Chapter 7

There was a familiar look on King's face as he dressed and walked out of my apartment. It was something I'd seen on Vinny Leonetti when he thought he'd lost his girl for good. It was the look Lee Bridgewater wore when he'd been trying to find the woman he fell in love with when she was missing.

It was how I looked in the mirror when I'd confronted my reality that neither Vinny or Lee wanted me, and I was destined to live my life alone.

But the words King said didn't fit with that look. All his talk of keeping me safe and not having my death on his conscience didn't jive with the devastation etched in the hard lines of his face.

The incongruity nagged at my mind all day and every night. It didn't help that King was acting like I didn't exist. He went out of his way to avoid me, did everything he could not to look my way. I'd had so many messages relayed to me from the girls, bouncers, bartenders, and the dealers at the club, that it was starting to draw attention.

The night Leni showed up, King had made himself scarce, so I couldn't have talked to him about her if I wanted to. He'd long ago given me the leeway to manage the number of girls we had on staff, but I'd always had the courtesy to introduce them to each other before the night was over.

Give him the option of saying no if he dared to cross me.

With Leni settled at a roulette table with Sienna, I excused myself, saying I needed a break. Except when I got through the staff-only door, I didn't go to the dressing room.

King's office was at the far end of the hall, closest to the security suite. The door was closed, but it always was. The man guarded his privacy like a jealous lover.

The doorknob moved easily when I twisted it, and I found King glaring at me from his desk when I pushed inside. Yet even with the glare affixed strongly to his face, underneath the mask of anger was that same desolate look.

His always-perfect hair was mussed at the front, the polished demeanor he always wore was frayed. His suit jacket was missing, and his tie hung loosely around the open neck of his shirt.

King didn't say a word as I entered, which was no different than the past week but completely out of character for the man I knew. His eyes tracked me, the same way they did every night on the casino floor, as I walked across the Afghan rug. I'd gotten used to it, and in the absence of it, I'd come to realize I craved it.

Instead of stopping at the front of his desk as I usually would, I rounded the polished wood furniture, intruding on his space. He pushed his chair back, away from me, and his eyes flared as I perched my ass on the edge of the desktop.

"Kingston." I crossed my arms. Felt a wave of displeasure when his eyes didn't drop to my chest like they had in my bedroom.

"Carina." His voice was razor sharp, each syllable carved right out of my flesh. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to check in on you." When he said nothing, I told him, "I wanted to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine."

Dragging my gaze down his rumpled form, I shook my head. "I can see that. You look like hell."

King ran a hand through his hair, the short locks feathering down across his forehead as he freed them from his fist. "I said I'm fine."

I shifted, lifting my thigh onto the desk and hooking my foot behind my other calf to keep from toppling to the floor. Any other man would have at least glanced down at the newly bared skin of my leg, but King didn't so much as move.

"People are starting to talk." I tilted to the side, trying to catch his attention, trying to draw him back to the real world and out of whatever this was. "The girls are worried about you."

He scoffed, then turned his attention to the monitors hanging on the wall. He had his own security setup in here, the live footage from the cameras in the casino streaming right to this room, making it so he could keep watch over everything without stepping foot through his office door.

One of the displays showed the roulette table where I left Leni, and heat grew in my gut. The camera was zoomed in more than usual, as if he'd been watching her.

"That's Leni Harper." I smoothed a hand down my leg, straightening the hem of my skirt on my thigh. I swallowed, then swallowed again. "I was going to introduce you, but you haven't come out of your office."

If he heard me, he didn't show it. Just kept watching the screens and ignoring me.

"She's the one I had over the other night. When you…" I stopped, unwilling to go down that path. "We met at the Pink Minx when we both worked there. I was telling her I was thinking of going back."

At that, King's shoulders stiffened, but he made no further movements. I hated this. This thing between us. I'd always been able to rely on him to listen, even if he promptly shut me down.

"Maybe I should," I said, my voice a little weaker. "Maybe this isn't the right place for me?—"

Before I could finish, King was in front of me, his hands gripping the outsides of my thighs. "Don't."

"Don't what?" That heat in my gut flushed through me as my heart thumped harder in my chest.

"Don't joke about leaving."

"It's not a joke!" I scooted backward, but he didn't let go. "Everything I said the other night is still true, King. I need money to live, and if I can't make it here, I'll be forced to go somewhere else."

His grip tightened, his fingers digging into my hips and ass. "Does your safety matter to you at all?"

"My safety." I shook my head and crossed my arms over my chest, trying to ignore the way I felt with him seated between my open thighs. "You keep talking about that. About keeping us safe. It's like you're hanging some unknown threat over my head to keep us in line. This isn't religion, Kingston. I'm not going to bow down to you and pray for my soul just because you say so."

"There is a threat," he said, his voice a growl as he tugged me to the edge of the desk.

My hands shot out, gripping his shoulders to keep from falling off. "Then tell me what it is!"

His hands smoothed over my skirt as he dragged his palms down my thighs, hooking his fingers behind my knees. "You already know what happened to Mr. Leonetti's daughter-in-law. I shouldn't have to tell you again."

"You're worried about someone breaking into my apartment and abducting me?"

"I'm worried about someone taking advantage of you!" he said, his hard voice a contrast to the light pressure of his thumbs creeping up the inside of my thighs. "I'm worried about someone taking you away from me!"

He rose from his seat, his face close to mine. His hands crept higher, but his voice was dangerously low. "I'm worried that someone will kill you, Carina. That I'll be forced to relive the worst pain I've ever felt in my life."

My head fell back as his hot mouth touched my throat, his lips sweeping across my skin as he slipped his fingers into the waistband of my thong and tore it straight off.

"What happened?" I asked, though the words barely made it from my mouth before he sank two fingers into my pussy in one quick thrust.

"You'd hate me if I told you."

"Who says I don't hate you already?" I asked, but we both knew that was a lie. My body betrayed me, my hands holding him close as the wetness between my legs soaked his fingers each time he drove them into me. I whimpered as his thumb circled my clit. "Tell me."

His fingers slowed, and he edged back, his dark eyes taking me prisoner. "I want to watch you come."

I took his face between my palms, tugging him near. Before his lips could meet mine, I stopped him. "I want to know."

A yelp pulled free from my chest as King pinched my clit. With no warning, he pulled his fingers free and dropped back into his chair. I was panting, my core throbbing in want of him, especially as his attention locked between my legs.

"Come on my face, then maybe I'll tell you."

There was no time to argue. King hooked his arms under my thighs and yanked me toward him. I tumbled backward, landing on my elbows, the blow only softened by his lips closing around my clit.

"Ahh!" I yelled, both in pleasure and pain. He locked one arm around my thigh, keeping me in place as he thrust his fingers into me, giving my clit a hard suck. My back arched off the desktop, and he let loose, only to lash his tongue against me, dipping inside me before flicking at my sensitive nub.

I tried to grab for him, but he pulled me against him, burying his face between my legs and leaving me in such a position that I felt like I'd fall if I moved. All I could do was lock my thighs against his head and hold on for dear life.

It was his moan that set me off and sent me flying. With his fingers curled forward, with his lips locked around my clit, the vibrations that shook through him hit the magic button, and I could no longer hold back. My stomach pulled tight, and pleasure zipped up my spine and hit my brain like a heavy drug, my body convulsing and my pussy clamping down on his fingers as I momentarily lost my sight.