PROLOGUE
Victor
Arlington, England
Present
My fist beats against the towering doors of the stone-walled estate. The flesh of my callused knuckles pulls back. With each hit, I leave a bloody trail.
The door cracks open, and I set my sights on Lake Russell, the pasty wanker, dressed in boxers and a white undershirt. Sleepy eyelids peel open.
“Victor, it’s not yet five in the morning. Why—”
My fist slams into his right eye. Lake stumbles on his toes. A wall assists thetosserin gathering his bearings.
“Ars-Arsehole!” Lake stammers. “I’m telling your grandmum!”
“You’ve given yourself too much credit. You’llnotsurvive this.” The power punch to Lake’s flat stomach shuts him down. Shoving up the sleeves of my blazer, I plant my legs wide. My large thigh muscles press against the confines of bespoke pants. I grab Lake’s collar with my left hand, crunching his nasal bone with the right.
I revel in carnage.
“Every tender word, every affectionate caress. All hinged on a lie.” Luxury had said those words in a subdued, bloody palpable tone. The devastation I caused her hadn’t moved me in that moment.
Now, adrenaline pumps a heart I long ago assumed had stopped ticking.
Fury fueled by the instances Lake flirted with Luxury.
His eyes loll.
Those fuckingeyeslocked ontomylady.
Desired whatbelongedto me.Belongs to me.
I come alive.
Knuckles wash in the heat of his blood.
Pounding Lake’s mouth, eyes, and chin, my brain only registers one stream of thought.
I woke in the bed I shared with my Little One—and that bed was void of her presence.
This herewankaabetted Luxury.
Helped her leave.
I’m a relentless, possessive bloke. After he’s dead, I will scour the ends of the earth and return my lady to her rightful place—at my side. And I’ll stop breaking her lovely heart.
1
Luxury
Early November
Cool air stroked my heated flesh as my ass rested against the side of a bench in Central Park. Victor stole the space between my thighs. A mouth created for sin crashed into mine. Depraved lips swept over mine while a single finger pumped my core, and a thumb toyed dangerously with my clit.
“Vic!” I teetered on the brink of agony.
A stunned silence fell over me as Victor licked his finger. “Tastes like you were on the verge of cumming.”