Page 17 of Malevolent King

“Don’t get upset,lastochka. We both have masters, at least for now,” Niko murmured. “Acknowledging that is the first step.”

“The first step to what?”

“Breaking free,” he said, all without looking at me.

He sipped his drink, and I watched him, strangely mesmerized. I’d never met anyone like him before. No one spoke to me like he had. No one had insulted me and challenged me, only to soothe and comfort me all in the same breath. He was like the poison and the cure.

“Sofia!” Silvio snapped,

My feet moved before I could stop myself, and brought me to his side.

“Sit here and bring me luck.”

I sat beside my cousin, wishing I could still be at the bar with the enigmatic man who had seemed completely unbothered by the aura of danger in the air.

As if my thoughts had summoned him, Niko approached the table. He looked right at my cousin, and Silvio straightened.

“Niko. I’m surprised Viktor let you out two nights in a row,” Silvio said.

I stared between them, aware of the rising tension at the table.

“Well, he appreciated the need to set the record straight after last night.” Niko grinned, rocking back on his heels.

Silvio glanced around at the men at the table. “The buy-in is a grand. Got enough left after last night?”

“Only just,” Nikolai said, pulling a wad of cash from his pocket.

“But you said you didn’t have any money!” I blurted before I could help it.

Silvio shot me an annoyed glance.

Nikolai merely shrugged. “I lied.”

He pulled up a chair across from me, shrugged his leather jacket off his shoulders, then hauled his black hoodie up and off his head. The movement rucked his black t-shirt up his lithe abdomen, revealing all kinds of muscles I’d only seen in magazines before. The men around the table seemed to tense at the sight. It was a stark contrast to their lazy, thick figures.

He sat, not seeming to realize he had just challenged the masculinity of every man around the table. His arms were just as inked as his hands had promised they’d be. He lit a cigarette, seemingly uncaring about the venue’s restrictions, and concentrated on the game.

I watched them play as time ticked past. They were playing poker. Although I wasn’t very familiar with the rules, I could tell Silvio was putting in more than he was getting back. A steady pile grew in front of Nikolai. Other men at the table fell away because it was clear where the power here lay. This wasn’t how I’d imagined spending my night of freedom, but now that I was here and had met Nikolai, I couldn’t imagine moving from the spot.

“You’re tapped, De Sanctis. I was going to raise you, but there isn’t any point, is there?” Niko said after an hour.

It seemed like he’d cleaned Silvio out. Silvio had been drinking steadily and sweating through his shirt. He cast a glance at me and at the men sitting on either side. He was clearly embarrassed about losing to the youngest player, and Nikolai was doing nothing to reduce the sting of that with his shit-eating smirk.

Silvio looked at me again, his gaze falling to the hem of my skirt.“I wouldn’t say that. I have one last thing to raise you, but she’ll cost you,” he said, leaning back and looking at the gathered men smugly.

Tension formed in the pit of my belly. “Silvio—” I started, nearly a whisper in the tense silence.

“What? Her?” Niko interrupted, jerking his chin toward me. “I’d prefer cash.”

Humiliation stained my cheeks at his words. A few men chuckled, while others clearly disagreed.

“She wasn’t on the table when I folded,” one of the other players said and shifted in his seat. One of Silvio’s friends. He leered at me.

His face was far too close to my folded arms and my cleavage pressing against the material of my too tight dress. He couldn’t seem to pull his eyes from the deep valley of my low-cut top, and I felt sick. I looked at my cousin, shifting my body away from his old, lecherous eyes.

“This is hilarious, Silvio, but be serious now,” I hissed at him.

He leaned toward me. “Don’t worry. I won’t lose. I have the winning hand; I just want to flush out anything extra that bratva bastard might be holding on to before I claim my victory. Relax. I said I’d take care of you.”

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