CHAPTER 15
DOVE
I just needed a moment. All to myself. It was so much to take in between all the extra fancy people at the party, the pretty little food, and all the fake smiles.
Oaklynn was so nice. It felt like she opened her arms and accepted me the moment she met me. As nice as it was, it was almost too much.
You can’t live in Seattle, work in a place like Second Circle, and not know who Kirill Volkov is. He’s just as dangerous as Angelo. It’s obvious the men he keeps in his circle shouldn’t be discounted either.
When I first saw the way all four men eyed Oaklynn, I was confused by their whole sharing dynamic.
Everything clicked into place fairly quickly.
The love they all have for Oaklynn and the way they circle her without even realizing it makes it very obvious.
They share her because they all need her and each other.
It’s not for me, but I’m not going to judge them for it.
I take a deep breath and let it out slowly as I finish drying my hands. The cold water on my wrists has helped to calm me down. Knowing I’m going to be stepping back out there, amongst people who would have looked down their noses at me not long ago, makes me want to hide.
But I can’t hide.
Angelo needs someone at his side who can glide through a party like this. He deserves a woman who won’t find the crown too heavy.
I desperately want to be the woman he needs.
He’s already given me so much.
I’m glad Oaklynn didn’t join me in the bathroom. She’s so nice and she would have wanted to keep chatting. As much as I was enjoying myself and feeling, for the first time since I woke up in Angelo’s bed, almost normal, being alone for a moment is what I needed.
As I look at myself in the mirror, I can’t help but smile softly. I look like I belong. Sometimes the only thing you can do is fake it ‘til you make it. I’ve been doing it most of my life.
This isn’t any different.
“Okay,” I encourage myself in the mirror, “you’ve got this.”
Just as I’m about to reach for the door handle, the panties turn on, and I barely stop myself from letting out a squeak of surprise. Fucking Angelo.
This is not the first time he’s turned on the vibrator tonight. It sits right on my clit and it’s enough to push me right to the edge, even on the lowest setting. I grip the edge of the bathroom counter as a small whimper comes out of me.
I’m fairly certain my man is trying to make me lose my mind completely. When I can finally get my hands on him, he better watch out.
I’ve never been so turned on in my life.
It’s just what Angelo does to me. The more he possesses me, owns me, the more I want to give myself over to him. It’s a heady thing and it makes no sense. And I wouldn’t want to change it.
With how many times he’s turned on the device and teased me tonight, it doesn’t take long for me to be teetering on the edge. Just when I think he’s going to let me come, the power on the little device throttles to ten and then stops.
My chin drops to my chest as my fingers tighten on the counter, and I let out a soft groan. Then I stand up and straighten my dress before shaking out my hands and arms.
I’m going to make Angelo pay for the way he’s been teasing me. I have no idea how I’ll do it, but I’ll manage. I have to.
One way or another.
I swing the door to the bathroom open and step out. When a hand comes out of nowhere and covers my mouth while another grips my shoulder and spins me around, fear hits my chest. A scream bubbles up in my chest until I look up into Romeo’s face, and I freeze.
My mind is screaming at me to run since his hands drop away from my body, but I can’t. My soul is begging me to bring my knee up to his balls. But I can’t.
I want to make him hurt the way he’s hurt me. And that’s the problem. He’s hurt me.
I’m very much aware of what Romeo Amato is capable of. He’s cruel. He loves to inflict pain. There is nothing worthy of humanity inside of him.
“Dove,” he says my name like a curse while shaking his head and making a clicking noise with his tongue. “What are you doing here?”
All my confidence shrivels up inside of me. How did I not realize he was here? This is the first time I’ve seen him. What is he planning to do to me?
My shoulders roll inward, and I look down at the floor before mumbling, “I’m here with Angelo.”
“Oh yes,” his voice is cruelly gleeful, “my brother. How could I forget about you now being his personal whore.”
I shrink back even more, wishing it would be enough to avoid his hateful words. But it’s not. Nothing I do will make them go away.
The way I shrink back from him has Romeo looming over me even more. It feels like he actually gets taller while he sneers at me as if he’s found the perfect pretty doll to rip apart limb by limb.
“Did you really think you would escape who you are?” He taunts me.
“No one will ever forget what you are. A whore. A filthy fucking whore.” He chuckles, the sound vicious as it lodges into my flesh and rips.
“My brother will see it eventually. Then he’ll leave your rotted carcass by the road to be forgotten. ”
I feel the heat of him, the warmth that always seeps into me whenever he’s near, before Romeo realizes how close the danger is. Angelo snarls at his brother while his hands land on my hips and he squeezes.
Even though it makes no sense, I stand up straighter. Romeo’s words about Angelo feel like a lie. It doesn’t make them easy to hear, but, when I search my heart, I find I don’t believe them.
“You’ve overstepped for the last time, brother,” Angelo’s voice is filled with condemnation even as it edges on boredom.
