Chapter Twenty-Four
Damiano
Lily is talking animatedly and I am engrossed in her various expressions, not registering a single word because I am too riveted on her lips like a fucking creep.
The place is a hole in the wall but I have to admit that the food is good. Or is it because she has been feeding it to me off of her fingers? I would gladly eat broken glass if she made me.
My obsession with her is growing by the second and I can’t deny it anymore. I am craving her with an intensity that is staggering me.
When she’d asked me to set her free earlier today, something had cracked open inside me, releasing a dark, toxic tar that seeped into my soul and into my chest to constrict it, taking my breath away.
At that exact moment, I realized that the day she left me would be the day my black heart stopped beating.
I would do anything to keep her in my grasp.
She has no idea what lengths I am ready to go to.
If she knew, she wouldn’t be looking at me with that sweet smile on her soft lips, but with eyes filled with fear and loathing.
Right now, she is laughing at something I said about the food, teasing me with mirth in her gorgeous eyes.
Then she proffers an olive and I take it, closing my lips around her fingers, and I hear her sharp intake of breath.
Dark satisfaction coils in my chest. Her body is as insatiable for my touch as mine is for hers.
I grasp her hand before she can pull it back and lick the olive juice from her fingers.
Her eyes become hooded, her gaze hot. Her lips part and she licks them.
I almost come in my pants. My cock has been hard from the moment I had her pinned against the car before entering the restaurant.
Goddamn creep.
Fuck this. I am going to fuck her on this table right now, and if the asshole waiter Sam dares to peek, I will gouge his eyes out. But my plan is thwarted by my phone ringing loudly in my pocket.
Shit, there are only two people dumb or desperate enough to bother me this evening. I have a bad feeling.
Releasing Lily’s hand, I take the call. “What?” I bark.
“D, you have to come. I’ll text you the address. Luc is on his way. He will be there in five to get Lily home.” Teo’s voice is dark.
I hang up and let out a long breath. Lily eyes me warily.
“Something came up. Luc will be here in a moment to take you home. You can finish eating with him here before you go.” Her face falls and she shakes her head, all the light fading from her eyes.
“It’s fine. I’ll go to the condo with Lucas.”
Goddamnit.
I stand, pick her up and sit down again with her on my lap. I grasp her jaw to force her to look at me.
“Tomorrow morning, we will go to your father’s house to collect the things you want.” She nods, not as excited as she was when we arrived at the restaurant, but she gives me a small smile. I claim her lips with what feels alarmingly like desperation.
We are stepping outside when Luc arrives. I guide Lily to his car and open the passenger door. I kiss her one last time in a bruising kiss that leaves us both panting, then I help her into the seat before closing the door. I tap the roof and Lucas puts the car in drive.
I climb into my Lexus and put it in motion, making sure that two of the black SUVs that had been hidden from sight in the nearby alleys are trailing Luc’s car, while the remaining one trails mine.
The address Teo sent me leads me to a high-end residential building. I park my car and get out. Teo is waiting for me in the lobby. His face is grave when he walks toward me.
“There’s something you have to see,” he says in greeting.
I follow him to the elevator and he pushes the button to the ninth floor.
I follow him through the hallway, knowing that what he has to say will have to wait until we are away from prying ears.
He stops in front of a door, produces a key to unlock it and steps inside.
I follow him and he closes the door again.
I venture to the living room, looking around. The place is clean and well-kept, with a touch of feminine presence. I raise a brow at Teo. “What is this place?”
“This is the building where I rent apartments to my employees,” he starts. “And this apartment belongs to Laura Branson.” At my blank stare, he corrects himself. “Anastasia.”
“Fuck.” Understanding starts to dawn. She is a hostess at his club and her…
proclivities led to several interactions between her and me.
Putting things simply, she is a natural submissive and I enjoyed her subservience a few times in the past to appease the beast inside me.
It had, of course, all been consensual and confidential as per the club’s rules.
“Where is she? What happened?”
“She disappeared. Hasn’t shown up for her shift this evening.
When I came to check on her, I found this.
” He leads the way to a bedroom at the far end of the apartment.
I suck in a sharp breath. The place is wrecked.
An upturned chair, broken bedside lamps, the curtains torn from the windows, the bedsheets a tangled mess. Clearly, there was a struggle. I curse.
“That’s not all. Look on top of the dresser.” I stalk closer and see a note on the dresser, the only element oddly neat and aligned in the chaos. The note is a simple sheet of white paper probably torn from a notebook.
Written in tidy, unremarkable script, I read—
Don,
You arrogantly think your power can keep them safe, but you are wrong. No amount of money and power can protect you from your enemies and you will be buried under the weight of your guilt. Find them before it is too late and something more precious is taken from you.
Clock is ticking.
Tick…tick…
My blood runs cold, a sickening knot twisting in my stomach. I pick up the note to read it over again in the light of the living room.
“This is personal.”
“That’s what Luc and I are thinking too.”
“Why Anastasia?”
Teo rakes his fingers through his hair. “They could have targeted any of your ex-lovers. My best guess is that they want to show you that they can take anyone close to you.”
“She has never been close. And I haven’t seen her for months.”
“Not close in that sense, but she has been the one closest to getting to know the…real you. How they got that information is a mystery. My system is unbreachable. There is no way they have hacked the club database.” He lets out a frustrated breath.
Luc comes walking in. I send him a questioning look.
“She is safe. Men are guarding every entrance and the door to the condo. The place is a fortress.”
I nod in approval.
“Anything new? Any clues about who wrote the note?” he asks and both Teo and I shake our heads. He takes the note from my hands to read it again. “That’s clearly for you, D.”
I nod grimly. “Yeah, no mistake here. My gut tells me this is linked to our other problem. They are upping the game.”
Both my friends agree. Someone has a fucking beef with me and I need to figure it out soon.
‘…before something more precious is taken from you.’
How much do they know? Cold dread crawls up my spine and it feels like sharp claws are wrapping around my heart.