Once my trinkets and jewelry gaggle had swooned appropriately and my store was empty once more, I took a sip of my coffee, and turned around to find all my back up boxes were off the shelves above, my bags and trinket boxes completely restocked, and Lake was nowhere in sight.

  “That was short lived,” I murmured over the pang of disappointment that hit me all too hard in the suddenly silent shop.

  “My mistake.” Lake’s hands rested on my waist. He squeezed me gently. “I thought being here might show you how…incompatible we were. Help you push me away from what’s fast becoming an unhealthy obsession, princess. But watching you work is something else.”

  I held my breath. “In a good way or a bad way?”

  His hands tightened as he stepped up behind me until our bodies just contacted each other. “A good way, princess. Are you working late tonight? I have a few things to do, then I’ll come back for you. Can you handle that?”

  I nodded.

  He laughed softly in my ear. “Words, Annalise. Give me all your pretty words.”

  “Oh. Yes. I can manage,” I said, resting my hands over his on my hips. “Did I— Did I pry too much?” I blurted, my bravado from before well past its use by date.

  “No, you didn’t pry,” he murmured. “Are you sure this is what you want? I don’t do public relationships."

  I nodded, staring down at the coffee he’d bought me, all too aware that he stood in my shop in the middle of the day when anyone could walk in. “Yet here you still are,” I whispered back.

  “The club is different. Rougher.”

  “Like you?” I tipped my head to one side.

  “It’s not the same world you live in.”

  “I’m sick of my world, Lake.” I swiveled in his arms to face him. “I’ve been trying to get out of it for a long damn time. But I can’t. I bought this shop with all the money I had, from my savings and when my gran died I inherited a little more. I should have bought a house, maybe, but I wanted to build something of my own. So this was it. I never meant to stay with my family but every time Prinze takes from my till, it strips away my freedom to leave. I can’t afford to lose more to him. And yes, you being here is great but that’s not what I want from you.” I squeezed my eyes shut, and my mouth. I hadn’t meant to say all that. None of it. But the words tumbled out all the same.

  “I wondered," he murmured. “About why you stay in that big house. I thought maybe you liked the comfort factor. But then when you said that you slept here that night… I knew something else had to be part of it.” He watched me carefully. “I can help you, Annalise.”

  “I’m not taking money from you,” I snapped, twisting away from him. Prinze took money from me, and I didn’t want to find myself indebted to someone else so fast.

  Lake’s hand whipped out to catch my chin in a pincer grip. HIs touch gentled as he turned me back to face him. I let out a startled cry at the speed of his actions, the violence in his touch. Dark eyes stared down at me, but there was no apology in his gaze.

  “I don’t touch a woman roughly, princess. Not unless—” He broke off, still staring at me. His hold eased as he wrapped a hand behind my nape, pulling me toward him until my hands pressed to his black t-shirt. The heat of him blared beneath his jacket. I soaked in his warmth. “That’s not a part of me I ever want you to see, princess. I’ll always be sweet with you, and I’m never going to make you bargain yourself into a bad deal, not unless we’re playing, but that’ll be by your choice. I won’t let you tie yourself to me if that’s not what you want. Do you understand?” His mouth hovered the merest breath from mine.

  I didn’t bother answering him, pushing up onto my toes to press my lips to his.

  A groan tore from his mouth as he pulled me in closer, sliding his tongue deep, pushing my mouth wide to accommodate him. His kiss was slow and sensual, and I turned to liquid against his chest.

  Lake held me in strong, firm arms, braced against my counter, kissing me until my soft pants eased and I sank into his embrace. When he drew back, my eyes stayed closed, and my lips tingled with the echo of his last kiss.

  “Fuck, that’s a pretty sight, princess. I'm gonna come back tonight, alright? My number is in your phone. Call me if you need me.”

  “Yes,” I murmured. My eyes weighed a ton as I forced them open. “Promise you’ll come back?”

