Page 55 of Wickedly Played

“Yes.”

Huh. This could be interesting.“Anything you don’t want to talk about?”

“Nah. I’m a pretty open book.”

“What was your question again?”

“Why did you become a bodyguard?”

“Oh,” I scoff. “My brother runs the firm and needed someone to come step in who has had my type of training.”

This is primarily true. I don’t share with her the fact that I’m a hired gun for the mafia… Or an enforcer for the McDougal Family. Or that I want to kill her dad.

She’s nodding her pretty head that is now dangerously close to my chest. I’m the one who takes the next step, placing my arm around her neck to place her on me. “I don’t know if it is a good thing or a bad thing that this feels good.”

“It is just us in here,” I remind her. “I won’t tell anyone you don’t have your fucking whip in here to make me bow to your will.”

She throws her head back in a laugh. “If you did, no one would believe you.” After a pause, she begins to ask me another question. “What kind of training?”

I am considering how to answer this question. It wasn’t the first time someone had asked me what my specialty was in the forces. I don’t like talking about it, as many people will ask the one question I dread answering.How many people did you kill?

How does it feel to take a life?

I’ve done it so many times, it doesn’t bother me anymore. This isn’t a flex, but the truth. The first person I killed, I felt that shit for days… The second and the third got easier. The fourth, I didn’t care as much. Enemies of the McDougals are enemies for a reason.

“I did a lot of recovery missions,” I respond vaguely.

“Can I get a little more than that?”

My fingers trace down her sides. “I think you asked me several questions, and I haven’t got to ask any of mine.”

She giggles. “What do you want to know?”

“How did you get into camming?”

“I ended a bad relationship and needed to make money pretty quickly. It was crazy how many people were willing to pay to watch me masturbate or dominate another person.”

“That’s the problem with the internet, Serena,” I tease. “No matter what, there’s something new coming out.”

“So, are you going to answer my question?”

My hand flexes around her forearm. “I was trained to find, capture, and protect people the government wanted.” She looks up at me underneath her long eyelashes.I wonder how she would look on her knees as she asked to suck my cock.“Sometimes it went well, other times it didn’t. It all depended on the intel we had before walking into it. I started doing other things and then got stationed with you.”

Serena gets on her knees to turn and look at me. She grabs my face in her hands, causing our eyes to clash. “I’m glad you came back.”

I should tell her the truth.

But I’m not ready to see the light fade from her eyes.

Chapter Twenty-Two

SERENA

I stretch like a fat, lazy cat after hearing the doorbell ring and then the lock mechanism triggering. The fresh smell of man surrounds my senses, and I purr from the sensation. “Good morning,” I whisper to Max. I’m curled on his chest with his arms still protectively wrapped around me. His chin is over my head, tucking me closer to him.

This shouldn’t feel this good.

Max is still waking up, which is a good thing because his guard is still down around me. Last night was incredible. We stayed up late, sharing secrets, eating snacks, and getting to know each other a lot better. It was probably the best first non-date I have been on.