Page 31 of Devious Kingpin
He took the certificate from my hands and tucked it back into his pocket. “It could be worse. You could have robbed a casino in Vegas,” he remarked wryly, referring to our robbery of his casino in Chicago.
“Why can’t you let that go?” I mumbled under my breath. “I’ve never met a man that holds a grudge like you.”
It seemed like decades ago when it was only two years ago. Gosh, how things have changed. When I first met him, I wasn’t a killer. Yet as it stood, I had blood on my hands.
My eyes darted to Dante. Now both of our hands were drenched in blood. Two years ago, mine were at least innocent.
I should have never gone down this path. Who knew the road would lead us here that day in his casino? Two years of circling each other. Two years of bickering. Two years of… foreplay?
“Drink the coffee,” Dante urged. “The cappuccino is just the way you like it.” The fact he knew the way I like my coffee combined with his deep, warm voice had my insides shuddering. “You need it.” I didn’t move. I didn’t say anything. “It seems the cat indeed got your tongue,” he said, a light sarcasm in his voice sending an alert through me. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you speechless before.”
In hindsight, it wasn’t the best thing to say that night in his casino, but fuck it. I wasn’t good at thinking on my feet. I reacted. Maybe I reacted last night too.
He pushed the cup closer to my face and I took a sip, letting the warm liquid rush down my throat. It tasted good, and apparently it was exactly what I needed to come up with a brilliant plan.
“We can get an annulment,” I exclaimed. “It happens all the time.”
“No.”
My spine stiffened. I slowly turned my head and narrowed my eyes on him.
“No?” I repeated, ending it on a question.
His dark eyes burned, locked on me. If he’d pulled on my towel, I’d be left standing here naked next to him fully dressed in his signature three-piece suit.
“Check your phone.” My eyes lifted to him.
“Why?” I questioned, furrowing my brows. “It’s hardly the time to be phoning anyone.”
He shook his head. “It seems you sent a mass text announcing our marriage.”
My mouth dropped and my eyes popped out of my head.
“What?” I rasped in disbelief. “I—I did what?”
At that very moment, the hotel room door burst open and I jumped to my feet with a squeal. My girlfriends had shown up at the door, their wide eyes darting between Dante and me. My gaze traveled over Wynter, Ivy, then ended at Davina.
“Oh my gosh, it’s true,” one of them whispered. Their attention ping-ponged between the two of us and the rumpled sheets behind us that clearly indicated something happened last night.
Before I could say anything, Dad showed up behind Davina. He looked from me to Dante, then behind us. Disappointment flashed across his expression and he shook his head.
“It’s done, then,” he remarked, his voice tight. “You could have saved me the grief over the years and just done it when he asked to marry you.”
“Dad, it’s not like that,” I started to say but he put his hand up.
“It’s exactly as it looks, Juliette,” he answered.
“No, it’s fucking worse,” my brother spat, showing up out of nowhere. He was furious, glaring at Dante. “He’s been stalking Juliette, unwilling to let go. I’m willing to bet he just waited for her to get drunk, then dragged her to the nearest chapel.”
I swallowed hard. It wasn’t right to put all the blame on Dante. “We were both drunk,” I murmured. “He doesn’t remember anything either.”
Besides, I didn’t want to be the cause for the war between my family and Dante’s. If I let my brother lay all the blame on Dante, I could get out of the marriage but at what cost? The image of dead Dante flashed in my mind and something about it unsettled me. Upset me even.
“You’re actually defending him?” Killian growled, pulling out his gun and aiming it at Dante. The latter wouldn’t have it and responded the same, jumping to his feet. “As much as you hate him, you’re defending him?”
“Whoa, hold on,” Wynter chimed in. “You can’t shoot him, Killian.”
“Why the fuck not?” He kept his weapon trained on Dante. I rushed to them and put myself between my brother and my… ugh, my husband.
