Page 51 of Vicious Kingdom

David was never one of them.

“I already have your parents’ blessing. We’re moving the wedding to this fall.” He spoke as if my fate were decided.

I shook my head, but he cut me off.

“Don’t push me on this, Annaliese. It’s done.” He rose, buttoning his suit jacket. “I’m not a man to be trifled with.”

And I’m not a woman who lets others script her future.He wanted to force my hand? Well, he was going to see how ugly things could become.

Chapter 18 – Leonardo

The only reason I was fucking here was because some uppity woman told me I didn’t have a choice. She’d even gone so far as to suggest a bad publicity stunt if I refused to show. Since my brother was furious after the unnecessary death at the gambling ring, I didn’t want to give any more reason to stoke his ire.

So I did the thing. Made an appearance. Talked to mind-numbing, teeth-jarring women who wore more plastic in their faces and more jewels on their bodies than a small country’s GDP.

But it wasn’t over.

Oh no, chatting to the blithering idiots who made up the single ladies’ coalition was just the start. Now I had to take one of them on a date.

Or cause another scandal.

Meanwhile, Sandro was out, sweeping the streets for drug runners, waging an economic war with other mobs, and keeping his territory in order. I would much rather have a gun in my hand than a paddle to use for my opening bid.

I scanned the ladies once more from where I stood behind the curtain. Beautiful, brightly feathered birds who tweeted and simpered with not a damn thing to say.

“Oh, I’m taking the live wire,” a rich little heir chuckled.

His friend poked him in the ribs. “Which one?”

“Theonlyone who was interesting. Number three,” he whispered conspiratorially. “She’s got a mouth on her, and it will look good sucking on my dick this weekend.”

Number three…Annaliese.

Something dark and volatile possessed me.

“Like you’ve ever closed the deal,” his friend sneered. “I’ll bid on her, just to make sure it’s my dick she’s sucking.”

A cloud of red descended on the staging area.

I moved without thinking. My vision tunneled to pinpricks as my fist connected with the heir’s jaw. The crack of bone against bone echoed in the small space behind the curtain. The little shit stumbled backward, eyes wide with shock as blood sprayed from his now-crooked nose.

“What the fuck!” his friend yelped, jumping back as his companion crashed into a rack of sound equipment.

I grabbed the friend by his designer lapels, slamming him against the wall hard enough to knock the wind from his lungs. “Say another word about her, and I’ll rip your fucking tongue out.”

The heir was scrambling on the ground, hand cupped beneath his streaming nose. “You broke my nose! Do you know who my father is?”

“I don’t give a shit if your father is God himself,” I snarled, releasing the friend to tower over the bleeding man. Grabbing them each by the throat, I drug them into the back hall.

They struggled and struck out.

But my arms were locked tight, a terrible violence ready to explode. The beast inside roared in approval, begging to bereleased. It would feel sogoodto pummel my fists into each of their pretty faces until the flesh turned to pulp.

This wasn’t the place. Too many eyes saw me strike. While no one jumped to intervene, they would have if I began beating the ever-loving shit out of them.

Dropping one, I opened a janitor’s closet and tossed the first inside. He crashed into the wall and slumped on the floor. The other was busy trying to scramble away. I caught him by the hair, gave him a brutal tug, and threw him to land on the other.

“Someone will let you out…eventually.” With those parting words, I slammed the door closed and threw the external lock.