Page 48 of Sinful Desires (Sinful #4)

I used to come here when I was young. Had celebrated my eighteenth birthday with my parents behind the village church, in a garden no one knew about. We watched the sea until the light bled out.

One of the last times I’d seen them laugh.

The rest hadn’t survived.

“If they don’t have iced coffee, I’m suing this entire production,” Nicholas muttered behind me, dragging his towel over his face.

“You drank six already,” Scarlett said flatly. “One more and you’ll start vibrating through walls.”

“I’m method acting.”

“As what? A gnat?”

I stayed behind them.

“You were good though,” she added, voice cooler now. “Almost made me believe you were attracted to women.”

“Ouch,” Nicholas grinned, hand on his chest. “Was it the line or the rain that got you?”

She laughed. “Both.”

The catering tent came into view, long and beige and already crowded. Plates clattered. Crew members laughed. Someone was playing music too loudly through a speaker.

“Scene might’ve looked pretty romantic,” Nicholas said, glancing at the wet floor beneath his boots. “But that fucking rain was freezing . Got in my mouth, my eyes, my boxers—oh, cold beers.”

He disappeared without finishing the sentence. Straight to the ice buckets like his life depended on it.

“Scarlett!” the actress called out, waving her hand like they were old friends.

Scarlett stepped toward her, and I followed without thought, staying close as she sat. I didn’t sit.

From the corner of my eye, I caught the glint of a fresh ice bucket, water bottles sweating inside. I grabbed two. Dropped one in front of her without a word and stepped back into the shadows of the tent, unscrewing mine and swallowing half in silence.

“Hi, Liya,” she said, her breath catching a little from the heat. “You look stunning. White suits you.”

The actress sighed. “Finally, someone with taste. I told the costume designer to stop dressing me like a corpse. I swear she picks colors that clash with my skin just to feel better about her face.”

They both laughed.

Nicholas showed up minutes later, arms full of food. Some charcuterie board with fruit, meat, and cheese, arranged in some ridiculous heart shape. He laid it between them, and they started picking at it.

“You know,” Liya said, smearing blue cheese on a cracker, “you two make a disgustingly cute couple. Must be nice?…?finding someone in this industry who gets it. Someone you can actually depend on.” Her eyes flicked between them.

Scarlett didn’t respond.

Nicholas cleared his throat, lifting his beer. Drank like he needed it to cover whatever answer was stuck in his teeth. A coldness traveled through my chest and up my throat.

“What about you, Liya?” Scarlett asked, still eyeing the bottle I brought her but fumbling with the cap. “You must have America and Ethiopia wrapped around your finger. Longest legs I’ve ever seen. That skin? You’re glowing like a goddess.”

I took three steps, unscrewing the cap without looking at her. My bare arm grazed hers as I placed the bottle on the table, and I saw tiny goosebumps appearing on her skin as she drew a faint breath. I left the cap beside it and walked away.

She drank and wiped her lips with the back of her hand.

“I don’t know,” Liya said, voice drier now. “I’m too busy to date. Men require energy. I prefer silence.”

Nicholas grabbed another beer, popped the cap, and handed it to her.

“Not even a quick fuck to take the edge off? You’re stronger than me, babe.”

Scarlett groaned. “Nic.”

“What?” He shrugged, grinning. “She’s too fucking hot to let it rot in celibacy. If I looked like that, I’d be riding the prettiest man I could find until he cried, then I’d blow a cigarette right over his twitching body and ask him what his name was.”

Liya laughed as Scarlett rolled her eyes.

My phone buzzed, deep in my pocket. I reached for it without looking, thumb already opening the private security feed of Scarlett’s condo.

Camera one. Hallway.

The feed stuttered, then cleared.

Someone was inside.

Black training pants. Long black hoodie. Face mask. Their body moved with control, not panic. They punched in a code like they’d done it before, keeping their face turned from the lens as the door clicked open.

They slipped inside, closing it behind them.

I zoomed in.

Every muscle in my body went still.

I tapped the hallway cam, the hidden one I’d installed last week without telling her.

Her system had been hacked once already, a few weeks back. I didn’t trust it.

The red light blinked as the intruder passed under it, walking slowly, deliberately, toward Scarlett’s room.

My thumbs moved fast. One message to the concierge. Second to Lazzio’s private line.

Send men to the penthouse. Now.

But I already knew it wouldn’t matter. By the time they got there, it’d be too late.

“Talking about pretty men?…” Liya’s voice slithered through the tent. “Who’s that one?”

I didn’t lift my head. Didn’t need to.

Their eyes were crawling over me seconds later.

“That’s Scarlett’s bodyguard,” Nicholas said, his tone low and amused. “Oh my?… Liya, you should definitely try your luck. The poor guy’s always working. And Scarlett’s a pain in the ass. He definitely deserves a good, wet, sloppy blowjob just to stop clenching his jaw every five minutes?—”

“No!” Scarlett’s voice cut the air sharply, louder than it needed to be.

The whole tent froze.

I moved.

One step forward. Maybe two.

She looked back, just once, over her shoulder. Cheeks pink, hand raised, telling me to stay without saying a word.

“Sorry, everyone,” she laughed, fake and too bright. “Thought there was a bee on my watermelon.”

She sat back down, brushing invisible dust from her lap.

The silence lingered a beat too long before the chatter picked up again like nothing had happened.

“You were saying,” she said, clearing her throat as she grabbed grapes and shoved a few in her mouth.

Nicholas eyed her.

“That Liya should ride your bodyguard until he stops clenching his fucking teeth. I mean, Christ, working for you? Man’s probably got blue balls and war flashbacks.”

My hands locked back around my phone, knuckles pale as the hallway cam refreshed. The intruder was heading out now, back the way he came.

He pulled the door shut behind him, hit the elevator, and waited.

But I had the footage.

I had his gait. His build. The exact second he slipped up and tilted his chin too far.

Liya cackled, barely keeping it in.

Then she whispered—low, close, meant for Scarlett only. “Honestly, I’d love to. I haven’t seen a man that gorgeous in real life in a long time.” Her voice dipped further. “Would you mind, Scarlett?”

My phone buzzed again. Lazzio replied.

Three minutes out.

I switched feeds and pulled up the elevator camera.

All of them were empty.

Every cab was still, doors closed, floors lit. The intruder was gone. No exit. No stairwell feed. No sign of a door opening. He had vanished into thin fucking air.

Scarlett’s lips parted to answer, but she didn’t get the chance.

The director stormed into the tent, grinning too widely, arms already reaching for her. Told her it was an honor to have her on set, asked if she wanted to be part of the crew, and even offered her a background cameo like he was handing her candy.

She laughed. Polite. Professional.

The conversation drifted. He started talking about her music, the upcoming Oscar buzz, how excited everyone was to see her on stage.

I wasn’t listening anymore. My eyes stayed locked on her.

She’d never answered Liya, and that made my teeth grind.

Because the idea that she didn’t give a fuck—that she didn’t get jealous or possessive or even fucking bothered at the thought of someone else wanting their mouth around my cock like it was some casual, harmless fantasy—made my blood boil so hard I could feel it scraping the inside of my skull.

I couldn’t stand that kind of silence.

That kind of indifference.

It made me want to grab her by the throat and remind her exactly who I fucking belonged to.

Her, and only her .

If it had been me hearing some fucker whisper in her ear that he wanted her mouth, her body, her skin between his teeth? I would have slit his throat in front of everyone and made her watch him bleed out at her feet.

Just to remind her she belonged to me.

And no one else.