Nero

My hands clench against Valentino's shirt.

Briar doesn't seem to miss it, though they only give a shake of their head and run their hand through their hair. "Then I'll work on cleaning up. I asked... one of the guys to look into the mail situation for you."

I notice their hesitation, probably an attempt to keep me from learning the name of whoever they're talking about. Not like it makes much of a difference to me. If I need to know who it is, I can find out...

...once I'm with Corbin again.

But I don't want to see him yet. My back is still too cut up.

I wonder if he thinks I'm dead.

I wonder if I want him to believe that I am.

"Thank you," Valentino says. He sighs, glancing back at the television, where another episode of the home renovation show is playing. "As much as I'd love to lie low for a few days, I should get back out there. It's too dangerous to have people wondering if something happened to me. I'll go out to the club tonight and put in an appearance."

"Club?" I ask, sitting up straighter. "What club? Is it safe?"

Valentino looks at me, and I find that I like the way his eyes crinkle around the corners when he smiles. He lets go of me, too, though, which I don't like as much. "Club Alpha," he says. "It's safe enough. I'll bring a few of my guys, and I'll leave someone with you as well."

Club Alpha is one of the BDSM clubs in New Bristol. I've never been, mostly because I can't stand all the fucking rules and talking they expect at those places. They sound kinky and risqué, but mostly they're dull. What's the point of a rough fuck if you have to check in every five seconds to make sure the other person didn't get a scratch?

That doesn't change the fact that it is a sex club, though, and it's the perfect place for somebody to try another attack on Valentino. Nobody would suspect the leather-clad, whip-wielding kinkster of being an assassin in disguise, out to strangle somebody with that whip.

Okay, nobody who frequents the club would suspect it. The rest of the world would be quick to point fingers.

"I'm going with you," I say. "I don't want to hang around here with a babysitter."

"Absolutely not," Valentino says, shaking his head. "You'll stay here where it's safe. You can't go out with your back like that anyway."

"Not with how much of a fucking mess it makes," Briar mutters beneath their breath. I ignore them.

"I'll pop some ibuprofen. It's really not that bad." I sit up properly and wiggle my shoulders a bit, smiling through the pain. "See?"

"I can see you cringing," Valentino says, deadpan, even though I know perfectly well he can't see any such thing because I'm more than capable of existing and continuing through my pain.

"Besides, there's somebody inside your team who betrayed you. Do you know who the mole is? It could be one of the bodyguards you want to leave me with. I sure as fuck don't want to be a sitting duck for them." I bare my throat at him, making the shock collar dig into my neck. "You might as well slit my throat yourself if you're going to leave me here on my own."

"I wouldn't leave you with someone I couldn't trust," Valentino says, but he knows as well as I do that trust isn't cut and dry when you're in this business. "Fine. But if you start to try to signal for help, just know the police will be involved. This isn't a typical mafia shithole. You don't want to draw attention to us."

Like I don't already know how precarious my situation is. As much as I hate it, I'm probably safest at Valentino's side right now. He has incentive to keep me alive, and I can lick my wounds in relative peace here.

"Got it." I start to get up, but Valentino pulls me back down against his side. I look at him. "What? Don't we have to get ready for our date?"

"It's still early in the evening," Valentino says. "Briar is going to fix us something for dinner, then we're going to get ready and head out. Slowly. You don't need to push yourself any harder than you have to."

Briar gives him the evil eye but nods. "On it." They give me one last disdainful look then leave the living room.

Valentino sighs.

"Did you fuck them?" I ask, looking toward the kitchen. "Or are they just pining for you for no reason?"

Valentino stares at me for a moment, then shakes his head. "Neither. Briar's just protective of me. They don't like that I've brought someone who tried to kill me into my bed, that's all."

"Is it even any fun if you haven't tried to kill each other at least once?" I ask, smirking widely. I lean in closer to him and kiss the underside of his jaw. "Come on, Daddy. You gotta admit, it's a lot better when it's rough."

Valentino grabs hold of me by the hair and pulls me back so I can't reach the scruff on his chin any longer. "I didn't give you permission to touch me, little cub," he says mildly, locking eyes with me.

"What are you going to do about it?" I lick my lips suggestively. "Shock me some more? Spank me? Open up all my wounds so I make another mess for Briar to clean up?"

"Stick you back in the room and leave you alone in there," Valentino says, smirking back at me. He tightens his grip on my hair. "I initiate, not you."

I groan, stretching my neck farther. The pinpricks of pain in my hair are very, very nice, and my cock twitches.

"Daddy..." I gasp, struggling a little just to feel his grip tighten.

Instead of giving me what I want, though, he lets go. "That's enough of that. Briar's making a nice meal for us. It wouldn't be very polite of us to be occupied when it's finished, now would it?"

I groan and slump forward. "Yeah, fine. I'm starving anyway." I hold up my bound hands. "How am I supposed to eat, though?"

"Well," Valentino says, his eyes raking slowly over me. "Either you'll have to prove to me that I can trust you to feed yourself... or I'll have to feed you. Right now, I don't think I trust you enough to unbind your hands."

I part my lips for him. "You want me to sit at your feet, too, so I take scraps from your hand?"

As soon as I suggest it, my cock throbs. Fuck, that shouldn't sound so hot. I barely know Valentino. I tried to kill him. I need to be working on getting the fuck out of here.

And yet.

From the way he's looking at me, he's having the same sort of reaction. His eyes are dark with need and desire alike, though he doesn't let it seep into his voice as he replies, "Of course. Where else would a needy little cub sit?"

"He's sitting at the table," Briar suddenly announces. "Because I made spaghetti for all of us. Just give him a bit of leeway with his hands so he can handle a plastic fork."

I turn to glare at them. They must have done that on purpose, just to spoil my fun.

Valentino rolls his eyes as he gets up. "I'm going to set you up on another blind date just so I can ruin it when things start going well," he says.

Briar scoffs at him. "Since when do blind dates ever go well? Checkmate, boss daddy. Get your ass to the table if you want to eat."

I take Valentino's offered hand, ignoring the pain in my back, and let him lead me to a boring dish of spaghetti and sauce, seated properly at a table.

The other version sounded so much more fun.