The Skull Crusher (Skull 2)

After Heath watched the waitress walk away, he turned back to me. “That one’s got a bit of an attitude.”

“You have to have an attitude if you want to survive around here.”

“Definitely.” He drank from his glass. “A woman with an attitude turns me on…not sure why.”

Same with me. I hadn’t noticed it until recently…not until I met Cassini. But no other woman had the nerve to stand up to me. Cassini was a smart woman and knew she was in over her head. That didn’t stop her from standing her ground against me. Even if it was pointless, she tried anyway. She hadn’t put out yet, but her restraint would wane. Once she was comfortable with her new arrangement, her legs would slowly spread and I would pound her until she was sore.

“So, you didn’t get the diamond or the explosives. I’m guessing that’s why you look like shit right now.”

“I look like shit because I’m talking to you.”

Heath cracked a smile. “Always a smartass, huh?”

“Always.” I drank my scotch and finally turned to look into his face. “And no, I didn’t get either.”

“So, are we going to kill him, then?”

“No. We need him alive.” Lucian would hide the diamond in a place I would never find it, and if he were dead, he couldn’t work for me. I needed him alive—and submissive. “So I took something else.”

“Who did you kill this time? I know you wouldn’t lay a hand on his wife.”

I’d lay two hands on her—on her tits and ass. “I didn’t kill anyone. But I took Cassini for my own.”

Heath slowly shook his head, a grin on his face. “Bold.”

“She’s valuable to him, so I know it was a hard blow.”

“But is that the real reason you took her?” he challenged. “Or did you do that for yourself?”

I shrugged. “Both. Torture for him, reward for me.”

“She must be happy.”

“Not so much. She thought I’d rescued her. Then I enlightened her. She simply switched masters—that’s all.”

“She must prefer you to him.”

“I’m sure she does. But she’s still pissed.” And I liked it when she was pissed. She did this provocative thing with her mouth… I couldn’t get enough of it. “Which is fine by me because she’s sexy when she’s pissed.”

“If she’s your prisoner, can I get a go?”

I turned my gaze on him, provoked by the question. “Touch her and I’ll kill you.”

He chuckled then took a drink. “We’ve shared women before, but this one is off-limits, huh?”

“Yes.” I stared him down with my cold eyes, promising a painful death if he disobeyed me.

“Damn. She’s a beauty.”

“I’ll smash this glass over your skull.” I lifted my scotch and shook the glass so the ice cubes tapped against the sides.

He brushed off the threat. “I like making you angry. It’s so easy.”

I turned back to the strippers.

“So, she’s just going to live with you?”

“She’ll do whatever I want for the foreseeable future.”

“And what about when you get bored of her? Can I have her then?”

I assumed I would get bored of her eventually, but I still didn’t want to hand her off to my brother. Truth be told, I had no idea what I would do when my boredom descended. I didn’t want to give her back to Lucian because I wanted to punish him. But I couldn’t let her go because he would find her eventually. The only option I had was to kill her. That seemed like a waste. But that might be the only way to get Lucian to cooperate. That diamond was worth a lot more than her life, but he might have deeper feelings for her. There was no other way to explain his marriage to her. He could have kept her as a slave. He was never obligated to marry her. He did that by his own choosing. “No.”

“So even when you don’t want her, I still can’t have her?” he asked incredulously.

“Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it. Calm the fuck down and screw one of the strippers if you’re so horny.”

“I’ve been fucking anything and everything since I got out of the joint. But Cassini is fucking exquisite. That dark skin, those luscious lips—”

I slammed the glass against his skull, shattering the tumbler into pieces and sending him to the floor simultaneously.

Everyone in the room stopped and turned at the commotion, seeing my brother lying at my feet with a bleeding head and shards of glass sprinkled across his shirt and pants.

I snapped my fingers, and the waitress instantly put a new drink in my hand. I took a sip and watched the dancers again.

Heath groaned and rubbed his bleeding head. “Be careful, Balto. You only make me want her more.”

Without looking at him, I stomped my foot into his knee. “Be careful, Heath. I might actually kill you one of these days.”