Page 6 of Ambition

“We’re not doing this,” she whispers, but she is perfectly still. Eerily so. I’ve never beenthisforward. She usually comes to me when she knows I’ve had a drink or two, or a joint or three. It’s not that she’s taking advantage; Iwelcomeher arrival in those moments.

But I haven’t had either this morning.

I’ve had nothing but nightmares to get me the worst sort of high. Tossing and turning in my room just across the hall from her empty one.

Come back,I thought all night, staring at my phone.Come back. Don’t give him everything all at once.

But of course she did. Isadora Croft is a gorgeous little whore, and I’ve always known this about her no matter how fiercely I hate it.

I wouldn’t be surprised if it washerwho took Theo to bed, and not the other way around.

A fierce surge of hatred and lust both nearly make my knees tremble.

I shift forward, abs tense, throat tight. In only gray basketball shorts and black, high-top sneakers, I don’t need to remove much to get her to taste me. To obliterate the images in my head of her on her knees for someone else.

We areabsolutelydoing this.

I draw closer, slowly releasing her wrist, one finger at a time as I curve myself around her back, dominating her. Not close enough to touch, but near enough to catch the scent of her. Something dark like rain, light like sea salt. And something that isn’t her at all, but probablyhim.Theo Sancte.

“What did he do to you?” My voice is low and cold, and I want her to react.Do something. Say something. Tell me he’s a job. He doesn’t mean anything. One day, when this is all behind us, you’ll only want me.

Tell me.

She snorts a soft laugh, then folds her arms across her chest, refusing to turn around. “All things you won’t, so why don’t we save this cock fight for another day when I’m less tired and more inclined to play your childish games?” She shakes her head once, the ends of her hair grazing her tailbone. “Goodbye, Von.”

But before she can walk away, I wrap one arm around her waist, tugging her smaller body into mine, only the dimness of Nox a witness to my possessiveness.

Immediately, she reacts. Her fingers dig into my forearm to break my hold and she jerks her head back, her skull driving into the top of my chest.

I smile, pulse racing as she gives me a little of the fight I want. But I learned all the skills she did, and I have the advantage of size. I shoot my other hand up, then wrap it softly around her throat. My fingers press along her jawline, and I tilt her chin up as I dip my own, lips coming to her skin.

“Did you want it?” I whisper, my nose skimming the tip of her ear. “Were you actually wet for a man likehim?”

She curves her manicured nails deeper into my forearm but I don’t mind the bite of pain. “Let me go,Bentzen,” she snarls my last name, something she used to use as a nickname, but with far less bite when we were younger. Her throat is pulled taut, her words strangled, and I smile, pressing the crescent to the curve of her cheekbone.

“Did he hurt you?” My heart pounds viciously inside my chest and I know if Theo did, I will personally assure the crime lord’s demise. Writhe, the 6, Vipera, they are all secondary toher.I dig my fingers into her waist, the bare skin warm against my cold anger. I dip my head lower, nudging at the crook of her neck, lips ghosting over her collarbone, accessible from the V of her shirt. “And do not lie to me, Isadora. I know you better than he does.”

She stills. Then she says, her voice throaty, “After last night, I’m not sure that’s true any longer.”

And with that blow, enough to throw me off guard, to lower my defense in favor of feelingagony,she manages to grab the sensitive space between my thumb and forefinger and bite down with her fingertips,hard,then duck down and twist herself out of my grip.

Throwing up her palms, her shoulders heave as she glares at me, near-black eyes narrowed into obsidian slits, her nose crinkled into a snarl. “I did my job,” she says, her voice a hiss, warm-pink glowing across her cheekbones despite her defense. “And you’re angry because I can find out more thanyou.Fuck off, Von. You won’t ruin this for me.” She lifts her chin, daring me to do just what she said I won’t.

I’ve seen that pose before, so many times.

Ambitious.

I bite the inside of my cheek as I study her, my hands curled into fists at my side. For a moment, we only stare at one another. I take in her thick, dark lashes. Swollen lips, no doubt fromTheo’sdirty fucking mouth all over her.

The fact she isn’t wearing a bra, her nipples tight brown points beneath her white shirt, pressing against the fabric.

And the mark on her chest. The recent bruise right there on the swell of her left breast.

Ambitious.

I force myself to smile, although I feel cold all over, seeing the imperfections. “I think you’ve ruined yourself all on your own.”

Her dark eyes meet my gray ones, and a smile hooks her full lips. “Slut shaming? I thought that was…beneath you.” She glances at my sneakers, then sweeps her gaze back up. But all at once, she drops her arms by her side. “When you decide you’ve grown up a little, I’ll let you know what I found out last night. Until then, don’t drag me into your pity party.”

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