Page 30 of Prince Of Greed

He wrapped his arms around the small of my back, bringing it off the rough surface of the building we had made into a place of passion and need. When I was firmly seated around his hips, he circled, his pelvis grinding against my overworked clit.

“Fuck, Stolas,” I panted.

As I felt his cock pulse and jerk deep inside of me, I cried out, begged him not to stop, and finally hit the epitome of pleasure. My hips bucked, and I rode out the orgasm as he moaned and gritted out my name until his shoulders sagged and his head fell to my panting chest.

When he looked up through spent, hooded eyes, I felt the swell in my chest—a gratitude I couldn’t explain for the act we had just committed.

He gently placed me on my feet and quickly zipped his pants while I righted my clothes. His body hardly left mine before he took me into his arms and held me close, like he couldn’t bare the distance. Breathing him in, I tried—and failed—to imagine a world where he was still just human. Knowing that he wasn’t should have made my skin crawl, but I could only feel the warmth of his touch that soothed something deep and broken inside of me.

The smell of his sweat and cologne on my skin filled my lungs. Spice, musk, and sex. My new favorite scent.

“Evie?” he pleaded.

My throat tightened, though not with sadness or tears. “Take me to him.”

15

STOLAS

Iwould never be the same. The undying thirst had been quenched, and not by blood or power. It was a combination of things in the end. One was the way Evie held her head high and drew strength from her pain. The next was having the privilege of standing at her side as she took what was owed to her by her father.

Her life for her own.

His office was dark when he stumbled in an hour after we’d arrived. Evie sat behind his desk in the plush leather chair, her hand firmly wrapped around her mother’s locket. Both she and the trinket were reborn and under my protection.

“Evelyn?” Harris’ eyes darted between me and his daughter. “What’s this all about?”

“I’m giving you a chance to explain yourself.” Her voice was firm and direct.

“He’s a monster, kitten, you can’t trust a thing he says,” Harris said.

Harris was a trapped rat. He had traded all three of his children’s souls that day. But as fate would have it, their mother had perished instead of Evie. Perhaps it was a sleight of hand by her mother’s Reaper that saved Evie’s life.

“You’re going to have to do better than that, Gerhardt,” I chided.

From where I stood, I could see the panic and rage wash over him. “If you don’t think I know who to call to get rid of you and your bastard brothers, you’re underestimating me.”

The threat surged my blood. “I’d rethink your tactic. You’re not in the position to make promises you can’t keep,” I volleyed.

He scowled but didn’t dare argue. If it were up to me, he wouldn’t make it out of this room with his mortal life.

“Dad. I know what you did.” Evie got to her feet and rounded the desk to meet his eyes. “I need to know that you didn’t trade our family just for politics.”

Harris paused. His last blood relative stood before him confronting him with more than his lies, sins, and deepest regrets. Evie was baring her pain to him for the first time in a new light. They were finally seeing each other for who they had become by the consequences of his actions.

“I knew I could make a difference, not just for our family but for the world. I was born for greatness, power, and to make real change. One small moment set all of this in motion.” He gestured to the room around us in a vague attempt to justify his choices.

“This life was worth your children and wife?” Evie’s tear-strained voice shook. “Sacrificing our lives and souls for a chance at the White House?”

“I did what I had to do. Duty and honor had to come above all else.”

It was the last nail in the coffin for Harris Gerhardt. He’d squandered his only chance to talk himself back into her good graces and save himself from my wrath.

Evie’s shoulders rose as her lungs filled with stale disappointment. I stepped to her side and placed my hand on her lower back. Her muscles tensed, but her next words held the strength I’d hoped my show of solidarity would inspire.

“You had a duty to protect your family,” she said, her tone lethal. “And I will spend the rest of my life honoring them by exposing you for the stone-hearted fraud you are. Not one of your achievements will be saved from the stains of your betrayals.”

“No one will believe you. Angels. Demons. You may as well be spouting about aliens.”