Page 63 of Ferocious Nightmare

Nineteen

A week later,I was sitting in Nero’s office, reading a book and secretly texting Rose while he screamed into the phone. I bit down on my smile. His ‘cleaner’, Liam, hadn’t been able to stop the tax auditor hounding Nero.

Nero slammed his cell on his desk, his gaze fuming as his cold eyes met mine. "That motherfucker arrested Liam for bribery. He’s a tax auditor, for fuck’s sake!"

“They are sticklers for the rules, in my experience,” I continued typing on my phone, smirking at the last text Rose sent me. “Are you going to get him out?”

“Who?”

“Liam,” I sighed heavily.

“Fuck, no,” Nero typed heavily on his computer, “couldn’t do the simplest of tasks. Deserves to be in jail.”

I slid my phone under my thigh and quirked an eyebrow upward. "Have you offered to suck him off?"

"What?" he growled, offended at the suggestion, and something inside me basked in the disgust on his face. “The auditor?”

I raised a shoulder. "I mean, it works on you, maybe it would work on him."

It wouldn't. I knew that, but Nero didn't.

The auditor was Dane’s cousin who lived strictly on the 'right' side of the law. He’d turned his back on his Italian mafia roots and was now working for the IRS as a way to recompense for his family's misdeeds.

"Fuck you, Aster."

"Show me the money first." I gave him a bright smile.

Nero had until the end of the week to show me his financials, among other things that our lawyers were squabbling over. We still hadn’t worked out our contract but he was keeping me close nonetheless.

He grabbed his phone again, punching at the screen angrily, and barked at someone to bring him coffee.

Slipping my phone into my pocket, I threw my book to the side, unable to focus, and began to wander his office. He had three guards in the room, and they kept a wary eye on me as I rifled through Nero’s stuff.

In the week since I’d made a deal with the devil, I hadn’t laid eyes on Coulter. He never came to the office or showed up at the house. I was sleeping in my own room now, and yet, the vibrator always came to life at night, just as I’d gone to bed. I’d come twice last night, lying in my bed, my fingers clutching the sheets. In my mind, Coulter was stroking himself, thinking of me too.

He always seemed to know when to fuck with me the most, turning on the vibrator at the most inappropriate times. It was like he could see me, everywhere I went.

I straightened with the thought. Did he have a video feed in here?

I wandered the office with renewed interest, scanning for what could be a hidden camera.

There was a wall of windows overlooking the city, next to a glass elevator shaft. I’d never seen anyone use it, and it had a special looking panel next to it, like you needed a code to get inside.

I pretended to look out the windows, perusing casually. Then, moving past a gold chrome shelf, I studied a wall of framed photos.

There was Nero, Nero everywhere.

Shaking hands with important people of the world. All men, of course, even a couple of past presidents of the United States. I recognized a Peruvian president, alongside a Sinaloa governor, known for their blatant drug trafficking.

They all wore big smiles. Men on top of the world.

I so wanted to knock this asshole down a peg.

I passed one of Nero’s guards, who was watching me like a hawk. I smiled at him, my eyes tracing the long, thick scar across his cheek. “Has anyone ever told you, you look like Darth Vader with his mask off?”

It was true. He had pasty white skin and red rimmed eyes. The soft coloring under his eyes brought out the coldness of his ice blue eyes.

“I will cut out your tongue if you speak to me again.”

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