Page 9 of Blood Descendants
I hear it as she snaps her mouth closed. Dannika never was very direct. Never would she expect me to call her out on her obvious dislike for me. I’ve lived here for two years now, and she’s never breathed a friendly word in my direction.
I don’t know what the hell I did to get on her bad side, but now it doesn’t matter.
“I didn’t even know you had a boyfriend,” she says as she crosses her arms over her chest, raising her chin.
“Fiancé,” I correct her, finally looking up at her from beneath my lashes. I turn and begin stuffing my shoes into a box. There’s not much of anything left in the room now.
“I don’t know that I believe you,” she says, though her tonedoesn’t sell her words. “You haven’t dated anyone since that sleazeball who cheated on you with the girl across the hall. And now you have a fiancé?”
“You think I tell you anything?” I ask as I scoop the last of my things into the last empty box. “You’re the most judgmental and critical person I’ve ever met, Dannika. This day couldn’t come soon enough.”
“You’re so full of bullshit,” she says in a defensive huff.
And it’s so incredibly satisfying when there’s a solid knock on the door just then. Dannika’s eyebrows raise slightly, her head whipping toward the door.
I don’t fight the satisfied smirk that takes over my face as I step around her and pull the door open.
My heart skips two beats when I open it to reveal Ares standing there, as promised. Out of fear? Probably. Out of shameless appreciation? I’ll never admit it.
“Sorry I’m early, Vengeance,” he says in a low, cool tone. I see him note Dannika behind me for the briefest moment. “I couldn’t wait any longer.”
My heart then decides to relocate into my throat when he takes a step forward, and his hand wraps around my waist, low, intimate. He pulls me toward him, and he presses the hottest, sweetest kiss to my forehead.
My entire body lights on fire at every tiny point of contact, and within half a second, every bit of me feels consumed.
I look up at him to see his gaze fixed on Dannika. “You’re right, this place is a shithole.”
He has no idea how perfect his words are. Dannika picked this place, and it was she who decorated it and picked all the furniture.
A single, annoyed sound escapes her. I turn to see her simply shake her head.
“Ares,” he says as he steps forward, extending a hand to her. “Lana’s fiancé.”
“I don’t see a ring,” Dannika says as she just looks at Ares’ tattooed, extended hand.
Something cold and predatorial shifts in his eyes. Doubt and fear prickle along the back of my neck. I slide my hand into his extended one, wrapping it around my waist.
I just might die of a heart attack tonight.
I might hate Dannika, but I don’t know that I want to see Ares rip her to shreds. I get the impression that’s possible.
“Everyone knows the best diamonds come out of Russia. The best in the business also happens to be a former KGB smuggler. You know how to motivate a man like that to work faster, I’m all ears.”
Every bit of color drains from Dannika’s face. She swallows once. She looks Ares over, taking in the layers of black, the tattoos peeking out from all the edges of his clothing, the metal in his ears and nose.
I wouldn’t dare talk back at him, either.
“I’m keeping your deposit,” she says, her words tight, the pitch slightly too high. She turns and walks into her bedroom and shuts the door.
“She’s a real treat,” Ares says, glaring death at her door.
“You have no idea,” I say just a little too softly.
He looks down at me, and I’m surprised to find intensity and real annoyance there. His left hand curls into a fist.
“Come on in,” he says instead of walking into Dannika’s room and doing something violent and supernatural.
I was so caught up in Ares I didn’t even notice the team of three beefy guys standing out in the hall behind him.
