Page 55 of Paved in Venom

“I don’t share,” I tell him. “I understand you’re not used to being told no, Dominic, so you might want to brace yourself for a life lesson. You don’t always get what you want, and I’m going to say this slowly so there’s no confusion. She is mine, and you will never have her.”

I enunciate each word, speaking nice and slow so the smug jackass will understand me. After several seconds of silence, Dominic forces a smile that looks more like a grimace before he leans closer and says, “That mark on her neck is going to look beautiful when it bruises.” Looking at Simona, he adds, “Be happy he won the bid, sweetheart. I would’ve done a lot worse for that stunt you pulled earlier.”

Simona turns her head, burying her face against my neck as I tighten my grip on her. “I guess it’s a good thing you lost the bid then,” I say, just because I like the flicker of anger that runs through his eyes at the reminder that he did in fact lose. “Why don’t you go mingle with the other guests, Dominic. Maybe someone else will let you rent their pet for the night.”

I laugh, but he doesn’t join in. He downs the rest of his drink and stands back up. “Maybe I’ll see you at the next auction. I can promise it’ll be the last fucking time I ever lose to you.”

“Maybe,” I say and leave it at that.

He walks off without another word, not bothering to stick around for the rest of the party. I’m positive he just came here so he could see Simona and try to buy her off me, and I know I’m not going to rest until I know every damn detail of his life. He’s dangerous, and he wants Simona. That alone is enough to put him on my kill list, but it doesn’t mean I can act on it anytime soon. Too many deaths will be suspicious, and the doctor is first on the list.

As if reading my mind, Lev says in Russian, “One thing at a time, Danil. He’s an asshole, but the doctor needs to go first.”

“Don’t worry. I know.”

“We need to lure him outside,” Vitaly says. “Most of these fuckers are drunk or high and I doubt they’ll notice if we slip out, but they’re going to notice if we drag his ass out of here.”

“What are you saying?” Simona whispers against my ear.

“Just trying to figure out how to get the doctor away from the party, sladkaya.”

“I can help.”

“I’m not putting you in danger,” I tell her.

“You don’t have to. I’ll go out to the pool and catch his attention. Maybe I can get him to follow me away from everyone, and once we’re on the side of the house, then you guys can grab him. You’ll be able to keep your eyes on me the whole time.”

I think about it, and then I quickly say, “Fuck no. We’ll just grab him when he leaves.”

“He could be here all night,” she says loud enough for Vitaly to hear.

“She’s right,” he says, not looking even slightly ashamed at listening in.

“We won’t let her out of our sight,” Lev assures me, and I know he’s right, but I still don’t like it.

Simona kisses my neck and then starts to get up. “Come on, let’s just see what happens. If it works, we go for it, and if not, then we’ll do it your way and wait.”

I tighten my grip on her, not allowing her to leave my lap. Lev gets up first and slowly makes his way outside so he can watch her from the side of the house. Kissing her neck, I whisper against her skin, “If anyone touches you, scream for me. Scream as loud as you fucking can.”

“I will. I promise.”

It takes all my willpower to watch her stand up and walk away. A few sets of eyes follow her, but most everyone is way too drunk to give a shit, or way too busy fucking. I try very hard to ignore the fact that Tom’s involved in a threesome on the other side of the room. I have no desire to see his pasty, flabby ass, and I feel terrible for the two women who are forced to be with him, but I can’t risk everything to save them. I won’t risk everything to save them. When we take down the head of this snake, I hope like hell it trickles down to help them, but I’m not their knight in shining armor. I’m only willing to risk everything for one woman, and right now she’s walking her perfect ass out of the room—an innocent little sheep that I’ve just thrown to the wolves.

On the outside I look calm, but inside I’m raging and seconds away from cracking. I can easily see Simona walking to the pool. She stops to talk to some of the other women, but it’s obvious they don’t understand a word she’s saying, so she gives up and then looks over her shoulder at the doctor. He’s watching her from the shadows where he’s hidden himself on the veranda. He doesn’t take his eyes off her, and she plays her part perfectly. My sweet girl is learning how to play this game and it kills me to see it. She doesn’t give him a sexy smile or a cutesy wave. No, she lets him see her fear, pretends she’s just now recognizing him, and then she slowly stumbles away, like she’s terrified and wants nothing more than to get away from him. She knows it’s the fear he won’t be able to resist, and like fucking clockwork, he steps out of the shadows. He looks in my direction, but I’ve already turned, pretending to be deep in conversation with Vitaly.

“Just think about how much fun it’s going to be to kill him,” Vitaly says, trying to keep me calm.

“It’s going to be a very slow death,” I say, watching the doctor start to follow Simona.

Vitaly and I get up, but while I head out the back, Vitaly goes for the front so he can get the SUV from the valet. In the backyard I look around, making sure no eyes are on me before following the path to the side of the house. Even though I trust Lev completely, my heart is still racing, and it doesn’t slow down until I turn the corner and see Simona standing unharmed and nowhere near the pervy doctor because Lev already has him pressed against the house with his wrists zip-tied and a piece of tape over his mouth. I’m not at all surprised that Lev came here with supplies.

I close the distance, pulling Simona into my arms. She hugs me like she never wants to let me go, and I happily return it.

“Are you okay? Did he touch you?”

“No, Lev grabbed him before he could,” she whispers against my chest.

Making sure Lev has the doctor, I give him a nod before telling Simona, “We need to go, baby.”

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