21. Tony
“What in the actual fuck were you doing up there?” Devin’s voice rings into my ear after he snuck up on me and ripped my headphones from my head.
He’s lucky that I didn’t react to his hostile move and accidentally killed him. I fucking hate it when people touch me or my things, and he nearly crossed the line. It’s why I’m always in control when I’m fucking someone—usually from behind or with their hands bound to where they can’t reach for me. There have been very few times that I’ve let anyone have control and I learned my fucking lesson.
“She touched me.”
Devin raises a brow at me. “That’s it? You yanked her even closer to you because she touched you?”
This motherfucker needs to mind his own fucking business. He thinks that just because his sociopathic ass has been able to figure people out enough over the years that he can read me thoroughly. And even though we can have near silent conversations because we’ve existed in the same setting for years, he has no idea what kind of thoughts still plague my mind.
“Fucking leave,” I say gruffly, putting my headphones back on my head to drown out his bullshit. I turn back and squat down, curling my fingers around the hex bar.
“She thinks you hate her, you know.” His flat tone burrows under my skin .
I don’t look over my shoulder, refusing to see what kind of expression he has on his face. “Maybe I do.” I lift the bar, focusing on my reps and waiting for him to get the fucking hint that I don’t want to talk and leave.
The gym is on the fourth floor of the club. It’s on a private floor but offers some employees access to extra rooms if they’re here late, a few hot tubs, and a gym. Some staff stay here permanently in curated apartments, preferring to be closed off from the rest of the world like we are, but mostly, it’s an empty floor.
This gym, however, is my private gym. Only a few have the right access to let themselves in. Apparently , I need to remove Devin from the list or block him while I’m in here if he’s going to interrupt me like this. Invade my fucking space.
I can still sense him behind me, my skin burning from where I know he’s staring at me. I continue to ignore him because eventually he will leave, and if he doesn’t, then I’ll fucking throw him out on his ass. Our relationship might be complicated, but we have, for the most part, figured out our boundaries.
My music cuts from my headphones and I drop the weights to my feet. Motherfucker . I turn and see that he’s holding my phone in his hand, screen out to show that my music is paused. His eyes are narrowed on me, the heat in his gaze burning across my exposed skin as he takes me in. I’m only in gym shorts and a cut off tee, my hood and mask left in my gym bag, leaving my expressions out in the open.
“Put the fucking phone down and I won’t cut your hand off for touching what’s mine .” My breaths are heavy from the weights, but my heart is thundering as if I just ran for miles.
Devin smirks at me. This motherfucker doesn’t take anything I say seriously, and even though he holds a lot of power in this place, he has no idea what I’m truly capable of. He only knows the bits and pieces I’ve fed him through the years to shut him the fuck up. To silence his nagging questions.
Is he my only real friend in the world? Basically. Do I want to throw him from the rooftop when he’s being a cocky little bastard and getting on my last fucking nerve? Absolutely.
“You’re being insufferable.” He rolls his eyes, curling his fingers around my phone and holding it at his side. “You don’t think I can’t see right through that fucking mask you hide behind all the time?”
I step over the hex bar toward him, my fingers curling into fists at my side. “You don’t know fucking shit, pretty boy .” I close the distance between us, our chests nearly touching as I look down my nose at him. “Now get the fuck out.”
He nudges forward and warmth fills my chest as he presses against me. “So, you think I’m pretty?”
I suck in a breath through my nose, because he’s pushing my limits, and he fucking knows it. “Fuck you,” I bite.
“Would you like to do it with or without Lena?”
I growl in response, the sound like rumbling thunder. I’m ready to unleash on him, but he doesn’t fucking shut up. “Admit it, Tony, she’s getting under your skin, and you don’t know what to do about it. You hide behind your fucking computer and watch what’s unfolding instead of stepping the fuck up and getting in on it.” He presses his chest harder to mine, our noses brushing as he sucks the breath from my lungs. “And I know you fucking want in on it. I see the way you look at her. At us .”
