Page 58 of Seductive Sadist
The room is still dark, though. Only the smallest slivers of early morning sunlight peek through the pulled blinds covering every window. But for as dark as it is in here, my mind is lit up by X-rated images that have looped for hours. A sharp tug in my chest makes me wince. I press a hand over my heart.
Dammit, I’m either having a heart attack or I’m starting to feel something.
I don’t know what’s worse, to be honest.
Feelings were never supposed to factor into this brilliant scheme of mine. It was a simple plan with lots of benefits. I wanted revenge on her brother for being a jealous prick who ruined my football career. I wanted to punish her father for being aligned with Denis Stepanov, who is one of the people responsible for Valentina’s disappearance. I wanted to stick it to Tyson, who is an entitled egotistical asshat who doesn’t deserve Skyla. And I wanted respect and control oversomethingin my damn life.
Then, after dodging killers, kidnappers, and death, we ended up here at the safe house, housed in a sweaty, steamy plastic bubble of lust, passion, and forbidden pleasure. And I don’t even know how to start clawing my way out.
Maybe because I don’t want to.
Maybe because out of all the goals I’d wanted to accomplish with my plan, Skyla is the number one spoil of this war.
She always has been, which is why the whole scam backfired on me in the first place.
Years ago, I got in close to the St. James family, just like I was supposed to. I used Kylian. And somewhere along my path of deceit, I fell in love with Skyla.
Scrubbing a hand down my face, I let out a low groan.
I want respect, right? Well, it’s time to take responsibility for what I did, and for everything that went wrong because of it.
Kylian called me out on my bullshit. So did Skyla.
So the fact that I’m sitting around now, being Nik’s bitch, an enforcer instead of an NFL quarterback, is my own fault. I could have had more. Hell, I could have had everything.
Instead, I gave it up for a taste of the forbidden. I let my dick think for me.
And I want to say I learned my lesson, but who the hell am I kidding? Forcing Skyla to marry me is gonna send me straight back to the goddamn Garden of Eden. Because, let’s face it, I never got over her, and I was never supposed to be there in the first place.
Fuck my life and the pieces I’m still trying to put together.
I roll out of bed and pace the length of the room when my phone buzzes in my hand. Unknown number. My brows furrow but I stab the Accept button.
“Yeah?”
“Zak, it’s me.”
“Val, fuck.” I let out a breath. “Where are you? Did you get into the safety deposit box in the Bahamas?”
“Not yet.”
“What the hell are you waiting for? There’s stuff in there we can use to find—”
“Not yet.”
I roll my eyes. I love and hate it when Val calls. I love it because I know she’s still alive after being on the run for the past few years since her almost-wedding. And I hate it because I never get details out of her. It’s always one- or two-word answers, probably because Alek Severinov programmed her that way.
Screw you, Alek, for always keeping us in the dark, you fucking control freak.
“Tell me why we can’t.” Patience isn’t really my strength, so it takes everything in me not to lose my shit when she pauses again.
“Alek is working on something. He’s had his guys doing research on a company. I can’t tell you more than that now, but he’s getting close to finding some information. We need to connect the rest of the dots before any of that stuff is touched. Right now, we don’t know who might be watching and waiting for us to access it. And we need to make sure we have them under our surveillance before we open that can of worms.”
My eyes widen. “Do you realize that’s the most you’ve said to me since your wedding day?”
She chuckles. “I think it’s the most I’ve said to any of you since then.”
“Yeah, I’m kinda pissed about that. I thought you originally reached out to me because I was your favorite brother. Now I know you play all sides of the fence. Typical woman.”