Page 37 of Roaming Holiday

The two of us break out laughing. I might not have grown up in a palace, but I’m among the richest in the world. Not by money, by having a loving family, an education, and food security.

I can help others have that, too.

Vanessa takes my hand. “I understand it’s overwhelming. But the Higher Court is filled with good people, and so is our family.”

18

WESLEY

This woman is going to be the death of me.

She’s charming and sexy. That, I already knew, but the moment she stepped out of her room, all feeling rushed to my groin. The dress stretches across her ass and the back dips low, revealing skin I ache to learn if it’s as soft as it looks. From the mouth I want to consume to the mile-long legs I want wrapped around my waist, Nina Laffley is the woman I wholeheartedly crave.

The club is everything I’d expect a royal to frequent. Its modern elegance says no one with less than a few million dollars in their checking account is here. Medium crowd, predominantly men. Dim, cool lighting. Acrobats twist in the air.

The building is square with exits only on the east and west walls. Nina enters a lounge with her sister and cousin. I stand across from the roped-off section, my back against the north wall to keep both exit points within view.

I watch as my client does her best to have a good time. Her hesitant smile and minimal words tell me her discomfort. She’s more open and relaxed when wandering down a quaint street, conversing with locals in her slow, choppy Maldanian, and when she spots a bookstore with an English section. She prefers cultural experiences more than any of this.

Dread suddenly slices into me. I’m not one to pay this close attention to a person’s life unless they’re my target. I study their habits, strengths, weaknesses, looking for areas to exploit.

Nina is not my target.

Why do I have to remind myself of that? I have less control of my own mind than I thought. The muscles in my arms twitch, aching to move. The push-ups I did last night weren’t enough. I need to do more. Do something to make me feel alive.

I don’t exist to kill.

“If you’re not killing men for me, then what are you good for?”

I roll my neck, reveling in the crack. Santiago is dead. I’m alive. There’s goodness in the world—I’m looking at her now. My chest weighs with fear. How can I live up to everything she is?

Bloody memories claw the edges of my vision. No one here bore witness to what I’ve done. Nina’s curious and starting to ask more questions. Her pleads usually overpower me, but I won’t let her win this one. She can never know. My final hope of being a better man would vanish if she discovered the type of person I truly am. She looks at me like she trusts me. As if I’m someone worth trusting.

I’ll do whatever it takes for her to look at me like that forever.

I blink myself back into reality when she and her family switch to the dance floor. I shift my spot for a better view before eating a protein bar from my shirt pocket. My shift is going on fourteen hours. It’s not my longest, but I need to do little tasks to keep going. It’s best when the girls are in the same room at the hotel; Mason and I alternate so we can take breaks. I spot my coworker from the other side of the room and offer a nod.

Every now and again, a woman will saunter up to me and suggest I buy her a drink or take her dancing. I brush them off as politely and quickly as I can. I lose my manners with the more stubborn women; the only stubborn woman I want tonight doesn’t spare me a single glance. Not as she dances with her sister and not as a man approaches her. The hairs on the back of my neck rise in warning.

It’s a club, Wesley. People flirt and dance at a club.

Still, I glare at the six-foot Caucasian man with blond hair as he slides behind Nina. My chest doubles in weight when she tosses him a considering look before backing into him. His hands find her waist—the waist I’d caressed just days ago—and dip lower to her hips. My ears burn. My jaw aches from how hard I clench my teeth. Images of snapping the man’s wrists flash across my mind, followed with breaking his neck as he lowers to kiss hers.

I shut my eyes from the crushing realization that tonight, I won’t be sliding up that glittery dress and tasting every drop of her. I won’t be feeling her twitch and hearing her moan while her thighs tighten around my head as a climax overtakes her. I take a few deep breaths, my hands clasped in front of me to hide my hard-on. They dance together for the next few minutes, and I watch in agony.

A good man wouldn’t imagine all the ways he’d kill a person simply for touching his client. He wouldn’t dream of putting a bullet through said person’s throat.

Luckily, I can’t call myself a good man just yet.

A woman appears at my side, her breasts grazing my arm. I step away. She persists by shifting in front of me. I glance down into blue eyes, and before she speaks, I demand, “Leave.”

“I’m sorry?” she says, recoiling.

When I don’t reply, she mutters a slew of curse words as she walks off. I resettle my attention on Nina only to see that a second man joined them. Roughly the same build as the first, but with brown hair.

Between them, Nina stiffens. She offers a polite smile as she tries to peel the second guy’s hands off her. The first man presses her closer to his body. I take a step ahead, my hands itching to hurt someone. Again, she tries to move from between them, but they’re persistent and lost in the music. She lifts her head, gaze searching the area until she finds me. I raise a questioning brow, and at her frantic nod, I spring into action.

I cut through the crowd without caring who I bump into. The goal isn’t to kill despite my growing wish to. I slip my arm around Nina’s waist, shouldering between the man in front of her. She swiftly escapes from them, her hand wrapped around my elbow.

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