Page 13 of Scarlett Thief (Criminal Underground 2)

"I certainly don't like it, that's for sure," he replied, "but we're stuck in this shit together. I don't see how I'll get out of making an exception—how any of us will." He turned and leveled his eyes on me. Serious. Calculating. Analyzing. He didn’t carry the moniker ‘El Diablo’ for nothing. That gaze, itself, was devilish. Seeking my acquiescence.

There was no other word I wanted to say more in that moment than a simple, "No." Unfortunately, however, he had a point. Worse still, we each had weaknesses and they had been found and exploited. I needed a guarantee that my daughter would be safe and there was only one way to do that right now.

"I don't trust you," I said instead.

He nodded. "That's fair."

The woman scoffed. "As if I trust either of you."

"Do you have a better idea, Princess?" Diablo arched a brow her way.

"Call me princess again," she challenged, slipping a very delicate blade from beneath the slit in her skirt and flipped it into the air before catching it deftly. "I dare you."

"Enough," I barked at her. "For fuck's sake, I don't like this any more than you do." She jumped at the sound of my voice and I pushed even more of my Dom into the sound as I glared at her. "If you want to stay your pretty little ass out of prison, then you'll fucking comply, and hopefully, the three of us will get out of this fucked up situation with our lives intact."

Scarlett lowered her weapon to her side and turned more contemplative as she tilted her head to the side. "There is quite a lot of money to be made," she said. "We're not doing this for free."

"There's no reason we can't look at this like any other job," Diablo agreed with a nod. He turned to me and held out a hand. I looked at it for a moment before reaching forward and grasping it, squeezing tight as I challenged him with a look. Not for a second did he flinch. Instead, he squeezed back just as roughly and smiled. "We do the job and then we go our separate ways."

"Fine," I said.

"Agreed," Scarlett said from beside us, her tone less than enthused.

As I released Diablo and he took a step back, his smile hardened. "Great then, first order of business—call me Hadrian. Diablo is just an online signature. It's a little annoying to hear it so much in person."

"Hadrian?" Scarlett eyed him. "That's Roman, isn't it?"

He shrugged, unconcerned by her curious gaze. "Don't know. Don't care. It's just a name."

Ah, but that wasn't true. I knew how dangerous a name could be. A name was an identity and now I had his—more fuel for Ian to dig into.

"And you, big man?" she questioned.

I growled at her. "Wolf," I stated.

"That can’t be your real name," she replied.

“It's the only one you're getting."

Her lower lip plumped up into a perfect pout—it would've been seductive if I hadn't known that's exactly what she was going for. I let my irritation show in my glare, once again enjoying the automatic lowering of her eyes when she tried to hold my gaze for too long. The move undeniably submissive. Though, it was doubtful that she knew what she was.

But if push came to shove, I could definitely use that to my benefit.

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