Page 114 of His Prince

His hand cups my chin and he angles my head up slightly, his lips brushing over mine.

“We definitely can do that.”

“But do you want that, Mikhail? I know you can never really leave the mafia, but maybe you could have a sliver of something more.”

His eyes soften, something indiscernible moving across his face.

“How did I get so lucky, little Angel?”

“What do you mean?” I ask, feeling my cheeks reddening and my heart thudding in my chest.

“I mean, how do you care so much about me after everything that’s happened? After everything I’ve done?”

I sigh and turn in his arms, my hands threaded through his hair. My tongue snakes into his mouth as I kiss him deeply. When we finally pull apart, I’m breathing heavily and heis too.

“I’m always hoping for the best, always willing to fight for what I want. And you, my husband, are absolutely worth it.”

“You’ve stayed,” George says as he opens the door of his house to us. It’s the first time I’ve been in here and I take in the quaint decor. No one would ever know that he’s more than the onsite doctor, that terrible things happen in his basement.

I smell a subtle scent of incense or candles burning and I make a note of this for my father, for Bane. Perhaps they can use this at home to mask the scent of blood and death.

“I did.”

“So he knows?” George asks Mikhail.

“Yes. He knows. And now we’re here because my little Angel is worried about Bane. Apparently, you’ve…apprehended him.”

George blinks, and I shift against my husband. He runs a hand down his chest and shifts on his feet subtly.

“Is he safe?” I ask, suddenly nervous. If George is as cold-blooded as he makes himself out to be then Bane could be in serious trouble.

“Would you like to see him?” George asks, and I swallow.

“Is he decent?”

“No.”

I sigh and then nod. “I don’t know if I want to see him naked or whatever he is, but I’d like to talk to him. Is that alright?”

“Of course. Right this way,” George says and then leads us down a small hallway, the walls absent of pictures, and before he opens a door, he tells me to close my eyes.

I do as he says and a moment later, I hear the voice of Bane.

“Angelo!” he cries, and I make out the sound of something I can’t quite place. Almost as if he’s tugging on restraints.

“He’s tied up,” Mikhail confirms softly, and I wet my lips, nervous.

“Just wanted to make sure you’resafe.”

“Oh god, I’m so safe. So fucking safe. Don’t worry about me. I’ve been such a bad boy. I deserve to be punished.” He says it maniacally, as if he’s on the verge of tears or coming. I’m not sure. And I’m honestly not sure if I want to know.

“You sure?”

“So sure,” he groans, and George huffs, shutting the door and blocking out the sight of Bane. My eyelids are peeled back and I glance up at the large man wearing all black, his hair perfectly combed, not a speck of lint on him.

“Satisfied?” he asks.

“Yes…just…he’s not bad, not really. Please take care of him. He’s sensitive. He may not seem like it, but he is.”