Page 39 of Cruel Master

Ian leaned forward, setting his glass on the table alongside my empty one before bracing both elbows onto his knees. "Why did you introduce her to the lifestyle, never mind bring her here, if you weren't in a true Dom/sub relationship? You know damn fucking well how it's viewed to mistreat such a relationsh—"

"The relationship I have with my wife is none of your concern, Marshall," I murmured, cutting him off with a lethal tone, but he was unrepentant.

Archer tilted his head in my direction. “Ian’s right, Gaven,” he said. “What's stopping the two of you from turning this ...facade"—he waved his free hand at the last word as he continued—“into an actual Dom/sub relationship?"

“I can’t very well trust a wife who betrays her husband the same night she took vows to obey him,” I ground out.

Archer whistled. “Well, damn, I didn’t realize she ran that fast,” he said. Of course not, I’d kept it under wraps.

“What did you do to scare her off?” Jensen asked. “You did make her come, right? The G-spot is—”

“I’m well aware of a woman’s G-spot, Jensen Travis,” I growled.

Ian hummed deep in his throat, finally sitting back in his seat, his hard expression shifting to be contemplative and thoughtful as he ran his hand over his jaw. Jensen and Archer both eased, visibly relaxing back into their respective seats. Their words had turned teasing rather than offensively tense.

“So, why do you think she’s fighting you now?” Ian asked.

That was the great question, wasn't it?Why?

I had my suspicions. Angel would never have hurt her father, even after being forced to marry a man such as myself. And it wasn't that shecouldn't—I had a feeling Angel was vicious enough when pushed to do what was needed ... including killing—but she had loved Raffaello Price. Even I, who had never once ever thought of my family or known such love from a parent, saw that.

Her sister, the conniving bitch that she was, on the other hand, held no such sentiments. She’d been jealous—was still jealous as far as I could tell. Jacquelina Price had quickly shown her viciousness and sly nature following her father’s demise. She had snatched up the Price Family out from under me with gleeful intent. She mostdefinitelywould have had the balls to murder her father, force her sister out, and ostracize one of the most sought-after hitmen in her plot to take over the family business.

"Gaven?" Archer's voice cut into my thoughts, and I looked back at the three waiting men.

"There's more at stake, more players in the game than just Angel and I," I stated simply, not wanting to give away too much information.

Ian smirked, knowing full well what I was doing. "The option is simple then, isn't it?" It was my turn to raise a brow at his cryptic bullshit question. His cruel grin widened when he saw my confusion. "Eliminate whatever it is that's in the way, whatever—or whoever—drove her away in the first place. Then, she'll have no need to keep running, no?"

Mimicking how Ian had sunk back into his chair, I mulled his words over. I had always planned on going after Jacquelina. She had to pay for what she’d done to Raffaello as well as Evangeline. Then there was the fact that she stood in the way of what was rightfully mine. The Price Empire.

Perhaps all I needed to do now was push up my timeline. Maybe then Angel would feel safe enough to come to me on her own, to reveal her truth, to stay.

“Mare.” My attention was dragged from my thoughts by Ian’s tone. I looked up as Ian stood. Archer and Jensen followed. I trailed their focus to the front of the ladies’ locker room to see that America had emerged and was smiling as she walked towards us.

As she approached, her attention switched from her men to me. Her eyes tightened and her lips firmed. “Gaven.”

“America.”

“You know what you’re supposed to call Doms in the club, Mare,” Ian chastised her.

America flushed and then nodded my way. “My apologies, Sir. It’s good to see you.”

“You look beautiful, America.” Though she looked nothing like my Angel, I meant the words. America was a stunning woman. Slightly rounded, curvy, with long light brown strands framing her face down to her tits. I paused as I stopped on her stomach and the obvious bump there.

“Thank you, Sir,” America replied.

“Let’s go,” Jensen said, moving for her as he wrapped an arm around her side. “I have a scene I want to do with you, sweetheart.”

“A scene?”

“A naughty scene,” Archer replied, bending against her opposite side and pressing a kiss to her shoulder.

Ian lingered a moment behind as Archer and Jensen led their wife away. “If you want what we have, Gaven,” he said, capturing my attention once more, “I suggest you talk to your wife. Find out the truth. Someone has to give in first. Trust is the only way a relationship such as the one you’re seeking works.”

“I’ve never needed to trust my subs before—not the same way I have to trust Angel,” I admitted. “Our relationship is different.”

“Because it’s forever,” he replied. Then, without another word, he followed after his men and his wife, and I was left to wait for the woman I’d sent in long before America.

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