Devil You Hate (The Diavolo Crime Family 1)

I smile at the chill in his tone. Reya glances up at him over her plate, perhaps noting it too. How much time do these two actually spend together? Maybe I don’t know Soo as well as I thought. Or maybe he’s getting better at keeping secrets?

After she takes a sip of wine, I snag her hand in mine and carefully drag her back into my lap. I don’t really care for fucking her today, but the fire in Celia’s eyes makes me want to keep touching Reya.

However, the second she touches me, I compare her to Celia. Reya is taller, thinner, more like a supermodel. But I prefer how sweetly Celia fits to my body.

Even now, the only reason I’m hard—and have been all fucking night—is because of Celia’s petite frame in the scrap of silk she’s wearing.

Reya twines her hands around my neck and resettles against me. Her perfume is too strong, but she’s warm, and I’m enjoying the tension on my friend’s face. It’s not that I want to hurt him, but he rarely shows me even a twinge of emotion. I’ve seen more in the short time we’ve been in this room than I’ve seen on his face in years. Which makes Reya more dangerous to our situation than anything.

If Soo loses control, cities burn.

I lean in and whisper in her ear, “What have you done to my friend here?”

She giggles and glances at him as if we’re sharing a secret. “I’m not sure. I don’t know what you mean. He and I have a working relationship, that’s all.”

I reach down and cup her round ass in my hand. It’s firm and full, and the reaction I expect from my body isn’t the one I get. She does absolutely nothing for me. “A working relationship or a working relationship?”

Another giggle escapes her painted lips as she cups my cheek. “Oh, baby, I never kiss and tell.”

I shoot Soo another glance, but he’s not looking at us, he’s sipping his wine, feigning disinterest. Oh, he’s interested, more than interested.

I twist her in my lap, so she’s facing forward, and I gently lean her over the edge of the table. Her long arms narrowly miss my plate.

“Then if no one else is interested. I guess I could take the edge off.”

She tenses underneath me for a fraction of a second and then relaxes, resting her cheek on the table. When she looks up at me from the corner of her eye, she whispers, “Do it hard.”

Fucking hell. My cock doesn’t even twitch. I should want to do nothing more than beat that fight right out of her and fuck her until she’s begging to follow my orders, but I’m not even a little interested.

Speaking of orders, I pause and listen intently, closing my eyes. I hear nothing but the faint sound of slots from the distant casinos. I don’t bother helping Reya up, but skirt around her lifted ass and march toward the kitchen. It’s way too quiet, and Celia has been gone for far too long. When I reach the kitchen, I find it empty. A few bottles of wine sit on the stainless steel counter, and as I look around the kitchen, I find a lone bottle on the counter further away, near the wide open back door.

She ran. I can’t believe she actually ran.

A smile tugs onto my lips before I even clear the doorjamb. The little brat wants to escape. Then I guess I’ll be the one to capture her again.

Then I’ll show her what happens when you try to run from the devil.

19

Celia

My heart is pounding in my chest, and fear zings up my spine. I miscalculated the distance that this place is to the actual casinos on the other side. Nor did I see the massive fence which lines the entire place from side to side, brick building to brick building.

“Fuck,” I shout into the chilly, empty darkness of the alleyway.

Light seeps from the still ajar doorway I exited.

If I go back now, no one will know I tried to run.

No, he’ll be able to read it all over my face as soon as he takes his mouth off the other woman long enough to notice me.

Wow. I’ve fallen so far. Jealous of some random woman my kidnapper flirts with. It doesn’t matter anymore. I take one last look at the door and head in the opposite direction, up the alley toward a streetlamp cutting through the dark. I hit a fence before I can reach it. My only choices are to retreat inside or keep following the fence until I make my way out of this warehouse maze.

Forward it is. The urge to run beats at me, especially knowing the second he realizes I’m missing, he’ll come chasing after me. The farther I get, the less of a chance he has to find me.