Page 59 of The Devils' Darling

She glances up at me, and her eyes are wide, scared, but dry. “So now I’ve got this maniac to contend with, too? Does the universe hate me?”

“We’ve got him to contend with, baby,” I say.

“He’s not getting within fifty yards of you.” Tino tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

“So long as he’s out there, he’s a risk to me,” she says softly. “I should have finished the job right the first time.”

Pride swells in my chest. Our girl is going to be a fearsome enemy and a great mafia queen.

But who gets to be the king?

Do we have to name just one, or can we do things in a new way?

The fact is, she’s all of ours and we are all hers, and if the world doesn’t accept it? So what? We hardly live by the normal rules. Our parents might not accept it, either. We’re all adults, though. We can do what we want.

I lift one of her feet to my lips and kiss her toes. “You’re ours now. I’d like to see that asshole try something.”

I slide my mouth over one of her toes and suck on it. Mackenzie giggles and squirms, but there’s a smile back on her face again.

Tino’s hands drift down to cup her breasts, and he kisses the side of her neck. “Yes, you’re all ours.” He lightly nips at her skin with his teeth. “Your mouth is ours, your pussy is ours, and these gorgeous tits are ours, too.”

She’s dressed herself in a pair of sweatpants and a camisole top while I was talking to Kirill. She keeps a few clothes down here in our den. Just a few pieces. A toothbrush too. I like it. Makes me feel like she’s really a part of us.

“Tino, I’ve got to go,” she says sleepily.

She doesn’t move, though, and he slips her tits out of her top, her nipples peaking in the cool air. He pinches them, pulling and elongating the dusky pink nubs, and she lets out a tiny groan of arousal.

I smirk and move to her next toe, sucking it into my mouth like it’s a tiny cock and I’m giving it a blowjob, using my tongue to swirl around the tip. She giggles, but then she stiffens. Her eyes go round, and a small squeak of horror escapes her lips.

My head swivels to follow the line of her sight and oh, fuck. My heart goes into double time.

Standing in the doorway, looking as if he’s about to start breathing actual hellfire, is my father.

“What the actual fuck?”

That’s when I know I’m in a world of shit. He shouts the phrase, and it goes against everything he pretends to be. My father has spent years developing the kind of cool, collected front that he shows to the world. It’s an act he rarely drops. His accent even comes out now, and instead of sounding like an Ivy League dean, he sounds like what he is. A man who would kill you and dump your body in the river for the fishes.

“Mackenzie, your mother wants to see you.”

She doesn’t move. She’s so horrified that she’s frozen.

“Now,” my father roars. “Move your fucking ass, and put your tits away.”

Yeah, he’s lost it. He’s no longer Nataniele the smooth dean, but he’s Nate, the brawler who will cut your dick off for looking at him the wrong way.

“Domenic, I need to speak to you, too. Get upstairs to our rooms now,” he rages.

Am I about to become a eunuch?

I shoot Tino a look but grab my wallet and cell and follow my father. Mackenzie is right behind me, and I fight the urge to reach back and take her hand. The last thing she needs is the wrath of my father right now. I want to protect her, but I also don’t want to make things worse.

He stalks through the school like the fucker who owns the place that he is, and with every step, his mask shifts firmly back into place. By the time he reaches his rooms, you’d never believe he’d let me and Tino see the thug underneath the icy, cultured exterior. He’s like a shapeshifter, and now he’s taken his ultimate form, the one he wants the world to see.

When he opens the door to the suite he shares with Lucia, he speaks to her in the same controlled, cold way he often reserves for me.

“My darling, would you please take your daughter to her room for your talk? I would like some space with my son.”

Lucia hesitates. “We could go into the bedroom here.”

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