When he kisses my head, something occurs to me. I keep my eyes on Romeo, but address my man, “Was this a test? Did you know he was here?”
Angelo sighs and presses his chest more firmly against my back as if he’s afraid the truth he’s about to tell me will make me run. It won’t.
“Not a test,” his voice rumbles through me, “a chance.”
I don’t look at him even though I want to. “A chance at what?”
His lips ghost up my neck and Romeo’s eyes flash with jealousy. His mouth brushes the shell of my ear as he tells me, “A chance for you to become exactly what you’re meant to be. My queen.”
I suck in a sharp breath and allow my body to relax back against Angelo. I’m still on edge, but I also know he won’t let anything happen to me.
As I look at Romeo, I tilt my head. The longer I stare at him, the more he starts to squirm. And the less scary he is.
Now that I’m not flooded with fear, I see an overgrown child who never learned that there are consequences attached to choices and actions. Unfortunately, I don’t think he’s ever going to change.
“I would never allow you to be hurt,” Angelo’s voice is filled with promise.
“Sal was not far away, and neither was I,” he assures me.
“I can tell you who you are over and over again, but until you take the crown and put it on your own head, you won’t believe it.
” His voice drops to a seductive whisper, “I knew the moment I saw you though.”
He kisses my hair again and something clicks into place inside of me.
My movements are fast as I reach up and pull one of the stilettos free of their sheath holding up my hair. I feel Angelo’s rumble of approval more than I hear it.
Romeo’s eyes widen when I press the sharp edge of the blade against his neck. A slow smile grows on my face when I press the blade into his skin and blood pools against it. He winces, but he doesn’t say anything.
Romeo’s eyes flick away from me and his brother. But no one is coming to save him.
I’m sure Angelo has made sure we won’t be disturbed in this hallway. My man is always thinking ahead and considering all the angles.
It’s no surprise that he’s so good at what he does.
When he looks at me again, Romeo tries to hide his hatred of me. But I still see it.
“You don’t want to do this,” he tries to reason with me.
“I do want to do this,” I fire back, my voice filled with sincerity.
He must see how serious I am because he looks toward his brother. “Angelo,” there’s a whine in his voice, “call off your woman.”
Angelo tsks and shakes his head. “You let your rage and jealousy fuel you. I have no desire to save you.”
The look on Romeo’s face is priceless. It makes me want to laugh and taunt him.
But this needs to be dealt with quickly.
“I’m your brother,” Romeo tries again.
Angelo’s hand slides up the side of my ribs and then down my arm to where I’m holding the blade. For a moment I think he’s going to pull my hand away. From the relief on Romeo’s face, he thinks the same thing.
My man does move my hand, but it’s not away. He moves it down Romeo’s body.
“Your fate was sealed the moment I saw the bruises you put on my woman,” Angelo’s voice thunders even though he doesn’t raise it above a murmur. “Call it fate’s hand at work.”
Something flashes in Romeo’s eyes, but I have no idea what it means. “Please,” he begs with a whimper.
“It was always just a matter of how you died, not if,” Angelo’s words are final.
“I will say, not knowing the details has made this exciting,” he taunts his brother.
When he leans closer to my ear, his words slide over my skin as he points the blade where he wants it.
“There are a lot of options when it comes to death. It can be quick or slow. If you push in here, between his ribs,” he uses his hold on my hand to add pressure where my blade is pressing against the front of Romeo’s chest and angled toward his heart, “it’ll hit his heart, and he will die quickly.
The best part is there won’t be a lot of spray.
Slicing his neck is messy. You’d have blood splatter all over you. ”
I melt back against my man’s chest. His words shouldn’t be sexy, but I’m so turned on I can hardly see straight.
Knowing I’m safe, I close my eyes for a moment and take a deep breath. I need to keep my head on straight and really think about what I’m doing.
Am I really going to kill Romeo Amato? The brother of the man I’ve fallen in love with even though we haven’t said the words? Is he encouraging me only to find out if I’ll go through with it, but he’ll use it against me later?
A few deep breaths center my soul and help to calm my racing heart.
When my eyes snap open, Romeo is looking at me like he doubts I’ll follow through with the threat with action. And the last of what was chaining me to the anchor of my past falls away.
Angelo won’t resent me. He knows what needs to be done.
If I don’t take my own demon, in the form of Romeo, to the ground and slay it, Angelo will. But I need to do this.
The truth of it burns in my gut. My hand shakes before it steadies. I can almost feel the pride Angelo feels washing over me.
“Take your power,” Angelo’s voice is pure temptation wrapped in danger and death.
When I start to push my blade into Romeo, Angelo lends me some of his strength and the blade slides into him before Romeo can stop it. Not like it would have worked.
Romeo’s hands come up and press against where I stabbed him as he jerks back. His eyes are wide and wild as he looks between me and Angelo.
As he falls to the ground, I feel no remorse.
But I also can’t look away from Romeo at my feet.
How long does it take for a man to die?