads me to believe he thinks he’s powerful and untouchable. But based on the fury rippling from my brother and when Kostas gets wind of this, this asshole will learn his place in my home—in my world.
“My bad.” He releases his hold on me and raises his palms into the air.
“Why the fuck were you touching her?” Phoenix accuses. “Didn’t we already talk about this?” He steps into Fowler’s face.
Fowler grins wide, as if they’re two old friends in on a joke. “Bro, I didn’t touch her—” Fowler begins, but Phoenix cuts him off.
“I’m not your bro.”
Fowler just laughs. “Look, man, she ran into me and I caught her so she didn’t bust her ass. Next time I’ll just let her fall.” He shrugs and walks around Phoenix.
“Two strikes,” Phoenix calls over his shoulder.
He says it loud enough that Fowler can hear him, but he keeps walking, pretending he doesn’t.
“That guy seriously rubs me the wrong way,” I tell Phoenix.
“Yeah, he’s a punk.”
“What’s with the two strikes?” I ask, curious.
“Three strikes and he’s out.” He looks over his shoulder then back at me. “Why were you coming out here?”
“Zoe is teething. I need someone to run to the store to buy her pain medicine.”
“Is she okay?” Phoenix’s brows furrow in concern. I never imagined I would ever have my brother in my life, let alone my daughter’s. And I definitely never thought Phoenix would be such a hands-on uncle. Growing up, I only got to see him for a short time over the summer, or for the holidays when he would visit. I always assumed he was just like Niles—selfish and irresponsible. But he’s actually nothing like him. His only fault was that he was loyal to his dad—until he wasn’t.
> “She’s fine. I just want to make sure she’s not in pain. She’s whining and being cranky.”
“Sounds a lot like her mom.” Phoenix smirks.
“Hush it.” I push his shoulder playfully.
“I’ll send Fowler to go get it.” He laughs. “He’s not doing shit anyway, so he can play errand boy. Make himself useful.”
“I think it’s time for me to go home,” Mom says. We’re sitting on the floor in Zoe’s nursery, watching as she crawls all over the place, knocking blocks over and smashing the keys to her soft play piano.
“Already?” I pout. I love having my mom here with me. Once she goes back to Italy, who knows when I will see her again.
“Already?” She laughs. “I’ve been here for a month.”
My pout deepens, my bottom lip jutting out dramatically. “But I’m going to miss you, and so is Zoe.”
“I know, cara mia, but Stefano isn’t good at fending for himself. He’s complained every day that the cook isn’t making what he likes.” She rolls her eyes in mock annoyance. “Imagine if you were away from Kostas for a few days? Or a week?”
I laugh at the thought. Kostas would never let that happen. He’d be all growly and then demand he either goes with me or I don’t go. “I get it. So how much longer do I get you?”
“Stefano found a flight for next week. So we have a little more time together.” She gives me a soft smile.
“Okay, I’ll take it.”
Zoe stops banging on the piano and turns to me. Her eyes well up with tears and she shoves her tiny fist into her mouth. Fowler should be back by now with her medicine.
“I’m going to go see if Fowler is back with Zoe’s medicine yet. Can you hold her?”
“Of course,” Mom says, taking Zoe into her arms. “You know, when you and Phoenix were babies, we just rubbed whiskey on your gums.”
I bark out a laugh. “I think we’ll stick to good old Tylenol.”
I run downstairs and spot one of the men on the phone in the kitchen. Not wanting to interrupt him, I head out the front door. The vehicle Fowler uses is parked in the driveway, so I go in search of him. I find him standing on the side of the house. I’m about to call out his name when I see he has his phone pressed up to his ear. Instead, I walk forward a few steps so I can listen.
