Page 58 of Where the Wicked Reign

He grunted beneath me, panting.

I looked out at Nico, who was beaming at me proudly.

And Emilio slowly gave a nod. “Not bad,” was all he offered in his usual stingy way when it came to me.

I pushed off Julian and as he rolled over onto his back, I told him, “I was forced to make a point.”

“And you sure did,” he returned, not looking pissed at me like I’d expected, but seeming a whole lot aroused instead. His hazel eyes were hooded as he eye-fucked me again, and as he sprung back to his feet with an impressive somersault, his hard cock told the rest of the story.

I shook my head to myself, then strode across to my weapon’s supplies. I snatched up a tactical blade, spun it in my hand, then lobbed it toward Emilio. He flinched, but didn’t move, as it sailed past his head by a mere couple of inches only, then embedded in the bullseye of a target high up on the wall a few feet from the monitors.

He turned at the thud and took in my work.

When he looked back at me, his lips lifted slightly.

“We good now?” I demanded.

“With this, yes.”

“Fuck,” Nico grunted at Emilio. “If you’d given me a second, or asked me directly instead of harboring this concern, I would have told you that I’ve witnessed her taking down enemy targets before.”

“You what?” Emilio asked.

“I’m not blinded by hergolden pussyor anything. The fact that you’d even think that is beyond insulting.” He stepped up to him, grinding out. “And unacceptable.”

Emilio’s throat worked. “I meant no disrespect. I’m just doing my job, watching your back.”

As they glared at one another, the tension ramping up fiercely, I cut through it, telling them, “I have business to attend to and we’re done here, so it’s time for you to head out. I don’t have all night.”

“Yeah,” Julian piped up. “Good to go, Nico? I’ve got us passage through one of the secret entrances atNocturne,and the zone you like is closed off for us.”

They were headed to the sex club tonight?

“Don’t wear that on mission,” Julian said to me suddenly, as he went to pass on by.

“Why not?” I was planning to wear my tactical gear anyway, but still.

He looked me up and down, eye-fucking me like he had earlier. “Because it’s hot as fuck to me, a major turn on.”

“And he loses concentration easily,” Emilio said.

“Not that easily, but point taken.” He eyed me. “The leather-on-leather look gets me off, darlin’.”

“Lock it up,” Nico growled, grasping his arm and yanking him away from me and out into the corridor. Then he was there, standing in front of me. “We’ll gear up here at nightfall in seventy-two hours, then head out.”

“Sounds good.”

“Think about what I said earlier,” he spoke, leaning in, then whispering, “Principessa.”

A tremble rolled through me.

He smiled as he eased back. “I knew you enjoyed me calling you that.”

Shit.

He grinned, then thankfully left it at that and followed the guys out.

I stayed where I was as I heard them filtering out, and then I brought out my phone and stared at my text message exchange with Levi from a few days ago after I’d had to do something in order to get that meeting with Peter Hall, something that had made me sick.

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