“Wasn’t that an amazing first half?” she asks. Her smile widens at my nod. “Did you like the duet?”
“Yes.”
Carina grabs her purse and opens it to retrieve her phone. Then she holds it up and her forehead lightly wrinkles with concentration.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“Taking pictures.”
“I know, but why?”
She slides her gaze to me and it’s guarded. “To capture the beauty of this moment. It’s likely I won’t experience this type of thing for a while.”
Her dejected tone is hard for me to brush aside, so I change the topic of conversation in hopes of lightening the mood. “We’re at the intermission now. Do you need me to escort you to the foyer?”
She shakes her head, her former joy restored, a handful of tiny curls flying about her cheeks. “I don’t want to miss a single thing.”
If Carina gets any more enthusiastic and charming, I’m totally fucking her.
“Very well. How about something to drink then?”
“Are you having anything?” she asks, her tone uncertain.
I wink at her. “I don’t see why not.”
She smoothes the material of her gown over her thighs and then smiles at me again. I return the gesture and the server enters the balcony a little while later. After giving him our orders, I clear my throat to get her attention.
“We need to talk about tomorrow,” I say. “I’m supposed to meet up with my brothers to discuss my engagement to you and everything it entails.”
“What did you tell them?”
I ignore the way she taps her thigh and how some of the joy in her eyes has dimmed. This is important. Although Carina says she has information to give me, I’ve yet to hear any of it. However, I did have my most trusted man deliver the two cell phones—Federico’s and the enforcer’s—to my tech guy. Hopefully Danny was able to pull some useful data from the devices. If not, then this woman owes me.
And I’ll collect payment in flesh, pain, or anything else I fucking please.
Her phone, which was returned to me not two hours ago, had nothing more than pictures of various items and a pet. The number of shots taken with that gray cat in different poses was impressive. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised at seeing Carina take more pictures tonight. It makes me curious if photography is a hobby of hers or if she’s just overzealous in “capturing the beauty of the moment.”
“My brothers know the deal we made,” I say. “When we see them tomorrow, they’ll want to know everything about your father and his business operations.”
“Alright.”
I lean toward Carina and she stiffens. Her fear permeates the air like a sweet smelling perfume and I pull it into my lungs. “I won’t know until tomorrow if the cell phones you gave me will provide anything we can use, but even if they do, you’ll still need to give us something else. Do you understand?”
Her eyes widen and she blinks at me before nodding. “Of course.”
“You’re an intelligent woman,” I say, taking her chin between my fingers, “so don’t do something fucking stupid like lie to me.”
“This is too important for me to do that.”
I brush my lips across hers, offering an illusion of love to those watching. And I know someone is. Carina blinks up at me, her gaze swirling with innocence. It’s hard for me to believe such a thing exists in the underworld. I know her father’s influence has kept men at a distance, but she’s been alone for a while, so how come life hasn’t stolen this naïveté from her?
“Good,” I say. “There’s no need to be deceptive.”
The server walks in and I drop my hand from her face to take the drinks. After tipping him, I offer the wineglass to Carina. She takes it wordlessly and sips it. I do the same with my beverage, my gaze on her the entire time. I zero in on the way her throat contracts as she swallows and the thought of it being my cum has me getting hard. Then she licks her lips, the tip of her pink tongue flicking out a tiny bit, making me want to suck it. Or have her suck my cock.
I knock back a large portion on my drink and idly tap the tumbler in thought. It’s concerning how I’ve been so caught up in lust that I haven’t considered every part of this arrangement with her. Carina might not have anything to give me and my brothers, or worse, she could make shit up.
The alcohol disappears faster than my answers come. Nothing unusual. I slip my hand into my pocket to retrieve a miniature length of rope. Once it’s in my fingers, muscle memory takes over. Patterns form, loops and knots. Repetitive motions turn into creativity and that manifests as tangible art.
