The Skull King (Skull 1)

He ignored my question. “Where were you this morning?”

I’d slipped out of his bed the second he started to snore. “I couldn’t sleep so I watched TV in my room.”

“You could have watched it in mine.” Anger danced on the surface of his eyes. My disappearance couldn’t have bothered him that much if he was unconscious, but he seemed pretty annoyed by it.

“Didn’t want to wake you. I know you have important stuff to focus on every day.”

A compliment to his ego seemed to get him to back off. He moved to his seat across from me.

Maria brought breakfast, scrambled egg whites with sautéed vegetables for me. I didn’t even get any toast. Lucian got a four-course meal, pancakes, bacon, and toast.

Fucking asshole.

He wanted me to stay my exact weight forever, so I grabbed my fork and didn’t complain.

Lucian split his bacon with me and set a pancake on the extra plate next to my breakfast. Like nothing had happened, he sipped his coffee and pulled out his phone from his pocket. He set it on the table beside him.

I actually preferred his coldness to his generosity. The nicer he was to me, the clingier he became. Now when we had sex, I would have to force myself not to think about Balto to get through it. I got too wet, and Lucian assumed that wetness was all for him.

Couldn’t be more wrong.

Now this man paid attention to me, wanted me to share his bed with him more often, and didn’t mind if I gained a few pounds because he saw me as more than a piece of ass.

“I’ll be gone until Tuesday,” Lucian said. “I have a meeting in Turkey.”

Good. That gave me a long vacation. I’d be fucking Balto’s brains out since I wouldn’t see him for another week.

“Come with me.” He held his fork as he stared at me, expecting my eyes to light up with joy.

Following him around at his meetings and being eye candy sounded terrible. I would be bored out of my mind, and I would have to witness criminal activities happening right under my nose. I knew Lucian was a terrible criminal with little value for human life, and if I thought about it too deeply, it only terrified me. He didn’t care about killing innocent people, and eventually, someone would want to kill him. I’d be one of the first people to get a bullet in the back of the head.

At least this hell would be over.

“I’ve never been to Turkey.” I couldn’t shut him down right away, and I couldn’t lie and say I was sick either. If Maria told him I was out every night while I claimed to have a cold, that would be a red flag. I had to play games.

“It’s beautiful. You would like it.”

“I already live in Italy—and there’s no place more beautiful.”

“No. But it’s comparable.”

“And what will I do while you work?”

He took a few bites of his food, his hair as oily as ever. I hated running my fingers through it because they became sticky. It wasn’t sexy at all, not like Balto’s short hair. He didn’t do anything to it, and his carelessness only made him sexier. He was gorgeous without doing a single thing to enhance his appearance. Lucian finished chewing before he answered. “Lie by the pool. Read. Nothing that you don’t do here.”

“Then why don’t I just stay here?”

“Because you can’t keep my bed warm at night if you’re here.”

I masked my disappointment with a very insincere smile. He had prostitutes to entertain him while he was away, and if he preferred me to them, then I was in deeper trouble. I looked forward to the weekends he was away because it seemed like I had my old life back, that I could spend time with my brothers and explore the city without my husband looking over my shoulder. And I could watch porn on my laptop every night and pretend he didn’t exist at all. “True. But I can also distract you all day while you’re working. And when a man brings his wife…it’s not exactly a power statement.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He set down his fork.

“You bring your wife to dinners and events. But when it comes to work…that’s work. You show off your personal life, and it becomes a liability. If anyone wants to be your enemy, they’ll know I mean something to you. I’ll be the first causality.”

“Beautiful.” His eyes fell in sadness. “I would never let anything happen to you.”

“You never know. They could wait until you’re on your next business trip and then make their move. You’ll be too far away.”

“My men will take care of you.”

I shrugged. “I just think it’s easier if I’m not in the picture. I don’t want anyone to think I’m a way to get to you. If you really want me to come, I’ll be there. But if someone were to capture me and torture me…I don’t think I’d be strong enough to keep my mouth shut. Maybe I’m being paranoid, but those are the things I worry about.” I pulled out every excuse from my ass, anything that would let me stay in Florence while he was away. There was only one place I wanted to be while he was gone—in Balto’s bed. I wanted that heavy, sweaty man on top of me all night long. I didn’t want the condom to separate us. I wanted to feel his come inside me. Anytime Lucian released, I pictured Balto instead. It made me crave the real thing.