Page 89 of Wicked Villain

“Hi, guys,” she says in her syrupy voice. Though she’s greeting both of us, her eyes are on Aleksandr. “I just wanted to see if you need anything more.”

Aleksandr stares at her like a hungry dog. She’s wearing a short-short leather skirt and a barely-there tank top that leaves little to the imagination. Her tits are practically falling out.

“We’re done here, aren’t we?” Aleksandr glances at me.

“Yeah, we’re done.” I nod. Even if we weren’t, he’s no good to me when he’s pussy-whipped. He likes this girl because she’s into his darker tastes in sex.

He looks back at Miranda and grins. “You’re having the rest of the night off.”

“Really?” She giggles.

“As if you didn’t know.” Aleksandr rises and takes her hand.

Miranda focuses on me. “Izzy is in the back, if you need her.”

Izzy is a girl like Miranda—always available to men like me and willing to give them whatever they want.

I nod but say nothing. Aleksandr cuts me a hard stare, probably guessing I won’t be needing Izzy tonight.

They leave.

I drain the rest of my beer and head home to my wife.

It’s late, so the house is silent when I walk in. There’s no light coming from beneath the bedroom door, a sign Gabrielle is sleeping.

I walk into the moonlit room quietly and shrug out of my jacket. Gabrielle is asleep on her side of the bed. She’s lying on her side with the sheet covering her. Only the tops of her shoulders are exposed. I stand by the bedside for a moment, watching her.

Zoya reported that Gabrielle was unusually quiet today. I guess I know the reason for that.

I take off my clothes, leaving only my boxers on. I’m about to climb on the bed when I notice a shift in her breathing.

She’s awake. She doesn’t move, but I can tell she knows I’m here. She might have been awake from the moment I walked through the door.

I climb into bed next to her and run my fingers down her shoulder, then I move up to her ear. “I know you’re awake, printsessa,” I whisper, leaning onto my elbow so I can get closer. “Give me a kiss, and we’ll call a truce.”

For a heartbeat, she doesn’t move, then she does. She shuffles to face me, and those sultry eyes lock on mine in the moonlight.

I crook my finger, beckoning her to come closer. She leans in and plants a light kiss on my lips. It’s tender and innocent and almost feels forbidden. Like a being such as her shouldn’t be offering such a thing to a devil like me.

The devil tempts and destroys, but sometimes the angel tempts the devil and there’s not a goddamn thing he can do about it. Even if he could, he’d be too selfish to let her go.

I slip my arm around her and pull her toward my chest. She comes to me willingly, resting her head over my heart.

This truce is going to cost me far more than a kiss.

Chapter

Twenty

Lev

“Mikel Zeretsky is refusing to pay the balance on the weapons shipment,” Aleksandr informs me as we enter the main hall of the Bradford Country Club.

I cut him a hard stare. “What do you mean he’s refusing to pay?”

“Mikel is insisting he pays the reduced rate Father used to give him.”

Motherfucker. I don’t need this shit right now.