Serpent King's Bride: A Dark Mafia Romance Trilogy

“See that you do,” he replied. “Because if she’s not under control, she’s a liability we can’t afford.”

I nodded, the gravity of his words settling like lead in my stomach. “She won’t be a problem,” I assured him, though my mind raced with the harrowing task ahead.

To secure Abby was to ensnare her further into this deadly game—a game I was no longer certain I wanted to play, let alone bring her into.

I wasn’t even sure I could trust her…not after how she’d lied to me.

But Ba was instructing me to get engaged to an FBI agent—to marry her and induct her into the Triad—and above all else, I had to play by my father’s rules.

Chapter Seven: Nathan

Fucking Abby.

She had gotten me into this mess—put us both in danger. Ba had me by the throat, and Abby had me by the balls…and I didn’t have any fucking control.

I raced back to the house, anxious that Ba had already done something to her. In that single meeting, he’d threatened Alex, Justin, Abby, and myself—and for what? To show me that I was his asset? To set me straight?

I didn’t know…but I didn’t trust him for a second.

I found Abby sprawled on the patio lounger, sunlight dappling her bikini-clad skin, phone in hand as she flicked through posts. A sense of irony twisted in my gut.

I’d thought I could cage something as wild as Abby, but now? Now, it was clear who the captive really was.

She smiled at something on her screen, like we weren’t in the middle of the storm. The locked silver necklace around her neck, supposed to be a symbol of my ownership, glinted mockingly in the light. It might as well have been a shackle fastened around my own neck, binding me to her with chains stronger than steel.

And in that moment…I was angry. The shock had worn off after Tyler’s death and dismemberment, and it was clear now that she was the one who had changed everything, who had twisted me up and put us all in danger.

Yet here she was, sitting on my balcony without a care in the world.

I clenched my jaw, fighting the urge to confront her about everything that had been eating at me since yesterday morning. Instead, I sat down beside her, the familiar scent of her skin hitting me like a wave. She was a vision, the sun lighting up threads of gold in her chestnut hair, her freckles dark against pale skin. She looked up, green eyes fixing on mine, and her smile faded.

“Nathan…you’re back,” she whispered.

I nodded, tearing my gaze away from her. “Yeah.”

“And…?” She shifted to face me, giving me a perfect view of her perfect body. “What happened?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

She was quiet for a moment, biting her lip. “Does that mean you forgive me?” she asked. “Are we…are we good?”

“Forgive you?” The words slipped out, laced with incredulity and a bitterness I hadn’t intended to reveal. I reached out, almost involuntarily, my fingers tracing through the silk of her hair. It was soft, soothing even…

…but it did nothing to douse the anger simmering inside me.

“Abby,” I growled. I needed to talk to her, wanted to tell her everything. When she’d just been a waitress, just the girl I’d claimed as mine, she’d been the perfect confidant.

Now, though, she had teeth.

And pets with sharp teeth needed to be disciplined if you wanted to domesticate them.

With more force than I knew I should use, I hauled her to her feet, her eyes wide with surprise—or was it excitement? I never knew with her, when she’d admitted to having dark fantasies, to liking it when I bruised her.

The phone slipped from her grasp, clattering on the tiles of the patio as I dragged her inside. Abby stumbled, her bikini-clad form a stark contrast against the cool interior of my beachfront home. I pushed her to her knees, the forcefulness of my actions betraying the tumultuous emotions that churned within me.

“Seems like you’re forgetting your place,” I rasped, my voice cold, devoid of the warmth it once held for her. My grip tightened around her wrists, lifting them effortlessly over her head. She tried to speak, but I cut her off.

“Shh, no more words.” I unzipped my pants with my free hand, letting my cock spring free. “You’re just a toy, remember? A hole for me to use when I please.” The harshness in my voice sounded foreign even to my own ears.