Page 100 of Wicked Believer

I lean back in my seat, resting my arm over the adjacent chair. “Be that as it may, I’d be willing to lend her to you if you needed—”

“What? Companionship? A friend? Don’t insult me, Lucifer. If I wanted a sister, I could do so much better than your little former-human pocket pussy. That’s for certain.”

But evenIrecognize that it’s simply a matter of her own pride getting the better of her.

I lean forward. “If you took her under your wing, she’d adore you.”

Greed grumbles, refusing to look at me.

“Mimi,” I give her a look of mock sympathy. “Or should I say ‘big sister’?”

“And what do I get out of all this, humph? Nothing more than a gold-plated Monopoly piece?” She waves a dismissive hand as she scoffs. “Please.”

I lean forward onto my knees, pinning her with a hard stare. “How about a seat at my side when humanity starts to fall, Michael’s little plan to get Father to return fails, andIam the lone celestial left standing in the ashes, with the one and only person who’s the key to opening the pearly gates begging at my feet?”

Mammon sets down the dice, leaning back in her chair as she looks at me. “All right,nowI’m listening.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

Charlotte

After I’m done emptying the contents of my stomach into the drained pool, I manage to sneak into the penthouse undetected with a few drunken promises from Azmodeus that I’ll hear from him about mine and Lucifer’s engagement party in the coming days.

That night, I dream I’m back in the club again.

Yet instead of Azmodeus dancing with me, it’s that handsome stranger.

The man from the edge of the dance floor, his lethal-looking body pressed against me, his hands sliding lower until ...

I wake with my own hand down my pants, touching myself. I gasp, mortified by what I’m doing, and roll over, burying my face in my pillow with a groan.

What iswrongwith me?

It isn’t until my alarm clock goes off a few hours later and I get through my morning routine without interruption from Lucifer or one of his senior staff that I’m naive enough to think I might have actually gotten away with mine and Azmodeus’s little stunt. But the moment I arrive at Apollyon headquarters, feeling like I’m on top of the world,Jeanine informs me that Lucifer’s summoned me to his office before I even have a chance to look at today’s headlines, and my triumph is abruptly ripped out from under me.

“What in the bloody fuck were you thinking?”

I don’t have time to settle into my seat across from his desk before he shoves one of this morning’s tabloids at me. “Read it,” he says, his voice surprisingly calm when I refuse to look toward the glossy magazine heading.

I hesitate.

“I said, fucking read it, Charlotte,” he snarls, more animal than I’ve ever heard before. Like the red devil with the tail and horns you see in the movies.

Though now that I know about his current arrangement with Michael, the full truth of him is so much worse, so much more terrifying.

I follow the command without question, lowering my eyes so I’m forced to read the headline in front of me.

Lucifer Cuckolded! By His Own Brother? The Devil Is in the Details!

Followed by a full front-page spread of Azmodeus and me grinding together on the dance floor. Like I was with that stranger in my dream.

I snatch up the tabloid, staring at the photo of what I thought was a celestial-only space, some other dimension.

Apparently, the club was more human than I gave Az credit for. Or was it?

How the hell did they evengetthis picture?

I guess pretty much anybody can be a paparazzo these days, considering there’s not a person I know who doesn’t have twenty-four seven access to a high-quality digital camera in their pocket.