I grip his neck that he has extended right in front of me, his Adam’s apple bobbing each time he swallows. Wrapping my fingers around his throat, it bobs against my palm. “Shut the fuck up,” I enunciate each word, attempting to use the intimidation tactics that I already know never work on him.
“Make me, big guy .” He snaps his teeth, showing them off as I squeeze tighter, careful not to crush his windpipe. His eyes bulge slightly, but he doesn’t let his smile falter as he enjoys the pain I inflict on him.
Goddamn masochist.
I walk him backward a few feet until he’s pressed against the wall, my body pushing against his to hold him in place. I feel his cock harden, pressing against mine. I ignore the heat curling in my abdomen, anger still circulating through my veins.
“Admit it,” he says, breathless. “You like the way we look together and you can’t fucking stand it.” I squeeze tighter, cutting off his ability to say anything else. His face reddens and I try to steady my breathing, but all I can smell is his scent of whiskey and mint, making me lightheaded.
This motherfucker is on the verge of making me lose it. I was trained within an inch of my life to maintain control, and if I lost it, then I more than likely lost my life. I was stripped bare and broken before I was rebuilt into the soulless machine that I am now.
I refuse to let anyone else break me, and the few fucking times I’ve lost it has been in the presence of him and Lena. I refuse to have anyone be a weakness, and keeping my distance from them ensures that no one will ever use them as bargaining chips and bring me to my knees, that it will keep them safe from the monsters that lurk in the shadows. From the snakes waiting to strike.
The light begins to fade from Devin’s bright blue eyes as he starts to slip into unconsciousness, that smile still plastered onto his fucking face like he’s enjoying this dance with death. Pulling my hand from his throat, he sucks in a breath, choking as air fills his lungs before sliding to the floor. He massages his throat while looking up at me, the light filtering back into his eyes as his breathing regulates.
“You know, T, either you really are a fucking sadist, or you’re just playing hard to get, leaving me hard not once, but twice in twenty-four hours.” He chuckles, but there’s an edge to his words, one that I’ve never heard directed at me.
I roll my eyes, ignoring the knot tightening in my chest as I see him heaped on the floor, flushed and gripping his hard cock. I refuse to play into his little mind games. It might fucking work on the people he torments for information, but it doesn’t work on me. He thinks he knows what makes me tick, but you can’t figure out what’s inside of someone if they're just a shell of who they used to be.
“We’re done here,” I grit through my teeth as the knot in my chest tightens even more. “Now, for the last time, get the fuck out.”
He stands, brushing off his clothes and once again looks me over. Thank fuck I’m wearing my compression shorts under my workout shorts, otherwise, he might just see what my domineering tendencies do to me. What he does to me.
“Be ready to go to the Underground by nine sharp, or Tasha will have your balls.” He moves toward the door, resting his hand on the handle. “Oh, and T,” he looks over his shoulder, his eyes as bright as ever, “make sure you zoom in next time; that camera is not at the best angle.”
I swallow around the lump that suddenly forms in my throat as he yanks the door open, leaving me in stunned silence.
My phone vibrates on the floor, and I almost ignore it, but something tells me to check it out. The screen is bright, and a message from an unknown number appears on the screen. I narrow my eyes as I slide the phone open.
UNKNOWN
You can hide in your little club all you want, motherfucker, but we’re always watching.
I stare at the message, the sound of my pulse rushing in my ears filling the silence, my mind kicking into overdrive. Who the fuck has my fucking number? I have ensured that all of ours have been scrubbed from the internet, and I have systems in place to stay on top of that. Plus, none of the staff has a real number for me, just a random one that connects to my closed network app.
So, that leads to the question of who fucking leaked it? Or has someone hacked into our system and found it? I need to go up and trace it as soon as possible, but I can’t let Devin see that this is the third message I’ve gotten in the last several days that’s making threats. And of course, they’re all dead ends sent from a fucking burner.
I need to stop getting distracted by the sharks that are circling closer to us. I need to have my head in the game and be ready to fight back, not fucking sitting and waiting to be ripped to shreds.