Page 93 of PortCity Killers

??T H I R T Y T W O??

I had done everything I needed to: I’d gotten on the ferry with twenty minutes to spare, found my driver and was escorted to the gates with time in the bag. My makeup was immaculate, my dress free of stains even after I’d eaten my fair share of nachos on the ferry ride from the small concession stand.

The problem was that security wouldn’t let me pass through the gates to Vosco’s home. Rather, they wouldn’t let Valentina and Don through the gates with me. That wasn’t much of a problem, I didn’t think that they should be invited into his inner sanctum really, but that’s not the way they saw it.

Rather than have them attempt to kill the guards and fight their way in, I stood at the edge of the driveway with my arms folded, leaning against the iron wrought gate waiting for Aedyn to pop his head in when he eventually realized I wasn’t exactly where I was supposed to be.

Knowing him, he would be having a hissy fit somewhere in the house, thinking I was purposefully ruining his day. Unfortunately for me, I had not planned on both Valentina and Don joining me quite so early in the night.

Valentina came to me, looking me up and down from where I leaned with a hiss, “You will ruin your dress muñequita.”

“I wouldn’t be in danger of ruining anything if you two would give me the space I need to do my job,” I said, flippantly, pushing off, careful not to do exactly that.

Don, who had his hands in his white suit pockets, smiled lazily, “You did not think we would let you go alone, did you, princess? Royalty always has a court, and so we are here. Vosco may want you to be his date officially, but we are your lovers, in case you forgot.”

I smirked at him, scoffing. The heat in his eyes as his gaze traveled down the corset bodice did not go unnoticed or unappreciated.

“I haven’t.”

I certainly couldn’t with the deep throbbing between my legs every time he looked at me, even if I had wanted to.

“Good,” he pulled a joint between his lips, flicking a heavy silver lighter with the ease and skill of someone practiced with their fingers, “I would hate to have to remind you in front of all these guards exactly how intimately we know one another.”

Every second with these two was a hazard to my sanity.

He offered me the joint, his lips coming to brush my ear, “You look like you could use it.”

I debated, hesitating for a second before I accepted. I’d never been addicted to anything but my own pain and other people: like Bryce and now, I was coming to realize, Don and Valentina. But growing up surrounded by addicts made me weary, and I always felt like I had to be careful putting things into my body lest I somehow acquired the gene or picked up the bad habit along the way.

When the smoke filled my lungs I held it, imagining I was building up all the bad feelings that had plagued me these past few weeks, and let it all out with the smoke. I offered some to Valentina who wrinkled her nose in distaste, stepping further away from us.

“Valentina doesn’t like her judgment clouded by substances,” Don murmured, taking it away from me.

He took a long, slow drag, wrapping full lips around the white paper. His chest expanded right into me, brushing against my shoulder and reminding me exactly how electric it was to be so close to him. Smoke escaped his nose on a harsh breath, like the dragon he was hoarding his treasure. The fact that I was the treasure had my stomach doing flips.

“What I would give to take you in the back of this car right now, Princesa. Val would kill me,” he leaned down into my space, his cinnamon scent filling my head with thoughts of devious things, and whispered, “You look so fucking perfect all I wanna do is destroy every single put-together piece of you.”

I gasped softly. He placed a small, inconspicuous kiss behind my ear, dragging his lips down my neck, tingles filling my fingers and toes at how close he was.

“Now, now what do we have here?” a familiar voice asked.

I jumped up, pulling away from Don who grabbed my hips and shifted me back into his side. I cleared my throat, smiling tightly at Vosco.

“Vosco,” I nodded in his direction.

“No need for formalities, Alex. Aedyn is fine,” he held his hand out to Don, “I don’t believe we’ve ever officially met, Mr. Giovenni.”

Don inhaled again, holding the herb between his teeth as he smiled at Aedyn, shaking his hand. I don’t know why the motion was so fucking sexy, but it just was. I watched the exchange, weary of the two men, but they seemed chill as could be, no posturing or chest puffing to be found. I should have been more worried about Valentina who appeared from behind the car, her dress fluttering around her as she approached us.

Her eyes were like slits as she took him in, her head turning as she walked a circle around him. His black suit fit him like a goddamn glove following the hard lines of his shoulders and the tight roundness of his ass. I’d never been much of an ass gal myself, but with Vosco, much like Bryce, I had learned to appreciate a good butt much more.

Valentina’s eyebrow quirked up, her own breathing slow and steady in a way that told me she might be concentrating a little too hard on keeping her focus. Vosco, of course, did nothing but appreciate the attention.

Valentina shook herself out of whatever bullshit was going through her head because when she smiled again, god damn it was as lethal as it was gorgeous. I imagined what it would be like to be looked at in that way, to be watched as another predator by Valentina.

The reality of it couldn’t be nearly as overwhelming as my brain conjured up, but it was enough. I stepped between them, taking her arm in my own, linking us together.

“Valentina and Don insisted on escorting me,” I said, gently, “Though they promise to be on their best behavior for the actual party. Right?”

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