I Am the Devil of This Hell

Chapter 054

Inside the VIP suite on the second floor, the air was thick with a bizarre mixture of masculine helplessness and feminine mischief.

Tia Valentine and Sienna Summerss were nestled against Kane Adler’s chest, giggling uncontrollably. Kane, the formidable leader of the Shadow Eagle Clan, looked like a man who had accidentally walked into a minefield disguised as a daycare. His face was frozen in a pained, awkward grimace.

Tia looked up, her eyes sparkling. "Husband, that didn't count as a first kiss earlier. Kissing on the cheek doesn't count."

Sienna nodded vigorously, her ponytail bouncing. "Right, right! It has to be on the lips. A real kiss."

"Absolutely not," Kane said firmly, trying to gently pry them off without touching anything inappropriate—a task that was proving scientifically impossible. "Wait until you grow up and understand what love actually means. If you still... feel this way then, I might consider it."

"Hmph! Stingy!" The two "lolitas" pouted in unison, their lower lips jutting out. To emphasize their displeasure, they squeezed even tighter into Kane’s embrace, effectively burying him in soft curves.

"Oh, wait!" Tia suddenly winked at Sienna. She threw her head back to look at Kane. "Husband! I have a special talent. A magic trick."

Sienna raised her small hand. "I know that trick too!"

"What trick?" Kane asked, his suspicion rising.

"I can kiss you on the lips, but without touching any part of your body. Do you believe me?"

Kane looked down at the two girls doubtfully. He shook his head. "Impossible. Physics doesn't work that way."

"Hmph! You dare doubt my abilities?"

Smack. Smack.

Before Kane could react, Tia and Sienna lunged upward and planted quick, decisive kisses right on his lips.

Then, as Kane sat there, stunned into silence, his brain rebooting, the girls shook their heads with exaggerated disappointment.

"Oh no. It failed."

"We touched you. Darn it."

Uh...

Kane blinked. He had just been played. Played like a cheap fiddle.

At that precise moment, the heavy oak door swung open. Victoria Vance stepped in.

She saw everything.

The intimate embrace. The lipstick smudges. The stunned look on Kane’s face that looked suspiciously like guilt.

"Hmph!"

The sound was sharp, cold, and heavy. It hit Kane like a physical blow to the temple. The room seemed to spin.

It's over, Kane thought, closing his eyes. This time, I'm actually dead.

Tia and Sienna looked up at the woman approaching them. She walked with the predatory grace of a panther, her face dark with suppressed thunder. Surprisingly, the girls didn't look scared. They exchanged a quick, conspiratorial glance, then deliberately snuggled closer to Kane.

"Hello, Big Sister," Tia chirped innocently. "Do you need something?"

Victoria Vance stopped in front of them, a dangerous smile playing on her lips. She sat down on the sofa opposite Kane, crossed her legs, and pointed a manicured finger at him.

"I'm looking for him."

Tia blinked. "Oh, you're looking for our Husband? That's unfortunate. Husband is busy right now."

Sienna put on a face of deep apology. "Yeah, Husband is busy bonding with us. Building emotional intimacy, you know? So, whatever it is, you can come back another day."

Victoria's eye twitched. She stared at Kane, her gaze drilling holes into his skull. "So, that's it? I should just leave?"

Kane looked at her, his expression miserable. "I can't even begin to explain. I'm covered in mud right now. But Victoria... you know who I am. You know I wouldn't..."

Victoria scoffed, crossing her arms. "I don't know anything."

Sienna looked from Victoria to Kane, then asked with feigned innocence, "Big Sister, do you know my Husband?"

Victoria felt a surge of bitterness. She looked at Sienna and forced a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Yes, little girl. This so-called 'Husband' of yours... was my Husband before the sun came up this morning!"

Kane carefully added a footnote. "And I still am."

Tia wrinkled her nose at Victoria. She patted Kane on the shoulder reassuringly. "Husband, don't be afraid. Mom always said that when dealing with fierce, aggressive women, you must meet violence with violence. Never appease them. Husband, ignore her. Let's go out and play."

"I'm fierce? You..." Victoria stood up abruptly, ready to unleash her temper. But as she pointed a finger at Tia, she froze. Her angry glare turned into confusion, then suspicion. She scanned the two girls up and down.

Tia and Sienna noticed the scrutiny. Tia glared back. "What are you looking at? Never seen beautiful women before?"

After a long silence, Victoria suddenly let out a laugh—a strange, baffled sound.

"Tia Valentine? Sienna Summerss?"

The two girls stiffened. Their shoulders slumped simultaneously.

"Sister Victoria... you recognize us?" Tia groaned. "Well, that's no fun."

Victoria’s face went through a rapid transformation: shock, suspicion, anger, and finally, amusement.

"How did you two demons get here? Who brought you? Do your parents and grandfathers know? What on earth are you doing in a place like this?"

Her rapid-fire questions made the girls shrink back into the sofa like turtles retreating into their shells. They exchanged shifty glances, clearly preparing to lie.

"Don't even think about it," Victoria snapped. "Truth. Now."

"Well... that's a very deep philosophical question," Sienna mumbled. "Maybe we should discuss it another day."

"Stop! Stop, stop, stop." Kane stood up, rubbing his temples. "I'm lost. It's chaotic. You... know each other?"

Victoria reached out, grabbed Kane by the collar, and yanked him to her side. She wrapped her arms around his arm, staking her claim, and shot a childish glare of triumph at the two girls.

