Twenty-Six
Levin
V incent is late.” Dom stared out at the setting sun through the trees, looking like he wanted to murder someone. A muscle thrummed along his jaw as he flexed his hands in and out of tight fists.
“He’s with Bianca, right? He’s probably balls deep,” I muttered, leaning against the railing of the old dip house and slurping on my beer.
People were already partying and laughing.
“He’s never late,” Dom continued. “And he wouldn’t do that. She’s being punished for earlier.”
I’d heard about earlier. She was still pissed off about Dom putting her down on all fours. Of course, he then had to take this to a whole other level by fingering her to teach her a lesson. If I knew Bianca like I thought I did, his actions only pissed her off more.
She hadn’t spoken one word to me. She did my trig for me and cleaned my room silently whenever she came over, leaving behind some lavender scent I couldn’t get enough of.
Bianca D’Angelou was quite the woman, but I didn’t trust her further than I could spit, and it had nothing to do with the fact David D’Angelou was her stepdad or that she’d been engaged to Hail. She was up to something. I knew she was.
She was pissed at us, and it was only getting worse.
After my attack on her, the cafeteria shit, and now Dom finger fucking her while Vincent watched…
we needed to tread carefully. I felt like we were making a bigger enemy of her than we’d intended.
Of course, with the lives we led, enemies were a common occurrence.
It didn’t matter. I kept telling myself that over and over.
I’d fucking bury her the moment I found out whatever it was she was planning, whether Dom was OK with it or not.
The world could use one less D’Angelou in it, even if she was there by a misfortunate incident.
Besides, death would eventually come for her.
It always did to people who lived our lives.
She’d only escape destiny for a moment before it took her, and we couldn’t spend our lives protecting her.
Bianca D’Angelou had an expiration date.
It was a morbid as fuck thought, but one could only dance with the devil so long before the devil took his due. A sad fact even I hated thinking about.
“He’ll be here.” I grabbed a bottle of whiskey and dropped my can into the trash. I took a swig, letting it burn its way down my throat.
Dom straightened up and pushed away from the railing. I followed his gaze. Vincent and Bianca had arrived. Her in that red dress made me go momentarily stupid, but I pulled my shit together quickly as Vincent led her over to us.
“Why are you late?” Dom demanded, his eyes raking over Bianca.
I knew that look. He was doing all he could to not lose his shit on them while simultaneously wanting to throw Bianca to the ground and fuck her raw.
“Got sidetracked.” Vincent offered up a lopsided smile as Bianca stared back at Dom, her face expressionless.
Dom glowered but didn’t press the subject. If I had to guess, he didn’t want to demand what had sidetracked them because then he really would lose his cool. Instead, he reached for Bianca.
She stepped into his open arm, and he immediately wound it around her waist.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
Vincent winked at her before Dom led her to his seat which overlooked the party without answering her.
“On your knees,” he said as he released her and sank into the leather.
Her eyes widened as she stared at him, her lips parted. She peered at Vincent then me.
“Are you deaf, D’Angelou? Knees. Now.” I reached out and placed my hands on her slender shoulders and forced her down in front of Dom who surveyed her with cool eyes.
He ran his knuckles along her jaw. “You were late. I don’t entertain tardiness. You’ll remain on your knees right here all night.”
“Fuck you, Dominic.” She rose to her feet and glared down at him. “If I’m being put on my knees, Vincent’s ass better join me because if I didn’t have to wait for him to change his clothes, I’d have been here sooner.”
Dom stood and towered over her. “On your knees, wasp, or I’ll put you there. You belong to me, so I’ll do damn well what I please to you. If you don’t like it, then leave. I’m sure Hail’s brand of punishment is far more enjoyable than mine.”
Dom looked over his shoulder to where Hail stood with Tate and Drake. Stella rubbed against him like a cat in heat.
Bianca followed his stare, her bottom lip wobbling, before she hung her head and dropped to her knees. There was something about seeing her defeated that made my cock ache. I hated it. I didn’t want to feel a damn thing for her, but my fucking dick seemed to have a mind of its own.
