Page 66 of Malevolent King

“Nothing, just eating,” Sofia said quickly, and let her finger play at my mouth.

I swirled my tongue around it, wishing it was her clit. A blush flourished on her cheeks. She was sufficiently distracted.She fed me, and I ate every bite.

Carmella bustled around me, cataloging my hurts.She had tutted herself red in the face by the time she finished. When she was done, she narrowed her eyes at me. “You shouldn’t make any more trouble while you’re here, or all my hard work will be undone.”

“For you, Carmella, anything.”

Sofia rolled her eyes and stacked the plate and medical kit on the tray. I wished she’d look at me again. I needed another jolt from her eyes to keep me going. Like a junkie jonesing for a fix, I hungered for the light of her attention for one more second before I was plunged back into darkness.

“What do you think,lastochka? Should I be a good little prisoner and escape without further damage?”

Sofia snorted, a motion that looked elegant because it was her. “I doubt you’re capable of being that well-behaved.”

I opened my mouth to respond, basking in her attention when an ugly, low voice spoke from the doorway.

“Am I interrupting? What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

Silvio squatted like a toad on the threshold, glaring inside. Tension gathered in my gut from the way he looked at Sofia. There was going to be trouble.

* * *

Silvio triedto get a grip on his visible anger. He shoved his hand in his pocket and strolled in, gesturing for the men who shadowed him nearly constantly to stay back. I couldn’t imagine how weak you had to be to need a security entourage in your own family compound.

“Why the fuck would you be fixing this fucker up? Don’t you understand what we’re doing here?” Silvio got close enough to Carmella to loom over her.

She stiffened and dropped her eyes.

“He’s a prisoner, not a guest.”

Gone was Carmella’s sass of earlier, and now I saw her fear. So did Silvio, and his satisfaction grew.

“He’s still a human, and he needs care. Antonio doesn’t want him dead,” Carmella said.

Silvio stilled, impotent anger seeming to swell his chest. “Are you arguing with me? That maid is arguing with me,” he repeated incredulously. He tossed the last over his shoulder at his men, who chuckled.

“She’s right, and you know it,” Sofia said, getting up and stepping toward her cousin.

I admired my girl’s fire, but I’d rather my hands were free in case Silvio decided on a pathetic display of strength.

Silvio’s gaze fell on me. “Are you enjoying this, Chernov? Your own brother handed you over to us, and now, the only people who’d bother to protect you are a pathetic old maid and a deluded prude.”

“A prude? Really? That’s the best you can come up with for me?” Sofia’s voice was rising. This was her house, after all, and she loved to fight. She hadn’t a weak bone in her body unless it came to her father—and me, of course.

“What else should I call you?”

Sofia tossed her head and slammed her mask down over her anger. She took Carmella’s hand. “Come on, Carmella. We better get back upstairs.”

Her simple dismissal seemed to short-circuit something in Silvio. He was moving before I could shout a warning.

He didn’t go for Sofia. That wouldn’t be smart. Instead, he went for Carmella. He ripped her out of Sofia’s hands, grabbed her by the head, and pulled her across the floor. The older woman let out a startled cry, and everyone in the room tensed.

I tested the strength of the handcuffs, fury filling me at Silvio’s crass display of feeble strength. I didn’t hit women or hurt them, and I certainly didn’t make ladies old enough to be my mother cry. I decided right then I’d cut off Silvio’s other hand before I killed him.

“Silvio, let the women go. Who cares about them? You’re here for me, aren’t you? I missed you yesterday. Take it from one torturer to another, you need to keep the cuts fresh if you want to inflict the best kind of slow, oozing pain.”

My voice was calm, calculated to piss him off and distract him, and it might have worked if Carmella hadn’t sunk her nails into Silvio’s wrist. She must have got him good because he roared in pain and shook her.

“Sofia, no!” I hissed when she pushed in, trying to pull Silvio’s hand from the housekeeper’s hair.

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