Iosif predictably rolls his eyes. “Wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t,kukolka.” This time, when he uses the endearment, there’s some bite to it. A dare in his eyes as his thumbs stroke over my cheekbones.
“If you’re going to call me your fucking toy,” I spit, trying to wrench my head backward, “then you should at least play with me.”
“So, is that why you came here?” Unaffected, he asks like it’s nothing.
It makes me want to rip the ground out from under his feet, too. “Actually, I came to give you an update, since you own me and all. My father paid me a visit to the café today.”
That does the trick. The news washes over him like ice water. “When?”
He makes a single word sound so dangerous. It sends a thrill shooting through me, a jolt through a livewire.
“This afternoon,” I tell him, adding fuel to the fire. “He wanted information about the Yuris from your newest member. He’s looking to make money from it. Apparently, he’d love for us to run away with it. Me and I, of course. Not you and me.”
At last, his hands drop from my face. No relief comes.
“Thatmotherfucker,” Iosif thunders through clenched teeth. “I’m going to find him. I’m going to put him in the fucking ground like I should’ve the first fucking time around.”
“Of course,” I snort with derision. Anger has become my essence. It drips from every word and action. It feeds off of him, too. “Just kill him! What’s one more body, right? That’s a great answer for every problem in life.”
Again, his eyes roll at me. This time it isn’t fondly. There’s genuine irritation there. “Are we going to have this fucking conversation again, Nell? He threatened you. He threatenedus.”
“So fuckingwhat?” I shout in his face, standing up so forcefully that I knock the chair right over.
And it feels good. The chaos? It feelsgood.
“I threatened him, too. I kicked him out. But not before I told him I’d show him what my new family of killers has taught me. What’ve you got to say about that?”
Nothing. He says nothing. Yet his features scream about how his pride wars with his fury.
I continue, stepping forward until my breasts are nestled against him. I smirk when his gaze drops to my cleavage, now that I’ve propped myself up so nicely for him.
“You know what really pisses me off?” I ask him, like it’s remotely a brief list right now. “When he called me a toy today, he wasn’t wrong. You did buy me. You paid for me and claimed your prize. And now, look—here I am, baby. In your fancy apartment, dolled up for you, working at a café you bought—”
“That I’m fuckinggivingyou,” he interjects fiercely.
“I’m here to summon you to dinner, right? To be your pal. To hang out with. To patch you up when you get home from hurting people. Though, hey, the good news is that you only hurt people who hurt people.” I pump a fist in false cheer. “Yay!”
My head tips up, meeting his ferocious gaze unflinchingly. “The toy you’ll do anything but fuck again. Maybe because you think you broke me when you took my virginity.”
“Is that what you really think?” Iosif has never sounded more deadly.
My heart goes haywire.
“Is that not the truth?” I spit out, meeting his question with one of my own.Checkmate.
His chuckle is dark as smoke and sweet as chocolate. “No, Janella. It’s not.”
Then his hands are on me again. They find my waist this time, at the waistband of my jeans. His hands run the circumference of my waistline. The friction and mystery of what he’s going to do make my heart race.
His gentle movements turn rough. His hand finds the button of my jeans and has it undone before I can process what’s happened.
His fingers don’t slip beneath my panties.
I cry out when he cups my heat, and growls, “I did pay for you. And I’d pay again. I’d pay anything just to be the first one to ever push into this sweet little pussy again.”
The throbbing spot between my thighs pulses with need.
“Is this what you want?” His lips press to my throat, nipping at my pulse.
