King of Greed (Kings of Sin #3) by Ana Huang

We made the requisite small talk before Marcelo excused himself to use the restroom. He ignored my glare on his way past. “He’s not bad looking,” he whispered. “Have fun.”

Great. Now my own brother was trying to pimp me out to a semi- stranger.

“So, how long are you staying in Buzios?” Ignacio asked.

“Probably for another week. I haven’t decided.” I brushed a strand of hair out of my eye.

He nodded and flicked a glance at my left hand. I expected him to back off when he saw my ring until I remembered I didn’t have a ring anymore.

My chest pinched again.

“If you need anyone to show you the best hidden gems in town, I’m your guy.” Ignacio leaned closer and dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I’ve been coming here since I was kid. I have it all mapped out.”

I didn’t mention that I’d visited Buzios almost every other year since I was a kid too. “Yeah? What kind of spots?” I teased.

He was too young for me, but a little harmless flirting never hurt anyone. Besides, I needed the reminder that other men existed as romantic potentials besides Dominic. He wasn’t the end-all beall. Not by a long shot.

Ignacio’s smile widened. “Well, there’s this secret beach…”

We flirted for a while without mentioning Marcelo’s extended absence. It was light, pressure-free, and exactly what I needed. We weren’t interested in starting a relationship or even hooking up, though I strongly suspected Ignacio wouldn’t say no to sex. We were simply having fun.

The music shifted from mellow pop to an upbeat samba song. The other bar patrons erupted into cheers. Chairs and tables were pushed aside to make room for a dance floor, and the afternoon’s lazy contentment morphed into raucous debauchery.

I shook my head when Ignacio held out his hand. “I’m too tipsy to dance. I’ll look like an idiot.”

“Come on! Drunken dancing is the best kind of dancing.” He gestured around the bar. “Look at everyone here. Do you think they’ll judge you?”

Oh, what the hell. If I had to make a fool of myself, I might as well do it on vacation.

I laughed when Ignacio dragged me onto the dance floor and spun me until I was dizzy. We weren’t exactly sambaing, but I didn’t care. I was enjoying myself too much.

“Oof!” I slammed into him on my last spin.

“Careful.” Ignacio steadied me, his laughter blending with the music. “No more drinks for you today.”

“I’m not— ” My sentence abruptly cut off when I glimpsed a flash of distinctive blond hair.

In the breath between my heart stopping and restarting, Dominic shouldered his way between me and Ignacio and pinned the other man with a stare so cold it sent shivers down my spine.

To his credit, Ignacio didn’t back down. “Hey man, what’s the deal?” His tone was friendly, but wariness filled his expression. “We were dancing.”

“And now you’re not,” Dominic said, his tone deadly calm.

Ignacio’s eyes narrowed. “Do we have a problem?”

“No.” I answered for my ex-husband. “Dominic was just leaving. Weren’t you?”

He didn’t budge.

Anger washed away the remainder of my buzz. “If you don’t leave us alone right now,” I said quietly, “I will never talk to you again.”

It was the first ultimatum I’d ever issued, and I meant every word. I usually wasn’t this dramatic, but I refused to let Dominic barge in like a jealous rhino every time he saw me with another man. He’d lost the right to any opinions on my personal life weeks ago.

His eyes snapped to mine. Shock flitted through them, followed by a quick flash of betrayal, then hurt.

I would be lying if I said his reaction didn’t pull on at least one heartstring. Despite everything that’d happened between us, I didn’t want to actively hurt him, but I couldn’t let him walk all over me either.

My conviction must’ve been scrawled all over my face, because after what felt like an eternity, Dominic turned and walked away without a word.

However, the moment was already ruined. No matter how hard I tried to laugh, dance, and focus on Ignacio again, my mind was stuck on the man who held more shares of my attention than he should. He was gone but still there, his gaze a warm weight on my skin, his presence a black hole that drew every inch of awareness toward him.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I lasted one more song before I made an excuse about needing another drink and left Ignacio on the dance floor.

I stormed toward the bar, where Dominic sat like a king surveying his empire. I stopped inches away from him and jabbed a finger at his chest. “Enough.”

His eyebrows rose. “I didn’t do anything.”

“You’re here.”

“It’s public property, amor. I have as much right to be here as you do.”

“You know what I mean. And stop calling me amor.” My heart threatened to pound out of my chest. “It’s not…I’m not…”

“You’re not what?” Dominic’s voice dipped a decibel.

“I’m not your wife anymore.” I shouldn’t have drunk so much. My head swam, and my palms were clammy with sweat.

“No.” He didn’t take his eyes off mine. “But you’re still my love. That hasn’t changed.”