Page 122 of Devious Kingpin
She swallowed, panic crossing her expression. “Little over five hundred thousand. But your wife insisted.”
A sardonic breath escaped me. I guess I should be grateful the damage was this minimal.
“I-is that okay?”
The elevator door opened and I entered it.
“Whatever my wife wants, you give it to her,” I instructed as the elevator door shut. My nerves twisted as the soft whirring sounds of the engine pulled me closer to the woman I love.
Ding.
The elevator slid open and I stepped into the hallway.
My nerves pulled tighter as I made my way to the door of the Presidential Suite. My hand trembled as I lifted it to knock on the door. It froze midair as I heard a soft noise. I held my breath, listening for it. Nothing.
I pressed my ear to the door and I heard it again. A muffled noise that sounded almost like… sobbing.
“Wildling,” I called through the door.
Silence followed. No answer.
“Juliette, answer me,” I demanded softly. My heart clenched in my chest as I worried about her. The idea of her crying made me want to tear the door down. Good God, my wife was making a wuss out of me. Even worse, I didn’t give a shit.
Without her and her happiness, this life wasn’t worth living.
“Go away.” Her voice was clear. Strong. Yet there was a hint of a tremor in it.
“Open this door.”
“Didn’t you hear me?” she snapped. “Go away.”
I took a deep breath before slowly exhaling. “I don’t want to argue. I just want to see that you’re alright, then I’ll leave.”
Silence. No movement. No other words. Nothing, like I wasn’t even here. So typical of Juliette to ignore me.
“Wildling, I’ll give you ten seconds to open this door before I break it down.”
“Go away, Dante,” she hissed. “I don’t want to see you. I’m fine, but I’d be better if you were nowhere to be seen or heard.”
Goddamn it! Why was she so fucking stubborn?
“One, two, three—” I started counting. If the silence on the other side of the door was any indication, she hadn’t moved. “—nine, ten. I’m coming in.”
“Don’t you dare—”
Her sentence was cut off when I kicked the door open.
CHAPTER49
Juliette
Ihad always known Dante DiLustro was fucking crazy.
My tears forgotten, I jumped out of bed, still dressed in the same clothes, shoes included, and strode to my husband.
“Are you fucking nuts?” I shouted, my palms against his chest and shoving at him. He was all hard muscle and towering over me. I didn’t let that deter me. “Did I stutter when I said go away?”
His eyes glinted with something dark.
