“I’m sure he wasn’t.” He folds his arms in front of him. “All he cares about is winning the election so that his position is secured for a few more years. I wanna say that his grief is getting the best of him, but that’d be a lie. He’s making sure the road ahead is clear for him, and that powerful people like the Goswamis are by his side when the need arises. He’s sacrificingLurein exchange for their continued support. I’d wager it’sthemwho asked him for the company in the first place.” He sighs and taps his shoe against my stiletto. “I wouldn’t think much of it now, because there’s literally nothing to be done. You can’t win against him, simply because he’s blinded by his goal.”
“So what, I just spend all the money I’m going to get, and lie in bed all day reading magazines?”
Mave shrugs. “Better than attending 20 meetings a day where the same thing is repeated over and over again. Or deciding which shade of beige is better than the other. Or what thread needs to be used on what fabric. Frankly, I feel like everyone that works atLureshits nylon and chiffon.” He shudders, making me roll my eyes.
“But it’sfun, though,” I say.
“What, shitting nylon and chiffon?”
I shove him playfully. “Making fashion-related decisions, you asshole.”
He puts his tongue to his cheek. “Still doesn’t beat the alternative.”
I sigh. “You think I should have fought harder?”
“It wouldn’t have changed the outcome, so I’d say no.”
I let go of a breath and try to calm myself the fuck down. Silence stretches between us as I let the weight of what’s happened, sink in. It’s true thatLureis lost now, and because my contribution to it has been next to non-existent, I can only argue so much. I can push, but I can’t throw someone off their feet to get what I want. That’s how my uncle does things, not me. And I know I’m once again giving up a fight, but this time, I really don’t have a choice.
I pull my hair over a shoulder when a gust of warm wind blows it over my face, then look at Mave. “Want me to buy you the most expensive scotch available in Riverside, now that I’m going to be filthy fucking rich?”
He laughs, sensing my need to change the subject, then pulls open the passenger side door of his car for me. “Please, and thank you.”
61.
She looks seraphic in her sleep. Her long, pink hair is fanned out over the pillow, and her body is listless against the mattress. Her shorts have bunched up a bit, and the white camisole she’s wearing – it’s barely concealing her pebbled nipples. Watching her so at ease makes me feel calm, but it also makes me hard as a fucking rock. Her safety relaxes me, and her body makes me mad with need.
I’m leaning against her balcony’s archway, having just climbed up the railing. I’d thought sleeping in her bedroom after what happened with Riley would be difficult for her, but seeing her right now has cleared that doubt from my head. As long as she’s comfortable at the estate, I don’t mind visiting her like this. It’s our little thing, after all – just hers and mine alone. And the smile that takes over her face when she sees me in her balcony? Yeah, that’s something special; something I’ll never get enough of.
She’d texted me a couple of hours ago and asked me to come over, but because I was atFinesse, busy servicing Solo’s SUV, I’d seen her message a little late. I know I should leave, but I also can’t stop looking at her.
She stretches her arms and shifts in her bed, then blinks her eyes open. Our gazes meet, and her lips slowly spread into a lazy, relaxed smile.
There we go.
“Were you watching me sleep?” she asks, then sits up in her bed. Bringing an arm forward, she wiggles her fingers, urging me to come closer.
I chuckle and start walking over to her. “It’s your fault for looking so damn hot, even while asleep.” I sit next to her when she shifts to make space for me.
“Is that why you’re hard right now?” she questions around a smirk, then runs a hand over my growing cock.
I hiss at the pressure, then grab her wrist. “Do that, and I’ll come in my fucking boxers.”
“That’s the goal, though.”
I chuckle again. “So this is why you asked me to come over, then – so that you could make me jizz in my pants?”
She clicks her tongue. “Nope. I wanted you here because I needed to talk to someone about how my uncle stupidly,impulsively, decided to sellLureto random investors instead of letting me run it.”
I blink, not expecting her to say that. “Chase sold Miranda’s brand?”
Cignette nods, then frowns. She then tells me about her conversation with Chase from earlier, and how he’d all but shunned her pleas of wanting to run the HQ herself.
“His lawyers contacted me a few hours ago, letting me know that the paperwork is being finalized. Mave thinks I shouldn’t let it get to me because it’s something that’ll fatten my pockets, but how can I fuckingnot?”
“Of course he does.”
“I don’t know what to do, Dorran,” she says, and her frown deepens.
