Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 96417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 482(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 482(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
I take a deep breath and let it out.
I don’t feel completely better, but some of the rage drains away. Whoever said revenge is a dish best served cold clearly never shot someone they hate in the skull.
My gun’s warm when I tuck it back into my waistband. Some girls stand on the second-floor balcony, staring at me. I smile and wave. They scream and run away—probably freaked out by all the blood. Not that I can blame them. I must look terrifying.
Shooting Zita was extremely satisfying, but it doesn’t fix Siena. It won’t ever take away the wound or the scar.
I’ll spend the rest of my life doing that.
Making Siena happy will be my penance. For failing to come sooner, I’ll do nothing but make sure Siena has everything she could ever want and more. She’ll be my world from now on, and nothing will stop me from making that girl happier than she’s ever been. If she wants to save all these whores from their lot in life, I’ll make sure it happens. Whatever she needs—I’ll give it to her.
Because I love her, and I won’t ever let her suffer.
I walk back to the car. She stares at me and jumps out as I approach. “Maxim! You’re bleeding!”
I shake my head. “Not my blood.”
She steps back, her hands flying to her mouth. She hesitates before she finds her voice. “Zita?”
“Dead. Renato too. Ben might be as well. Should I finish him off?”
She hesitates. She actually considers it. That’s my girl.
“No. It’s okay. Leave him.”
“Let’s go home then.”
I get into the car. She climbs in beside me. I grab her hand and hold it as I drive off and leave The Velvet Rope behind.
Chapter 27
Siena
He’s so tender when we stumble into a nondescript townhouse tucked into a line of identical units in a neighborhood on the far side of Dallas He kicks the door shut, locks it, and gently kisses me.
My cheek hurts. It throbs and burns and aches, but that’s nothing, nothing compared to the twisting, overwhelming need I feel echoing through my body.
It’s like I’m alive again. He found me in the underworld and brought me back to life. I never dared hope—never dared dream—that this could happen.
But here I am with Maxim again.
Seeing him back at The Velvet Rope was like watching a miracle unfold. I never thought it was possible and yet there he was, standing right before me, saying all the things I wanted him to say. And when he returned with Zita’s blood drenching his clothes, I wasn’t afraid.
I felt a cold satisfaction in my stomach.
He steers me down the entryway into a modest living room. It looks like it came furnished with stock couches and coffee tables straight out of a decorating magazine. He tugs off my sweatpants, gently removes my top, and I help him out of his shirt.
“Is this for real?” I whisper as he pulls my hair and kisses my neck. His naked chest twitches and it’s covered in dark ink. I run my hands over his skin, unable to accept the truth of his warm, strong body.
“It’s real, princess. I’m here now.” His tongue rolls around my nipples. His hand slides down the front of my worn cotton panties and I moan, grimace at the pain in my cheek, and moan again. His fingers roll up and down my wet folds before teasing my clit.
“I thought you couldn’t do this. How are you doing this?”
“Well, princess, when a man—”
“Don’t you dare make that joke right now.”
He chuckles and kisses me. He’s so gentle with my mouth but his fingers aren’t as kind. They stroke me up and down as he pins me back against a wall. It’s cold against my back. An art print of a covered bridge rattles and nearly falls off its nail.
“I came to understand the truth,” he whispers in my ear. His fingers slide inside and I moan deep and low as a thrum of pure bliss rolls into my hips.
“What’s the truth?” I manage to ask. My fingers dig into his muscular back. It’s heaven, touching him again and being touched. It’s something I never thought I’d even get a second change at, but now that we’re here, now that he’s teasing and kissing and making me feel incredible, I’ll savor every moment.
“I need you. I can’t live without you. I don’t know how, or what you did to me, but you’re mine, Siena. You’re all mine.”
He fucks me with his fingers and I can’t find the words to respond, but he’s right, he’s right, I’m his, I’m all his. I moan into his mouth but he doesn’t let me come. I want it so badly, but he stops me before I can get there. He drags me to the couch and pins me down on my back, his massive bulk trapping me to the soft cushions as he presses his thick cock against my slick pussy. I moan when he slides himself deep between my legs and stays there for a moment, my hands held above my head, his lips on my nipples.