Page 49 of Savage Princess

“To get a room in the adjoining hotel.” Levin’s voice is low and taut. “This place is more expensive than I’d planned on us spending for the night, but I think it’s better if we stay. A few of the men were angrier than I expected, and they’ll think we left. After the one who seemed intent on flirting with you, I think it’s better if we get behind closed and locked doors sooner rather than later.”

I glance around the lobby as we leave the club and pass into the granite and silver-flecked main area of the hotel. We walk by a splashing fountain, groups of guests gathered together, and I see the entrance to a bar off to one side, but nothing too out of place. It’s a nice, mid-range hotel, and I don’t see anyone looking at us strangely, at least.

“As long as we get up to a room before any of the players with a grudge figure out where we’ve gone,” Levin says quietly, seeing my gaze flick around the room, “we’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

Privately, I think I’m less worried than he thinks I ought to be. His arm is still around my waist, his hand resting possessively on my hip. I think I’d endure any amount of flirting from other men, any amount of danger, if it meant that Levin kept touching me like this.

He arranges for a room, and as soon as the keys are handed over to him, he guides me toward the elevator. I’ve gotten used to the way his eyes flick around a room, watching for any sense of danger, and when his footsteps speed up, pulling me along, I know he’s seen something.

“What is it?” I ask as soon as we’re in the elevator, and Levin grimaces, hitting the button for the seventh floor.

“That man followed us,” Levin says shortly. “Hopefully, he won’t have the kind of pull with anyone to figure out what floor we’re on. But just in case, I want to get us up to the room as quickly as possible.”

I feel a small flash of disappointment—a part of me had been hoping that the elevator ride up might have been a little more exciting, that Levin, on a high of winning, might have pushed me up against the wall and made out with me, for example. I hoped the black dress might have more of an effect on him, but he’s so focused on getting us behind closed doors that he barely even glances at me as the elevator goes up, until it hits the seventh floor, and he reaches for my hand, pulling me quickly along as we stride towards our room.

Once we’re inside, Levin locks and deadbolts it, setting the key aside on the dresser. I take a look around the room and let out a small sigh of pleasure.

It’s not the fanciest hotel room I can imagine, but after so many nights in cheap cash motels, it looks like the lap of luxury to me. There’s a huge bed with several pillows that look soft and squishy, expensive-looking bedding, and the carpet sinks under my heels as I walk. The bathroom has double doors leading to it, which seems like a good sign to me.

“Alright.” Levin shrugs off his jacket, tossing it over the back of a chair. “With any luck, we’re in the clear.” He glances at the bed—there’s only one, but it’s quite large. “Well, we should get some good sleep there tonight.”

Sleepisn’t what I was hoping we’d be doing in it.

“You were jealous, up there at the bar,” I tell him, keeping a teasing note in my voice as I walk towards him. The top two buttons of his shirt are undone, showing a glimpse of inked skin and dark chest hair, and my palms itch with the desire to touch him. “You didn’t like that man flirting with me, did you?”

Levin narrows his eyes at me. “I wasn’t jealous,” he tells me flatly. “My job is to protect you, Elena. Keeping men who intend to do you harm away from you is a part of that.”

I see the way his jaw tightens, though, his gaze darkening at the memory.

“He wasn’t threatening me,” I tell him lightly, stepping a little closer to him. “Just flirting. That sounds like jealousy to me.”

There’s a flash of irritation on Levin’s face, and I can tell he’s not entirely in a teasing mood tonight. “You should get ready for bed. We’ll have to be out of here fairly early tomorrow.”

He turns away from me, unbuttoning his shirt, and I have to stop myself from letting out a frustrated sigh. I’d hoped that tonight would go differently, but it’s clear that Levin isn’t in the kind of mood I’d been hoping for.

“Did we win enough?” I ask tentatively, and he glances back at me.

“A decent amount. The room will eat into it some. Not enough to get us out of here yet, but we’re on our way. A few more games, and—”

There’s a sudden harsh banging on the door, interrupting him, and Levin’s face instantly darkens. “Get back,” he snaps, his gun in his hand immediately. “Stay out of sight if you can—”

The hammering comes again, a loud, insistent pounding. “You never asked my name,Isabella,” I hear from outside the door, slurred. “He didn’t look like much fun. I could be fun. We could have fun—”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Levin’s eyes narrow, and he shoves his gun back into the waist of his pants, yanking the door open. The man—the same one from the bar, unsurprisingly—nearly falls into the room, and Levin grabs him by his coat lapels, shoving him back.

“Hey!” The man’s voice is slurring as if he’s nearly blackout drunk, but he’s loud. “Get your–hands off of me.”

“Get away from my room, and I might consider it,” Levin growls. “Who told you what room we were in?”

“None of your–business. Got–connections.” The man tries to dodge as Levin steps towards him, and nearly falls over. “Hear that,Isabella? I know–people. More than your–husband does–probably.”

I doubt that.I don’t actually speak aloud, staying back near the bed, just in case shots start getting fired. I’m not sure the man could aim a gun even if he had one, though, as completely trashed as he is. At the moment, it seems to be all he can do just to try to get away from Levin.

“Stay away from my woman and my room,” Levin snarls, grabbing the man and shoving him back again, both of them now fully in the hall. I can’t control my curiosity, wanting to see what Levin does, and I slip towards the door, watching as the man tries to swing at him.

Levin dodges it easily, his fist connecting with the man’s jaw. It almost sends him down, and he throws another wild punch, this one grazing off of Levin’s arm. I see Levin shake his head, grabbing the man by both arms as he propels him backward, and I gasp as I see where Levin’s headed.

To the man’s credit, he tries to get a few more swings in, trying to wrestle out of Levin’s grasp. But Levin is far too strong—and the man is far too drunk. It takes only a few seconds for Levin to get him down to the end of the hall, and my hand flies up to cover my mouth as I watch Levin fling him down the flight of stairs there.

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