She reaches up, grabs the lapels of my suit jacket, and pulls herself onto her tiptoes.
And then, she kisses me.
Her lips press desperately against mine.
I know exactly what this is.
I am a master of manipulation.
I know she is only doing this to spare that bastard's life.
I know she is sacrificing her mouth just to keep his heart beating in the next room.
But fuck...
I still enjoy it.
The taste of her—even mixed with her tears and the salt of her terror—is a drug straight to my nervous system.
My eyes roll back, the rage in my head coating itself in euphoria. My hand flies to the back of her neck, locking in her hair and deepening the kiss until she whimpers.
She pulls back a fraction.
"I'll go with you," she whispers, entirely defeated. "I'll leave right now. Just... don't hurt William. Leave him alone. Please."
My thumb traces the wet line of her bottom lip.
Well... I'll take absolutely anything to have her.
Even if it means keeping that fucker alive.
I'll make the trade.
For now.
"Fine," I murmur as I slide the gun back into my waistband, my eyes never leaving her face. "He gets to live. But you belong to me now, Maya."
My teeth graze the sensitive skin of her earlobe, making her shiver.
"And don't worry about your little savior. I am going to make you forget that fucker in no time."
14
Maya
And that’s exactly how I ended up living my sister’s life instead of my own.
In the mornings, Graham insists on putting caviar, smoked salmon, and things that cost a literal kidney on the dining table. I always preferred plain old pancakes. Every single inch of my skin is dripped in diamonds and gold. I have a walk-in closet packed with the most luxurious, expensive things in the world.
But the difference between our torments is simple: while Graham appeared not to give a single shit about Valeria, he seems to be giving a terrifying amount of attention to me.
His eyes don’t stray. Even though I completely withhold sex from him, he doesn’t sleep out or go to the clubs where I’m sure he has his fair share of women waiting. And that is incredibly dangerous.
Because a woman could get used to this.
Scratch that—addicted to this.
I would rather die than truly fall for a man who belonged to my sister in the first place, even though his intentions all along were to get to me through her.Fuck him.His tactics worked. Because now, when he fusses over every single scar I have on my body, spoils me completely rotten even though it’s the last thing I want, and looks at me like he’d eat me alive and still be starving… my heart beats.
