Just a Bit Wicked (Straight Guys 7)

Chapter 1

There was a used condom on the floor by the bed.

This wouldn’t be particularly noteworthy if not for the fact that Vlad had been away for weeks and the condom definitely didn’t belong to him.

Vlad stared at the condom, feeling bile rise to his throat. His gaze shifted to the picture on the nightstand—a picture of a day at the park. He and Nina looked so happy, her small body looking tiny in his arms as he hugged her from behind.

He looked back at the condom and felt sick to his stomach.

Behind him, Nina kept chattering obliviously, saying how happy she was that he had returned home early from Switzerland.

Vlad had always prided himself on never hitting a woman. He was a big man, with a dangerous job, hot temper and fists to match, but he’d never hit a woman.

He’d never been so tempted in his life.

And he’d thought this week couldn’t get any worse. Apparently it wasn’t enough that he’d lost his job and the trust of the man he’d considered a friend. Finding out that his girlfriend had brought another man to his own fucking place and cheated on him in his own bed was just the cherry on the top.

“Who is he?” Vlad heard himself say, his voice flat.

Nina’s incessant chatter finally stopped. “What?”

Vlad turned around and jabbed his finger toward the condom. “Who is the shithead you’re cheating on me with?”

Nina’s enormous blue eyes widened. Her lips trembled. “Vlad, it’s not what it—”

“It’s not what it looks like?” Vlad growled. “Are you fucking kidding me, Nina?”

She flinched, stepping away from him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, her voice full of confusion.

She wasn’t a bad liar. Too bad for her Vlad was a former government agent and knew people who lied for a living. He used to be one of them.

“Who is he?” he said. He didn’t know why it was suddenly so important. No, he knew why: he didn’t think he was capable of hitting a woman even now, no matter what a lying, cheating bitch she was. A man was a different matter. Vlad’s body itched for a fight, had been itching to find an outlet for his pent-up frustration and anger ever since Roman had dismissed him from his position of head of security. If Vlad was honest with himself, he’d needed to find an outlet for his anger ever since that English twink, Luke Whitford, had gotten Vlad’s boss wrapped around his little finger. To this day, it baffled and disgusted Vlad how the little cocksucker had managed to bewitch a man like Roman. Vlad had never thought Roman was gay. He was still convinced Roman wasn’t. It was all Luke Whitford’s fault: the brat had the most obscene cocksucking lips Vlad had ever seen. Even Vlad, a completely straight man, couldn’t help but stare a little.

“Who is he?” Vlad repeated. His chest hurt more than he would have liked to admit. Nina had been his steady girlfriend for two years. She was smart, funny, and beautiful. He had been genuinely fond of her, sometimes even thought he loved her. They’d had a good thing going on. Or so he’d thought. Apparently Nina was of a different opinion if she’d fallen on another man’s dick in the few weeks that he’d been gone.

It wasn’t that he’d thought their relationship was perfect. They quarreled pretty often, mostly because of his work trips all over the world. The sex hadn’t been perfect, either, but then again, it never was: Vlad always felt vaguely dissatisfied and disinterested during sex, regardless of the woman he fucked. Vlad was used to it, putting it down to his low sex drive. He was actually pretty proud that he never let his cock rule his head, as many other men did.

“Does it matter?” Nina said, setting her jaw stubbornly. Her eyes flashed. She no longer looked scared and guilty; now she looked pissed off and defensive. “Why are you surprised? You’re never home! Am I supposed to be a nun while you travel all over the world, fucking women in Paris and London?”

“I’ve never cheated on you,” he said, ignoring her disbelieving huff. She never believed him. “I’m asking you for the last time: who is he?”

Nina pressed her lips together. “I’m not telling you. You would hurt him.”

The fact that she was protecting the fucker was an additional blow.

“Damn right I will,” he said. “Now grab your shit and get out of my place.”

Nina froze.

“You can’t do that,” she said. “You can’t just kick me out! I have nowhere to go in Moscow!”

“You should have thought about that before falling on another man’s cock,” Vlad said flatly.

Nina flushed. “Do you have to be so vulgar?”

Vlad gave a harsh chuckle. “I’m just calling a spade a spade. Or, in this case, a whore a whore.”