One admirer in particular, I’d rather wring by the neck than allow Hannah to be in her presence for a moment longer.
Sydney Jones.
The woman who single-handedly taught me how to blacken my soul to excite hers.
The worst villain there ever was.
And she was sitting directly next to Hannah, who did not know how much danger she was in from simply breathing in the same air as the viperous woman.
Sydney was a socialite with a trust fund big enough to buy her all the toys and entertainment she desired. And once upon a time, I thought that money was something worth losing myself for.
Wrong.
And I’d be damned if I let Hannah fall victim to her slimy games.
My stilettos carried me across the room like they were walking down the runway of Milan’s most esteemed fashion show. I didn’t care for the attention my walk garnered me, because I moved with one end goal in mind.
Remove Hannah from the disaster she was headed full steam ahead into. Before I made it halfway, Sydney leaned over and whispered something in Hannah’s ear, pressing her chest against Hannah’s arm in a classic seductive move. My teeth clenched as Hannah tipped her head back and laughed, gaining even more eyes as her melodic call drew them all in.
Brody clocked me first, twenty feet from the table, and he stiffened where he stood behind Hannah. Knox wasn’t far behind him, though he didn’t look as menacing as he stared at me.
Fire burned in my belly as I held both of their stares momentarily before ignoring them completely as I reached the table. There were two other players, besides Hannah and Sydney, which left one seat open on the end, two down from Hannah.
Perfect.
“Good evening, fellas.” I winked at the two towering men, drawing a glare and a smirk from them as I pulled the chair out. I felt Hannah’s eyes on me, as I gracefully slid into the chair, setting my glass of champagne onto the felt tabletop. “Deal me in, please.”
“Lex.” Hannah’s breathy voice carried across the space like a gentle caress, and I fought the urge to close my eyes and bask in it for just a moment. I didn’t know how, but I’d bet my paycheck that her touch in the bedroom felt just like that. Soft. Gentle. Provocative. “What are you doing here?”
I finally turned to her, looking around the old simp seated between us who glanced back and forth like he was eating the entire conversation up with a spoon, and let my eyes travel over her done up face and hair, down to the plunging neckline hardly covering her perky breasts.
They were the kind of breasts that I always fell victim to.
“I could ask you the same thing.” Raising a brow at her boldly, I laid down chips for the dealer, “I wouldn’t have pegged you for a life-styler.” I didn’t use her name, given she had a mask on to withhold her identity, but I would if it would make her leave this place and never look back.
She swallowed, bristling lightly at my smart tone, before taking a large sip of her champagne.
Knox cleared his throat and came to my side, leaning down to my ear. “A word?”
“Not now, sweetie.” I patted his cheek patronizingly, “The women are busy here.” I grabbed my nearly empty glass and finished it before passing it to him. “But be a gem and get me a refill, would you?” I winked at him over my shoulder and had a vivid image flash through my mind as his blue eyes stared down at me.
An image of him looking up at me from his back in the center of my bed as I rode him like a prize-winning bull rider with my hand around his throat and his hands on my hips, lifting me on and off his cock.
Jesus’ fuck.
The thought nearly pulled me out of the world class bitch headspace I had fallen into upon seeing Sydney with her talons in Hannah from across the room. But not quite.
I blinked it away and looked from the admittedly sexy man and turned my attention back to the card game as the dealer began laying cards out on the table.
“How do you all know each other?” Sydney asked with that velvety smooth voice that reminded me of a phone sex operator, while picking up her cards like she didn’t have a care in the world.
But I knew better.
“The same way I know you, Sydney.” I replied before Hannah did, glancing away from my cards as she looked over at me. “Though the roles you and I played are reversed here with this darling.”
Her jaw clenched, and Hannah’s lips parted in confusion. Brody nudged her shoulder, breaking her distraction as she started picking up her cards. But the entire time, he glared at me.
I wanted to flip him off. It was my first urge, yet again with that man, though I refrained. Barely.
The game started progressing, as the other two players, middle-aged men who were probably used to controlling a table, tried offering small talk to the ladies. But we had no desire to include them.
This table was only fit for the three of us.
Ruled by the three of us.
Soon to be two, if I had any say in it.
“Another.” I tossed a card down and took a new one from the dealer.
I should have known better to think that Sydney would remain silent for long, “If I remember correctly, you always were terrible at poker, Alexi.” She smiled down at her cards, using my full name like she had a right to as I tracked her out of my peripherals. “I could always read you like a book.”
“I didn’t think you knew how to read at all.” I snapped back instantly, and Hannah choked on her drink as Knox laid a fresh one down for her before setting one down at my side. Looking up at him over my shoulder, I winked at him. “Thank you, Sugar.”
He surprised me by grinning down at me with a look made for a playboy and nodding. “Anything for you.”
I lifted the glass to my lips, hesitating briefly as I watched him take his place next to Brody. I wouldn’t put it past him to poison me for all the drama over the last few weeks, but I drank it anyway.
It wouldn’t be as if I didn’t earn every drip of toxins they put into my drink if they did.
