Criminal Affinity

Chapter 3

Ava gets the opposite of what she expects. She peers down the grand staircase to see pretty, veiled women perched on senselessly drunk men. A set of dancers moving and pole-dancing to the sort of music that reeks of s*x. But the house only holds a gentle silence.

If one can even call it that. The only lighting is pouring through the stained glass windows. Something about it is almost archaic, artful. Prettier than any cathedral Ava deigned to set foot in. Tall white pillars and twin sets of stairs-in the middle of which is a wide fountain with a faint glimmer.

She didn’t expect the house of sin to wear the face of a church.

“Where is everyone?” Ava asks.

“Asleep.” Lily leads Ava up a flight of stairs, and then another. “The house sleeps at dawn. Don’t get any ideas, we’re guarded at all times.”

Ava would have snapped if the girl’s tone was hard, but she sounds amused. Good-natured. She ignores it. Ava plays these games, and so does everyone else. “Never stopped me before.”

Lily speaks with a smile, “I know. But if you get out, no one will be there to protect you.”

What a way to be patronizing. “What’s his name?”

A break before she speaks. “William Chevalier. People know him better as the Underlord.”

Fancy mansion and a fancier name. Do these prideful bastards never get tired of the sound of their own voices? “What does he want with me?”

“Believe it or not, he brought you here to protect you. But he wants something in return which he would like to discuss with you.”

Ava frowns. “I don’t even know who he is, and he wants to protect me? Is this some sort of a joke? I was kidnapped and not offered aid. Try a better lie next time.”

Lily looks over her shoulder, “Keep your voice down, everyone is sleeping. And no, it’s not a joke. I hope you know you have a target on your back after what happened to Pandora. We all know who you are.”

Something crumbles inside Ava. She never conversed with enemies, and they never saw her true face. If they found out who she was, it was moments before their death. Now Ava is trapped in a mansion full of people and everyone knows who she is, what she’s done and what she looks like.

Before Ava can reply they reach black French windows leading into a room. Ava’s stomach drops further. She has had to meet many of these Heads. Old, fat and with scorching colognes. They always expect her to drop on her knees and worship their shriveled c***s because the latter means a bullet in the head.

Ava has seen many girls go down that road right before her eyes. Too many times.

“He isn’t going to hurt you,” Lily says, and after a pause she leaves. Could she see the look in Ava’s eyes? Even if she did, why would she care?

Why should she believe Lily?

Ava swallows hard and throws open the doors. At first there is silence and darkness, then as her eyes adjust she sees two figures half drenched in the light streaming through a window identical to what she saw in the hall. She steps in soundlessly, leaving the door ajar behind her.

She has no defence, no weapons. A faded scent of Arabian oils clings to the cool air inside. She dares another step and instantly freezes.

A woman is sprawled upon a desk before a window, legs split open at his mouth. At the sound of the door opening, dark eyes fire up at Ava's. Glittering and vengeful. The man doesn’t stop, only continues to draw the woman deeper in.

Heat leaps in her stomach.

Breathless, she stands there, her hand tightening on the knob. He doesn't stop. Ava watches his slick mouth on the woman’s p***y, eyes still on hers. And then he goes ahead and palms her breast, drawing a long moan from her.

"William..." She moans. Ava’s thighs clench together, breasts aching with a need that hasn't taken over her in years.

Those clouded eyes don’t leave hers for a second.

Ava locks her jaw to gather some dignity and looks away.

Just then, he grabs the woman’s pink, lacy corset and hauls her up, burying his lips in her hair to whisper something. Senses finally swarm Ava’s dumb existence and she turns away from them fully. The woman whispers something back to which he huffs a laugh.

The laugh doesn’t sound old and fat. It sounds deep and attractive. After some ruffling of fabric, Ava turns back to find the woman approaching her.

"That's a... really nice corset." She somehow finds her voice.

"Thank you, honey." The woman smiles, a proper English accent coating her words. Her skin is the shade of coffee, her features dark. Indian. She’s insanely beautiful. “I’m Rani, nice to meet you.”

Ava can’t spit in the face of a woman with such a generous, tender smile. She returns the gestures and stands still as the woman leaves.

When Ava’s eyes finally revert back to the inside of the room, the first thing they catch are William's. For the second time.

His head is c****d to the side, his eyes nothing short of predatory. Her glance slides to his hands braced on the desk, ripped muscle, lean but strong. A couple of tattoos peek from beneath his sleeve, but she focuses on his lithe fingers as they pick up a blunt and light it.

"Did you enjoy the show?" He asks her, his accent so pleasant that some part of her doesn't want him to stop talking.

But the other part wants to live.

She latches the door behind her, eyes skimming the room before she strides to the middle where he's at. He’s not ugly, old or fat. But he doesn’t reek either. She can’t make out his features, but the sharp planes of his face can’t be softened even in the dim light.

If she attacks him, he won’t leave a bone of hers unbroken. Underlord isn’t some fancy name he chose for himself. Ava hates being wrong.

Suddenly, everything stops making sense at all.

“Why am I here?”

He takes a long drag and lets out a slow slither of smoke. Ava’s hands itch to find something to do. In what little light the room holds, Ava feels exposed under his steady gaze.

