7. Lena
Revenge . I never thought about taking revenge on the man who locked me away from the world, because all I ever thought about was finding a way out. He kept me locked away in his high tower and only brought me out for his image, but I was blind to all of that. I was starved for his attention and would devour whatever he would give me.
All I wanted was for the world to see how in love we were. For someone to notice the sacrifices that I had made for him to climb the ladder. Every ounce of me I poured into our relationship, only for him to feed off my desperation. His goal was to drain the life from me until there was nothing left but a shell of myself.
I pull my chin from Devin’s fingers as tears start to fall, burying my face in my hands. They splash against my palms and hang heavy on my lashes. “He’s a fucking asshole.” My voice is muffled against my skin.
Devin’s hand brushes my hair back, tucking it behind my ear. “He’s worse than that, love.” The coffee table creaks as he sits down on it, resting his hands on my knees. The warmth of his touch soaks into my skin, sending heat snaking up my thighs. “He’s a monster in disguise.”
His words slide over me as I look up at him, his knees pressing into mine. I take in the sight before me: the blood still covering his clothes, the dark look in his eyes, the way he nearly beat a man to death. “What makes you any different from him?”
He hooks his finger under my chin again, running his thumb over my lips. His touch causes heat to curl in my lower abdomen and my heart to race. His smile is all teeth as he brings his face closer to mine, our breaths mingling. “Besides the fact that the only pain I would ever inflict on you would send you over the edge with pleasure”—his voice is gravelly, his words sending goosebumps across my skin—“I’m worse.”
He lowers his mouth to mine; the words that were on the tip of my tongue devoured by his. I melt into his touch as his hand slides up my legs, stopping right at the apex of my thighs. I think about how his hands felt earlier tonight as they inched up to my center, the hold he had on my throat as his fingers took me over the edge harder and faster than I ever had before.
He pulls back, his kiss leaving me breathless and desperate for more. His eyes are bright, as if the monster that was lurking beneath had receded, and the man was back in front of me.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
“Can I trust you?” My brain is foggy, and I can’t seem to trust my own instincts being in the same room with these two men. I should leave, run from the danger they present, but I want to stay to see if they’ll light a match and burn me alive.
“You trusted him, didn’t you?”
I gape at him, embarrassment warming my cheeks as my heart thunders in my chest. “You see where that got me,” I whisper, the knot in my chest tightening again.
He runs his fingers across my collarbone, his touch sending a shiver through me, leaving more goosebumps in their wake. Heat continues to curl in my lower abdomen and the urge to reach over and haul his mouth back to mine is almost unbearable. He smirks, clearly seeing the effect his touch has on me and relishing in it.
“It got you here, didn’t it?” He looks over his shoulder toward Tony whose heated, gray eyes are watching our every move. “Right here to us.”
“And who exactly are you, Devin Green? You never have told me.” My eyes trace over his face, the purpling bruises from tonight’s fight, the small cut above his brow, the slight wince whenever he turns his torso wrong. But he seems as though he could care less about those things as his hungry eyes devour me.
He leans back slightly, and I catch the wince that pulls at his mouth. I reach my hand out and brush it along the buttons of his shirt, tracing the pattern of blood that’s splattered across his chest. Vince’s blood . He drops his eyes to my hand and all I can imagine is running it down the plane of his abs to the top of his pants.
Tony clears his throat, pulling me from my thoughts as I yank my hand back like I’d just been caught in a devious act. The smile on Devin’s face is pure lust, but he doesn’t answer me.
“If you aren’t the owners, then who exactly are you?” I ask.
He lets out a chuckle, the sound rumbling through his chest. “I told you, love, consider us security. We do our job, keep the place clean of fucking scum, and stay in the owner’s good graces.”
I look around the apartment, noting the three doors on the back wall. “Where is he, then? The owner?”
Tony lets out an annoyed huff, causing Devin’s sharp eyes to cut to him, the lust that had filled them draining out before they cut back to me. “He’s too busy jetting around the world, but will occasionally pop in to check on the place.” He leans in, cupping his hand next to his mouth and whispers, “But between us, he’s just the name on the mortgage because we’re the ones who are actually in charge around here.” He leans back and gives me a wink.
“So, why the two of you, then?” I look between the two men, and even though power radiates from them, I’m still curious what their skill sets are to be left in charge of a place like this. Where evil lurks in the shadows, waiting to apprehend you around every corner.
“The owner and I go way back—” He looks over his shoulder, his eyes twinkling at Tony as he says, “And Tony’s hands were tied, so he really had no choice in the matter when he was brought on board.”
Tony cuts his gaze to me, his eyes darkening as if I had just overheard something incredibly damning. He looks as though he’s about to pounce on Devin, sink his claws into his skin, and devour him. It’s almost unsettling to feel this strange tension rise between them, especially since Devin seems completely unfazed by it as he goes on. “The owner was having trouble with the reputation of the club and decided that I might be a good fit to make it a little more exclusive, attracting powerful people with a lot of money.”
Watching the screen and all I can think about is all the booths that are oozing with money and power, I say, “Looks like you did a good job.”
His eyes darken slightly. “Maybe too good of a job.”
The club is filled to the brim with dangerous people, people that I once associated with, but who were only keeping me around because I was a pawn for Matt. It makes me so angry to think about the women I trusted, who I thought were my friends, who were more than likely waiting for me to fuck up and ready to watch me burn.
I absentmindedly rub my thumb over my ring finger. That ring had more weight than the four carats attached to it, and even though he is still watching me, I felt that weight lift when I finally had the strength to take it off. It still sits in my jewelry box at the apartment I share with Bri and Kate, not because I can’t give it up, but in case I ever need some fast cash.
I had a small lump of savings in a secret account. A nice little nest egg that I had spent the first part of my adult life saving. But I hadn’t been able to touch it in years, because I couldn’t attract attention to the fact that I had money that he couldn’t keep account of.
It’s been enough to keep me on my feet these last few months and will hold up while I figure my life out. But the minute I walked—no, ran—so did my seemingly endless cash flow. But thankfully, I have the friends I do, who didn’t think twice when I called them all those months ago, whispering into the phone from a coffee shop bathroom, begging for them to save me. If anything would ever happen to them, I don’t know what I would do, because they pulled me from the waves that were attempting to drown me.
If it wasn’t for them, I would still be trapped.
“Love,” Devin’s voice cuts through my thoughts, snapping me back, “we want to talk to you about some terms of protection.”
Crossing my arms, I lean back against the sofa. “What else is there to talk about? You’re going to escort us out to the car, take us home, watch us for a few days to make sure he’s not coming back, and then it’s done.”
Tony lets out a low grunt and leans forward, his elbows resting on his knees, lacing his fingers together. Devin stays relaxed back as he goes on, “Oh, no, we’re going to have eyes on you until we can get our hands on whoever sent you that message and they’re properly disposed of. We already have someone working on tracking down your ex.” My eyebrows raise at this, and he keeps going, “He should have never left this club alive.” His voice lowers to a growl. A muscle in his jaw tics, his nostrils flaring as if he’s disgusted with himself.
I hold up my hand and take a deep breath. “I don’t want to be involved with his shit anymore. I’m done. You do whatever you need to do, but please, leave me out of it. I just want to live my life in peace.”
Tony huffs and the sound of his annoyance prickles against my skin. Devin pays him no mind as he unlocks his jaw and smooths out his voice. “If it were that easy, love, we’d already have you back at your apartment tonight, sleeping soundly.” He grips my knee harder, causing me to jump. “But unfortunately, this plan for revenge has only just begun.”