Levi strides past me as I hover awkwardly in the open doorway. The need to turn on my heels and run sparks low in my nervous stomach, but I think about the maze of halls we've been wandering through with hesitation. “Don’t even think about it, Empress,” a low, rumbling tone comes from across the room.
I follow the sound to meet Roman’s hard stare. He’s fucking gorgeous. They all are. There’s no other way to put it.
Roman leans back in his seat in an impeccable suit, exuding the cocky confidence that comes with wealth. When I first saw them in my dingy apartment, they hid in the shadows, covered by black hoodies and their cryptic silence. It was nearly impossible to see the sharp edges of their jawlines or just how defined their massive bodies really are. But here, standing before their judgmental stares, they can't hide from me anymore. Though the same could be said for me.
I narrow my gaze on Roman, slowly trailing over the rough stubble covering his jaw, wondering if he's the one running this show. Strands of thick, dark hair hang unkempt from the tied-back mess on top of his head. He’s a fucking masterpiece, but deadly from every angle. Add the rough stubble around his jaw and he’s the very definition of the man of my dreams. Too bad he’s a fucking psychopath.
His obsidian eyes are locked on me as I notice the angry scar slicing through one thick brow and over the top of his eyelid. It trails down to the very tip of his cheekbone, and I can't help but wonder what happened to him. The scar sits on a perfect angle, but it’s just rugged enough to have everything clenching inside me. While the brothers all look freakishly similar, Roman’s scar sets him apart. I can't explain why I feel a sudden connection to him without a single exchange of words, but his hard expression speaks to me on a different level. I’ve had one strange conversation with Levi, but so far, Roman is the one I feel I know the most about.
“What happened to you?” I ask, folding my arms over my chest and popping out my hip. “Fuck the wrong man’s wife?”
A dagger spins in his hand, the pad of his fingertip pressed right against the sharp tip of the blade and seeing the lethality in his eyes, I wish he’d just throw it and pierce my heart, putting a premature end to the shit storm I know I’m about to endure. “Sit.”
I keep staring, refusing to abide by his orders as my gaze continues down, sailing over the relaxed way he leans back in his ridiculous gold-trimmed chair. He flinches, adjusting himself slightly to hang his arm over the backrest of the chair beside him, and as he does, my whole body jumps. For just a brief moment, I really expected him to throw the knife.
His muscles roll with his movements and the way the corner of his lips twist up into a crooked grin tells me that he knew exactly how I was going to react to his sudden movement. He’s fucking with me and he loves it.
My back straightens and I clench my jaw, not appreciating his bullshit in the slightest. Despite how brave I’m trying to appear to be, he knows just how scared I really am.
Fearing that he truly loves my attention on him, I turn away, not wanting to give him what he craves. Glancing down the long table to his brother, I find him sitting at the very end, acting like he belongs at the head of the table when we all know that spot belongs to the eldest of the bunch.
My gaze drags over his hard demeanor. I didn’t think it was possible but he somehow looks even more pissed to have me here than his brothers do.
Marcus Fucking DeAngelis.
Just looking at him sends waves of rage pulsing through me, remembering the way his hand curled around my throat and the heavy blow that knocked me out. My head has been hurting all day because of his shit. I mean, I’m five foot nothing and weigh less than a freaking bug. They could have easily subdued me, taped my mouth shut and disappeared. There was no reason to knock me out cold.
Fucking asshole, but a freaking gorgeous one.
Why couldn’t I have been abducted by ugly dudes? The last thing I need is to be sexually confused by these guys. If only Tarzan didn’t give out on me the way he did. He’s been the only consistent man in my life. I trusted him and he didn’t come through for me, but then, I’m more than pleased that Levi didn’t get to see me come while watching me through my closet door. Fucking creep. Who does that? He was probably rocking a semi while he watched me.