Page 39 of Princes of Carnage

I don’t like that thought, don’t like the way it makes me see him more as a fully fleshed out person than just another in a long line of enemies I’ve had in my life.

Pressing my lips together, I move quickly, climbing up on the bed to straddle him and pressing the knife to his throat.

His eyes flash open in an instant, and he moves to defend himself as if it’s an instinctive reaction, one his body will do before his mind is even fully awake. He reaches for my arm, the one bracing the knife, but I press even harder against his throat, letting him feel the keen edge of it against his skin.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” I murmur, keeping my voice soft as a whisper. “I’d hate for my blade to slip.”

Nico goes still, staring up at me in the darkness.

“Trying to kill me already, wife?” he says, and I can feel the vibration of his voice against the knife. “We haven’t even been married a day.”

My jaw clenches at how calm he seems, even with a knife at his throat, and I press the blade a little harder, just to drive the point home that I’m the one in control here.

“If I wanted you dead, you would be,” I say, my voice quiet. “So I’m obviously not here to kill you.”

Nico lifts an eyebrow, staring at me with an enigmatic expression. Any hint of sleep is totally gone from his eyes now.

“Then what’s the reason for the nighttime chat?” One side of his mouth curves upward. “Trying to keep me on my toes, or is this just your idea of foreplay?”

“Fuck you,” I whisper sharply. “I’m here to warn you not to screw me over. We might be allies in name, but until I have proof that you’ll have my back when it counts, I don’t trust you. Got it? Husband or not, if you betray me or hurt my people in any way, I’ll slit your throat before your two best friends can stop me. Do you understand?”

His expression doesn’t change, and he doesn’t look away from me for a second. “You know, we could have just had a chat like civilized people. The weapon wasn’t necessary.”

“Well, maybe you’re not the only one who doesn’t have a lot of trust here. Maybe you should have listened to Atlas and slept with a gun under your pillow.”

He smirks. “What makes you think I don’t?” Before I can respond to that, he continues. “And if I wanted to fuck you over, there would be easier ways to do it. Especially now that we’re married and our interests are supposed to be the same.”

I narrow my eyes. “You say that, but you seem to get off on making shit difficult for me. I’m not kidding. Don’t fuck with me. Don’t fuck with my gang.”

The smirk on his shadowed face widens, slow and teasing. “So suspicious. Tell me, have you ever trusted anyone in your life, Quinn?”

The question takes me by surprise, and I answer honestly without even thinking about it. “Only one person. But he’s gone.”

Nico tilts his head back just a little, and I shift the placement of the knife immediately to make sure it stays in contact with his throat. “You should think about expanding that number. Try trusting someone else for once. There’s a reason I wanted this alliance—not just with anyone, but with you. We could be good together, you know.”

There’s something in his voice as he says the last words that makes me think he’s talking about more than just the strength of our combined organizations. That he’s talking about us. It makes my mind flicker back to the kiss we shared in the church, the unexpected heat that flared between us. I can still feel it, like a fire that refuses to go out, sitting low in my belly as I gaze down at my new husband.

What would it feel like if he kissed me again? If we didn’t have to stop this time? What would his skin feel like beneath my hands?

I swallow, pressing the blade harder against his skin as if that will somehow extinguish the fire licking through my veins.

“It’s funny that you’re so convinced we could make a good team,” I tell him in a low voice. “Considering that I could kill you right now.”

One of his eyebrows twitches upward. “I thought you said you didn’t come here to do that.”

“I’m rethinking my stance on it.”

He chuckles. “I have to admit, mia cara, I like your fire.”

I press just hard enough with the knife to draw a drop of blood. “Still like it now?”

There’s a flash of something in his eyes, hungry and dangerous. Instead of dropping off his face, his grin widens. “I like it even more now. But I still don’t believe you’ll kill me, wife. I don’t think that’s what you came here for at all.”

“Yeah?” I cock my head to one side, my lip curling. “What do you think I came here for?”

His voice drops, low and gravelly. “Well, with the way you’re straddling me like this, barely dressed, it seems more like you came to my bedroom to consummate our marriage.”

My breath hitches as my heart kicks against my ribs.

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