Page 13 of The Vampire Kingpin
Envy chewed at my insides. This lair was a home, something I’d never really known. Even when my parents were still alive, we were always moving, always scheming, seeking the next big score.
And Grimclaw’s lair had never felt like home. It had just been where I laid my head.
Spider glanced at me, and I had a feeling he could read some of what I was feeling on my face.
I pulled back my shoulders. “Nice crib.”
“Thanks. We call it the Cavern.”
“Not the Web?”
“Too obvious,” he said, and even though he didn’t smile, I could’ve sworn I felt his mood lighten a little. “You know where my bedroom is,” he added with a nod at the door beyond the kitchen.
“That’s where we’re negotiating?”
“It’s private,” he said, even though the Cavern was completely empty.
When I hesitated, he put a firm hand on the small of my back, steering me through the room and past the kitchen.
His bedroom was a lush retreat done up in velvet and silk. He closed the door and went to his wall safe, which in my hurry, I’d left cracked open, and returned his dagger to its inlaid wood box. He put the box back in the safe along with my switchblade and spun the combination lock, clearly not worried that I’d already demonstrated I could break into it.
“Sit down.” He sprawled on the black velvet armchair next to the bed, long legs stretched out before him, his twists flowing around his face and shoulders like a coffee-colored lion’s mane. “Before we talk terms, let’s get a few things straight.”
I perched on the edge of his massive bed, hands behind me on the black-and-gold silk comforter, and crossed my ankles all demure-like. I could act like a lady when it suited me. “Like what?”
He traced a hot-eyed gaze over my legs. “First, you’re not a guest here. You have the freedom of my bedroom and the Cavern, but go anywhere else and the guards will have orders to toss your ass in a cell.”
I dug my fingers into the comforter. “Like fuck, they will. I’ll be out of here so fast your head will spin.”
His eyes flashed. He came out of the armchair and crossed to me in a single, sinuous movement.
I straightened and put my feet on the floor. But I was damned if I’d let him lock me up. I might as well have stayed in Vegas and let Jared Darkman make me his blood slave.
Spider inserted a knee between my legs, forcing them open so he could step between my thighs. He took me by the shoulders and pulled me up.
“Don’t push me,” he said, soft and dangerous. “Because I will hunt you down and make you sorry. That’s another promise for you.”
I swallowed hard. “Grimclaw will?—”
“Turn you over to me. Haven’t you figured it out yet? That’s why he sent you here in the first place. He owes me a month’s tribute, but he doesn’t have it, so he sent you instead.”
“Are you serious? He fucking sold me?”
“Yeah. We made a deal. I get you, and he gets another month protection.”
A ringing filled my ears. “He wouldn’t?—”
“No? Want me to text him for you?”
I stared up at Spider’s too-handsome face, wishing I could accuse him of lying, but it sounded like something Grim would do. I’d tried to make myself valuable to him and his lair, but if it came down to saving his own skin and protecting me, he’d drive a knife into my heart himself.
It still stung. Grim was family. With my parents gone, he was all I had left.
I drew a breath, recalling a snippet of conversation I’d overheard last week between him and his creepy lieutenant, Troll. I caught my name, and “Spider.” Then they saw me and clammed up.
When Grim had ordered me to steal the dagger, I’d figured that was what they’d been plotting. But now I realized the whole thing had been a setup, a way to deliver me to Spider. Grim had known I’d never agree to be traded for the money he owed Spider. I’d made it crystal clear that I’d never let him pimp me out. So instead, the SOB had sent me into Spider’s lair, knowing I’d get caught.
And I’d walked right into the trap like a trusting, overconfident rabbit.
