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Through it all, Aris wore an expression of deadly terrifying calm. He aimed his pistol with such accuracy that I watched while bullet after bullet zeroed in on his targets. He dropped bodies like this was just another night to him.
Around him, his men marshalled, likewise engaged in fighting back the intruders. They were highly trained forces, not just bouncers at all. And that included Yasmin. It was like he commanded his own private army of soldiers.
I hadn’t expected any of this when I’d come here tonight.
It looked like I’d stepped not just into the lion’s den but straight into his big, fanged mouth. And I still had no idea why my uncle would send armed gangsters to find me.
Just when I thought my nerves were shredded beyond repair, the house lights came on in full bright whites. And that harsh light illuminated the carnage below.
Blood shined in gruesome dark pools on the black marble floors.
Bodies lay here and there, twisted, gory mannequins.
In the middle of the lowest tier, Aris convened with his men and Yasmin.
Yasmin.
What was she to Aris?
A raw, unmitigated spear of jealousy stabbed through me.
The gorgeous woman was far more familiar with him than I could ever be, and two things had become immediately clear: she had his ear, and she detested me.
Then Aris looked up and I could’ve sworn he saw directly through the darkened windows. His face bore an almost feral expression, and I backed away as if I’d be safe as long as he couldn’t see me.
Moments later, the locked door buzzed open.
Compelled by every instinct in my body, I scrambled backward when Aris entered on long strides.
Rage blasted off him in waves, and he truly did look like a wolf.
He came straight for me, collaring me around the neck with one large hand and barging me right up against the wall. “You really think this pathetic little thing would keep you safe?”
I could no more move away from him than I could avoid seeing my small dagger clutched in his other hand. “That’s mine!”
The muscle at the back of his jaw leaped. “Not anymore. Blyad. Don’t you have better sense than to roam around the city? Without any fucking security?”
The way he talked down to me, all the while manhandling me, broke my fury free.
The second he released my throat, I pushed at him. “You are not my keeper. You’re nothing to me and have no say over what I do or don’t do!”
He barely stumbled but a vicious curse left his lips, lips I’d actually fantasized about kissing before.
Then he collected himself so completely that a cool, implacable expression blanketed his features. “Perhaps you’re right about that. But you still put lives in danger simply by being here, prinkípissa.”
When it looked like he was going to try to throttle me again, I kicked out at him, hoping to nail him with the sharp heel of my stiletto. He merely deflected the blow, cursing me anew.
“Stop calling me princess. And I told you before I am not your concern!”
“That’s enough of that, you little shrew.”
Little shrew?
I was about to lash out again when he advanced only to toss me up over his shoulder in the most disrespectful manner. I had never been treated this way in all my life.
“Let me go!” I wriggled, shrieking.
His hard palm slammed onto my bottom, the harsh slap echoing.
Just as I let out another wail at his crude conduct, Yasmin struck her head inside the door.
I saw her grin forming from my upside-down position.
Her eyebrows lifted. “You all right in here, lover boy?”
Lover boy?
Now I was certain they were a couple. Or, at the very least, they’d been intimate with one another.
My blood spiked with another jolt of jealousy, even as I was being held against my will, racked across Aris’s shoulder.
The man spanked me again, adding to my mortification.
“Just seeing to the princess,” he replied.
Yasmin gave him a mocking salute, paying me no more attention than a sack of rice. “I see you have your hands full.”
Chuckling blackly, he muttered, “She weighs more than you’d think.”
I did not!
