Page 10 of The Devil After Dark
I opened and closed my mouth. It was weird. Really weird. And a lot of really weird was already going on. “Yes,” I said carefully.
“Soooo, maybe that means the hot business biker is going to interrupt another one of your dinners,” Thea teased. “Please tell me it’s happening, because I love that for you.”
“Thea …”
“What? You use work as an excuse to not have time for men. You aren’t getting any younger, you know. If you want the rest of your life to be silicone dicks and romance novels then be my guest, but I personally enjoy when there is a man attached to the dick I’m fucking.”
“Thea!” I gasped as my cheeks heated.
She just waved her hand at me and left me laughing to myself at my office door. I would not be mad if Cassio did surprise me with another dinner. Being with him had been easy and fun. I had not expected anything more from him, but maybe I could dream a little. But then there was the issue of the man who had broken into my house and given me the best orgasm of my life—my office phone started ringing and I quickly answered it. “Hey, Roger, just got in,” I said.
“Grab us two coffees on your way over,” Roger said before the line clicked off. Okay then.
I walked slowly back to my office after meeting with Roger over what he had made seem like an extremely big deal and what actually turned into me telling him he was panicking for no reason. I had allof the documents and reports and updates he needed. Roger tended to overreact sometimes, but he at least knew when to humble himself and say thank you. It was just exhausting when he got into one of those moods.
“There’s a man waiting for you in your office,” Thea said to me as I passed her desk. She was practically giddy with excitement. I looked over at her and she wiggled her eyebrows at me. There was no way Cassio was here. My heart fluttered in excitement. What if Cassio was here? Thea didn’t even know what he looked like. I gave her a faked stern look before heading straight for my office and trying to mask the smile that was threatening to plaster my face.
It was not Cassio. Rome sat in one of the chairs facing my desk and stood up when I entered the room. “Officer Hawthorne, what can I do for you?” I asked before my shock at seeing him here could hit me.Don’t call him. Don’t message him. You won’t like the punishment.What punishment would there be if the masked man knew I was talking to Rome in my office at work?
“I had not heard from you and I was in the area so I wanted to check in. We’ve had officers on your street and haven’t seen anything suspicious. They will continue to be there until we are certain there is no threat to your life,” Rome said as we both sat down.
“Well thank you for stopping in to update me. I haven’t seen anything suspicious, so I didn’t feel I needed to reach out,” I managed to say. Now would have been the perfect time to tell him that a fucking masked man broke into my home and … and what? Gave me an orgasm? How the hell was I going to explain that one?
My phone buzzed on my desk where I had set it down and I saw a new message from that same unknown number. My heart pounded in my chest and my eyes flashed back to Rome.
“That’s good. I will let you know if something changes. And Liana … really, call or message if you’re ever concerned,” Rome said as he stood to leave.
I stood also. “Of course, thank you,” I said and watched himleave my office. Then I slowly sat back down in my chair and tapped the message notification.
Good girls get rewarded.
I could hardly breathe. The message elicited a feeling between fear and panic and … satisfaction? My phone had to be compromised. How else would he know? Or was the timing just coincidence? I had not responded to him yet, but I slowly picked up my phone. I was going to respond.
Like doggie biscuits?
I thought it was a little funny. The good girl thing felt a little over played and I sometimes buffered uncomfortable situations with sarcasm and humor. My phone buzzed almost immediately with a response.
Bratty girls get reminded of their place.
So my response was “bratty” then. Interesting. If Rome had not just left my office with an update on the situation where someone might actually be trying to murder me, this whole masked man thing might be kind of fun. Wow. No. I was reading far too many dirty books from Thea if I thought having a real life stalker was acceptable. I set my phone down. I was just going to get myself into more trouble if I responded again. And maybe I needed to find a hotel to stay in for a few days.
twelve
CASSIO
WatchingRome in Liana’s office had my hackles up. I trusted Rome enough to know I shouldn’t trust him. He was a dirty cop—sure I was the one paying him, but you really couldn’t trust dirty cops even if they were on your payroll. He never went this far out of his way for people. First, going to Liana’s condo and now showing up at her work. Did he have a crush? Or was there something else I needed to be worried about? Either way, his visit would have been the perfect time for Liana to tell him about a stranger breaking into her condo or even that she was feeling unsafe in some way, yet she said nothing. This was a good start. She was listening to my commands—probably out of fear, but I also had the feeling she liked it a little.
I had purposely not altered my voice when I visited her. Sure I could have, but I wanted to watch her figure it out and when she did, I wanted to see if she would be the one to say something. Why couldn’t I just be normal? Liana was going to be mine. I knew it—I felt it—as soon as I saw her. I confirmed it when Iwatched her and visited her each night. I knew I would marry her after our dinner together. And instead of being a normal and reasonable person and asking her out, I felt the need to play games. I guess part of me wanted to see how she would react to learning I was the one in a mask breaking into her home. If she was going to get in bed with the richest crime boss in the province, I wanted her to know what she was signing up for—and my sexual tastes were pretty fucked up. I could blame it on growing up in a crime family. A magic wielding, council seat holding, crime family. I don’t think we could get any more fucked up.
Magic wielders are taught from an early age our superiority over the others. We could simply wipe them from the world if we wanted to, but instead, we found a way to enslave everyone else and make them believe they were free. They were really just our little pawns. Sure some of the magic wielders tried to make the world a better place, but most of us just enjoyed our status and riches and bathed in the wealth controlling the world gave us.
Then there is the council. The council tries to ensure we don’t kill everyone off, while at the same time ensuring we all keep our power. They are more fucked up than I am. When too many magic wielders get bored, the council arranges games for them. Sick and twisted games using the lesser humans as the game pieces and prizes. Our own laws restrict us from using our powers in front of the lesser humans. It would create too much angst and unrest if we did. Over the centuries we learned the lesser humans stay out of our business if they are able to pretend we don’t actually exist. But between magic wielders, our magic often leads to bloody and barbaric conflict.
My grandfather built a crime empire trafficking drugs, and two generations later, I was born. Raised to be the perfect fucked-up, rich, and controlling asshole I am today. When my father and kid brother were killed by the Delacourts, however, I decided to change the game. I have been systematically removing key pieces of that particular organization one by one over the years. I am so dirty thecity also thinks I’m a philanthropist. I really just needed some legitimate businesses to run finances through. And looking legit also gets me a seat at the table with all the other closeted dirty players just like me.
So here I am. And although my focus has never been on women, finding this one makes me want to reel her in until she is so deep in with me she has no choice but to accept this life—to accept me. And that means I need her to be able to stand by my side at fundraisers for sick children, as well as, be a dirty little slut for me in the bedroom. If she doesn’t know how, I am just going to have to teach her.
I picked up my phone again to look at the single message Liana had sent.
