Page 13 of Wicked

He shuffles his legs, and one comes painfully close to mine. I hold my breath before turning slightly to grab the bottle from him. Our eyes collide and everything around me fades to the back of my mind. “No, I don’t.” His tongue slides over his bottom lip. “Do you?”

Shaking my head, I whisper, “No.”

“The guy from tonight. He your boyfriend?”

I chuckle, finally snatching the bottle back and bringing it to my lips. Sounds stupid, but sharing a bottle with him makes my brain short-circuit. I wonder what he feels like.Tastes like.Jesus Christ, Ruby… the tequila is working. Before I realize I’ve left too big of a gap between questions, I quickly say, “No. God no. Why?” I turn around. This time my knee collides with his thigh and both of our eyes fly to the connection.

I wince before he wraps his fingers around my chin, forcing my face up to his. “Daddy told me not to touch you, and lucky for him, I do think I owe him some kind of loyalty since I whacked off my old man and he did save Poppy, but hear me out—” He presses his thumb against my lower lip, forcing my mouth slightly open. His mouth kicks up in a smirk. “You ever look at me the way you are right now? And I’ll fuck you on his office desk and leave my marks all over your body. I don’t give a fuck.” My eyes stay on his mouth. I want to lean forward and kiss him, but I know he’ll pull back. “Nod if you agree.”

My head moves up and down, and he releases my lip, leaning back on his elbow like he didn’t just ignite a wick that has never been lit.

I squeeze my eyes closed and take another drink. Then another. “Papa really told you to stay away from me?”

His arm wraps around my body, his long fingers tightening around the glass bottle. “Yup.”

“Huh. He’s never had to do that before.”

Reaching for the paper bag, I take out the french fries and give him the rest. I suck the salt off my thumb, my eyes moving between his lips and eyes. “Well, if you’re not going to kiss me, then you can tell me your story.”

His dark brows pull in. “What?” The muscles on the side of his jaw tense.

A chuckle escapes me as I reach into the fry bucket. “Never mind. I think I’m drunk.” When he doesn’t answer me, I look up at him, trying to hide my smile.

“Are you blackmailing me to kiss you?”

“What?” My face scrunches. “Excuse me, but I don’t need to blackmail a man if I want to be kissed.” I toss a fry at his annoying face and can’t help but laugh when it hits the tip of his pierced nose.

“Oh yeah?” he teases. “Pretty sure you are.”

I roll my tongue over my teeth, pushing up from the ground. “Okay then. Let’s test that theory.”

“What are you doing?” He turns his head over his shoulder slightly, and his dimple sinks into his cheek when he laughs. “Sit your ass down.”

I reach for the door handle, opening it wide. “Oh, Val!” I call out in my most fairy-tale princess voice.

The door slams closed and I’m staring at an arm rippling of muscle and veins. I smirk, slowly turning back to face Wicked when his hand is on my throat, shoving me up against the door. My organs melt to the tips of my toes when his chest pushes against mine. “Do that shit again and see what happens.”

I aimlessly reach for the door handle, my eyes going between his lips and eyes. I smirk up at him when his jaw twitches.

“Ruby!” Betty’s voice echoes out behind the door. “Bitch, where you at!”

Fucking Betty.

Wicked’s mouth turns into a half-smile as his face dips lower and he licks the corner of my lip. “Tsk, tsk… saved by the annoying bestie.” My thighs clench together and my teeth sink into my lip to stop from moaning as I twist the door handle, yanking it open onto Betty, who is standing at the end of the hallway, her mouth wide open when she sees us.

“Ah, I see what’s going on here—” Her finger flies between Wicked and me, but I see the exact moment she notices just how ridiculously hot Wicked is. She stops walking, her head tilting to the side and her eyes going up and down his body before resting on his face. “You’re too hot to be anything but a red flag.”

“Hey! I thought you were sitting on—” His hand touches the back of my thigh and goose bumps break out over my skin. Ice slides over the base of my spine. I lean against the door. “I thought you were getting…”

She waves me off. “I know.” Reaching for my bottle of tequila, she eyes both of us before swiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “Has our little Ruby Rose finally met someone who perks her attention enough?”

“Okay!” I step forward and out of Wicked’s embrace, instantly feeling the emptiness of not having him near. Hooking my arm into Betty’s, I look over my shoulder slightly, just in time for Wicked to blow a kiss.

Not the kind I wanted, asshole.

Death burns the back of my mind, but as time goes on, I notice the flames simmer. I know I have a job to do, and I would do it well. We have been in the La Rosa home for three days and I have already rubbed my shit all over his daughter. I don’t know if she’s worth losing my dick over just yet. I don’t know how the mafia works, but I’ve figured out Victor is old school. He shifts between being a caring father and husband, to drug meetings and whatever else he’s doing.

Again, still not really fucking sure how I ended up here.

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