Master Of Sin Read online

  "No. Think about it first. What I want won’t be on your terms, but mine. It isn't sweet and gentle. It will require you to give yourself to me completely. I will corrupt you, and you won't want it to stop. In the end, I will ruin you."

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Hagen

  * * *

  I ENTERED my penthouse on the thirty-sixth floor of Ida. Zack, Pierce, and I each lived in separate penthouses at one of the major HPZ casino-hotels. It was our way to maintain a presence and keep anyone from getting the idea that the brothers weren't a unit. Yes, Zack was the brains behind the properties, but none of them would work without the investment of each brother.

  I threw my suit jacket on a nearby couch and walked toward the stocked bar. I picked up a bottle of Macallen 25 and poured myself three fingers of the classic scotch. As I set the decanter down, my gaze moved to the reserve bottle of Firewater, making me shake my head.

  That woman was as stubborn as they came. Starlight would rather agree to sleep with me than reveal she'd created one of the most sought-after whiskeys in the world. Under the mouse facade was a brilliant chemist who'd analyzed the properties of the historically best-rated spirits and created her uniquely smooth concoction in a lab, of all things.

  It was only sheer luck that I discovered where Firewater was created and then subsequently the mastermind behind the whiskey. One of my researchers for my restaurants was on holiday in India, and a local mentioned an elderflower spirit distillery. He'd investigated the area and then recognized Persephone as she sat at a bar near the building. After I learned this, I did a little digging and discovered she, no, her company, PSK, held the patent on four strands of elderflower plants. It immediately became apparent she was behind the high-dollar whiskey that had taken the world by storm.

  I knew if I'd found out the identity of the reclusive owner of the distillery, then others eventually would too. Persephone was a genius in her own right, but stealthy she was not. There had even been times I thought someone would kidnap her or kill her when she'd venture into areas of the world that had unique elderflower plants but were considered dangerous even by the locals. She seemed to thrive on research and negotiating her most significant ingredient for her experiments without a care for her safety.

  She was too damn trusting.

  The number of times she'd given me a near heart attack with her adventures were too numerous to count. So I'd spent the last two years discreetly making sure she stayed protected and used my contacts to snub out any rumors around the owner of PSK.

  The fact I'd created businesses around Firewater may speak to my obsession with Starlight, but then again until today I never imagined touching her, let alone making her orgasm, outside of my dreams.

  God, I could still hear her cries of release and pleasure. I'd never seen anything like it. She was a siren with an aura of innocence wrapped in a body meant for sin.

  Why had I waited so long? She'd wanted me as long as I'd craved her. For over a decade, I'd seen it on her face every time we were in a room together.

  Who was I kidding? Collin Lykaios's words were drilled into my head, and for some damn reason, I believed him.

  "Do you think I haven't seen how you look at her? That girl is too good for the likes of you. You’re trash compared to her. If you lay one filthy hand on her body, I will ruin you, boy. You're better off warming Dara's bed. She’s partial to lowlife scum."

  Rage filled my body as Collin's words echoed in my mind. He'd known I'd felt that way about myself and had preyed on it.

  Just another way he'd tried to control me.

  The fact I'd gotten involved in the underworld of Las Vegas wasn't something I was proud of, but the blame could be set at my father's feet.

  What kind of man threw his seventeen-year-old son out of his house for getting drunk one time with friends?

  Collin Lykaios, that's who.

  He'd given me less than twenty minutes to pack my shit and leave while ignoring the pleas from my weeping mother and the terrified looks of my younger brothers.

  Collin had gone as far as threatening anyone who offered me shelter with omens of ruining their financial livelihoods. I'd spent the next three months moving from shelter to shelter. That was until a gang of stray kids had beat the shit out of me for being too pretty and then tried to rape me. I'd fought my way out of their hold and took off. After that day, I never returned to any shelter.

