Page 15 of Hearts Of Darkness

“Who is she anyway?” asks Joseph curiously.

“An irritation.” I hold out my shot glass for a refill. Rejection is a new experience for me. I’ve never had to work for a pretty face. Usually, they’re primed and ready just looking at this body, and that’s before they find out who I am. First, I entice them in with my darkness, and soon they’re begging me for my pain. Something tells me the rewards will be worth it with her, though.

I could have stayed kissing her all night. It took everythingI had to stop when she begged me to. My frustration came damn near close to overwhelming me. I was right. She has the body of a goddess underneath her clothes—all smooth and lush, and ready for corruption. I wanted nothing more than to sink my dick into her soft folds and lose myself completely.

“I’ll put together a dossier on her,” says Joseph. “Name?”

“Eve.”

“Surname?”

Prick-tease…cunt…angel…

“Miller, I believe.”

As if I didn’t know. As if her fucking name hasn’t been circling around my head for days and days.

Something strikes me then.Why has she elected to take a different surname to her father’s?

Is she lying to me?

Is he a lover, after all?

My hand convulses around my shot glass. Jesus Christ, I need to calm down.

“I take it she’s the same woman from the liquor store last week?”

My head snaps up. “How do you know about that?”

“Your brother’s men aren’t the most discreet,” he says mildly, tipping more tequila into my glass. “They couldn’t shut up about her.”

“They better do, or else.” I knock back another. “Whatever you find out, it stays between us. I don’t want Emilio on one of his paranoid witch-hunts. I want her kept off his radar. She’s got nothing to do with business.”

“Whatever you say.”

“Any news from Colombia?”

“The latest P.I. report came in an hour ago.”

“Give me the highlights.”

“The lead’s a dud.”

“Shit.” It’s a bitter pill to swallow. Fifteen years on and this girl is still eluding me. “Tell the team to keep on searching, and I want Garcia and his whole operation shut down by sunset tomorrow. He’s making a fool of us. I should have taken my own team in the first place. You and I are heading back to Miami to see to it personally. We’ll start by having a chat with those crooked DEA agents. I want my plane fueled and ready within the hour.”

“What about the woman?”

I down the next shot before answering. “She stays exactly where she is. Tell Valentina to keep an eye on her. That damn door stays locked. She’s not to leave my room under any circumstance.”

The time for niceties is over. I’m done backing off. If Eve Miller thinks I’m a monster, I’ll happily reinforce that belief. She’ll soon discover just how cruel and manipulative I can be. Forty-eight hours of solitude should give her more than enough time to reflect on my parting words. When I return from Miami, I expect her to acquiesce to my every desire.

When I return, she better be begging me to fuck her.

7

EVE

There’s no clock in his bedroom. Time turns into my enemy. Minutes fade to hours as I sit and watch the sun creeping slowly across a crystal-blue skyline from behind six locked windows and a pair of balcony doors that refuse to open no matter how hard I rattle them. I’ve counted every pane of glass and every chip in every frame more times than I care to remember. These are the delicate bars of my prison cell, but his threats are the ones that really hold me captive.

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