“So you know who I am.” He steps closer, the soft tick of his shoes deafening. “And you came to meet me without pants.”

Dark amusement colors in his tone, and Ava wants to do nothing but hide. But she didn’t come here to hide. “I’m going to ask you again. Why am I here?”

“You are alive because you are here. Does that answer your question?” He comes closer and closer until his cool cologne surrounds her. He is f*****g with her head, he knows exactly what he is doing.

“Come closer and I’ll tell you.” Ava snarls.

Silence. Ava expects a reaction from him and he gives her nothing. Instead he marches another step forward and before Ava can react, he stretches out a hand to turn the lights on.

Gunmetal eyes veiled with thick, dark lashes crash with hers and Ava stumbles back a step. If she felt naked in the darkness, now she feels undone. He stands well over six feet, shoulders wide and muscles lean. Inky black curls fall over a face that is all sharp lines and angles. Something about him is bleak, empty but also mortally bored. A little scar on the edge of his upper lip gives him a rakish look.

Power pours from him. His mouth is the singular worst part about his face. Rosy, sinful and full of incomplete promises. Images of him going down on Rani fill her head again, the intensity of his gaze on Ava’s.

The devil’s eyes and an angel’s mouth. Exactly the kind of man her mother warned her about on her fifteenth birthday. Jacqueline would probably have knocked him out by now, taken his money and run.

But she is not her mother.

This is going to be a disaster.

A groomed, dark eyebrow lifts. “Going to tell me now?”

Cheeks burning, Ava brushes past him and deeper into the room. It’s simply decorated, a desk by the window, a small dark couch against the wall with an ornate coffee table with a vase full of flowers she doesn’t recognise. He is neat; he likes his things in order. Nothing seems out of place.

Except for her.

“I brought you here to protect you. But you won’t receive my protection for free. You will have to give me something in return.” He drawls.

“I’m not sucking your c**k or sitting on it.” Ava speaks fast, pushing away her sudden shyness.

His expression darkens, but a sharp smile cuts across his face. “Do you even know how to?”

Humiliated and furious, Ava gives a snarky laugh. “Too bad you will never know.”

His mouth parts but he hides his surprise well. For a second, they watch each other like vultures, waiting for the next move. But Ava isn’t here to play games. She needs answers and she needs them now.

Ava knocks off the vase and picks up a shard. One blink and she’s got her forearm buried in his neck and the shard pressed over his liver. “I ask a question. You answer.”

His wide eyes flare and he gives a curt nod. Ava releases him. William studies her face for a moment and the next thing she feels is the hard wall against her cheek and his large hand gripping her head. Ava lets out a cry and he pushes his knees harder into the back of hers. He pries away the shard from her shaking fingers.

Ava tries to wiggle, only for his hand to fist in her hair. He only hums at her effort. “If you are in a mood to break more things, I can join in. I’m sure you don’t need fingers to be alive.”

“Do it.” She grinds out. “I dare you.”

William whips her around to face him, still holding her by her shoulders. The scent of weed hits her first, then his warmth. Too close. His hands leave a trail of heat from her shoulders down to her hands, which he clasps tightly before bringing them above her head.

He bows his head. “Not much of a dare, is it?”

His face is a mask of death. Ava’s mouth burns with a retort, but soon she feels the shard pushed against her pulse, itching to draw blood. She shuts her eyes and waits for the pain, but it never comes. When they reopen, William is cooly regarding her. Likely enjoying it.

“One of my performers is missing. You look like her, and I want to look for her without traffic. That is what you will do.”

Just like that he goes back to the desk to pick up his joint and takes another huge draw. Ava’s eyes travel down the channels of his throat, down the length of his body. He’s feeling talkative. Now is the time to take advantage of that.

“What does she perform?”

“Pole.”

Ava splutters a laugh. “I can’t pole dance for shit.”

“I know.” His eyes drag over every inch of her body while the bud in his mouth blooms. “You won’t have to.”

She crosses her arms over her breasts and challenges his gaze, feeling heat rush to her face once more. “So that’s it. I have to pretend to be a missing girl and you will protect me. Maybe you don’t realize, but the government will find me here. I’m their biggest target.”

“You didn’t know I existed until you woke up under my roof.” He c***s his chin. “In your panties.”

Ava hates everything about this. Not only is he right, there is nothing in the deal that seems problematic. She doesn’t trust him, but she needs to keep her head low till she can figure out her next moves. Pandora never got anything on him, she didn’t even know this Family existed.

But how? Pandora has a list of every active organised crime group, every cartel and every warlord. How did he slip past them all?

“You will wear a mask and keep your mouth shut. Perch on a man’s lap and look alive.” He remarks, finally finishing his blunt. His pupils are blown wide and his grin is devilish.

Ava is almost afraid to ask, “And what after you find her?”

He is sailing high, way above Ava. It had to have been good f*****g weed, because there is no hiding the hunger in his eyes. But she doesn’t think it’s hunger for her; it’s a hunger for power. “You can suck or sit on my cock.”

William’s words sear her ears. He sees it all - her dark red cheeks and her bobbing throat, but says no more. If anything, now he just looks bored. Ava turns back sharply and tosses open the doors, refusing to close them behind her.

The heat between her thighs lingers even when she is back in her room with her door locked.