"Of course I know them," Victoria said. "How could I not know two of the biggest celebrities in the country?"

Tia and Sienna didn't argue. They sat there with their heads hanging low, rubbing their hands together like schoolgirls caught cheating on a test. They looked pitifully cute.

Victoria reached out and pinched the soft flesh of Kane's waist—hard.

"Hiss..." Kane sucked in a breath of cold air.

Ignoring his pain, Victoria explained. "Tia Valentine. She is the youngest and most spoiled daughter of Dominic Valentine, the current head of the Valentine Dynasty—one of the Six Great Families of Commerce. I don't think I need to explain the weight of those six families to you."

She pointed to the girl in black. "Sienna Summers. The favorite granddaughter of Arthur Summers, the Senate Majority Leader. Arthur Summers was the former President of Capital University, the Ivy League of this nation. His students are everywhere—in the Senate, in the House, in the judiciary. He built a political faction known as the 'Summers Vortex,' which is basically the third largest power bloc in Washington. His influence is terrifying."

Victoria took a breath and continued. "Arthur Summers was once down on his luck in his youth and was supported by Sebastian Valentine, the old patriarch of the Valentine Dynasty—Tia's grandfather. They became sworn brothers. Their bond is legendary in both business and politics. Politics supports business, business funds politics. The alliance of the Valentine and Summers families is a juggernaut. With Arthur Summers's help, the Valentine Dynasty bounced back from the brink of collapse to become the second largest commercial empire in the US."

"Because of this connection, and because these two were born on the same year, same month, and same day, they grew up together like sisters."

Victoria narrowed her eyes at the girls. "But... because they were spoiled rotten by two powerful families, they became... unmanageable. Little tyrants. They have two massive titans protecting them, so nobody dares to touch them. They are lawless. People call them the 'Witch Duo.' Just last month, these two little ancestors wanted some 'excitement,' so they snuck into an artillery range at a military base and started playing with a howitzer. They nearly blew up the ammo depot. I heard they were grounded by both families. So... tell me, my little ancestors. Am I wrong?"

Tia and Sienna stuck out their tongues. "Sister Victoria pays a lot of attention to us."

Victoria snorted. "So, speak. Which wire in your brains short-circuited this time? Why run all the way here to steal my husband? I don't recall offending you."

Tia pouted, looking aggrieved. "We aren't stealing him. We just like Husband."

Kane coughed dryly. "Correction: Big Brother."

Sienna hummed, crossing her arms. "Trying to shirk responsibility? No way. Husband."

"Responsibility?" Victoria frowned, her gaze turning sharp as she looked at Kane.

Kane sighed, raising his hands in surrender. "Little ancestors, please finish the story. Explain it to her. Don't create domestic violence for me."

Tia pressed her lips together and looked at Sienna. "Tia will explain. A month ago, we got in trouble and Grandpa grounded us in the D.C. mansion. But it was so boring! So, we planned for a month, shook off all the Secret Service agents and bodyguards, and snuck out."

"We wanted to find somewhere exciting to play. We heard that the nightlife in Larkspur is the wildest, so we flew here. We wanted to go crazy. Last night, we put on heavy makeup and picked a random club. But before we could even start partying, a huge group of men rushed in with machetes. It was a m******e. We were terrified. We ran with the crowd, but... we got lost. We ended up in a dead-end alley surrounded by thugs."

Tia’s voice trembled slightly. "Those... bad guys. They wanted to... assault us. I was so scared I couldn't think. It was 2 AM. No one could hear us screaming. Just when we were about to give up... Husband fell from the sky. He and his men killed all those thugs in the blink of an eye."

Sienna picked up the thread, her eyes dreamy. "It felt like a dream. Like a fairy tale coming to life. When Husband put his jacket over my shoulders and gave me that dagger for protection... that gentle look in his eyes... I was drunk on it."

Tia clasped her hands over her heart, looking at the ceiling. "My Prince Charming has to be like that. Cold and ruthless to his enemies, but gentle and protective to the woman he loves."

Victoria massaged her forehead. Great. Kane already had enough charisma to be dangerous. Now add a "hero saving the damsel" scenario into the mix? These two sheltered, fantasy-prone princesses were completely hooked.

Damn it. She wanted Kane all to herself. But now? Offending these two was not an option. They were nuclear warheads in human form. If she pissed them off, the fallout would be catastrophic.

But Victoria Vance was not one to admit defeat easily.

"Tia, Sienna. I sympathize with what happened. But you are fifteen. You are children. You don't understand love. So..."

"So we have to learn!" the girls shouted in unison. "We decided to build feelings with Husband. Starting today, Kane Adler is our fiancé."

Tia nodded solemnly. "Hero saves beauty..."

Sienna finished the sentence. "...Beauty gives herself to hero. It is the law of the universe."

Kane's eyes bugged out. The logic of these kids is... unique.

Victoria sighed, trying a different angle. "Do you know who he is? Your grandfathers are basically modern-day Kings. He is... a gangster. Do you think the Senate Majority Leader or the head of the Valentine Dynasty will let their precious granddaughters marry a mob boss? They are more likely to put a bullet in Kane's head before you two even fall in love. If you really love him... you should let him go."

Hearing this, the two girls glared.

Tia stomped her foot. "Bad guy!"

Sienna pouted. "Yeah! You're just jealous!"