The Skull King (Skull 1)

I’d pay ten times that to be with her.

I watched her chest rise and fall with her deep breathing. Her wedding ring still sat on her left hand. It seemed like she never took it off. An enormous diamond sparkled in the center, flanked by even more diamonds. The beautiful ring didn’t suit her personality at all. She deserved something more unique, more meaningful.

I’d grown more curious about her husband as time passed. Whoever he was, he had significant power to keep her in line. He was obviously rich if he could buy her a ring like that and have her drive around in a Bugatti. Did I know him? Was he an ally or an enemy? It would be much easier if he were an enemy. Then I wouldn’t have to burn any alliances by bedding his wife.

But the mystery had gone on long enough.

It was time to find out who he was.

24

Cassini

I stood in the teal gown that had been fitted to my measurements exactly. It was so tight and so sheer that it left very little to the imagination. With a plunging front and a long slit up the thigh, it was precisely what Lucian had asked for.

I was the exact eye candy he wanted, my curled hair pinned up over one side to reveal my neck along with the string of diamonds he’d choked me with. I wore a bracelet with the same flawless diamonds, hundreds of thousands of dollars to add to my collection. My ring was already heavy enough, but Lucian had to make me look even more ridiculous. A man couldn’t wear wealth as well as a woman, so he expected me to shoulder the extra expense.

I looked at my frame in the mirror with my hand on my hip. I loathed the evening before it even began. His accomplices would eye-fuck me without shame, and Lucian would do nothing because that was exactly what he wanted to happen.

It was a disgusting power play.

And I didn’t care to go to the opera. Any free time I had, I would rather spend doing anything else, like being locked up in my room by myself. At least I could call Balto for a good session. I fell asleep last night the second I came. I didn’t even remember getting off the phone with him.

Whatever.

Lucian stepped inside my bedroom without knocking. He was in a black tuxedo, wearing an Omega watch and his wedding ring. I didn’t see the skull diamond he wore the other day, unless it was hidden underneath his clothes. He stepped farther into the room and examined my appearance in the mirror. “Beautiful.”

I felt like a fancy hooker. My heels were four inches high, and the slit went all the way to the top of my thigh. My gown fit every single curve so well, it felt like a second skin. Despite the thinness of the material, the dress was very heavy, definitely heavier than a cocktail sheath.

He came up behind me and placed each of his hands on my shoulders. His fingers squeezed into me lightly, his grip intrusive rather than supportive. Anytime his hands were on me, I felt sick to my stomach. His grip was slimy like a fish, oily like his hair. “You’re stunning.”

He’d hired had a woman to do my hair and makeup, so my appearance was over the top. My eyes were dark with the heavy eyeshadow and mascara, and my lips were painted a deep red, like the color of blood. He’d molded me into the exotic and lustrous woman that he wanted on his arm. He was proud of my looks, but he didn’t give a damn about anything that came from my mouth. “Thank you.” I forced out the words, being cooperative when all I wanted to do was slap him. Balto could get hard looking at me without any makeup at all. He jerked off to me in my old t-shirt with my hair a mess. Even after we screwed on his bed and my makeup had smeared from all the sweat, he told me I was sexy. He didn’t need me in a ballgown covered in diamonds.

My naked body was more than enough.

“We should get going.” Lucian stepped away from me, his wedding ring on his left hand. He almost never wore it, choosing his events wisely. It seemed to be something only necessary for a special event, when his status as a married man helped his image in some way. “Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

He moved to the door. “Don’t talk tonight. Smile and nod.”

I wanted to shove my diamond ring in his eyeball and make him permanently blind. Sometimes, he could be good to me, and other times, he treated me like a dog. I was just an object on display, an obedient woman who did as she was told. It wasn’t like I was much of a talker anyway, but to command me to be quiet… It was ridiculous. The woman inside me wanted to stand up for herself, to tell him to go fuck himself. But I swallowed my anger and let it roll off my back because fighting would get me nowhere.