  If Draco Jackson hadn't found me scared out of my mind and walking the strip with all my worldly possessions in a backpack and starving, I'd probably have died on the streets. He'd heard about what Collin had done and ordered his network of spies to look for me.

  The mobster had cleaned me up, given me a place to stay, and a job.

  What I'd had to do at the beginning of my life working for Jackson was the reason I had my current reputation. But I would forever owe the man who saved my life. As surrogate fathers go, Jackson wasn't ideal but better than the one who'd supplied my DNA.

  I threw back the tumbler of scotch I held in my hand and swallowed the amber liquid in one gulp, letting it burn down my throat and dull my senses.

  Walking out toward the three-hundred-sixty-degree windows, I stared across the Strip to the Lykaios Towers. It was the pinnacle hotel and casino in Collin's empire. The last time I'd stepped foot in that place was the day my mother had died. She wanted to say goodbye, and for some reason, Collin had approved the visit.

  I guessed Papa Dearest wanted to have a clean conscience when his wife took her last breaths after battling breast cancer for nearly a year.

  Now here I was a decade and a half later, living a life beyond what I could ever have imagined. For the most part, I'd left the grime of the Vegas underworld behind. The only thing missing was… I wouldn't go there.

  I didn't need Collin's word to tell me that she was out of my league. She deserved someone who wasn't tainted. Someone who wouldn't expect things of her beyond her safe world. Someone who didn't have his hands dirtied by a past filled with drugs, murder, and prostitution.

  Tomorrow I'd call her and tell her I'd help her without anything in return. It would kill me, but I'd do it.

  She was the only decent thing I'd ever experienced in my life.

  God, I could still taste her on my lips. Could still feel her nipples pebble through her shirt. Could still hear the low moan of desire she mewled when our tongues tangled and passion had overwhelmed her. It had taken all my willpower not to lay her across my desk and bury myself balls-deep inside her slick, wet cunt.

  Fucking hell.

  Now I was going to spend the evening with a raging case of blue balls.

  The elevator dinged, making me groan. I quickly pulled out my tucked shirt to cover my hard-on and turned to see who stepped off.

  "You look like a man who needs to either get laid or punch the shit out of someone," Zack said as he entered my penthouse, throwing his suit jacket on top of mine before walking over to my bar. He poured himself a large helping of the Firewater reserve and smiled.

  Just as he was about to take a sip, he paused, glanced in my direction, and said, "I say both."

  I ignored his remark and asked, "You do realize that glass of whiskey you’re about to drink would cost you nearly four thousand dollars anywhere else?"

  Zack shrugged. "And your point is?"

  "You're an asshole. Not all of us make the kind of money you make in an hour."

  "If you didn't want people drinking it then you shouldn't have it stocked in your bar." He tilted the tumbler against his lips and closed his eyes, savoring the infused whiskey. "Would this piss-poor mood have anything to do with the green-eyed siren you had lunch with today?"

  "We never got to lunch." I continued to gaze out at the lights of Las Vegas. "I was interrupted by Mike Popov."

  "I can't believe that dick’s still coming around. He should be happy you convinced Draco not to take care of him in the way you would have done back in the day."

  When I'd first started o
ff working for Draco, I'd posed as his muscle. Even at seventeen, I was a large man. Plus, years of martial arts had kept me lean and muscular. Whenever Draco had a problem, I was sent in to make sure his views were expressed in the correct manner. Usually with a fist and occasionally with a revolver pressed to the temple to make my point.

  Outside of a few incidental jobs done as favors for Draco, the days of working as his heavy man were long gone. There was one benefit to the reputation I’d gained working for him—rarely, if ever, did anyone fuck with me or my brothers. No one truly believed I was out of the business and so I let the misconception stand.

  "Maybe you should have let Draco's men take care of the matter instead of trying to make nice because you wanted to help out an ex. Kim would have been far better off without her lowlife father."

  "That isn't here nor there. Kim asked for a favor, and I delivered. The girl is married and has three kids now. She doesn't need the stress associated with Mike's antics."

