Page 42 of Cardinal

"Damn it, Juliet, open the door!" I heard Luciano shout through the monitor.

Taking my sweet time, I got out of bed and went back over to my desk, where I had the front cameras pulled up on my screen. Luciano and some of his men were at the front door, jiggling and tugging at the handle with growing frustration as each and every single one of their attempts at putting in the code was met with a big error buzz.

I couldn't help but laugh at their attempts while one of the guards was on the phone with the security company.

Yeah, good luck with that, buddy.

It would probably take them the whole night to unscramble the mess I made. I fucked up A LOT of the coding when I installed my own shit. I copied and pasted the original in a document on my computer. They could try to hack my computer and dig it up, but they would probably have better luck hacking the government with how fortified my system was after my cousin and his friend got done helping me with it.

Tapping a key on my keyboard, I activated the microphone to the front door camera. "I told you not to expect to return home tonight if you go on that date. Did you think I was kidding?" The smugness and anger in my dry chuckle almost hurt my throat, and I was surprised such a sound could even come from me. "It's a good thing the gardeners do a good job. Those rose beds look nice and fluffy. Hope you enjoy your bed of roses, and I hope the thorns get you. Good night, Luca." I dragged out the 'a' in his name before cutting the microphone off.

Now, foolish of me for thinking that would be the end of it all and crawling into bed with a false sense of safety. I bundled myself up in my sheets with a satisfied smile on my face and lulled myself to sleep.

Unfortunately, none of that bliss lasted. The shattering sound of glass cut through the air, and the banging and slamming of my balcony doors flying open startled my body upright in my bed.

"Oh fuck." I let out a frightened gasp under my breath when I saw Luciano standing there with his eyes narrowed at me, jaw clenched so tightly that his neck muscles became stiff and prominent, and nostrils flaring with each heaving breath.

He only looked more menacing with how the moonlight shadowed him and gave him a hard glow. Then, the destruction around his feet didn't help that aggressive edge.

Glass crunched under his weight as he stalked up to me with a tense glare full of…

Oh fuck.

Chuckling nervously with a sheepish, apologetic smile, I slowly backed away until I was at the edge of my bed. "Listen, Luca, I'm sorry, okay?" I felt like a lamb cornered by a feral wolf with how he overshadowed me with his suffocating presence.

"Off the bed." He wasn't asking, not with how hard and stern his dominating voice carried to my shuddering body.

Not wanting to be in any more trouble tonight, I obeyed. Slowly, I slipped my legs off the edge until I stood with my nervous hands clutched to my chest.

His hulking figure moved around the bed in calculated steps, and my wide eyes remained locked onto his moving figure.

Shivers pricked at my body with each wave of heat that washed over my body from my budding arousal. God, I didn't know why I found this so exciting when I should be terrified of what was to come. Although, to be fair, I deserved all he had in store for me, given my actions.

But that was what I hoped for, wasn't it? Spending his money on my every whim, buying a whole-ass car when he told me no, then locking him out of the house and taunting him. I had an inkling of an idea of what would happen, yet I still did it to get a rise out of him.

This was what I wanted… Right? For him to snap and show me he meant business.

Well, wish fucking granted. Only problem was, I wasn't feeling so sure now that it was happening.

Sucking a trembling breath, I cowered slightly when he came to a stop right next to me. Gulping, I looked at him out of the corner of my eye for a second, taking in his still-hardened face and darkened eyes. His pupils were so dilated that they nearly blacked out all of his glassy amber eyes. I couldn't help but let myself be pulled into his lustful amber pools.

Then, against my better judgment, I crawled back onto the bed to put some distance between us. "Luca," I started nervously with an unconfident smile. "Shit. I'm sorry. I—ah!"

His hand shot out faster than a blink of an eye and grabbed my neck, hauling me towards him and off the bed until he was seething inches from my face. Then, I made my next mistake of looking directly into his eyes again, letting myself melt under his heated gaze. As anger hardened as his face was, there was a twisted spark in his lustful eyes.

The tension in his neck muscles relaxed with his crazy smile, and that's when I really felt screwed. "We are way past apologies, you little brat." The rumble in his deep voice shook my body with each syllable, and damn me for getting so turned on by it.

What nearly got me coming in my thong were his next words after he pulled me in so close that I thought he would kiss me. "Now, get on your fucking knees." The dominance in his command made my knees want to buckle that instant.

"W-what? Why?" Okay, stupid question, because why else would a man like him in this moment want me to get on my knees? Doubt it was to beg.

The moment his smile turned into a feral, lustful grin, I wanted to be slumped at his feet—forget being on my knees!

"Because I am giving you one chance to show me how sorry you are." His voice came out soft but was saturated with intense passion. "You are going to show me how sorry you are by putting that mouth of yours to use."

He didn't give me a moment to think as he released my neck to fist the back of my head and shove me down to my knees, tilting my head up to look at him. "Until tears are running down your face while you are happily choking on my cock, I won't consider any forgiveness for tonight."

A worried ache sank my facial features as I continued to look up at him. "I want to, I do, but what if…" A disgusted shudder racked my body at the sudden memory, which caused my stomach to churn with nausea.

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