Page 44 of Villainous Kingpin

Her hands took my face between her palms. “He’s not worth it,” she murmured softly, her light green gaze sending calm through me. “Just give him a black eye and call it a day.”

I met her gaze that was begging me to stay calm. But the mere thought of this piece of shit touching her drove burning rage into my chest, making me see red.

“Very well,” I muttered, then sliced his index and middle finger of his right hand clean off.

His high-pitch scream filled the room, but I ignored it as I nodded at Priest. He’d know what to do. I looked around the group of people that gaped at the scene. I stood up to my full length and focused on Wynter who looked pale.

“That’s not exactly a black eye,” she said weakly, her gaze focused on me.

“He touched you,” I rasped, resting my forehead against hers.

The thought of any other man laying a hand on her sent fury down my spine and marred my vision with a red mist. The anger was so strong that I had to choke it down. For her. Yes, she accepted me for who I was but killing a man in front of her would be taking it too far.

It wasn’t rational. Or maybe it was, Fuck if I knew. My moral compass was fucked up. In my entire life, I had never regretted a single thing I’d done. There was no room for regrets in our life. Those got you killed.

“Yes, but cutting his fingers off was a bit too much,” she whispered, never breaking our eye contact.

I’d involuntarily given her a glimpse of who I truly was - for better or for worse. Either way, she had seen firsthand who I was, who I was always meant to be. And I was damn good at it. I was born on the wrong side of the law and I thrived on it.

I have never been tempted to follow the law. Today, even less so. Now I knew I’d never be able to handle seeing another man have her. Rage when this fucker touched her burned cold through my veins and I had to fight the urge to beat him some more.

My chest twisted with something unfamiliar.

She’d be mine. For the rest of my life.

CHAPTER17

Wynter

Isat next to Bas, whose knuckles had red marks from beating the man that dared to grab my ass. He and Priest were discussing business. The only reason I was here was because Bas refused to let me out of his sight.

Tonight didn’t go exactly as I expected it. I should have just told Bas I’d wait for him in the suite. I chewed the inside of my cheek as thoughts swirled in my mind. Seeing this side of Bas should have scared the living daylights out of me and had me running. Yet, the fierce protectiveness warmed me from the inside out.

Maybe something was wrong with me. Or maybe despite living with Mom in California away from Uncle, Killian, and their underworld, I was just as tainted as them. I’d kill just as they surely did. Just as Bas did.

A heavy sigh left me.

“You good?” Bas’ question had me lifting my eyes to find six pairs of eyes on me.

The lighting was low and the air carried a hint of cigarette smoke. It was actually a very stylish office with dark blue accents, several flat-screen TVs and the largest mini-bar that I’d ever seen. Not that I’ve seen many. The men seated around the table were tense, discussing some business deal. They alternated between Italian and English and since the only foreign languages I could speak were Gaelic and Russian, I couldn’t follow what they were saying, not that I cared to.

The beat of the music pulsed through the walls and the glass that separated us from the dance floor and bar area where I was groped.

A thick atmosphere hung in the air among the men seated around this round mahogany table.

“Yeah, all good,” I said, offering a reassuring smile.

Bas’ shoulders tensed as he let out an unamused breath. He didn’t say anything else, but I knew he didn’t believe me. Except, I didn’t know how to reassure him that his slightly disturbing behavior wasn’t the cause of my distress.

It was the revelation that it didn’t bother me as much as it should. It didn’t have me running away from him and all my reason said that it should.

“You look familiar,” one of the men at the table commented. “I swear I’ve seen you somewhere.”

I reached for my phone in my pocket and saw I had a bunch of missed messages.

“I get that all the time,” I answered, never raising my head and swiping the first message open.

Juliette, Ivy, and Davina threw around a bunch of ideas for the school we planned on founding one day. A missed message from my mom.