  He laughed, low and deep. “I promise. I want you to do something for me.” He pulled a plain envelope out of his back pocket and pressed it to the counter beside my coffee. "There's a blank piece of paper inside. I want you to fill it out with the filthiest fantasy you have. One you’re afraid to try but want to all the same. Will you do that for me?”

  My heart thumped traitorously. “What if what I want is to do something for you?” He’d kissed me, teased me and touched me, but I’d barely touched him in return. I wanted to do something that would make him feel like this wasn’t a one sided stalking relationship.

  Lake squeezed my nape in a deep massage that drew a mewl from my lips. I closed my eyes, letting him do what he wanted.

  His mouth ghosted over mine, then his lips were against my ear. “Your filthiest fantasy, princess. Pin it to the door. I’ll read it before I come to collect you tonight.”

  My eyes snapped open. “Where are we going?”

  But all I saw was Lake’s back, his jacket decorated with the Savage King’s insignia, as he walked out of my shop without looking back.

  CHAPTER SIX

  LAKE

  My little princess had a filthy mind.

  I cloned her phone in the shop while she was busy with her customers and checked her reading history. What? It’s not like she thought I was a nice, caring boyfriend. She knew exactly what sort of man she involved herself with the moment I walked into her shop. I warned her several times that I was possessive, controlling as fuck…

  And she’s still not running in the opposite direction, or screaming.

  Huh. Maybe that last part would happen sooner than I thought, if only in playtimes between us. The corner of my mouth turned up beneath my beard. I rubbed the unusual sensation away. My not-so-clean princess left me smiling more often than I ever expected. And that browser history? Not only did Annalise read dirtier romance than I ever thought I’d find on her phone, but she had a cute little watch list going that told me what I might find in that envelope pinned to her door later tonight.

  Because it turned out that my girl had a fetish for all things leather and ropes and stolen moments in the dark from eyes that shouldn’t have been on her.

  No wonder she didn’t run when I walked into her workplace after I watched her for weeks on end.

  That stupid as fuck smile was still on my face as I turned into the Black Crown parking lot. Dust swirled around me as I pulled my helmet off.

  “Pres called Church.” Nomad stood near the doors, his arms folded over his chest. “Hurry the fuck up, or you’re gonna get your ass handed to you.”

  “Yeah. Right.” I lengthened my stride, following him through the bar.

  Hands reached for me but I ignored the club girls who should have known better than to try to distract a member when we had a meeting. They’d be hell until I claimed Annalise publicly, and probably for a while after, but that was a different problem.

  I walked through the hidden door at the back of the bar with Nomad. It shut behind us as I settled at the back with the other members to find the Pres already talking.

  Shit. I hated being late for anything to do with the club, but then I hadn’t exactly been around recently, not with my head lost in Annalise. The thought of Prinze Kola bothering her really fucked with my headspace. That he’d been around when I wasn’t there, threatened her to the point she slept in her fucking shop, on the floor and felt like she couldn’t go home?

  That asshole had his death date written all over him, he just didn’t know it yet. Anyone else with a grudge to bear would have to take a ticket and get in line.

  “Meeting’s over. You’re on street duty with me again," one of the other members muttered in my ear.

  I looked around to find most of the club up and moving. The VP and Pres stared in our direction.

  “Yeah. Right. Thanks.” I didn’t say much else, needing to be out of the too-tight room.

  Fuck, my head wasn’t where it should be. I stalked back through the bar, ignoring the calls of the girls who swooned for the rest of the club members they crawled on the moment they emerged from the meeting room.

  The only thing that would clear my mind right now had two wheels and sat outside the bar. I started my bike, the grips cold under my palms.

  Lie.

  Who would clear my head was soft, full of curves in all the right places, and halfway across town. But I'd just seen her, and she could wait a little longer. I needed time to plan out what tonight looked like for both of us before I rushed back to her and fucked her against the wall of her shop.

