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“And those knots are tight,” added Mikhail. “He might feel in so much emotional pain that risking your wrath would be worth it if only he could convince her that he truly does love her.”

Chewing on that, Luka twisted his mouth. “Have one of our demons keep an eye on him, just to be sure.”

Mikhail gave a curt nod.

Luka pushed out of his chair. “I have a meeting to attend. Let’s get moving.”

Swiping an old tee from her dresser, Naomi shook her head. Some people are their own worst enemy , she telepathed Tobe. It isn’t as if Stefan wasn’t warned what would happen if he didn’t back off.

He actually seemed shocked that I followed through on my threat , said Tobe. He genuinely feels that he should be an exception to your ‘I don’t meet with clients’ rule. I feel that he should fuck off.

Samesies. Naomi closed the drawer. Why he’d think that he’d be an exception, I have no clue.

He seemed to believe you’d be flattered that he admires your work so much he’s determined to meet you.

She huffed. I guess all his success has gone to his head.

Success he only has because of you.

Naomi hung her tee over her shoulder and then dragged open a lower drawer. How did he take being told that I won’t be producing art for him anymore?

Badly. Real badly. He knows that without you his career will tank.

I’m not sure it’ll tank. There are other ghost artists he could hire .

Naomi nabbed a pair of sweatpants she regularly used when painting.

She reserved her Sundays for letting her creativity stretch out, and she had a bare canvas waiting for her in the spare bedroom that she had made into a workroom.

But they’d have to be able to imitate the exact style you’ve used for his art — it’s that style that’s given him so much success. If they fail, it’ll be game over for him.

Then he’d better hope they don’t fail.

Just then, her doorbell rang.

It seems I have a visitor. I’ll talk to you again later, okay? She frowned when there was no response from Tobe. Hello?

Sorry, got distracted.

What exactly are you doing?

Trying to dodge red laser beams so I don’t set off an alarm system.

Naomi cursed, dumping her clothes on the bed. You are unbelievable. Intending to lecture him later, she pled, Be careful.

Always am , he assured her breezily.

And it was such a lie.

Barefoot, she skipped down the stairs and glanced through the front door’s peephole. Her breath caught. Luka.

She backed up a step, raking her teeth over her lower lip.

She’d thought he might return to the pizzeria at some point, but not show up here .

There was no reason for him to know where she lived, and she wouldn’t have expected that he’d go to the trouble of finding out.

Her entity liked that he had; wanted to know why he was here.

She studied her reflection in the tall wall-mounted mirror, checking there were no stains on her lavender dress. Well, she wanted to look presentable around him—so sue her.

She opened the door . . . and her belly dropped. Everything about him was just so raw . His magnetism, his sexuality, his power, his presence—all of it.

“Hi.” The word came out all breathy.

He gave her a swift but bold eye-bang, need bleeding into his gaze and turning it dark as flint. “Naomi,” he greeted simply. The gravel in his impossibly sexy voice scraped at her nerve endings in the most delicious way.

She looked past him to see one guard leaning against his car while the other remained in the driver’s seat. She refocused on Luka. “How did you find out where I live?”

A fluid shrug. “It wasn’t hard.” He arched a daring brow. “Are you going to let me in?”

She stepped aside, giving him enough room that their bodies didn’t brush as he entered. She could actually admire how boldly he stalked right through to the living area without waiting for an invitation. This wasn’t a man who waited for anyone or anything.

The boldness continued as he nosily swept his gaze around, taking in everything. His audaciousness was knotted with a tangible confidence that skated the edge of arrogant.

He had a certain energy. It was unsettled. There was an undercurrent of restlessness . . . which she supposed could be coming from his inner entities.

Naomi stopped a few feet away, needing a little space from the sheer potency of him. She subtly cast her tingling nipples a frown. Do not get hard and embarrass me that way .

“I talked to Iain,” he said, turning to her.

She folded her arms. “And?”

“He acknowledged that your song has affected him, but he refuses to believe that his feelings for you aren’t nonetheless real.”

Naomi sighed. “I’ve heard that before,” she mumbled.

“From him, or from others?”

“Others, so it doesn’t surprise me that he’d make the same claim.” She could understand why they would choose denial. Who wanted to believe that they weren’t fully in control of their thoughts and feelings? “You told him to leave me be?”

