Page 89 of The Devil Can Be Kind

Any desire to give in to the irresistible pull of Marco La Torre was now exiled to the furthest recesses of my mind…again. Regardless of whether it was from jealousy, hurt or just plain sexual frustration, I wasn’t going to take his disrespect lightly. I was going to punish him for it.

This isn’t a game? Well, let’s see who’s playing now.

The next morning,I had watched from my window as countless expensive cars had begun to arrive. I had never seen so many tailor-made suits, golden Rolex’s or Gucci loafers in one place before. The money made my head spin.

Judging by the raucous laughter and dark complexions, I guessed the majority of them were La Torre’s but there were some outliers in the mix as well. Enzo was notably one of them.

Springing into motion, I tore through my dressing room in search of the perfect outfit for my plan.

The maids had already unpacked all my things, and soon enough I came across the shorts and neon pink sports bra I hadin mind. I pulled on the stretchy black shorts, satisfied when the material sat a quarter inch higher than the crease of my butt cheeks. The sports bra I had chosen was almost backless with skimpy straps falling in a zigzag at its base. The ensemble left little to the imagination.Perfect.

Grabbing my headphones and a yoga mat I took from the gym yesterday evening, I made my way outside and down the stone steps to the lawned area of the garden. The area was recessed and elegantly sculptured into the landscape. It made the already high walls of the mansion look even more imposing as they loomed high above.

The sounds of chatter and debate were unmistakable as I walked toward the gardens. The men had moved to gather on the patio overlooking the area I had marked as my target.

I knew it was ballsy, and I knew it was obvious. But I didn’t care.

I was no longer ruled by sanity or reason but by pure frustration and sexual angst.

I wanted to punish him for thinking he could lead me on and play away. For thinking I was some game, or worse—Lexi.

I rolled the mat out on the grass, grateful for my sunglasses as I saw a few heads turn in in my general direction. Tactless curiosity staining their features.

Picking up my phone, I selected one of my playlists and the music started trickling through my air pods.

I had taken a few yoga classes some months back in Las Vegas, but had grown bored of the tameness of it all. Nonetheless, I had remained somewhat flexible and remembered some of the moves well.

I wasn’t entirely surprised by the wolf whistles sounding off behind me as I stretched, but I ignored them.

I moved as gracefully as possible into the cobra, stretching my back out. After thirty seconds, I moved into a variation ofchild’s pose to relieve some of the added pressure, before lifting with the balls of my feet into downward-facing dog. It took everything in me to keep the smug smirk off my face as my ass lifted high in the air.My ass looks fire in these shorts…andjudging by some of the hoots I was hearing, apparently I wasn’t the only one that thought so. I did the circuit a few more times until my back grew more supple.

It's time to take it up a notch.

I sunk into the cow pose, with my back arched as far as I dared. Moving onto my knees I sunk backwards, keeping my arms straight above my head and pushing my boobs into the ground.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Came the six words I was waiting to hear.

I didn’t bother looking up at the shadow looming over me.

I moved back into the cow pose before I answered. “Yoga.”

“I can see that,” he gritted.

I turned and sat back to face him as I took out one of my earbuds.

I noticed over his shoulder that quite a few of the men were watching us, Jesse and Enzo included.

“Is there a reason you’re parading around my men with hardly any clothes on?” I swallowed hard but didn’t answer. “I think I know why,” he muttered after a few seconds of silence.

He took a step toward me, his crotch almost in line with my face only a foot away. I didn’t miss the way his eyes flashed at the sudden proximity and something like anticipation wove itself into my veins.

“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again.” An electric heat pulsed between us at his words. “If you wantattention, you come to me.”

“In your dreams.”

“It sure didn’t feel like a dream.” He smirked arrogantly.

“That’s funny, I didn’t think you got tofeelanything.” I snapped and his features grew tense, the muscle in his jaw ticking.

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