Page 20 of Lord of Vice

The girl had been stupid risking her life, but the assassination attempt had been the closest I’d experienced to losing my lifesince I’d taken over for my father. That was a rare feat since I was usually protected by a freaking army. Still, I’d never been placed in a position where I’d had an unwanted witness while handling a situation. I was stymied at what to do and that wasn’t like me.

The possessiveness I felt for her had extended to wanting to rip out the Morelli brothers’ testicles through their mouths. Their brutality with women was widely known. How the fuck could someone so innocent have gotten herself involved with thugs like that?

Unless she wasn’t innocent, a plant and nothing more, the assassination attempt intended to be fake, but something had gone terribly wrong. No, that didn’t make any sense, like all of the other shit in my world.

That also irritated the hell out of me. The act had taken balls. I wasn’t used to being indebted to someone. It wasn’t my style, but I couldn’t help feeling something more than just being grateful for her quick reactions. Even if she’d run out on a seventy-five-dollar tab.

“You heard me,” I told her.

“But I saved your life.”

“One has nothing to do with the other, Penny. I will continue showing my gratitude because of your actions, but you must know you placed yourself in danger. And you stole from me.”

“You’d be dead if I hadn’t reacted the way I did. If I hadn’t been stupid enough to suddenly pop into your shitty restaurant out of the blue.”

“You found the place by accident?” I pressed, still able to smell her fear. Good. She should be afraid of me. I was the big bad wolf on steroids. “You expect me to believe that?”

Her face was flushed, terror filling her eyes. “Yes. For fuck’s sake. I was just hungry. Don’t build some goddamn conspiracy theory. I don’t lie. I’m a good girl.” Her brow furrowed after making the statement.

She had a way of making me laugh, not just because of her defiance but because she seemed unfazed by who I was. What I had seen was a raging look of desire in her eyes. Her body also told no lies. She was hungry for my touch. “I’m curious. How long have you been in Las Vegas?”

“Five months.”

Not necessarily long enough to have learned the ins and outs of playing games in the city where ruthless men ruled. However, she wasn’t stupid. That was easy to see by the flash in her eyes and the way she’d scanned her surroundings. “The hallway behind me leads to two additional bedrooms. Mine is on the other side along with my office. Please select whichever one you’d like and take a few moments to freshen up. After that, I’m going to get the discipline over with so you can rest and enjoy your time here.”

She stared at me incredulously. “You must be joking.”

“I rarely joke about anything, especially when someone steals from me. Now, go. I have a phone call to make.”

“Let me guess. You’re going to rip off my fingernails one at a time if I don’t obey your every command.”

“You’ve been watching too many movies, Penny. But I will tell you that each punishment will be much harsher than the one before. I suggest you heed my advice and do what I asked.”

Her gaze became wary, but she turned around, yanking one of the bags off the bellman’s cart before motioning to her pup. She was also cursing under her breath. I had to admit, the furry pup was cute with his golden tight curls and happy tail. I had no experience with animals, had even believed I wouldn’t be able to tolerate one, but I might be proven wrong.

As soon as she was in the hallway, she turned around to study me. If she was the innocent little Penny that I believed her to be, I certainly understood her confusion. However, what concerned me almost as much was the fact she’d worked for one of my enemies.

The Morelli brothers ran a couple of decent clubs, at least as far as their guests and high-paying players were concerned, but they were shitty to their employees. Plus, the rumors floating around them were atrocious. They were also very true. They were into human trafficking, using their clubs to find the perfect type of girl for their wealthy clients.

I gritted my teeth from the thought.

I’d killed one of the men who’d beaten a girl who worked in my club months before. The asshole had believed the auction the Morellis used to sell off kidnapped women was legit. I’d taught him otherwise. Since then, I’d kept my eye on the brothers and their bullshit. At least they’d been laying low.

Up until now.

It was more than possible Penny had been trained or lured to pull me out in the open by one of the goons. I couldn’t put it past the jugheads, even if they were more like vermin than men.

My father hadn’t been the best man alive and certainly not father of the year, but he’d taught me that if you treated people badly on the way up, they’d crush you if you were forced to take a step down. I had a reputation for treating my people right, paying them extremely well, and providing the best benefits of any resort in town. In exchange, I required their loyalty and looking the other way when necessary. It usually worked out very well.

Until shitheads like David acted out of turn. Were the two events connected? I couldn’t be certain of that either. But now, I had to be particularly cautious.

I pulled out my phone, checking to see if my brother had moved from my estate. He was old enough to stay alone, two guards always watching him, but he was also a free spirit, refusing to follow the most basic orders.

Why did I have the distinct feeling Penny would fall into that category? I’d installed a tracker application so I could hunt him down when necessary. I’d been forced to use it more times than I could count. The kid was going to get himself or me killed at some point. He was still at the house. Good. I’d make certain he stayed there. After that, I dialed the front desk.

“Mr. Sokolov. What do you need?” Chastity asked. The girl had worked with me for years, likely knew me almost better than anyone else.

“I assume there’s a pet store somewhere close.”