The party continued while she stared at Dom’s feet. Vincent offered her a drink that she refused.
“Hey, Dom,” Stella called out, coming up to him. She sneered in Bianca’s direction as Bianca stared at the patio.
“Stella,” Dom said.
“So, I heard you’re still single. True or false?” She let out a giggle.
“Where’d you hear that?” His face remained expressionless as she pushed her chest out.
She was laughable at best and sloppy as fuck at worst. “ Everyone . I was thinking maybe you and I could go upstairs.”
“Aren’t you fucking Ivanov?”
“Sometimes,” she said. “But I have something you might want. If you come with me, I can give it to you.” She batted her lashes at him.
He glanced down at Bianca for a moment, a frown on his face, before getting to his feet.
“Watch her,” he said, nodding to Bianca while she glared at him. He followed Stella into the house, leaving me with Bianca since Vincent had disappeared.
I sank onto his seat and took a hit from the joint I had then drank down a mouthful of whiskey. I had no idea what the fuck to say to Bianca as she remained on her knees in front of me.
Deciding this shit was way too awkward, I offered her the joint. “Want some?”
She shook her head, blonde waves tumbling around her.
“It’ll make this shit easier,” I pressed. “You won’t feel as much. I bet your knees hurt. It’ll only get worse as the night goes on. Dom will stay late just to fuck with you.”
She hesitated before she took the joint from me, drawing in a deep hit. She coughed out the smoke a moment later before taking a second, long hit. She coughed once more, and I handed her the bottle of whiskey.
She drank like it was water, sputtering when she stopped.
“There,” I said, impressed by how much she’d drank. “That’ll help.” I studied her for a moment as she swayed on her knees.
“You can get up if you want.”
She snapped her attention to me and widened her blue eyes.
“I’m not Dominic. I don’t play stupid fucking games just to piss people off if I can help it. You can leave. He did.”
“He’s fucking her, isn’t he? Stella?” She got up and staggered a bit, her eyes glassy.
I stood and steadied her at the waist, feeling her warmth beneath my hands. “Probably.”
She glanced to the house. My hands were still on her narrow waist.
Fucking drop your hands, Seeley. What the fuck?
“Why does it matter?”
She looked back at me. “It doesn’t. I’m just the kings’ whore, right? The one who gave up her virginity, freedom, and sanity all to stay safe. Nothing I do matters to any of you.”
“Fuck, Bianca, not this, OK? I’m not the one you want to try to gain sympathy from. It won’t work. I said you could go, so go.”
“You tried to kill me, Levin.”
“I guess we’re doing this, huh?” I tightened my hands on her waist. “I snapped. You fucked up, and I overreacted. We good now?”
“No.” She frowned up at me. “Why did you get so mad? I admit I was a bitch, but not the sort you should try to strangle to death.”
I sighed. “It doesn’t matter. I admit shit got out of hand. Isn’t that good enough for you?”
“This is hard for me—"
“Cry me a fucking river. You’re beautiful and smart. You have men eating out of your hand daily. You’ll want for nothing in your life because it’ll always be handed to you. Now that you’re a D’Angelou, it’s a fucking certainty. So don’t act like your life is so terrible.”
“You don’t know shit about my life,” she said, leaning into me.
The aroma of alcohol, weed, and that damn lavender engulfed my senses.
“And you don’t know shit about mine. You’re really starting to kill my buzz.”
She shook her head and pulled out of my hold. “Whatever. You don’t care. Why don’t you just take me out into the trees and kill me off? You know you want to.”
“I’m seriously contemplating it,” I muttered, watching as she backed away from me.
“Dominic. Vincent. You. You’re all the same.”
“And you’re drunk and high and need to sit down or go find a friend.”
She laughed bitterly. “Why? So you can beat him up?”
I shrugged. “Maybe. It beats listening to you.”
She stomped her foot and stormed away from me, her blonde hair whipping behind her.
Sighing, I grabbed my whiskey and took another long drink, ready for a long night of baby-fucking-sitting. Or maybe I’d just let her go.
Fuck it. One less thing I’d have to deal with.