Page 24 of His Nephew's Ex
“How many?” His voice is soft and deadly, the kind of quiet that precedes violence.
“Fifteen in the last three days alone. All from different numbers, but the tone is consistent. Someone’s watching me, Simeone. They know details about my life, my routine, things that...” I swallow hard. “Things that intimate partners would know.”
His jaw ticks with barely controlled rage. “You think it’s Flavio.”
“I don’t know what to think. You said you handled him, but someone is terrorizing me, and the messages reference things he would know. My perfume, the way I brush my teeth, details about my apartment.” I wrap my arms around myself, suddenly cold despite the warm afternoon. “If you lied to me—”
“I don’t lie, especially not to women I’ve fucked.” The crude language makes me flinch, but his expression remains deadly serious. “When I told you Flavio wouldn’t be a problem, I meant it. He’s been... educated about the consequences of continuing his harassment.”
“Then who—”
“Flavio has friends. Associates who might see your connection to me as an opportunity for revenge or leverage.” He sets my phone on his desk with careful precision, like he’s restraining himself from crushing it in his grip. “Or enemies of mine who’ve identified you as a potential weakness.”
Me. A weakness.
The description sits in my chest like a stone. I came to him for protection, and instead I’ve made myself a target for anyone who wants to hurt the Silver Devil. I’ve painted a bullseye on my back by association, and now I’m trapped between the monster I know and the ones I don’t.
“So what you’re saying is that by seeking your help, I’ve made everything worse.”
“What I’m saying is that you’re under my protection now, which makes threats against you very personal matters.” He moves behind his desk, reaching for something in the top drawer. “I’ll handle this the way I handle all challenges to my authority.”
“By killing people?” The question slips out before I can stop it, raw and honest in the quiet office.
“If necessary.” He doesn’t flinch from the accusation, doesn’t try to soften the brutal reality of his world. “Is that going to be a problem for you,stellina? The knowledge that men will die to keep you safe?”
The casual way he discusses murder makes my stomach tighten with what I think is horror, until I realize the sick twist in my gut is actually satisfaction. Some dark part of me craves this promise of retribution against the faceless threats terrorizing my daily life.
What does that make me? What kind of person feels relieved at the prospect of violence in their name?
“I don’t want anyone to die because of me,” I whisper, though I’m not entirely sure it’s true.
“Then you should have stayed away from my world.” His voice carries a hint of regret, but his expression remains implacable. “You made your choice when you walked into the Viper’s Den. When you kissed me in your bar. When you pulled me into your bed and gave me your innocence.”
Word by word, he dismantles my defenses until I’m trembling and raw. The attraction burns between us, fierce and inescapable.
“That was just sex,” I lie, though we both know it was so much more. “We both needed the release.”
“Was it?” He rounds the desk with predatory grace, backing me against the window with slow, deliberate steps. “Because what I remember is you crying my name like a prayer. Begging me not to stop. Clinging to me like I was your redemption.”
Each word hits its mark with devastating accuracy, stripping away my armor until I’m raw and unprotected. The attraction between us pulses like a heartbeat, insistent and impossible to ignore.
“Stop,” I breathe, but the word lacks conviction.
“Stop what? Stop remembering how perfectly you fit around me? How sweet you tasted? How your body responded to every touch like it was made for my hands?” He braces his palms against the window on either side of my head, caging me between solid muscle and glass. “I think about it constantly,stellina. How tight you were, how you trembled when I—”
“I said stop.” This time there’s steel in my voice, enough to make him pause. “I didn’t come here for this. I came for answers, for help with the threats. Not to relive a mistake I’ve been trying to forget.”
“A mistake.” His smile is sharp enough to cut glass. “Is that what you call the best night of your life? A mistake?”
“I call it what it was—a momentary lapse in judgment that won’t be repeated.”
“Won’t it?” He leans closer, until his breath ghosts across my lips and his cologne floods my senses with memories of tangled sheets and desperate passion. “Tell me you haven’t thought about it every night since. Tell me you haven’t touched yourself while remembering exactly how I made you feel.”
Heat floods my cheeks because he’s absolutely right, and the knowing gleam in his dark eyes tells me my reaction has given me away completely.
“Have you been a good girl,stellina?” His voice drops to that whisper that makes my toes curl in my boots. “Have you stayed away from other men like I told you to?”
The possessive question makes anger flare in my chest, hot and bright. “You don’t own me, Simeone. One night doesn’t give you the right to dictate my life.”
