Chapter 21

Kelvin's POV

I sat at the back of the club, my legs spread wide as I sat back in the chair, running a finger over my lips. Hardening at the sound of her whimpering on my laos and grinding against me. She knew exactly what she was doing.

I licked my teeth beneath my lips, running my hand down her waist and wanting to reach for the rock forming down my thigh at the idea of her helplessness. I gazed at the wooden door with hooded eyes, wanting to give in to my desires, but then the bastard walked in.

My fingers flexed against her waist as my gaze snapped toward the man who had just entered. A slow, irritated breath left my lips, my amusement fading into something far colder.

"Rodrigo." I called out with thinly veiled disdain.

The older man smirked, taking his time as he crossed the room, the scent of his expensive cigar mingling with the lingering traces of gunpowder in the air. He had always carried himself with an air of arrogance, as if the world owed him something.

I simply wanted his head on a platter.

He was my father’s trusted aide, one of the few men who had been in the Aldoracco family’s inner circle for years. But to me, he was nothing more than a vulture, circling around power, waiting for scraps to fall into his hands.

"You look comfortable," He commented, directing his beady eyes to Laura with a knowing smirk. "I see you've found yourself another pretty distraction."

My grip on her tightened instinctively, all I wanted was to feed those beads to my dogs.

I hardly got infuriated by idiots, but he was an exception. He always had a way of speaking that made my skin crawl. Not just because of his words, but because of the way he looked at what was mine, like he was constantly sizing them up, deciding whether they were useful or disposable.

Due to the undying respect I had for my old man, this thorn in my side would stay alive…for now.

"You’re late," I said flatly, choosing not to acknowledge the man’s comment about Laura. He knew nothing.

He chuckled, taking a slow drag from his cigar as he settled into the chair across from me. The bastard had the audacity to look amused, as if he wasn’t intruding, as if his very presence didn’t make my skin crawl.

“I don’t rush for children playing at being kings,” he said smoothly, exhaling a curl of smoke.

I let go of Laura, signalling the guards to take her out of the room for what might happen next. Even though all I wanted was to scream at what I would do….scream beneath me.

I waited for her to leave. A rare moment of courtesy. But like always, she didn't fail to surprise me.

“Don't touch me. I'm staying here.” She sounded pissed and looked as mad as a fucking doll. I couldn't help the grin that slipped my lips as I watched her stubbornly resist them with fire in her eyes and strut back to side down comfortably at my side.

This demon was attracted to danger.

She loved it.

And I couldn't love anything more.

But I wasn’t in the mood for any of this dead man's games tonight. I thought as I turned my heavy gaze back to him.

“You’re here because I allow it,” I said coldly, my fingers tracing absent patterns on Laura’s thigh. I didn’t miss the way his gaze flicked to the movement before settling back on me, his smirk deepening.

“Is that so?” he mused, leaning back lazily. “Funny, I recall a time when you had no say in these matters.”

I forced a smile, all teeth, no humor. “And yet, here we are. My father is relaxing somewhere on a vacation, and I’m the one sitting at the head of the table.”

His expression didn’t change, but I saw the flicker of something in his eyes. Annoyance. Maybe even resentment. Good.

I thrived on control, and I wasn’t about to let him forget who had it now.

“This meeting isn’t about the past,” I continued, my voice smooth. “It’s about the deal.”

Rodrigo exhaled another slow puff of smoke before nodding. “Right. Business first, pleasure later.” His gaze flickered to Laura again, a little too long, a little too interested. I felt intense rage building in my chest.

My fingers tightened on her thigh, a silent warning.

Rodrigo wasn’t stupid. He caught the message, lifting his hands in mock surrender. “Relax, Kelvin. I’m not here to step on your toes. Just… appreciating your taste.”

I leaned forward slightly, letting the tension coil between us. “You don’t have the right to appreciate anything of mine.”

His smirk didn’t waver, but I saw the flicker of recognition in his eyes. It was a threat that we both understood.

He thought I had forgotten. That time had dulled the memories, made me overlook the sins he carried like a second skin.

But I never forgot.

“A weak, pathetic and unworthy heir” he had sneered as he struck me hard across the face.

I had found my dog, Coeur, with his innard gutted and left to bleed out right in front of my room, like a poorly wrapped present.

I was eight.

And he had stood there, watching with cold amusement as I screamed, as I cradled the dying body in my arms, pleading for someone to help.

He had helped in making me into the monster that I was.

And I had discovered a sickly secret. One that could destroy everything. Including my father. I thought with an evil smile if now was the best time to end everything. Open the rotten can of worms or just watch from the side like I always had.

The bastard never truly served my father.

No, he served my mother.

The woman who whispered to him in the dead of night, who gave him orders that contradicted my father’s, who treated him like a fuck toy.

I knew what my father did not.

Rodrigo was never truly his man, he was hers.