Page 61 of My Pucking Crush

Just the assassins, and Gideon and Dev aren’t assassins. They run the west coast for Belova. Max is an east coast problem at the moment.

Right now, these two knuckleheads aremyproblem. They’re looking at a ghost. The guy who disappeared from a room full of dead mercenaries in Boston five years ago.

I never had an issue with these two, only saw them occasionally when they’d show up to one of Ivan Belova’s annual meetings at his multi-million-dollar lake house in Winnetka, right outside of Chicago.

They knew me as Lia’s husband, Belova’s brother-in-law, and third in line on the enforcer team. They had to have noticed I disappeared. Or figured out I’d been targeted for destruction.

“How much do you two want to turn around and forget you saw me?” I consider my finances.

I have a few million in an offshore account, money I stole from Belova,according to him, when I collected Lia’s life insurance. It’s the account I worry is booby-trapped. But I found a way to siphon small amounts at a time.

Ironic that Ivan forced his sister to marry me, take oaths, sign a marriage license, and when I take out a dual life insurance policy to make sure my son is protected, thinking I’d go first, Belova says Lia’s payout belonged to him and not me.

I said otherwise and hence the start of our war. But it felt hollow. He has billions.

Gideon and Dev love Las Vegas and are probably in debt. Only, I don’t know if I can trust them.

“Pay my cage bill?” Dev says with a shrug. He knows I’m heading back to where I disappeared, and he doesn’t have the resources to figure out where I’ll go. His cage bill is more important to him.

“I can use a few grand,” Gideon chimes in.

Thirty minutes later, I’m out seven thousand dollars, but they accept the money in exchange for leaving the hotel and not mentioning me, or there will be hell to pay. Gideon and Dev wisely disappear. They knowIhave resources to hurt them.

They leave happy to go run up tabs in another casino, and consider themselves lucky for spotting me. No point in ruining their karma by killing me.

AFTER CIRCLING THEcasino to confirm those two losers are gone, I case one of the lounges where Willis and Madison sit on a velvet sofa talking to a couple of women who I know are hookers.

Not seeing Max, I scan deeper into the room, until I see him. With a guy. Who is clearly gay, and flirting with him.

The thing about being into guys, I sense deep inside who else is. This fuckface, whoever he is, zeroed in on my man.

After making eye-contact with the other players, I stroll inside. The way Max takes me in and lights up, brings me to my knees.

I found you...

You’re mine.

Max whispers something to the man and eyes immediately dart my way. Looking pissed, the guy moves on to someone else in the lounge.

I stand tall, my face hard as granite and not giving away the dirty thoughts going through my head. It could make a corpse blush, the things I want to do to Max behind closed doors.

I crook a finger toward him and we leave the lounge. The other players don’t even look up. I’m his bodyguard, he’s supposed to be with me.

In the elevator, Max and I stare at each other, a drunk crowd separating us all the way to our floor of suites.

The elevator door opens, and Max gets out, politely excusing himself. No one notices him, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

Inside Max’s suite, I text Duncan, who’s taking the first hallway shift, that I’m posting tonight in Max’s room. Duncan will think I’m sleeping on a sofa.

I close the door behind me with purpose. I slide the security lever in place and add an extra bolt I carry with me. Gideon and Dev could get drunk and do something stupid. I doubt it, but being careful is part of the job.

“Who was that before?” Max asks. “Daniel, is it?”

I stride toward him, not correcting the pronunciation ofDuhn-eel.

“Forget you heard that name.” Even though it’s mydream for him to pant it to me while I fuck him. “I told you what that can do to you.”

“They work for your...brother-in-law?”

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