Chapter 16
VAUGHN
Contrary to the rumors, not every Syndicate party is a demented orgy held somewhere like Club Venom.
That’s more Carson and Sebastian’s thing than mine or Gideon’s.
When I fuck, I don’t want, nor need, a goddamn audience to bear witness to my unhinged brand of sexual gratification.
I mean, the NDAs alone would be a fucking nightmare.
Besides, over the last two weeks, the part of me that craves that particular brand of sex is…
Well.
“Absent” would be incorrect. Distracted isn't right, either.
Focused.
That’s the word. My virulent appetite for depraved sex mixed with violence, power, and sadism isn’t muzzled in any fucking capacity.
It’s laser focused. On one. Fucking. Person.
A person I’ve chosen to excise from my world.
So, no, tonight’s gathering at Sebastian’s massive three-story penthouse overlooking Central Park West is not the same type of affair that Evelina managed to sneak into the other day.
“There’s way too many clothes at this party.”
…Much to Carson’s chagrin, I might add.
Sebastian rolls his eyes. “Yeah, keep your clothes on in my house, fucker.”
Carson sighs dramatically. “So fucking puritanical. And such a disappointment for your guests.”
Seb shakes his head and runs a hand over his jaw.
“No one wants to see you naked, King.”
Carson snorts. “Demonstrably false. But, if you’re just worried about your prospects seeing my dick and deciding you’re maybe not the horse they should be betting on, well…”
Sebastian sighs and shoots me a look. “Can't we just leave him outside?”
I shake my head. “Pretty sure that constitutes child abuse.”
Sebastian chuckles as Carson flips us both off.
“These are people we might be bringing into our world for life,” I say pointedly. “Not potential hookups. Nobody's taking out their dick.”
“Says the guy whose Acolyte came limping back inside without any clothes and ‘just got fucked’ hair,” Carson mutters.
“Would you care to explain why exactly you scooped Maeve’s Acolyte out from under her?” I growl at him. “Or why you were looking at said Acolyte like you wanted to choke the life from her? Or why that Acolyte looked like she’d looked death in the face after she made it back from—”
“Okay,” Carson hisses. “You’ve made your point. Drop it.”
“That…doesn’t sound much like an explanation, does it?” Seb grins.
“I said drop it,” Carson snarls with an edge I’m not really expecting. Before I have time to consider that further, Sebastian clears his throat.
“Guess we can ask her directly,” he grunts, nodding his chin. “She just arrived.” He frowns. “And lookie here, she brought a friend…”
Mother.
Fucker.
My jaw tightens, and the vicious beast inside me bares its teeth through the bars of its cage when I see Gabriella De Luca walk into Seb’s penthouse.
…With Evelina.
Evelina, who shouldn’t fucking be here, especially not dressed like that.
My jaw tightens as my gaze stabs across the penthouse. The beast inside me snarls louder. My hands twitch at my side.
She’s still in head to toe pink as she steps into the penthouse, of course. But instead of her usual “harmonizes with woodland creatures” and “looking for my dickless, G-rated Prince Charming” vibe, there’s something more…adult going on.
More alluring.
And it makes my dick swell in my pants as I devour the sight of her.
Of course.
It’s not just the color of the dress.
It’s how little of her it covers.
The Evelina that just walked in wearing towering stilettos and a strapless cocktail dress with a dangerous hemline is anything but G-rated.
She still looks like a princess, but this princess is one you’d want to rail the fuck out of, not watch sing and dance with Bambi or the seven goddamn dwarves.
I grit my teeth, even as hunger gnaws at me.
She was not invited.
She shouldn’t be here.
She’s out of consideration for the Syndicate, and therefore lucky to be alive.
So what in God’s name possessed her to show up?
I’m only vaguely aware of Sebastian and Carson bickering like children. I’m even less aware of Gabriella De Luca, in an equally revealing green dress.
Because Evelina has my full attention.
And someone should truly impress upon her how dangerous that is.
Just then she turns, scanning the party.
She spots me, and our eyes lock.
For half a second, I see the world through Demon’s eyes. I remember her naked body, splayed across her bed, covered in bruises and bites, dotted and streaked with blood and cum.
Red mist clouds my vision as my eyes stab right into her.
But then she fucking smiles at me and even gives me a little fluttered finger wave as her cheeks turn as pink as her dress.
Fuck.
And that’s when I realize what she’s fucking doing here, and it’s so much worse than not getting the hint and still trying to get herself into the Syndicate.
It’s me.
There’s a reason I don’t sleep with virgins, and that reason just walked in wearing big girl heels and a bad girl dress, trying to get my attention like the clingy, naive little princess she is.
