That kiss.
He’d stolen it from me again, using it as a bargaining tool, but I hadn’t even tried to negotiate the terms. A part of me had wanted it as soon as the words had come out of his mouth. His mouth, which could speak with such cruelty but kiss me like I was something precious.
It was a lie. He felt nothing for me. It was just anotherway for him to assert his control, of having something to hold over Anton, even if Anton was unaware of it.
Closing my eyes, I exhaled slowly, circling my nipples as I pushed aside everything else, leaving only the memories of the kisses. Of the way he looked in the yard, stripped down to his low-slung sweatpants, his defined torso glistening with sweat as he fought his opponent. Of his power and grace on the ice, slapping the puck into the net, triumph on his gorgeous face. Of the way I hated him.
Fuck. I couldn’t hate him. Not like that.
“Jay.” I moaned into the stillness, my hand inside my underwear, my fingers sliding into my soaked pussy. I arched off the bed as I touched myself, wishing my fingers were his. Wishing that I didn’t want him.
My fingers sped up, my orgasm crashing over me like a tidal wave.
When I was spent, I hated him even more.
11
NOVA
“Consorting with the enemy. What will your parents say?” Vesper grinned at me over her coffee cup, her dark hair spilling over her shoulders as she tilted her head forward, taking a delicate sip of her latte.
Liana rolled her eyes. “You’re not the enemy. You just happen to be…”
“Enemy-adjacent?” I suggested, borrowing one of Daniel’s phrases.
“Good one.” Vesper pointed at me. Her smile faded quickly, though, her lips curving downwards. “Anyway, don’t remind me. Whelford Uniis… Everyone’s so…rich.”
“You’re rich,” I pointed out. “And you’re better than them.” It was a conversation we’d had several times, and although I did my best to cheer her up, it was difficult when she was feeling down about it all.
“I know. But being the supposed mafia princess in a place full of elite, snobby people who think the world revolves around them, and I’m not even worthy of being thescum on their shoe—” She cut herself off with a sigh. “You’ve heard it all before. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Look on the bright side. At least you don’t have to sleep in a prison cell,” Liana said, shooting Vesper a teasing grin as I squeezed her arm. “You’d think after a year we’d be used to it, but no. Me and Nova didn’t even get to move into the nicer accommodation like certain other people did. Mentioning no names.”
The hockey team, I mouthed to Vesper. She laughed.
“Still hating on the hockey boys, I see.”
“Yes. Especially Kane Worthington. Violent, dickhead, asshole,” Liana gritted out.
“I dunno.” Vesper tapped her fingers on the table, thinking. “Daniel’s pretty violent. Ryker too. Oh, and your goalie.” Her gaze slid to mine, an apology in her eyes at the inadvertent reminder of my future fiancé.
I shook my head. It was fine. The engagement party was still a whole week away. I had seven full days of being free.
Who the hell was I kidding? I’d never been free. The fact was, even here and now with my friends, I was aware of the app on my phone tracking my movements. My pre-approved list of friends. “It’s all for your own safety,” I heard my mother echo in my head, but I highly doubted anyone would be stupid enough to try anything with Guillotine Graham’s daughter, not to mention the whole marrying into Bratva royalty thing. No, it was about control. Control of my life, despite the fact that I was legally an adult.
I sighed, redirecting my thoughts back to our conversation. “Daniel only really gets violent when we play against Whelford, and we all know that’s because Lincoln Bellingham winds him up like it’s his full-time job. My brother…he actually restrains himself quite a lot on the ice. You know what he’s like off it. And as for Anton…again, that’s a Whelford-specific thing.”
“And mostly with Enzo,” Liana cut in, glancing at Vesper. “I know you have a family rivalry with the Volkovs. Enzo should just fight Anton in the yard. Get it all out of their systems.”
Vesper and I both shook our heads. Anton Volkov would never stoop to fighting a Fontana. Old rivalries were tricky. The sins of the father passed to the son, with feuds sometimes lasting for generations, in our world.
Liana swirled her straw around in her iced coffee before lifting it with a grimace. “Paper straws,” she muttered, rising from her seat and crossing to the area next to the counter to get a fresh straw. When she returned, she dragged her chair closer to me, lowering her voice. “Speaking of Anton…how are you feeling about this all now it’s so close? Now it feels…real?”
I looked between my two friends. The hours we’d spent sprawled out in my bedroom at Thorpe Manor, teenage girls with teenage dreams, talking about what our adult lives would be like. I’d known, even then, that my future had already been decided for me, but it was easier to pretend when everything seemed so far away.
“I don’t…” I began. A face flashed in my mind. A hot mouth. A sweep of inky black hair, brushing against my forehead as he leaned in. Dark eyes glittering with contempt.Get the fuck out of my head!I screamed internally. Glancing around the small coffee shop to make sure no one was listening in, I continued. “I don’t know Anton any better than I did the day our agreement was announced. He’s so…cold. I don’t— I’m trying not to think about it.”
Liana’s brow furrowed. “You don’t think he’ll expect things of you, do you?”
