Page 74 of A Beautiful Crime

She swallows thickly, placing a hand on her throat, where mine once was.

Her skin flushes.

I smirk in response.

“I’ll show you to your bedroom, you must be exhausted.”

Her brow raises. “My bedroom?”

I raise a brow back. “Would you rather accompany me in mine?”

“No, I-”

“You, what? Thought I would force you to share a room with me? Force you into my bed?” She remains silent however her eyes tell me all I need to know. “When you enter my bedroom, Carina, it will be because you want to be there.”

She scoffs. Inside, I claim another victory. “I’ll never want to be there.”

My eyes light with amusement. “You’ll find yourself begging for my touch, Carina. And when the time comes you won’t even hate yourself for it.”

She doesn’t respond, but her nostrils flare.

It shouldn’t turn me on as much as it does, her fury, but it does.

I signal with two fingers for her to follow me and she obeys my command. My penthouse has three levels. Her room and mine reside on the third level. Level two is where my officeand Rico’s office reside along with my weaponry room and safe room. Main level has all the necessities. A kitchen, dining room, family room, and formal room. There’s also a home gym and an inside swimming pool.

Her room is adjacent to my own. Almost the same in size but not with all the luxuries mine has to offer. Yet still, it has a king size bed, a walk-in closet, an en-suite bathroom, and a nook area for leisure. The guest room isn’t hurting in any means, it just doesn’t have everything mine has to offer.

I open the door for her and wait for her to take the first step inside. I may be The Devil of the East Coast, but I am a gentleman. In some aspects at least.

Shoulders pinned back, chin held high, she makes sure not to touch me as she crosses the entry.

Again, I study her like a butterfly under a scope with its wings pulled apart.

She stands in the middle of the room taking in everything before her. I don’t expect her to gawk, she comes from money. She was born in wealth. But I do know where she lived never felt like a home. Merely a place where she was kept.

Do I hope she won’t see this room, my home, in the same way, of course I do.

All of this is meant to be hers, too.

A Queen meant to rule by my side.

Giving hardly anything away, a face that would’ve won her millions in poker, she says to me, “I wish to rest.”

I nod my head. I could tease her more but I already know I’ve pushed enough for today. “Do you need assistance with your wounds?” My voice is stiff by the end but not because of her wounds, but because of how she acquired them.

She stiffens, her neck muscles flexing. “No,” she says curtly. Her eyes reflect the pain and fear. And seeing fear in her eyes stirs something inside me.

Crossing the room I close the distance between us. She swallows as she cranes her neck to look up at me.

Tenderly, I run my knuckles along her cheek. And despite all the words she throws like daggers my way she succumbs to my touch. “I promise you this, Carina, I will kill him for everything he has done to you.”

Her eyes search mine. Perhaps trying to detect the lie. All her life the men who should have cared for and protected her only abused her.

Hesitantly, yet growing surer with each second that passes she places her hand over my own. My heart fucking accelerates as a rush of euphoria sweeps through me. Her touch is like the purest cocaine to an addict after their first hit.

“What happened on waiting for your Queen to rise to kill him herself?”

I knew it.

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