Page 43 of Dangerous Men (Fortune City Mafia #1)
SEBASTIAN
Something is different about Sydney today.
I watch her closely, obsessively, trying to figure out what it is . Trying to figure out what’s wrong with her.
It’s irritating that my brothers’ little obsession seems to be rubbing off on me. She’s so completely wrong for any of us, for our lifestyle. So fucking fragile. Alec and Ashton have found themselves a little glass doll and think they can play with her all they want without breaking her.
Still…
There are flashes of something more, and that’s what I can’t seem to tear my eyes away from. Brief moments, here and there, of something darker. And every time I think I’m kidding myself, I see something that makes me think that maybe—just maybe—she’s not as fragile as I originally thought.
And today, there’s something different about Sydney.
There’s a stiffness in the way she moves around the shop this morning, a hesitation before picking up a box that hasn’t been there before today. I devour her from afar, feasting on all her little movements .
Is she sick? I tap my fingers on the table and consider it. I haven’t spent enough time with her to track her full cycle yet. Maybe it’s cramps?
It’s not until she brings my lunch over, our odd little routine that I’ve come to rely on, that I get my answer.
I glance over when she sets the plate on my table, opening my mouth to thank her, when I spot her wrist.
I don’t even think. I reach out to grab her arm automatically, ignoring her quick intake of breath as I pull it closer, twisting it in the light.
Her wrist shows signs of bruising. Dull red and purple marks mottled around her delicate little wrist bones.
“Do you mind, asshole?” Sydney snaps, trying to yank herself out of my grasp. I don’t let go.
It’s an easy pattern to recognize when you’ve seen it before. You can make out where his fingers dug into her.
“Sterling?” I ask, voice devoid of emotion, inspecting them, admiring his work. I’m well aware they had a date last night. And he didn’t come back to the compound afterward. It’s safe to assume they finally fucked.
Maybe now his obsession with her will finally ease. Maybe now they’ll move on, and we can go back to the way things were. Go back to focusing on what matters. Like a potential dead man coming back to life.
My eyes slide up to her face, noting the blush on her cheeks. She nods quickly, just once.
Her pulse is rapid under my grip. Before I let go, I slide my thumb over her wrist, gently skimming it over the bruises he left there. Her skin is so smooth, so delicate. I’m not surprised she marks so easily.
I let her wrist drop and nudge the chair next to me with my foot.
“Sit,” I order .
She hesitates but does it, sinking into the chair without a word of protest.
Such a good girl , I think, swallowing the words before they slip out from between my lips. My mind flashes back to the Second Circle. To my fantasies about her. Fantasies I can’t seem to let go of.
I move my chair closer to her, leaning forward and gently brushing her hair off her shoulders.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she asks suspiciously, as I run my finger under her chin, tilting her head up and to the side.
“Looking for any other injuries,” I tell her, inspecting her neck. “Like any medical professional would.”
There are two, but they’re minor, barely even noticeable. One is likely a suck mark, a red aberration just below her right ear. The other is a barely discernible scratch, probably from a fingernail.
This close to her, it’s impossible not to notice when she swallows.
“You know he likes to…?” She stops before finishing the question, biting her lip.
Fingertips still holding her chin, I raise my eyes to meet her gaze, letting her see the answer there.
Do I know Alec well enough to know he’d want to wrap his hands around her pretty little throat while he fucked her? To know he’d get off on holding her down, feeling her pulse race under his fingers?
“I know,” I tell her.
She swallows harder this time and looks away.
I keep a med kit in my laptop bag, just a small one for emergencies. In our line of work, there are a lot of emergencies. I reluctantly let go of her face, reaching into my bag to pull out a small tube of antiseptic ointment .
It’s probably unnecessary for such a superficial wound, but I apply a thin coat to the scratch, anyway.
“Is there anywhere else I need to look?” I ask, screwing the cap back on the ointment and sliding it back into my med kit. “Any other injuries?”
