Dulce

“You’re a prick,” Hunter hisses as he drops to his knees beside Griff and checks him over.

“So, I’ve been told.”

“Dmitri.” I curse him, though I know Griff will be okay and spitting mad in a minute or two.

“If they are going to be demanding your attention, they need to learn there is a pecking order. Consider him fucking pecked.”

My heart thumps hard in my chest.

“What are you saying?”

“Dulce?” he questions, ignoring mine.

“That’s my name. Everly Sinclair is an alias,” I admit.

He looks away and nods without a word. I tense, waiting for him to lose his shit and walk away, but I underestimated the man.

“About time you finally told me. I thought I’d have to fuck the truth out of you.”

“Wait, what? You knew?”

He cocks a brow and looks at me as if to say, of course, I fucking knew.

“How? When?”

“Always. I knew who you were from the beginning because you were flagged after what went down with Griffen’s dad. I have resources you could only dream about, baby. I knew who you were when I bent you over my desk. I just wanted to see how you’d react.”

I’m not sure if I’m pissed off, impressed, or just plain old turned on. Maybe a mix of all three.

“That’s why you put me in with you. I never could figure it out. Eventually, I guessed it was to use me for whatever nefarious plans you had, but it still never sat right. I always felt like I was missing something.”

“I didn’t know if you were going to become an ally or an enemy. You’re far too dangerous to have you around the other students without me knowing what you can do.”

“Just when I thought you couldn’t be any more of a dick,” I mutter.

“You love my dick.” He winks before kissing me. He murmurs against my lips. “I had to know where your loyalties were. I know who you are and what you do, but I couldn’t find out who hired you. If it was my uncle—” he shakes his head at me.

“We aren’t always hired out. That’s not really how it works. Although, that’s not to say it doesn’t happen.” I sigh. “I can’t tell you much because it’s not just my life on the line here.”

“Would you quit? Could you?”

I swallow hard at his words.

“Those girls…They are more than just my colleagues. They are my friends, my family.”

“If that’s true, then it won’t matter if you are active or not, right?”

Frustrated, I try to pull free, but he grips me tighter.

“No, E—Dulce. You don’t get to walk away just because you don’t like what I’m asking you. I can handle you fucking them.” He nods to Hunter and a quietly cursing Griff.

“I can handle you and Cain. What I can’t handle is you fucking a dozen different marks to gather information, or whatever else your job entails.”

“You’re asking me this, but you haven’t told me what exactly it is you want from me. I live hours from here. And even if I didn’t, I don’t need schooling. I’ve already graduated. I—”

His lips cut me off, making me growl. He has got to stop doing that because I keep losing my train of thought.

He pulls free just as I’m ready to strip him, climb aboard, and ride him like a cowboy.

“I want you to stay. Not at the academy. I don’t usually live there. I was only there while I was trying to figure out what was going on.”

“Stay and do what? Be what?”

“Stay and be mine. Be theirs. Be ours.”

Holy fuck, is he suggesting what I think he is?

“Question, are you saying we should all just live together?” Hunter asks incredulously.

Dmitri shrugs casually.