Page 41 of A Love So Deadly
I peer over at Vinnie, who is rocking back and forth on his feet, for only two seconds, but when I look back across the room, Lucian is gone and Benicio is alone.
A dark, vital beat strums the air, and my body responds like it’s got a mind of its own.
Lucian’s nails skim down my spine to my bare lower back, and a delicious shiver chases his touch.
I’m about to ask him what happened with Benicio, when he says, “Let’s get out of here.”
I blink. “Why?”
There’s a glimmer of something in those dark eyes. “Maybe I want you to myself.”
He doesn’t give me a chance to reply. His hand takes mine, and I swear the people in the room part for him.
Tenebris is dark, stormy tonight, and once we’re out on the street, Lucian makes a call.
“Up the security on Penelope. Immediately,” he says into the phone in clipped, measured words. “And send over Andrew.”
Then he hangs up.
Right then, the Bently pulls up to the sidewalk. Lucian doesn’t even wait for the driver to open the door for us. He does it himself and helps me into a car.
Chapter
Fourteen
Lucian
Anger rolls off me. I can barely control it this time. But I have to. The only thing cooling that fire, keeping it tapped down, is the woman staring back at me.
Elliot.
Monty.
Mine.
Right now, I’m torn between her and what happened. And the thing is, if we destroy that fuck, tear him into pieces, there’s another Benicio waiting in the wings of his world.
Ready to step out and take over.
He’s not Vincent. He’s not a low rung criminal. People like Benicio are infinitely more tricky. I’d been hoping he’d see reason, take another offer if it came down to it, but no. He’s one of the few who almost is never alone, which makes mesmerizing him difficult.
He’s too big, has too many threads, and there’s something that smells like war around him.
My gaze flickers back to Monty. Elliot’s looking at me like I’m going to devour her.
Maybe I am, but something bad is going to happen. I feel it. And I always pay attention to my instincts.
Telling that fucker I won’t be going into business with him wasn’t pleasant, but it was the only reason I went to that party. I don’t need to attend those types of things usually, but I knew he wouldn’t take my rejection seriously if it didn’t come directly from me—two powerhouses facing off, testing each other’s influence.
He may be human, an easy kill, but I’m living in the modern world and have to follow human rules to thrive in it. That means playing Benicio’s game.
Even if he’s threatening someone I care about.
Someone vulnerable.
Nell.
Benicio learned about Penelope from somewhere. And her connection to me.