Her eyes go wide.
“Of course not,” she tells me tersely, like she can’t imagine there’d be anywhere else he could possibly have left a mark.
Me? I can list a thousand.
Like her pretty little ankles, if Alec had gotten out his ropes and tied her up. Bondage has always been something he’s favored with the women he brings home.
Like the muscles in her jaw if he’d used a ball gag, forcing that perfect little mouth of hers to open uncomfortably wide.
Or the soft, golden skin on her back if Ashton had been involved. I’ve seen the damage he likes to do with his whips. The way he likes to mark his women.
I don’t even bother thinking about all the ways Viper would hurt her.
I don’t say any of these, of course. Her question is more than enough to assure me she isn’t injured anywhere else, in any way that matters.
“Do you have a bathtub in your apartment?” I ask her.
I already know the answer. But I wait for her nod before I type a quick note to myself on my phone, setting an alert to remind me to stop by the pharmacy when I leave.
“I’ll pick up some Epsom salt for you. Add a quarter of a cup to your bathwater tonight.
That will help with any lingering… soreness. ”
She shoots me a quizzical look, but the way she subtly clenches her legs together, shifting on her chair, confirms exactly what soreness she’s dealing with. And explains the slight hesitation in the way she’s been moving.
I wish I’d been there to see it. To watch him take her.
The bruising on her wrists and neck tells me he wasn’t gentle.
Did she like it rough? Did she beg him to fuck her harder?
Faster? Did he spend hours playing with her, getting her ready to take him, working her until she was dripping wet and needy?
Or did he make her take it hard, holding her down and forcing it in, inch by inch?
I don’t realize I’m frozen, lost in my own thoughts, still holding my phone, until Sydney speaks.
“Earth to Sebastian?” she says, waving her hand in front of my face. She wets her bottom lip with the tip of her tongue when I look at her. “Why are you helping me?”
The phone in my hand springs to life, the vibration from an incoming call cutting her off.
One glance at the screen, and I feel my stomach drop.
“I have to take this,” I say, the words coming out too fast. I stand, knocking my chair back an inch in the process. To anyone else, it would be a normal, almost natural movement.
For me, it’s a full-blown meltdown.
I let the phone continue to ring until I’m far enough from the table that I know she won’t overhear, ducking into the literary fiction section of her store. Only then do I accept the call.
“What’s wrong?” I ask immediately.
There’s a long pause on the other end, followed by a smooth exhale, almost like a sigh. I can picture exactly how Viper looks in this moment, cigarette dangling from his mouth as he exhales smoke, phone pressed between his ear and shoulder. He likes to keep his hands free.
“Why would something be wrong, Doc?” he asks.
If he hears the panic in my voice, he betrays nothing. I listen for the soft tap of him ashing his cigarette.
“I wasn’t expecting to hear from you until Thursday,” I remind him. Viper never calls early unless there’s a problem .
The laugh starts low and builds until it’s almost manic.
“It is Thursday,” Viper tells me, almost deliriously happy at my mistake.
I frown, pulling my phone from my ear to check the date and see he’s right.
Fuck.
“Distracted, Doc?” he asks. I can hear his smile in the beat of silence. “Feeling antsy without me?”
I hate that he can read me. Hate that no matter how perfect my mask is, Viper can see right through it. And I hate, hate , that I have no read on him whatsoever right now.
“It’s been a long week,” I tell him truthfully.
Another laugh, another long exhale of smoke.
“I’m done here,” he says, finally. “Tell Sterling the contracts are signed. I’ll be coming back tomorrow.”
I nod, even though he can’t see me.
“Great. I’ll meet you at?—”
The line clicks. He ended the call.
Fuck.
Fuck .
I’m already dialing Alec’s number, heart racing.
Viper is going to find out about their obsession with Sydney eventually. But we need to do everything possible to keep him far away from her for as long as we can.
Because the three of us? We’re dangerous.
But Viper?
Viper is fucking psychotic.