  Pushing her too hard, too fast wouldn’t end well. Annalise loved the tease. Hell, she was one herself. The way she played on my lap the night I drove her home testified to that.

  I headed away from the Black Crown, away from Jackson Ridge, and along the fast darkening highway. A harsh wind buffeted across the open road. There was no place I’d rather be than out here, unless it was with her.

  By the time full night had fallen and I turned back to head in her direction, my head was a whole lot clearer. I knew what I wanted to offer Annalise on two fronts, though I suspected she’d only go for the second option, for now.

  First up, I wanted to give her another place to stay other than where she currently lived with her father. I knew she hated it there, and for whatever reason, living with family didn’t seem to be what she wanted. I understood that. Family, until I found the Kings, wasn’t my strongest suit either. So, I had an alternative on that front that didn't involve living with the rest of the club, or offering her money or a debt that she’d have to pay back, which was what she seemed to expect when I first suggested it.

  I suspected the Albanian mafia heir had a lot to do with that—his influence on her was longer than I thought and she was hurting a damn lot. If Annalise had a place to stay away from everyone else, then maybe she could heal on her own terms, but it had to be just that, her own damn terms. Not mine, and not anything to do with his.

  Which was why I figured she’d baulk at the suggestion, because she’d have to make a choice.

  The second option was a whole lot more fun. The videos my filthy minded princess stored on her phone suited my tastes just fine. And she backed up that little light bondage collection with a stack of stories to match. If I read her right—pun—then we’d be having a slightly altered playtime tonight with the lights off in her shop.

  I pulled up out the front of her darkened store well after everyone had gone home for the night. Everyone, except her, of course. Even though I couldn’t see her tonight, waiting in the window for me like she’d been most other nights I’d visited, I knew Annalise would be waiting for me inside. I took my time, resting my bike on its stand, taking my helmet off. The tease was what tonight would be about. The anticipation.

  And fuck if I didn’t want her right now. But I’d hold back as long as she needed, go slow as it took for her trust to build. The only time I’d ever been rough with a woman was after a hellish night with the club. We’d raided a rival businesses, and shit got ugly. I came back wearing someone else’s blood. My hands were still shaking when I downed my first shot of celebratory Black Crown bourbon, though thew liquor barely hit the sides and sure as fuck didn’t take the edge off. I never felt the burn as it went down.

  One of the club girls thought it would be cute to take me out the back and give me a blow job. I left her in tears on her knees afterwards, disgusted at myself for my own lack of control. Not that I’d actually hurt her—at least, so she told me afterwards, before she left the club—just scared her by how I shut down on her, how I refused to respond as I wrapped my hands in her hair and pulled her head down.

  And ever since, I’d been as sweet as I could with the girls, made sure I never hurt anyone. Sure as hell not a girl like my filthy little princess. We’d play, and I’d tease and fuck her, but we’d take it slow, even when we fucked hard.

  I made it to the door of Annalise’s shop, my mind swimming with what I’d do to her first. She had plenty of impromptu toys in her shop. I’d be able to MacGyver that shit up for her tonight, plan something out another time when I knew what she wanted a little better.

  But when I got to her door, it stood ajar. No envelope was pinned to it like I expected.

  I pushed it open and stepped inside, my gut tight with the silence of the place. Like there was no one there.

  “Annalise?” I murmured, walking into the shop, trailing my fingers across the surface of her tidy workspace where she kept her till and all her stationary things. “You in here, princess? Don’t make me come and find you.” I kept my voice calm, though inside my heart beat too fast. Leaning my back to the storeroom door, I busted out a fast message to Nomad.

  TITAN: Think I found your man. Right with my girl.

  NOMAD: Your girl is dating the mafia shit we’re hunting?

  TITAN: My girl is fucking well being hurt by the mafia kid. I’m at her shop and she’s not here.

  NOMAD: Maybe she went home.

