"You're lucky that I have better plans for your tongue," he whispered before straightening. Standing tall, I was now level with his waist. I could see his hard cock pressing against the expensive material of his perfectly tailored pants. It looked almost painful, how hard it was straining against his clothes.
Malice set down his knife before curling his finger at me, beckoning me closer. I slowly stood up, my legs trembling from fear and an emotion I wasn't willing to even feel let alone say out loud. He reached out and wrapped his hands around my throat, applying the slightest bit of pressure while staring me in the eye. I caught him glancing occasionally over my head. What was he waiting for? Who was he looking for? This was a purposeful man. I felt like an animal caught in his trap. But I wanted to catch him off his guard.
"How is Vicky?" I asked. He tightened his hold around my neck, and I reached up to grab at his wrist.
"She's none of your concern," he snapped before letting me go.
"I'm worried about her," I admitted. "You know, it's so strange. Vicky always vaguely warned me about her second life, but it never felt real. Vicky wanted to protect me. I don't think she would have kept me away from you all otherwise. Which says a lot about what she thinks of you."
Malice scoffed. "Stop talking. And my sister only cares about herself. She wouldn't know loyalty if it slapped her across the cheek. She's safe and with extended family, which is more than I can say for you."
Something about his siblings made Malice crack. It was his one weakness. Somehow, I had to use that to my advantage to get out of this twisted spiral of blackmail. "I would just like to speak to Vicky," I pressed on.
"Maybe if you do your job correctly today, I'll let you call her, hmm?" Malice said. "Though I don't honestly know why you would want to. She's a shitty sister and an even worse friend. You're better off."
My brows rose. I wasn't done challenging him yet. "Are you a good brother, Nick?" I asked, boldly using his first name.
He bit his bottom lip for a moment, anger burning through his expression. "I’m a good killer. I lead a good empire. I protect my own. Everything else is just bullshit, and I suggest you shut your pretty little mouth before I shove something in it, and this time I won’t be as careful."
I heard footsteps down the hall and moved to see who was walking into the office, but Malice grabbed me by the chin and slammed his lips to mine.
8
I tried heroin once. The moment the drugs hit my veins, a thrill like nothing I'd ever experienced before washed over me. It was like a mental orgasm. I felt powerful, confident, and free. For ten hours, I didn't think about my grandmother's diagnosis. I didn't think about grief or all the shit I needed to do. I enjoyed a weightless feeling in my body. My limbs were swaying from the heroine's charm and the discordance in my surroundings. The high released me from all the burdens of living and left behind this hollow sense of euphoria.
I wish I could tell you that kissing Malice was like taking a shot of the best heroin money could buy, but it wasn't. It was like lying on the ground as everyone piled heavy bricks on top of my body. It was this hard, damning experience that weighed me down in ways that felt unnatural.
He was demanding with his mouth. He sunk his teeth into my bottom lip like I was his possession, and his hot, sweeping tongue rolled across mine with punishing waves. I couldn't escape him. His hands had me tightly confined in his grasp. He locked himself on my mouth.
So fucking good.
So fucking painful.
Malice growled as he devoured me. It was intrusive and thrilling but oh so heavy. It wasn't an out-of-body experience. It was like dying. He delivered the kiss of death to the last bit of good left inside of me, and I wanted more. I let him weigh me down with his kiss, and worst of all, I kissed him back.
When he pulled away, there was a thrilled and beguiled expression on his beautiful and sharp face. A long moment passed as he stared at me. The kiss shared between us softened him in some way. He caressed the back of my neck, easing his hands beneath my chin to tuck a dark brown strand of hair behind my ear. He dropped his hands after that, as if touching me burned him. He murmured, "I may keep you."
That kiss made him want to keep me, but it made me want to run away as fast as I could. Because if I didn’t get away, that darkness hidden inside of me would want to kiss him again.
At my back, William spoke in a bored tone, "Did you need something from me?" In my red-hot shame, I turned around to greet him. I didn't owe William anything, least of all an explanation. But it felt wrong. William saw what Malice made me do, and now I was kissing him. What did this say about me? Did Malice plan on this? Was he hoping William would see it?
William wore a steely face as he kept his expression free of any protest or disappointment. He barely glanced at me before focusing all his attention on Malice. Although I couldn't tell if resentment was present in the way he looked at his older brother, there was definitely some tension in the air. I just wanted to leave. Why on earth did I let that happen? And more so, why did I enjoy it?
"I need your help with a project," Malice said, jerking me from my shameful thoughts. William nodded in response, silently encouraging him to continue. "Juliet is going to start working at Eden's Place."
Well, that was news to me.
"What’s Eden’s Place?" I asked. However, no one immediately answered.
Instead of a straight response, I was instantly given insight to what kind of establishment Eden's Place was by William's immediate look of disgust. The protest quickly fell from his lips. "No. Absolutely not. A girl like Juliet doesn't belong in a place like that."
I paused. What kind of girl did William think I was? He did know me well. Everything I’d ever told Vicky, he was eavesdropping on. He knew about Grams and my struggles with school. My jobs. My love life. He was the unsuspecting fly on the wall, and now I found myself curious how he felt about everything he’d learned.
Malice wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me flush with his chest. He was warm and hard, and I should've pulled out of his grasp, but instead, I let him touch me. Fucked up. I was seriously fucked up. "I think you'd be surprised with what Juliet is capable of. And last I checked, you don't make the rules or the decisions. If I want Juliet to work in the yard, that's where she'll work. If I want her at Eden's Place, then that's where she'll be. And tomorrow, if I decide that she's going to be chopping up bodies in Anthony's little death dungeon, then she'll be there." My stomach sank. The grip Malice had on me turned foreboding. He dug his fingers into my flesh, and it took everything I had not to cower away from him. Malice fed on weakness, and I didn’t want to show him that I feared him.
"As if I could forget that you’re in charge. Would you like to take your dick out and measure it, Nick? Maybe go piss on a few bushes to mark your territory?" William offered, visibly pissed off. "You’re the oldest. You make the rules. Dad loved you the most. We get it already. What the fuck ever. Juliet is my responsibility. She has been for three years now, so if I want to better understand your plans for her, then I’ll do whatever the fuck I need to, got it?"