❦ Rosalind ❦ Dominic was rich, but his extremely clean appearance made me suspect he had gone all out for me.I smirked into my glass as I remembered the way he’d eaten Viktor’s punches at my birthday party.He obviously hadn’t learnt his lesson, to fraternize with a married woman like this, even after being rocked by her unhinged husband.He stared deeply into my eyes now, the hard masculine notes of his slightly too-concentrated perfume filling the space between us.“I must say, I was surprised, albeit pleasantly, to receive your invitation to this date, Rosalind.”I swirled my drink, trying to make it through the small talk before I demanded what I was really here for.“Don’t mind me, I’d simply grown bored of my burly guards and limited company.”His eyes flashed, sensing an opening.“Are you well? Trouble in paradise?”“Not so much. I just needed a breather. How have you been?”“Oh, business as usual. It’s hard to find any escape, but it’s worth spending with you.”I smiled, dro
❦ Rosalind ❦ My neck burned where Viktor’s grip had collared me. I raised my own hand to soothe the ache, my throat clogged with all the things I wanted to say. Every curse word I knew pulsed behind my teeth.Somewhere deep inside, I knew it would come to this.I felt so stupid letting myself fall into this trap. But how was I supposed to know that mere days later, my consigliere would be outed as my father’s murderer and I’d lose my family?That look in his eyes, he knew he had me cornered. And there was no telling how long he’d wait before taking what he wanted by force.But if there was anything I’d sworn to protect from his power-grubby hands, it was my hotel.With a snarl directed more at myself than him, I snatched a free dress from the closet, packed some essentials, and left the room. I didn’t even want to look at him.I couldn’t believe I’d almost imagined being with him. Grateful, though, that he’d proven exactly what he was. He didn’t want me, he wanted to take his time br
❄︎ Viktor ❄︎“I want a divorce.”The words cut through the air like a blade, but I didn’t flinch.A shrill sound bounced around in my skull like a ping pong ball. Loud. Unyielding. Fucking debilitating.Along with one word pulsing in my brain. No. No. No.I lost my mother at fifteen. Lost my brother two years later at seventeen. The nine years that followed, with me being incarcerated, were the quietest years I’d ever had.Away from the constant reminder of what Darko took from me. Then I lost him too.I wasn’t going to lose Rosalind.She thought she could walk away from me like it was nothing. Like I hadn’t already marked her, claimed her, bound her to me in every way that mattered.Her cold-tipped fingers curled into my chest, an angry quiver rattling them despite her cold, collected front.“No.” I said, final and absolute.Anything but that.Anything but you leaving me. I didn’t add that part. No, my chest swelled with rage at her even conceiving such a thing.Her entire body froze
❦ Rosalind ❦ Bliss.Raw, unbridled desire.Our mouths slanted and sucked with an urgency that threatened to claw my chest from the inside out.For a second, I dared to dream that this could be my reality if I chose to stay.This.The hard planes of muscle uncoiling under my palms, the grip of his arms around my waist. The groans, the pants. And when we tore apart, the fire in his stormy gray orbs that burned with the same heat, making a mess of my core.Trapped between his large, muscular arms, restraint clouded his features, the war in his eyes making my nipples jut against my sheer nightgown.“I won’t settle for one kiss.” I breathed between my panting.“Two kisses then. And two thrusts.” His smirk was a little too cunning, too wicked. Nothing good ever came from bargaining with my devil. But this once, would he let me win?My legs quivered from the lust burning under my skin. I stared at his lips, avoiding his eyes for fear of what I might find there.“Two continuous kisses, and
❦ Rosalind ❦ “The person you are trying to reach is not available. Please try again later.”Tremors rocked my fingers as I paced the room.That had been a male voice, wasn’t it?‘Stop fighting me’?Oh my God.Julianna lived with her mother, my Aunt Carina, in Boston, and I had no idea where else she could be.I thought of calling Viktor, but he was busy with work. I didn’t want to distract him and unknowingly cost him his life, even if by mistake.I dialed Dante next. He could track her, and then we could figure out a way to help her.I ran my hands through my hair, every dangerous scenario passing through my mind, when the door swung open, making me gasp and clutch my chest.Viktor.I rushed into his arms immediately, his hands coming around to hold my shoulders.“What’s wrong?” he asked, tilting my chin up to look at my tear-streaked face. A dangerous energy clouded his features as though ready to murder whoever was causing my tears. “It’s Juliana. I called her, and it sounded lik
❄︎ Viktor ❄︎Missing in action.I struggled to contain my rage as I entered the damp, dimly lit warehouse.Adrian was never missing in action.My men had discovered a rat in my ranks, a petty thief and sellout who was acting as a spy in my organization. Adrian was supposed to handle things like this unless I decided otherwise to handle it myself. This wasn’t one of the times where I’d want to handle this shit myself.Every unanswered call to his cell had pissed me off to the point that I’d arrived, shaking with rage. I strode in, my footsteps echoing in the large and mostly empty space, toward the man tied to a metal beam. Bloody, with a dark patch on his crotch, he squinted at me through a black eye.I leveled my gun at him. “Talk.”“I confess!” he cried, “but I have information. I can give you info…”Pop.Blood sprayed, his head falling limp.He was useless, his information would have been doctored, untrustworthy.“Get him out of here.”Within moments, the body was gone and the bloo