  "You're the only man I know who remains friends with all of the women who’ve shared his bed." Zack shook his head.

  "At least with my way I don't have to worry about someone putting a hit out on me for being an asshole."

  Zack shrugged his shoulders. "Everyone knows where they stand in the end, and there aren't any hopes of reconciliations."

  "I can't wait until the day you get a taste of your own medicine."

  "Never going to happen. Now tell me what Mike's issue was today."

  "Apparently he wasn't happy with the deal you and Draco negotiated and decided to make a scene in front of Starlight. Now I'm going to have to take care of it Draco’s way."

  Why had I ever agreed to handle the gambler for Draco?

  Because you’re a sucker for innocent women who need help.

  Shit. I’d fucked this up royally. There was no way I could let any of Draco’s men clean up my mess.

  “Need us to back you up? I have a few guys who owe me a favor or two,” Zack said.

  “No. It’s better neither of you are involved.” I ran a hand through my hair. “There is no way of leaving the life, is there?”

  “Maybe you can offer him a way out again.” Zack watched me, knowing I really didn’t want to ship the bastard.

  “There’s no use. Draco only gives one out. Mike got his chance and blew it. It’ll be done by morning.”

  This was the reason I should never have acted on the attraction to Starlight. She was pure and didn’t need to be tainted by me. No matter how much I cleaned my act up, there were aspects of my life that would always pull me back in. If I was lucky, Mike would have skipped town by now, knowing what was coming for him. But with my luck, it was wishful thinking.

  “I’m glad he didn’t make a bigger scene in front of Starlight and all he got was a punch to the gut.”

  "Why do you call Penny by the stupid name Starlight? It makes her sound like a stripper."

  I whirled around and glared. "Never disrespect her like that again. I don't care if you’re my brother, I will rearrange your pretty-boy face."

  "Woo. Man, calm the fuck down." Zack raised his hands in surrender. "You know I don't mean anything like that. Hell, she’s like my sister. Seriously, you need to get laid."

  "Fuck off. And for the record, Starlight is her middle name."

  "Well, shit. I forgot about that. Never in a million years would I have believed Kipos would give his daughter a hippy name."

  "I doubt he had very much say in it. If you recall, when Ms. Karina wanted something, she got it."

  I remembered how much I'd wished Collin had loved Mama in the way Jacob had loved Karina. It was as if the sun, moon, and stars hung by Karina's happiness.

  Collin, on the other hand, stayed in a perpetual state of irritation when it came to Mama. He hadn’t even batted an eye when Mama had decided to do a world tour with her friends that lasted nearly five months. Even as a thirteen-year-old, I recognized Collin wasn’t the type of husband or father other kids had in their lives.

  Then again, if Collin hadn't been the insufferable bastard he was, life would have taken a different turn.

  Though there was a high probability that I'd have become one of those rich snot-nosed shits I wanted to pummel whenever they acted as the world owed them something for existing. Instead, I'd become the bogeyman who cleaned up their messes and kept them in line.

  Fuck, snap out of it, dickhead.

  "So I take it Penny wasn't too impressed with the darker side of your life?"

  "She didn't seem fazed by it."

  If I wasn't mistaken, the flare in her eyes was of pure lust. My thug side had aroused her.

  "Then what's the problem?"

  "She wants me to help her find out who killed her father. She thinks Dara had something to do with it."

  "Well, shit. This could get very dangerous for her, especially if she snoops in areas she shouldn't. I wouldn't put it past Dara to retaliate. I hope you put that tail on Penny as I suggested."

  If he only knew how long I'd been watching Starlight's back. He'd probably think I needed to be committed. Yes, I knew that made me sound like a creepy stalker, but I wanted her safe. Especially after I found out she was involved in a very competitive and cutthroat liquor market.

  "It's been done. I've had someone on her for a while."

  Zack lifted a brow and shook his head. "I say seduce her and get it out of your system."

