Antichrist

Niko grabs my ass with one hand, keeping me on top of him as he swells beneath me and nuzzles my neck.

I laugh, my head tossing back as the song ends. Shoving him by his chest but making no effort to get off his lap, I shake my head and lean into his ear. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

His grip tightens when I try to stand. “Entertaining your little boyfriend.”

When I lean back to search Niko’s eyes, his are trained on mine. I can read the unanswered questions that he wants to ask.

“You don’t have to stay. You can leave.”

“This the kind of shit he got you doing?” Niko asks, and the edges of his jaw flex when his eyes fly over my shoulder.

“It’s consensual, Nik. I like it too…”

“Really?” he replies, mock surprise in his tone. “So you’re into sharing?”

“Yes,” I say defensively, crossing my arms in front of myself.

“Interesting,” he whispers so low I almost miss it, then the corner of his mouth curves into a sinister smirk as he taps me gently on my hip. “Hop up, baby. Just gotta test that theory.”

“What?” I tilt my head, my eyes widening.

What the fuck is he doing, and why is it that since Niko has been back, my life has been a series of ups and downs? Since he stepped his heavy boot back into this town, it has crushed everything that made my life easy while he was gone.

He’s already walking to the middle of the room before I can say anything else and Lester’s hand is on my arm, pulling me onto the chair Niko left.

I turn to face the bald criminal. “What is he doing?”

Lester’s beady eyes shift from me to Niko, his mouth in a straight line. “That’s something no one will ever know, baby girl.”

I meant what he was doing now, but I get the feeling Lester is talking about something else.

I sigh, running my palm over my cheek. I’m getting too old for Luca’s games.

“Where’s your boyfriend?” he asks, taking a sip of his beer as we both watch Niko drop down onto one of the single sofas in front of the gas fireplace.

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

Lester chuckles as the song changes to old 50 Cent. “Coulda fooled all of us…” Lila gets her spunk from her father. She never has an issue with putting people in their place, and neither does Tristan.

“Why are you guys here, anyway?” I know I should be seeking out Luca, but every time I try, I’m drawn back to Niko. He’s like a magnet. No matter how hard I try to ignore him, it simply works against basic science.

Lester points to Niko with the top of his bottle. “Because shit just got a whole lot crazier.”

As soon as my eyes land back on Niko, I regret it. I regret wanting to see him because I didn’t want to be proved wrong.

Because the fact is he’s right. I don’t like sharing—but I just don’t care with Luca. It has more to do with what I’m used to than it does with feelings.

A girl is on Niko’s lap, straddling him the way I just was, and rubbing herself over his groin. My throat swells, making it difficult to swallow, but I keep my eyes on his, desperate to call his bluff.

Niko smirks, raising his glass to his mouth as the song continues to play. When his tatted hand spreads over her toned belly, I break and look to the side, my heart hammering in my chest, I almost think it’s going to tear itself right out.

Pushing off the chair, I make my way down the hallway and through the open door to our bedroom, desperate for silence, a hot shower, and some normalcy. I left the studio frantic, wondering what was wrong with Luca, only to come home to a full sex orgy in our house. That rule was absolute between us, and yet Luca did it anyway.

I close the door gently, cutting out the screaming sounds of heavy metal and flick the lock closed. Closing my eyes, I breathe in and out, attempting to calm my thoughts. I didn’t see Luca anywhere after he ordered me to give Niko a little lap dance, yet this whole thing was his idea. I’m continuously confused with what he wants from me. One minute he’s happy to share me with anyone, the next Niko is a problem for him, the next he’s asking me to give him a lap dance.

I fill my bath and start stripping out of my underwear. Whatever Luca is going through, I will try to help him through it. I have to. I must…

I pour in my bath salts and slowly lower myself into the water, sighing once my shoulders are under and the hot water bites my skin. I need to scrub away my thoughts as easy as it is to scrub off the dirt on my body. Reaching for my phone on the side of the tub, I hit play on my podcast, desperate for a distraction.