Page 26 of Lovely Venom

Damn it.

I eye half-dressed Ruby, but the voice outside steals my focus.

“I know you’re in there,” Valdrin says.

Ruby stands up, visibly affected by the deep male tenor. “Who’s that?”

“Someone who knew my father.” I clear my throat, hating that I can’t tell her more. “I need to let him in. Why don’t you go put on my robe?”

“Sure.” She slogs toward my bedroom.

When I see her disappear around the corner, I open the door. “Good morning.”

“Good? That depends.” Valdrin steps inside without waiting for an invitation. His cologne mixes with the faint smell of my morning coffee lingering in the kitchen.

I feel grimy, wearing three-day-old sweats, while he looks sharp standing there in a finely cut charcoal suit.He’s a lot older than me, late forties, I suspect. But quite handsome, in a cool uncle kind of way.

I don’t feel anything for Valdrin.

I can’t get that guy from the dive bar out of my head. The six-foot-something, muscular Adonis who wore tight jeans and a waffle Henley with his dirty talk and rough sex is more my style.

I wonder what happened to that guy.

“Coffee?” I offer Valdrin a cup.

“Don’t touch the stuff. I prefer tea.”

My jaw ticks up. “I have—”

“I order my tea from overseas.” He holds up his hand. “I’m quite particular.”

“Don’t mind me. I need my fix.” I pour a mug of black silk heaven, and doctor it up with cream and sugar as I watch Valdrin take in my apartment.

“You’d really rather live here?” He runs a hand through ice blond hair that I don’t find jarring anymore.

“Then marry that psycho, Tahiri?” I choke on my disrespectful words, disguising it as a hot sip. “Sorry.”

“The real psycho, the dangerous criminal, is Connor Quinlan.We’reyour family.”

I straighten, hearing him sayfamilywith a little too much passion. “We? Are you related to Noel, or my father?”

Valdrin clears his throat and threads his fingers together. “It’s a figure of speech.”

“So is go fuck yourself.” I smile and take another sip.

“I’ve heard that once or twice, but—” Valdrin freezes when Ruby wanders back into the kitchen wearing my satin robe that she didn’t bother to close.

“Oh!” Ruby’s jaw practically hits the floor, taking in Valdrin.

Okay, it’s not me.

Valdrin’s eyes drag over her with a heated gaze Ifucking felt. A blush colors his olive-skinned cheeks. Ruby flinches, but meets his stare. Something thick and dark pulses between them.

I clear my throat. If I don’t cut the tension, someone’s going to end up pinned against a wall. And it just might be Valdrin.

“Valdrin, this is my neighbor, Ruby. Ruby, this is...” I hesitate to say he’s a mafia hitman. “A friend of my father’s.”

Ruby tosses bed head curls over one shoulder and eyes Valdrin with a look I’ve never seen on her face, not even at the strip club. I know her fake infatuated smile. This is pure arousal. I can almost fucking smell it on her.