Page 47 of Graveyards & Greed

There was a pause, and Xander’s voice came over the speaker. “It’s Xander, and you’ve got visitors.”

Drakos straightened and stared at the camera on the intercom monitor, then hung his head for a second. “I’ll be right down.” He didn’t buzz Xander up. Instead, he opened the loft door and disappeared downstairs.

Ivan and Roman glanced at each other but studiously avoided looking at me. I grabbed a soda and casually strolled over to the intercom to look at the video feed. Two women stood on the stoop outside with Xander. He didn’t talk to them, and when Drakos opened the exterior door, Xander stepped inside and left Drakos to deal with his visitors.

They were both gorgeous. One had long black hair and smooth dark skin, and she wore a little pink dress that looked more appropriate for a nightclub than a Sunday afternoon get-together. The other woman had large, succulent breasts and light brown hair. She wore white booty shorts and a gold sleeveless halter top—and no bra.

They both lit up and stepped toward Drakos when they saw him, obviously expecting a warm reception. Hugging him, the booty-shorts girl reached around to grab his ass. I let go of the button and stepped back.

My heart raced, and my stomach churned with acid. I vowed that fucker would never know how much it hurt to watch him get sandwiched and eye fucked on the sidewalk outside his loft by those two women. They looked like escorts—sexy, high-class escorts. But still. I turned to see Ivan and Roman watching me carefully. We all turned when Xander walked into the loft without Drakos.

I smiled at him. “Hey, Xander. Does anyone want to wager a little money on the game? It always makes watching Sunday sports more interesting.” I kept my body loose and my face neutral while I bled inside.

Ivan folded his arms and Roman studied me with narrowed eyes, but Xander walked over and carefully put his arm around me. I didn’t know if he was comforting me or just hugging me hello. Maybe both.

His lip tipped up. “I’m in.”

Ivan rubbed his hands together. “Do you want to wager a straight bet on a point spread or on the total score?”

Fifteen minutes later, the game had started, and we were eating and arguing about how much to bet when Drakos walked back in alone. His eyes found me as he shut and locked the door, and I raised an eyebrow and smirked as I bit into a spicy chicken wing.

The fucker would never know how raw I felt inside. “We’re making bets on the game. You want in?” I’d staked out one of the reclining chairs, so there was no chance Drakos could sit next to me. I didn’t think I could keep up my facade if he touched me.

A few hours later, I shook my head and grinned as I sent Xander fifty bucks on my cash app. He’d won, and Ivan was still bitching about it. I stood and stretched, then took my empty soda can to the garbage. Drakos watched me as I walked past him.

Roman checked his phone and stood. “Luna just got home. I’m heading out.”

I nodded, not looking at Drakos. “Me too. Carl probably thinks I’ve abandoned him, and Ezra texted me and said we have a body coming in.”

Ivan shook his head. “That’s the strangest damn job. When you're working on a corpse, do you ever get freaked out alone in that embalming room?”

“Nope. It’s the living who do most the damage.” My eyes flickered to Drakos.

Ivan and Xander left shortly after Roman, and Drakos turned to me when the door closed behind them. “We’ll bring Carl here. I want you to stay.”

When he stepped behind me and slid his hands around my waist, I wanted to either turn around and knee him in the balls or ask him to fuck me one last time. I did neither, but stood there and struggled to keep my feelings locked down.

“I can't,” I murmured. “Carl needs feeding, my laundry is out of control, and Alexa is probably wondering what’s going on.”

“She'll survive. We can send Ivan to go check on her.”

“Iknewsomething was going on with those two,” I murmured.

My mind circled back to the two beautiful women who’d dropped by his loft. Would he have invited them up if I hadn’t been here, and did he send them away for good or just put them off? I shook my head, knowing if I kept thinking like that, I wouldn’t be able to control my temper or my words.

“Tomorrow is a full day, and I’d like to get an early start. I also need to step back from this and catch my breath.” I moved away to put some distance between us.

He didn’t like it, but he let me go. “Alright, but plan to come over for dinner tomorrow night. Before we bring the partners and your cousins together to discuss the situation, let’s devise a viable plan. Milo will also be with you tomorrow.”

I turned away and started gathering my stuff. “He doesn’t need to do that. I can get Fenn and Kilian to send a guard over.”

He leaned against the counter and crossed his ankles. “He’s already planning on it. And before you leave today, we’re going to discuss why you went ice cold on me this afternoon.”

I froze for a split second, then kept walking to the bedroom. I wanted to gather my belongings and get out of here before I blew up or fell apart. Or, God help me, both. How had I let him get under my skin so thoroughly? Before I saw him with those two women today, he’d told me about his past, and Iknewhe was a womanizer. All the photos online, the club, and the rumors came from somewhere.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. We laughed and joked through the whole game.”

“No. You, Ivan, and Roman talked and joked. Xander was his usual stoic self, and you ignored me and sat in the recliner. Tell me what’s going through your head.”

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