  "You know that's a bad idea. The last thing she needs is a relationship with me that could give Dara the ammunition to oust her from Kipos."

  "If it isn't you, she'll find some other way."

  "I won't be the cause of her losing her job."

  "It may be too late." Zack set his drink on the glass coffee table and began to roll up the sleeves of his button-down shirt.

  "Care to fill me in?"

  At that moment, the elevator opened again. Pierce walked in, carrying a file box.

  Pierce looked at Zack and asked, "Have you brought him up to date?"

  "We were getting to it. Since you're here and know the details, why don't you relay the information."

  Pierce set the box on the floor, opened the lid, and pulled out a set of folders, handing one to me and then to Zack.

  He took a seat in the armchair across me. "I'm about to give you the keys to ensure Persephone Kipos is free from Dara Kipos for good. And if you're a lucky boy, your Starlight will be very grateful."

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Penny

  * * *

  AROUND SEVEN THIRTY the next morning, I entered the Las Vegas offices of Kipos International. I yawned and took a deep gulp of my home-brewed coffee. I was exhausted, and it wasn't anyone's fault but mine. I'd spent a restless night thinking about Hagen and all that had transpired between us. Mainly focusing on how he'd woken something in my body that I never wanted to go to sleep again.

  The last thing I expected when I went to meet Hagen was to end up pinned to a wall and orgasming. Now I wasn't going to lie and say I'd never been fascinated about the idea of Hagen doing delicious dirty things to me. However, I never thought it would happen in a million years.

  My biggest problem was that one taste of Hagen had me craving more, which only meant I was up shit creek.

  I couldn't risk Dara's spies following me, especially after finding another surveillance bug in my kitchen. Thank God Adrian had given me a scanner to check for devices.

  I'd lucked out yesterday. But it was too risky even to consider meeting with him again, no matter how much my hormones were screaming to do the opposite.

  Who was I kidding? The chemistry was too intense for me not to seek Hagen out again.

  Maybe a little chat with Adrian was in order. He could give me pointers on how he'd worked for the brothers for years without anyone knowing. I'd learn something from my sneaky baby brother.

  Pulling out my access card, I scanned it against the security entrance. The light beeped red, denying me entry.

  What the hell?

&n
bsp; I scanned the card again, with the same response.

  As I tried for the third time, Jeffery, one of the security leads for Kipos, approached me. He'd been with the company for over twenty years, and I knew his loyalty was to Adrian and me, not Dara. He'd told me once that the only reason he hadn't retired by now was that he wanted me to have an ally in Kipos. He was my eyes and ears for things coming down the pipeline of the company.

  "Ms. Kipos, follow me. Mrs. Kipos requested your presence." He glanced toward the security cameras, giving me a clue we were being watched.

  I nodded and said, "What's going on, Jeff?"

  He shrugged. "I couldn't say." Once we cleared the main entrance, he continued, "Mrs. Kipos's personal staff has been here for the past two hours. The only thing I know is that I was to inform them the moment you arrived."

  My stomach turned. Could she know about my meeting with Hagen? Of course she could. If my condo was bugged, why wouldn’t she put trackers on all my cars…again.

  I knew better than to forget to check my car before I headed out yesterday to meet Hagen.

  I’d spent all these years jumping through hoops to hide my work for PSK and I overlooked this basic bit of precaution. My security team was going to kick my ass when they found out.

  I couldn’t think about them right now. My priority was dealing with Dara.

  "I know you just checked, but will you have my cars rescanned for trackers?"

  "I'll order one as soon as I leave you with Mrs. Kipos."

  We walked through a side door and to a bank of elevators. A minute later we arrived on the twenty-sixth floor. The second the doors opened, the three men I liked to call Dara's over-muscled Three Stooges waited for us. They were well over six feet and built like tanks. Rarely, if ever, did they leave her side. I was almost positive they shared her bed on occasion too.

  "Ms. Kipos, we require your laptop and company mobile."