“I know he was, but you know it doesn’t matter at this point. I should fuck your mouth to make you think twice about using it.”
I gaped at him and he cocked his head, his cold eyes raking over my body. Sometimes I forgot that he hadn’t changed, he hadn’t become less monstrous now that I was in love with him.
“Can you be good?” he pressed.
I nodded stiffly. Lucien ran the backs of his fingers over my cheek and then he was gone, his dark figure wending its way back into the crowd.
Chapter Nineteen
Lucien
Now that we were here and our plan was underway, all of the nerves I’d kept under wraps had disappeared completely. The familiar sensation of the hunt settled over me. My senses perked and time seemed to slow a little the evening wore on. Every brush of contact against my body or ringing voice sent me on high alert.
As we wrapped up dinner, I sat by Romano with my wife on the other side. Olivia hadn’t spoken to me since our disagreement in the hall. She didn’t seem angry though, just distracted and a little anxious.
We rose and I saw from the corner of my eye, Duran leave the room. He had his hand wrapped around the wrist of one of the serving girls and he was feigning slight drunkenness. I excused myself for a moment and ducked into the living room and strode down the hall to the bathroom. Once inside, I locked the door and took a tiny earpiece from my pocket. It fit deep inside my ear, making it almost impossible to see.
I tapped it lightly and there was a light rushing sound and then I heard Duran on the other end.
“...want to fuck. Just go on, no one will notice us,” he said, slurring a little.
I left the bathroom, heading back down the hall. On Duran’s end I heard a faint scuffle and then a girl moaned loudly.
“Easy there, you are married,” I said lightly.
Duran ignored me and I heard a door creak shut and then there was a light thud, like a body hitting the ground. I heard his footsteps climbing the stairs and then another door shut and he paused, panting for breath.
“I’m in,” he said. “And there’s no guards. What the hell?”
I stilled. “No guards?”
“No one,” Duran said. I heard his footfalls and then the sound of a door locking. “Where the hell are the guard—oh, shit.”
There was a clattering of falling bodies and Duran swore. For a second I could only hear his quick breaths and then the sound of something heavy dragging across the floor. Then there was a sickening thud and a whimper that almost sounded like a woman. There was a long silence and then another body hit the ground.
“Duran?” I said, resuming my slow walk down the hall.
“There were two guards actually, both having a go at one of the serving girls,” he said. “Strangled one, snapped the other’s neck. The girl’s tied up with her mouth gagged.”
“Again,” I said, “you do have a wife.”
“Fuck you,” Duran said. “Do you have Viktor?”
“I’m here,” came Viktor’s lightly accented voice. “We’re waiting.”
“Alright, Lucien, it’s on you.”
I ran a hand over my hair and stepped back into the living area. Everyone had congregated from the dining hall and were getting their after dinner drinks from the bar. Olivia stood on the far side of the room with Iris and Sienna and I made a beeline for them.
I cradled Olivia’s bare arm in my palm and I led her a few steps away. Her dark eyes searched mine, a hint of fear in them. Other than that, she was holding it together remarkably well. When this was over, I was sure I could find some way of rewarding her good behavior.
“It’s time,” I whispered. “Stay with Sienna and Iris until I disappear upstairs with Romano. Then if things go wrong, all three of you will go outside where V will be in a car waiting outside the gates.”
“What?” she asked, her eyes wide.
We hadn’t discussed this part of the plan before. I knew she would protest against leaving me, so I’d deliberately withheld it.
“V will keep you all safe,” I said. “Trust him and no one else. Understood?”