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She makes a zipping gesture across her mouth and throws away the invisible key. I shake my head. She’s impossible. “I’ll come get you later. There’ll be coffee.”

I head upstairs, find everyone gathered around the table again, Moonface booming a greeting. My safe house seems to be a fuck of a lot busier than it used to be. I may have to get another, just for me and Rosa. I smile. Fuck, that’s a good idea …

“What are you smiling at?” she asks, sliding her hand into mine.

“My secret,” I tell her. The plan is already taking hold. I’ll buy us somewhere safe, somewhere small. Somewhere with its very own dungeon, with all kinds of playthings …

“Mysterious. Is Yvonne all right?”

I nod. “Yeah. She was pretty calm by the time I left.”

She smiles and gives me a gentle kiss. “Thank you. For being so sweet to her.”

Sweet? I guess I didn’t chain her up, does that count?

“Sorry to interrupt,” Pietro says, his sarcastic tone implying exactly the opposite. “But I have an update. I joined the app, set up a fake profile.”

“What’s your team name?” Donna asks.

“Don’t have one. You can also join as an individual; that’s one of the functions. It pairs you with other vamps nearby who’re looking for a squad to take part in the game. Essentially, he’s creating roaming gangs of fuckwits who will do his bidding. But according to the data I faked, I’m in Hawaii, and there aren’t a lot of vamps there, so good luck with that. Anyway. It’s kind of sleek, the whole setup. Taps into that whole boredom thing some of the vamps have, you know? That and their superiority complexes.”

He curls his lip, looking disgusted. Asshole has no right to look down his nose at anyone or anything. He is the lowest of the low in my eyes.

“How did he set all this up so quickly?” Rosa asks, squeezing my fingers. She hates being the buffer zone between the two of us, and I try to calm down. For her sake. Got to admit, he’s right on the boredom front though. Living for centuries sounds pretty good in theory, but for a lot of vamps, it turns into a curse. The Coscas give some of us structure, family, but the ones out on their own? If they were assholes with small lives and tiny IQs before they were transformed, they stay that way. Friendless, aimless, pointless—for eternity. It’s why so many of them get into trouble, they’re always looking for ways to spice things up.

Pietro replies, “He’ll have had something like this in mind already. Don’t forget who he is, Rosa, and how clever he can be. Plus, it’s actually pretty straightforward, setting up an app; I’ve created dozens of them. The key is getting it out there, marketing it, persuading people to use it.”

“Jesus, how do you market an online app to supernaturals?”

“Same as you do to anyone. Target them in ways that work. Increase visibility. Knowing Tomasso, also word of mouth. He’ll have paid people to spread the news. ‘Hey, have you heard about this great new game?’ kind of shit. Whoever he has doing the tech side is good as well. It’s slick, easy to use, but kind of addictive … if you were that way inclined.”

He adds the last bit hastily. Of course, he’s above such things. I lean forward on the table, staring at him. “Tell us what we need to know. Tell us something that helps or shut the fuck up.”

“I can’t get a location,” he admits, looking away. “It’s too well shielded for now. They’ll make a mistake eventually, but not yet. There is another tournament coming up though. Invite only, probably like the last one was, so he can target specific areas.”

I slam my hands down on the table, stand up tall. “That’s just fucking great. Well done, Boy Wonder. I’m grabbing a shower then I need to be back at court. Someone let Yvonne out of the basement, give her coffee, and don’t take your fucking eyes off her. She’s more dangerous than she looks.”

I stride to the stairs, then glance back over my shoulder. I raise one eyebrow at Rosa, and she scampers across the room. It’s time to get clean and get dirty at the same time.

Chapter 15

Rosa

Very few things beat the sight of Luca naked. But Luca naked while standing under flowing water? That just about does it.

He is magnificent as he stands there, his head thrown back, the strong column of his throat exposed. The water streams over his huge shoulders, down his brawny chest, the defined muscle of his arms. His golden skin is covered in droplets, his silver dragon tattoo shimmering … he’s so damn gorgeous, he takes my breath away. He shakes his hair, runs his fingers through its thick, dark waves, grins as he sees the expression on my face.

“Like what you see, bella?” He smooths one big hand over the flat plane of his stomach, takes his already hard cock in his hand. Fuck yes. I like it very much. My pussy walls clench in excitement, and he licks his lips as he watches my reaction. I nod. It’s all I’m capable of—his sheer masculine beauty seems to have struck me dumb. I want nothing more than to drop to my knees, take him into my mouth, and pleasure him. His pleasure always becomes mine eventually.

“No,” he says firmly as I start to do just that. He holds me upright, pushes me back against the tiled wall of the huge walk-in shower. “Not yet. First, let me take care of you, cara mia …”

Oh fuck. He has that look in his eyes. The one that tells me I better do as I’m told, or I’ll be in deep trouble. Of course, there’s every chance that I’ll enjoy that kind of trouble, so it’s pretty much a win-win situation.

He holds me in place with one hand on my shoulder and inspects me. His gaze runs over every inch of my body, and it feels almost as good as his touch. “Would you like me to wash you clean, Rosa?” he asks.

That’s like asking me if I’d like to continue breathing. I nod, my legs already feeling shaky at the thought. “Good girl,” he replies. “Stay where you are. You know our rules, yes? You move …”

“Then you stop. Yes, I know the rules.”