  TITAN: Door’s open. Unlocked. It’s nearly fucking midnight. She’s meant to be here for me tonight. He’s been stealing cash from her. Fuck knows why.

  NOMAD: Alright. We’re coming to you.

  I blacked the screen, unwilling to waste any more time on the conversation. She wasn’t here, though the shop was unlocked.

  Where the hell would he take her?

  I closed my eyes, leaning my head against the wall. The answer came in the form of the softest, most heart wrenching fucking noise I’d ever heard. Because that was one of her noises, and it came from out the back.

  My feet moved before I thought anything through, my blade in my hand. The Albanian heir’s death day had a date.

  And that date was today.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  ANNALISE

  Gravel bit into my knees where I knelt in the parking lot behind the row of shops. I never knew the light was out at the back. Now, staring back at Prinze Kola as he watched me with the slightest smile on his too-perfect face, that lack of knowledge seemed like the grossest oversight.

  Horrible breath washed over my face from the man behind me who held my pony tail in a twisted grip. He forced my head back at an uncomfortable angle so I had to look up at Prinze. It was either that, or bow my back. Neither was a sustainable position, but I didn’t think that mattered to either one of them.

  From the gun Prinze held loosely at his side, I doubted that in a few minutes it would matter much to me, either.

  “I thought you were going to burn the building down.” I blinked at my own audacity as the words slipped from between my lips. “Not kidnap or shoot me.”

  Prinze stared down at me, his dead, dark eyes at total odds to the amused smile playing around the bottom half of his face, like a mix and match doll with parts that didn’t belong together at all. “Is that what you’d prefer? I hear you like being tied up. Perhaps we can arrange a show.” He pulled out the envelope I’d pinned to my door free from his jacket pocket and tossed it to the ground.

  It skittered across the gravel in a dirty mess to land before my knees. I shifted and the gravel that felt like cut glass bit deeper into my skin. Pain hissed between my teeth before I could prevent the reaction, but I refused to give him any other form of satisfaction.

  That he might have read what I’d written for Lake left me nauseated. Those words weren’t for anyone else to see. I’d had hard enough trouble putting pen to paper for the man I was fast falling for—had already fallen for, if I was honest with myself. Not that any of that mattered right now.

  Because Lake wasn’t here, and only Prinze stood before me.

  The gun tapped his leg in an irregular rhythm. “Mmhm. Perhaps if you don't talk to me, we should give the boys a little show? Now that I know what you like, of course. We could play out your preferred scenario right here.”

  I stared up at him, sickened. Please don’t touch me. Not you, not you, not you.

  “Fuck you.”

  The shakes that had started when he first walked into my shop and I thought it was Lake took over again. I'd run, then, while he laughed. Laughed as he set his men on me, chased me through the kitchen and out the back. Past the bins where one of them grabbed my arm and tossed me against the back wall.

  My face became acquainted with the brick quite intimately shortly after, and I didn’t have the ability to fight back as my vision swam when someone reversed my sense of gravity moments later. Gravel was my new worst best friend. If I was ever allowed to stand again, I’d be picking pieces out of my hands and knees for a week.

  If.

  But I doubted he’d let me leave this parking lot anyway.

  Prinze’s mocking smile did nothing to alleviate my pulsating fear. I tugged my head forward, trying to release the building pressure in my neck, but the grip in my hair tightened.

  The mafia prince bent over me. “Did you think you could say no to me so many times, and not be punished, sweet thing?” The cold metal of his gun traced along the curve of my cheek. “Did you think that if you refused to sell to me like your father wanted, that you would be able to walk away unscathed?”

  I stared up at him, uncomprehending. “What?” His words rang between my ears, making plenty of noise but far less sense.

  “You see, when I’m promised something—say, money, or a business, or property, I tend to expect to get what I’m owed. And when I don’t get that, then I get upset. Don’t I?” He didn't look at the men behind me, or the man holding my hair. His eyes bore into mine, unblinking like a predator.

 

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