“I made it clear that he is to stay out of your life—as did Belial, which gives him further incentive to do as ordered. Nobody likes fucking with Belial.”

No, they didn’t. Even her lair swerved getting on the entity’s bad side, especially since . . . “It has a habit of beheading imps.”

“Only when they break my club rules. Though Belial actually got bored of decapitating them. It likes variety in its murderous diet.”

What else could she say to that but, “Good to know.” Her pulse started to skip as he walked toward her. And then he was right there , leaving mere inches between their bodies. He smelled good. She didn’t know what cologne he wore, but it was smoky and rich.

“If Iain attempts to make contact with you again, I want you to telepath me straight away. I realize that, as a siren, you won’t be at all weak and can likely handle yourself.

But this isn’t about whether you need protection or intervention.

It’s about managing the situation. The fact is that any interactions with you will please him, whether they be positive or negative.

We don’t want him to feel rewarded by reaching out to you. ”

Huh. Good point. And since she had zero interest in dealing with more of Iain’s crap . . . “All right.”

“Good,” he said, his gaze so damn intent, so unshakably focused in a way that was plain unnerving.

She’d heard some refer to Luka as a proverbial snake. But as he looked at her right then—his gaze searching, probing, studying her with a burning intensity—he made her think of a wolf circling its prey. Which loudly rang her hormones’ bells, and now tension was snapping and popping in the air.

Naomi cleared her throat. “Thank you for dealing with Iain and taking the time to relay your conversation with him.” She glanced at the front door. “Well, if that’s all . . .”

“You don’t want me here,” he sensed, a hint of mirth in his gaze.

“It isn’t something you should take personally. I don’t like having most people here.” Pure truth.

“There are some exceptions?”

“Yes. I don’t know you well enough for you to be one of them.”

“You will.”

She double-blinked. “Excuse me?”

“You don’t strike me as the type to miss much, so you’ll know that you’ve captured my interest. I only recently exited an arrangement, and I don’t jump from one bed to another. I intended to give it time before approaching you. I’ve decided that time is now up.”

Naomi stilled, hit by mixed reactions. Her feminine parts all but swooned while her mind recoiled slightly in unease. Was it really a good idea to get involved with someone who was so damn perceptive he might well figure out what she strived so hard to hide?

If all he wanted was a one-night stand, it wouldn’t be such a big deal. But she didn’t get the sense that that was what he had in mind. And still she didn’t find herself blurting out a hard no.

She should. She really should. It was a matter of self-preservation. And yet the words just didn’t—

“Naomi?”

She mentally fumbled as his voice severed her line of thought. Blinking at him, she asked, “Hmm?”

His gaze bored into hers. “You back with me?”

“I never left.”

After a long moment, he cocked his head. “Do you know why I stick to arrangements?”

“No, why?”

“Relationships are difficult for my kind. Each of my inner entities has its own personality, needs, wants, desires, likes, dislikes—it goes on and on. They’re separate individuals, and it isn’t always the case that they agree on things.

Even when they do, it may be that I’m not in agreement with them.

In other words, the four of us aren’t always in sync.

“Belial, in particular, tends to have an opposing opinion. It is deliberately contrary, though mostly due to boredom. Few things snag its attention—people included. And it does not at all like for me to ignore its wants. So, for instance, I might like a particular piece of art. Belial, however, may not. Annoyed that I nonetheless purchased it, the entity might well destroy it out of spite if in a mood over something.”

“Wow.” She could see how a legion might become as arbitrarily stubborn and darkly dominant as Luka was rumored to be. From an early age, you’d have to learn how to hold your own against three inner entities all craving and angling for control. “It’s got to be weird having three demons.”

“It’s all I’ve ever known. The point I’m making is that short, shallow arrangements are easier.

Anything more would require myself and my entities to all feel very strongly for a woman—the same woman, more to the point.

We never have, and it would be a lie to say we lament that. We are content as we are.”

That he was clearly such a solitary person was kind of sad—for him, at least. Not so much for Naomi in this context, though.

Because as potential bed partners went, he’d be safe.

This was a person who didn’t let people close.

It meant that he would keep a distance between them.

He wouldn’t poke into her life and uncover secrets that needed to remain in few metaphorical hands.