My face stays neutral, but inside, a wave of pure violence crashes through me.
We hooked up. She was okay, I guess. But then she got clingy, you know?
Adrik looks quietly amused as he takes a swig from his bottle. “My family owns Kuro, that omakase sushi place in the West Village.” He shrugs. “I don’t remember quite how many times I heard about Nero De Luca’s daughter coming in for dates with that Santoro douchebag over the past summer. Sounds like fishing off the company pier to me, what with their families buying the building behind yourbabushka’s.” Adrik takes another drink. “But what do I know.”
He smiles at me. “Need anything else, Drakos?”
I shake my head. “No, that’s it,” I growl.
Adrik smiles magnanimously. “Well, enjoy your night. And hey, have agreatfootball season. Go Privateers.” He winks, no longer smiling.
I don’t understand the level ofragehumming through my veins as I find Bella and mumble a vague goodnight. Nor the murderous twitch in my muscles that I usually subdue so well.
It’s pure possession. Obsession.
My new fascination.
I could always destroy Kyle, or burn down whatever mental image she might still have of him, or erase whatever goddam memories she has of the motherfucker who got to what’sminebefore I did.
But a direct attack on Kyle means significant monetary losses for my family.
And Kyle isn’t the real issue, anyway.
It’s the fact that Yelena, my prey, has already been caught.
Already belongs to me.
It’s time she understood exactly what that means.
10
YELENA
“You know what’s fucked up?”
I grin into the phone camera. Mom gave up trying to get Dad to use better language around Massimo and meyears ago.
“It is what it is, princess,” he'd sighed one day, grinning at my mom when she’d thrown up her hands after hearing him call someone on TV a “fucking prick” when I, at the ripe old age of maybe six, was sitting on his lap. “Like trying to dry the ocean with a hand towel.”
“Like pissing into the fuckin’ wind, Mama!”I'd crowed back.
It could have been like pouring kerosene onthatparticular fire. But then Dad saved both the day and his relationship with his wife when he promptly plopped me onto the couch and chased after Mom, making her shriek and giggle before scooping her into his arms, kissing her, and telling her he’d never do it again.
Pretty sure he dropped another f-bomb, like, nine seconds later. But by then he hadMomsitting on his lap. Those two are sonauseatingly smitten with each other that their arguments only last about sixty seconds before they’re all over each other again.
Gross.
I might not have learned about not using foul language from my father. But what Ididlearn from him is the power of unconditional love.
I’ve never personally been in love. I don’t know that’ll ever actually happen to me. But if it does,that’sthe sort of love I want.
Messy. Crazy. Silly. Unapologetically wild.
“What’s fucked up, dad?”
He sighs into the camera, shaking his handsome face. “At some point we dropped the howling, and I didn’t even notice until it was too late.”
I grin widely.