Page 45 of King of Malice

I want to drink him in. Tattoo him in my memory.

His eyes slowly open, meeting mine. My lips part, words I don’t dare say crowding my mouth.

I want to tell him that I think I might be falling in love. I want to confide in him about Cadence.

His hand slides up my spine, moving between my shoulder blades before he wraps his hand around the back of my neck. “You must be tired.”

I barely slept last night, and two amazing orgasms have completely sapped any energy I have left.

My eyes flutter closed. “I am.”

He gives a small laugh. “No falling asleep yet. Let me get you under the covers.”

“I can go back to my room,” I answer, making no attempt to actually move.

His arms slide under me, turning me over as he lifts. I wrap mine around his neck, kissing behind his ear as he pulls down the covers and settles me on the mattress, covering my body back up. I snuggle in. “Are you coming to bed with me?”

“You know I am,” he answers, moving around the bed. “Last night was ridiculous, you in your room and me in this large bed all alone.”

That makes me smile, a small laugh breaking from my lips. It was ridiculous. I turn on my side as he climbs and wraps his larger body around mine. He feels like heaven and I sink into the embrace, already half asleep as I hum out my pleasure.

That’s when his phone rings.

I jerk awake, my brow furrowing even as he rolls away. “I’m sorry, Ava, I have to take this.”

“Of course.” But he’s already sitting on the side of the bed.

He answers the call still naked. “Trent?”

I remember the name, know that this is one of his most trusted men.

I hear the low rumble of a male voice, Dimitri’s body stiffening with every word.

His head whips around, his eyes narrowed at me, the accusation in his gaze stealing my breath. “I’m going to need you to repeat those words,” he rumbles sitting taller. “How does Ava know Cadence?”

I gasp in a breath, sitting up, as my whole body stiffens. This is bad. Very bad.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Dimitri

“Ava Tantor wasin foster care with Cadence,” Trent repeats. My free hand clenches into a fist, the potential betrayal of these words slicing at my stomach.

There is no way that Ava is here by coincidence. Which means, she’s come under false pretenses.

This is the woman I’ve fallen in love with. The one I want to be the mother of my child. The one I’ve treated with nothing but respect and kindness.

And she is connected to the last female player of The Hunt.

“She is the person who has been calling Cadence over and over.”

“No.”

“Yes,” Trent answers with a rumble. “Thanks to Jake Kincaid, who has apparently installed cameras across from your house, we have actual video footage of her searching your office while you were taking Anna to the pediatrician.”

“He told you this?”

“Emailed you, actually.” I close my eyes. Trent checks my emaildaily to clear any emails I don’t need to take time answering, so it makes sense he’d see the email first. “I’ve deleted the email, so you don’t need to see it. But I pulled records from Cadence’s phone, then traced Ava to the temp agency, and finally to your house.”