Stepping back, I run a hand through my hair. “Snooping, obviously.”
Her brows draw in. “I told you to stay put.”
I step into her until her ass is pressed against the edge of the desk and my hips are wedged against hers. “And I’m not a dog you can bark demands at, sweetheart.”
She smirks. “I beg to differ.”
My cock jerks, arousal warring with my brain, warning me to keep my distance. My brain loses, the way it seems to always lose with her.
“You’re right,” I agree, taking my uninjured hand and reaching around to grip her hip and pull her into me. “Tell me to sit and eat like a good boy, and I swear to fucking god I’ll do it.”
My mouth waters at even the thought of what she tastes like.
Her lips part, and I have the most delicious visual of my dick slipping between them, her big brown eyes staring up at me, and that tongue ring she didn’t have the night we met running along the shaft.
“This desk is worth more than your life,” she whispers. “And you’re bleeding all over it.”
I snap out of my thoughts, realizing that my fingers are digging into the meat of her ass, and I step back, letting go like she set me on fire before looking down to where there’s a small puddle of red pooling on the wood.
Jesus, what the hell is wrong with me?
A loud sigh pours from Eveline’s mouth and then she’s pulling me by the hand again, back to the couch, tossing me like a rag doll into it. She sits next to me, dragging my bleeding arm into her lap. Then she grabs the first aid kit and gets to work, pouring hydrogen peroxide over the wound.
The sting permeates through my skin and makes me hiss. “Ouch. Fuck.”
“Oops.” She looks at me with wide eyes. “Did that hurt?”
It gets quiet as she takes out the antiseptic and gauze, cleaning the wound and dabbing at it, her eyes laser-focused on the task at hand.
My stomach tightens and I take the moment to look at her, really look at her, wondering again what she’s doing here and how she feels about her family’s chosen profession. Sadness whirls through my center as I think of everything she could be.
Maybe it’s not too late. Maybe I can get her out.
“Why did you lie to me about your name?” she asks without looking up from where she’s bandaging the wound.
My chest twists. “The same reason you didn’t give me yours.”
She swallows audibly and peers at me through her lashes, her eyes moving back and forth quickly, as if she’s trying to see past the facade and drag out my soul. Her lips part and my abs tense, the air growing thick and filling the space between us until it feels like I might snap in half.
Her face is an inch from mine and when she breathes out, I breathe in, trying like hell to remember that she’s the enemy. That I’m here to take her and everyone she cares about down.
That none of this is real.
It can’t be real.
Suddenly, the door swings open and slams against the wall, causing us both to jump apart. Liam walks in, barreling straight to us and shoving his thick finger in my face.
“Fuck up like that again, and I’ll put a bullet in your fucking mouth. You understand me?”
Eveline’s brows jump and she stands, moving across the room to perch behind the desk.
I lean back against the couch cushions. “Remind me when I started to work for you, Liam?”
His cheeks grow red, his body tensing, hands rolling into fists like he’s about to try and hit me. Dude’s got anger problems, for sure.
“When you two are done measuring dicks, feel free to tell me what’s going on,” Eveline interrupts.
He spins around to face her, strands of his red hair falling onto his forehead. “Don’t worry about what the big boys are doing, sweetheart. Just sit there, look pretty, and run the numbers like your daddy asks.”
So she’s doing the books. Shit.
Him calling her sweetheart burns deep in my gut, because calling her that is my way of pissing her off, not his. Every time I say it, my cock jerks from the angry flush that pinks her skin. When the endearment falls from his lips I want to stand up and shove his face into glass the way I did Tony a few minutes ago.
Eveline’s entire persona shifts in an instant. She tilts her head to the side and smiles. “Come again?”
“Why don’t you give us a minute?” Liam continues.
Clearly, Liam doesn’t see the change.
Eveline places her dainty hands on top of the large mahogany desk, dropping her head and shaking it back and forth as she closes her eyes, mouthing what look like numbers.
“Come on, Evie. You don’t need to listen to all this,” he tries again, winking at her this time. “I know you like to play boss when Skip’s not around, but this is guy stuff, okay?”
Her eyes crack open and sharpen like a blade as she grabs a couple of envelopes from the corner of the desk and a silver letter opener before walking toward the door. “Sure, my bad.”
My brows rise, surprised she withered so quickly, but I should have known better. She reaches Liam and shoves him forcefully into the wall, using her entire body to pin him, the letter opener pressing into his crotch, and the skinny heel of those boots she’s always wearing stabbing into his foot.
He pushes back against her, his hands at her shoulders, and I move to jump between them, but quickly realize there’s no need. She subdues him easily.
It’s actually quite a comical sight, a short girl not even clearing five-two with a tall man well over six feet at her mercy.
I sit back, half in disgust at what she’s capable of and the other half in awe of the power she’s suddenly exuding.
“You know,” she starts. “I’ve always wondered what it would feel like to cut off a man’s testicles.”
He jerks again, but she shifts her weight, her pointy heel digging into his foot until he groans from the pain. His hands tense at his sides, but even he isn’t stupid enough to try anything while she has a sharp blade against his dick.
She tilts her head. “Should I try it on you?”
“Evie, come on. Don’t lose it right now.” His voice is strained. “Your dad will kill me if I have to hurt you.”
“Lose it? I’m not losing anything,” she says, glancing over at me. “People seem to think I have problems with impulse control. Can you believe that?”
She laughs, and I’m frozen, stuck halfway in my seat and halfway to standing, the burning in my thighs nothing close to the panic swirling through my middle and surging to my throat.
Liam’s eyes flick to me, and I… I don’t know what the fuck to do. I should stop whatever this is, the right thing to do is to stop it, but the other part of me, perhaps the more vindictive part, wants to let it play out. Stepping in is a risk. One that I can’t afford to take.
“Oh no,” she coos to Liam. “Brayden can’t help you. He’s assured me that he’s incredibly adept at following directions.” Her hand presses the letter opener farther into Liam’s crotch. “Isn’t that right, pup?”
He whimpers.
“Apologize,” she demands.
“I’m sorry,” he rasps.
She tsks. “Just like a man. Giving the bare minimum and expecting us to be satisfied. Say it like you mean it, Liam, and maybe you won’t leave this room a eunuch.”