But what she didn’t realize was I used it as a reminder for myself too. A devil resided beside the darling that she was. It slumbered peacefully because she patted the devil’s head and kept it docile.
Yet, when my sweet darling was provoked, was hit on, was inany sort of jeopardy, the devil beside her awoke. And that devil wasme.
Vicious. Unapologetic. And barely contained lately.
When it came to her, I was unhinged. I knew it. My men knew it. Soon, I was going to make sure the whole world knew it. “You know the mafia has a name for the women they deem theirs. Untouchables. And our syndicate has a name for them too. The Sanctums. Do you think I gave Valerie that title?”
“I don’t know,” she murmured, shrugging her shoulders. “Did you?”
“It’s fucking coveted, Mia. So much so that not even Lex had that from me. Franny does. It’s why I’ve ripped apart the Irish and am ripping apart a cartel for coming for her. Olive is a Sanctum from her own birthright, Pink from Bane.”
“And why not Valerie?”
“Because she was a means to an end. Nothing more.”
“You took her every other day, right in this room.”
“I did. Just like you want me to take you, right?” She had to understand that she was nothing like Valerie was to me.
She dragged her teeth across her bottom lip before nodding. “Do you want me to turn around?”
Fuck. She wasn’t going to let this go, and so I had to indulge her. “You listened to us.” I raised an eyebrow. “You tell me.”
“You told her to turn every single time, like it was your favorite position, and then …”
“And then what, Mia? I fucked her rough enough for you to hear?”
She leaned against the desk I’d taken another woman on and stared at me with hunger in her eyes rather than jealousy. “Loud enough to know you don’t fuck me like that.”
“Goddamn it, Mia.” I combed a hand through my hair and pulled on it in frustration. “Do you want me to hold nothing back from you ever?”
Her answer was fast. “Yes.”
I growled not just at her response but at how quick my dick hardened at her giving me free rein.
“I want you to take me like you’re holding nothing back, like there’s no hidden agenda.”
“You think I have that with you?”
“You’re not reserved with Valerie. Almost as if she knows who you are and you give that to her without apology. I want Jameson Knight without restraint tonight.”
Giving her what she wanted was not what either of us needed right now. Valerie’s negligence had caused more betrayal. It had infuriated me right before I’d thought Mia was with Archer. My composure was gone for the night. I wanted to hurt someone, not make them feel good. I wanted to get out the pent-up aggression inside me, not give Mia the love she actually deserved.
I pulled my Glock from my waistband, ready to wind down for the night and send her back to her room alone. I was about to set it on the table and pour myself three fingers of whiskey, but her eyes widened and flared with desire at seeing the weapon in my hand.
I chuckled in disbelief that a woman with such innocence seemed to have a kink for such violence and danger. “You look at my weapon like it might turn you on, darling devil.”
She didn’t deny it. “I’ve seen what they can do as of late. They’re tools that can hurt, but they’re also tools that can protect. Women seem to need that more than I ever thought.”
I hummed, remembering how she’d confided in me about the coach I was looking into. She hadn’t given me his name, but I was going to find it. And I was going to exact what I thought necessary, knowing he took advantage of her. I turned my gun in my hand, back and forth. “You think it’s the weapon or the person who hurts or protects?”
“Both,” she murmured.
I stared at her and saw vulnerability there that I wanted to take advantage of but also wanted to erase so that she could be stronger than anyone around her, so that I could protect her from even myself.
Holding her gaze, I told her, “This is a bad idea.”
“You think I’ve got the bad ideas even though you just fucked another woman down here?” Her question was meant to cut sharp and quick, to piss me off, and she knew it. “Was she a better idea, then?”
