Dark Seduction (Vampire Royals of New York #2) - Sarah Piper Page 0,37

her in his life.

“My father… He was murdered,” she whispered, so softly that she wasn’t even sure Dorian had heard. But his eyes changed in an instant, their fierce determination replaced with a deep, dark sadness. It was as though he could feel her pain, like she’d blown it away on a breath, only to have it land inside his heart.

She shivered at the way he looked at her. At the power of her desire for him, still so real and intense.

Dorian offered no words, just a silence for which Charley was grateful. She didn’t need apologies or sympathy, and Dorian seemed to sense as much.

Charley closed her eyes, trying to put the pieces of the story in order.

It’s the perfect heist, baby girl. You go your whole life looking for a setup like this one, and we got it right here. We fuckin’ got it.

Her father’s words echoed, the memory of his sly smile lancing her heart. He’d been so certain it would go off without a hitch. Bones had officially christened it the One Night Stand—in and out, no strings attached—and the whole crew had pulled together to make it happen. They’d left nothing to chance.

It had been perfect, too. Right up until the end.

Now, the more Charley thought about the whys and hows of that final imperfection, the more it confused her. Her father, betraying his own crew? Betraying his daughter without a word of warning? It had never made sense, but Rudy was always so sure. The other guys had been shocked at first, but eventually they bought into Rudy’s theory too.

Charley had always attributed her own lingering doubts to the haze of grief that had enveloped her after her father’s death, and the fact that she’d been much too close to him in life to see the truth. By the time her head had cleared, Sasha had come into her life, and the past no longer mattered. Only the future.

Sasha’s future.

But now, after five years, it was starting to matter again.

Solving the mystery of the botched heist suddenly felt like the most important thing in the world.

Charley’s mind spun as she reviewed the facts.

Seventy million dollars in stolen art, boosted without a hitch, ferried away in a van that made it all the way through the Holland Tunnel, only to be stolen again somewhere on the Jersey side.

A “new guy” no one else but her father had ever met—a man he trusted enough to drive the van.

An uncle who’d taken over operations immediately, insisting his own brother had betrayed them.

The art itself vanishing without a trace, then resurfacing five years later in the home of Dorian Redthorne—Rudy’s latest mark.

And never another word about the new guy—the one Rudy had walked away from with no talk of retribution, despite the fact that he’d allegedly whacked Rudy’s brother and made off with the score.

In retrospect, it all looked too easy, too neat.

And Vincent Estas, the art dealer who’d sold at least two of the pieces from the missing cache, was a demon working for the same demon connected to a former client whose men had nearly raped and killed her.

“Charlotte,” Dorian said softly, bringing her back to the moment. “Tell me what happened to your father, love.”

She opened her eyes, took a steadying gulp of her drink, and started at the beginning.

“It was supposed to be the perfect heist…”

Chapter Thirteen

Fury tore through Dorian’s chest like a blade, threatening to obliterate the last of his composure. He forced himself to remain outwardly calm, but inside was a war zone.

On one side of the battle sat Charlotte’s betrayal—an enemy that had been festering in his heart since last night and had only gotten worse with her confessions. She’d utterly played him. She’d spun her silky web, and he’d walked right into it. One kiss, one taste of her exquisite flesh, and he was eating out of her hand, ready to believe anything that had passed between her delicate lips. In trusting her, he’d put his entire estate, his closely guarded secrets, and his brothers’ lives on the line.

It wouldn’t happen again. He wouldn’t allow it.

But on the other side of the trenches, an even darker enemy lurked, one whose very name left Dorian shaking with rage: Rudy, the piece-of-shit uncle who’d so brutally marked her. Who’d threatened the lives of Charlotte and her sister. Who’d been doing it—and probably much worse—for years.

Charlotte seemed unable to see it yet, but Dorian had a strong suspicion the man was behind her