Page 19

This damn woman. She really would have pulled this shit but changed her mind once again at the last minute. This must fucking stop, and my madness got a wake-up call.

My men exchange worried glances as they run around but find no threat. She’s too sneaky and good at what she does to be caught.

I pace around, a brooding volcano ready to explode, demanding retribution, wanting to punish her. Failing to kill me is one thing, but brutalizing my baby is something else. I can’t believe I am more pissed that she ruined my favorite car.

“Take care of this,” I say to one of the guards. I am not one to blame people when they are up against Silver Death. She’ll always find a way. Today, I got irrefutable proof that nothing will deter her from her mission.

I could lie low for today, letting her bask in her success and see what she does next, but I have shit to do.

Getting in the Ferrari, I zip through the streets, wanting to be done with work already to focus on how to surprise my little creature of death, so hungry for my blood when I crave feeling her pulse as I pound her pussy raw.

Parking in the garage of our company’s headquarters, I am somewhat calmer but pumped at the same time. It’s a twenty-story glass building inhabiting all the offices of our various companies.

Mika and I share the twentieth floor, overseeing our respective empires. We decided to share the city long before our fathers’ deaths. They each fought to become king, but we learned that we could build a stronger kingdom by working together.

My father once asked me if I wanted to give him a heart attack when I brought Mika over for the first time. His father’s reaction wasn’t any better. Our men disliked it even more, but we learned quickly that our friendship could bring us more power and wealth than our fathers even dared to dream about. Year by year, we’ve expanded, owning more and more of the West Coast.

I need a fucking coffee before I meet with Mika. Sure as fuck, he must have found out because the moment I step inside my office, he’s by the window, hands shoved in his pants. He appears calm and collected on the outside, but I’ve known him for most of my life. The vein pulsing in his neck is clear proof he’s about to lose it.

One. Two. Three.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” he shouts, turning around and glowering at me.

Is he right? Definitely, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. It’s too early, and I survived an attack by sheer luck.

Ordering a coffee from my assistant, I take a seat at my desk, waiting for Mika to speak. I know he needs to get it off his chest first, and then I’ll calm him down. Nothing has changed. She’s still mine to do whatever the fuck I want with, and no one, not even my best friend, will mess with that.

“I am alive, as you can see.”

“You’re testing your luck. I don’t fucking understand why this woman has you in a twist.” He sneers. “You barely know her.”

A headache pounds between my temples, and I rub them in a circular motion, trying to ease the pressure. “I can’t explain it.”

He slaps his palms on my desk, the sound echoing with violence. “You can’t explain? Fucking try it, because if you’ve gone insane, it’s my duty to keep you from screwing everything up.”

Right then, my assistant walks inside. Oliver dips his chin in greeting, puts the espresso cup on the table and walks out, efficient and discreet. He makes sure everything is taken care of, just how I like it.

I take a sip, and the taste instantly shoots through my veins with a dose of caffeine strong enough to handle this mess.

“I will deal with her.”

“Like you have been or are you actually going to do something this time?” he asks, arching a brow at me. With his gunmetal gray eyes and dirty blond hair, he looks like a Viking, ready to conquer the world with his bare hands.

Fact is, I will do something. What? I don’t know yet, which is dangerous. I haven’t gotten so far in life by not being a planner or a strategist, but Luciana upended everything, and I am still learning the rules.

“Don’t worry. Let’s run through the numbers.”

The profit expenses balance is always demanding. Do we have personnel for that? We do. Do we enjoy going through them ourselves to see what we have built? Also true. Do we worry that someone might betray us? Not necessarily. We have people in our pockets, at all levels. We reward loyalty and punish betrayal. Even though it hasn’t happened in a while, men in our position can never be too comfortable. There’s always someone trying, eventually.

It’s not greed that pushes us. It’s the fact that life is not fucking fair. People will always try to find shortcuts and loopholes and push others down to climb the ladder themselves. I’ve never considered myself anything but a sinner who enjoys the finest things in life and to see how far he can go. But no one succeeds alone. That’s why I have gotten so far at only twenty-seven.

As we finish, my eyes follow the picture on my desk of my best friend, my sister, my mother, and me resting on my desk. This is the family I have, and I can’t jeopardize that for an unrealistic wish.

I’ll sever this connection once and for all.

He must see the resolve sliding over my face because he sighs a breath of relief.

“About fucking time.”