Time to shut this down.
I turn to excuse myself from my friends. But there’s no need. Sebastian is already off talking to a few other senior members. Carson is nowhere to be found, and for that matter neither is Gabriella.
Yeah, those are pressing questions.
But they’re going to have to wait.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
She’s in the middle of plucking a glass of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter. Evelina whirls, gasping at the ferocity of my tone, her eyes widening as she looks up at me towering over her.
“I—” She pauses, then flashes that sweet, innocent smile up at me. “It’s a party for Acolytes and their Adepts—”
“You’re not an Acolyte.”
Goosebumps break out over her bare arms as she wraps one across her middle. Her delicate throat works as she swallows.
“Yes I am,” she says quietly.
My gaze bores into her. “No, you’re not. I ended it.”
Now run the fuck away before I devour you, little girl.
But the fool stands her ground, looking me right in the eye.
“You told me before—and you were very clear here—that the only way to end this would be for me to use my safe word,” Evelina says quietly. “I haven’t done that.”
“Bravery is to be admired, Evelina,” I growl. “Stupidity, not so much.” She shivers under my frozen glare. “I’m giving you an out,” I hiss quietly. “Take it.”
She blinks quickly, her throat bobbing again. “The other night—”
“Was nothing,” I snap. “That was a free swim in the kiddie pool. You have no fucking idea how deep the real one gets,” I snarl.
I fully invade her personal space, stepping so close that she’s forced to retreat until finally her back hits the wall. Her big gray eyes widen as they look into mine.
The champagne ripples in the flute caught between her fingers.
Then, she opens that mouth.
“I’m still here,” she whispers.
“Why,” I growl.
Evelina trembles and shrinks into the wall when I move even closer.
“Why do you want into the Syndicate so fucking badly,” I hiss quietly.
“You’re a princess. You’re not a second-born with aims of leading that will never be realized.
Your little friend that you came here tonight with?
Gabriella? She wants power that she’ll never get living in her big brother Nero’s shadow.
” I shake my head. “But that's not you.”
She glares at me. “I—I want to be in the Syndicate, because you told me the Syndicate helps its own—”
“Try again.”
She cannot be that foolish to want to commit herself for life to this organization just to help her dog-shit father out a mess of his own making. A man who doesn’t give a fuck about her, or anyone other than himself and his own ambitions.
No. That’s not why she’s here. Maybe at first, but not now.
“Do you want to know what I think?” I purr, my eyes glinting down at her. “I think you got a taste of something you’ve only ever fantasized about, and you’ve realized how much you like it.” I move so close that my body presses into hers.
Evelina’s eyes widen. “I—”
“Are you here for my cock, Evelina?”
Her face explodes with heat. “No!” she blurts indignantly, her whole body turning red. “I want nothing to do with your…your—!”
“Cock,” I murmur. “Say it.”
Her mouth pulls to a line, and her head shakes subtly side to side.
“Say. It.”
“No,” she whispers.
We’re tucked away in the shadows of an alcove. Her breath catches sharply when my hand gently curls around her throat, and the second my fingers press against her pulse point, the rest of the party dis-a-fucking-pears.
The world narrows to a black tunnel until all that exists is her big, scared, doe eyes, looking up into mine like the most delicious fucking prey in the world.
“I won’t ask again.”
Her throat bobs against my hand. Her eyes lock with mine as she bristles, that mouth of hers getting all pissy-looking in way that is entirely too appetizing.
We should pry it open with our dick until she’s drooling all over it.
“Cock.”
She hurls it like a slur. It doesn’t matter.
I’m still hard. Instantly.
But still, this needs to stop.
“Coming to this party after I told you we were done was supremely stupid.”
Her mouth trembles. “I haven’t used the word,” she croaks.
“Then maybe I haven’t been hard enough on you.”
Time to shut this down for real.
“There’s a reason I don’t fuck virgins, Evelina,” I sigh.
Her jaw drops open.
“You…” She blinks. “You think I’m here because I’m obsessed with you or something?!”
“Or something.”
Her gray eyes glint up at me.
“You think any girl in their right mind wants more of that…that horror show you put me through?!”
I smirk. “Please. Your cunt came apart at the seams for my horror show—”
At first, I don’t really comprehend why there's liquid in my eyes, dribbling down my face.
But then, the distinctive taste of champagne teases over my lips.
I blink, clearing my vision. Evelina is staring at me, horror etched over her face.
“I—”
“Coming here was mistake enough,” I growl quietly. “But that?”
She gasps, stiffening as my hand shoots out to wrap like iron around her throat.
“That was supremely. Fucking. Stupid.”