Page 37 of Hearts Of Darkness

I need to twist tonight’s revelation to my advantage. This game is all about staying two steps ahead of the enemy because that’s exactly what Emilio is now. He drew first blood by infiltrating my compound. We had an understanding. I toe the line on the proviso that he leaves me the fuck alone.

Joseph knew the score as soon as Valentina screamed his name. For too long my brother’s been listing the balance of power in his favor, and I’ve been content to sit back and let him.

Not anymore.

Stepping out into the hallway, I pause with my hand clenched around the handle of Eve’s door.You want to talk about loyalty, big brother? Well, you just crossed the fucking line.

“Did you kill her?”

Eve’s voice drifts out to me from the darkness.

I choose not to answer. Instead, I close the door behind meand inch slowly toward the bed. The shutters are drawn, and I can’t see a fucking thing.

“Did you, Dante?”

Her voice is hesitant and scared; scared of my answer, scared of what I’m capable of, scared of what I’m planning to do to her now.

“No, Eve. I didn’t kill her.”

Not yet anyway.She’s strung up in one of my warehouses, approximately twenty-four hours from bleeding out.

“Did you hurt her?”

“No more than what was necessary.”

The grim silence that follows tells me she doesn’t like that subtext at all.

From the slivers of moonlight creeping in around the edges of the shutters, I can see the outline of her body. I want nothing more than to climb in next to her and claim her goodness for myself like the selfish bastard that I am. Five hours of inflicting pain on a person will do that to a man.

“Are you still hungry?”

“You think I can eat?” she says incredulously. “After how you talked to me over dinner, and what I saw in the kitchen? After laying here for hours imagining what you were doing to Valentina?”

“You need to temper that imagination.”

“And you need to temper your damn depravity! You’re despicable. They should lock you up and throw away the key!”

“You’d still visit me though, my angel… You wouldn’t be able to resist.”

To my surprise, her mocking laughter goes right through me. It’s like jagged nails down a dirty blackboard.

“You think you’re so irresistible, don’t you? Are you familiar with Stockholm Syndrome, Dante? None of this is real. If I ever step foot out of this place, there’s only one direction I’m running… Away fromyou.”

“Oh, sweetheart, don’t kid yourself. You’ll never escape from me.”

She moves quickly for such a small woman. Bam! She slaps me so hard I stagger backward. I’m still seeing stars as I grab her wrist to block a second blow, twisting her body until she’s face down on the bed with her arms locked behind her back and I’m kneeling over her.

“Take your damn hands off of me!”

“It’s too late for that.” I tear at the hem of her T-shirt until it’s bunched up around her hips. “I’ve told you before about making sudden movements around me. Now I’ll have to punish you for it.”

I hear the breath catch in her throat. God, I love the conflict in her. I fucking live for it. She hates me and she wants me, and it’s driving her out of her mind. My eyes are starting to adjust to the lack of light now, and I can see the perfect curve of her ass just begging to have me sink my teeth into it. Instead, I raise my hand and bring it down hard.

“Fuck!” she screams, the intensity of my blow jolting her forward.

My dick leaps to attention. I’m such a sadistic asshole. Delivering pain and pleasure is so tightly entwined for me. I can’t see the point of one without the other. I want to make her hurt so I can soothe her afterward, twisting her emotions until she sees only me.

“Don’t cuss, it’ll only make itworse for you.” I grit my teeth as my erection catches against the zipper of my jeans. I can’t hold out for much longer. This woman has the ability to make me lose all sense and reason.

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