“I showered,” I say, arching a brow. Okay, I did more than that, I spent some time on my hair and perfecting my eyeliner for the right smoky look. But none of that was for him.
He chuckles and slips my arm through his, escorting me to the elevator.
“We’re taking my Lamborghini tonight,” he says when we reach the parking garage.
“This is not just a Lamborghini,” I sigh, reverently touching the sleek black hood. “This is an Aventador J.”
“You’re into rare sports cars?” he says, opening the door for me.
“I’m not. My father has always wanted one. He would have loved this.” My throat closes and I turn my head. The grief wells up, cold and stinging. Whoever said, “Grief fades” is an idiot. Every time it hits me that my parents are gone, that first bite of sorrow is always so sharp.
Lachlan doesn’t say anything, just covers my hand with his big, warm one before shooting out of the parking garage like a rocket.
“There’s a dozen restaurants here in Glasgow I’m looking forward to taking you to,” he says. “Tonight, though, we’ll have dinner at the club. We have a lot to talk about.”
“I think you just love the Inferno so much that you can’t stay away,” I drawl. “Is she the other woman in this relationship?”
Relationship? Good lord Aria, there is no relationship! He married you at gunpoint, remember?
He is, of course, pleased by my slip of the tongue, by the intimacy it implies that isnotthere.
“No business or woman comes between us, baby,” he grins, putting his hand on my thigh and laughing when I move my leg.
Dinner turns out to be on the rooftop terrace of Inferno’s building, a big garden space with a fountain and lights draped overhead. It’s such a sweetly unexpected space for a sex club that I smile, walking along the flagstone path. The breeze on the rooftop is stirring the scent of honeysuckle and I dip my fingers in the fountain’s water. Upon closer inspection, I see that it’s a skillfully forged statue of a satyr enjoying enthusiastic intercourse with a wood nymph.
Of course.
Lachlan’s leaning against a wrought iron trellis, watching me explore with a half-smile on his irritatingly handsome face.
“Ya’ like my fountain? Bought it off a drug lord in Miami. It seems to fit here.”
“Shouldn’t there be another wood nymph riding him with… like… a saddle with a dildo attached to it?” I’m trying to be a smartass but troublingly, he seems to be considering it. “Never mind. What are we eating tonight?”
Everything I say seems to make him laugh, which he does as he leads me over to the table. It’s beautifully set with snowy white linens, china, and crystal, and the centerpiece is a flower arrangement with two masks, one silver, the other black and red. This rooftop may be paradise, but the masks are another reminder that we’re hovering over Hell.
When he’d told me about his chef’s spectacular food during my first time here, he wasn’t bragging. We start with blue beetroot foldovers, move on to prosciutto forks, shrimp dumplings with lemongrass, caprese skewers, crab sashimi, and by the time tiny fig and lemon cream tarts are served, I moan.
“No more! I’m going to explode all over your rooftop paradise if I eat another bite.” Still… It would have been against the laws of man and nature not to finish that tart.
Lachlan leans back in his chair, smiling at me devilishly. “Why don’t you come over here and I’ll hand-feed you dessert?”
“Why don’t you keep your hands to yourself?” I grumbled through a mouthful of fig and cream.
“You didn’t seem to mind my mouth on you this morning.”
“I was- I was processing some very complex emotions,” I say defensively, “I was weak.”
“Aye, ya’ processed those complex emotions right into my mouth,” he growls, “and you taste delicious.”
I fight the urge to cover my face with my napkin.
A throat clears behind us and I turn to see Gregor there, looking mildly regretful. “Sir, I’m sorry to interrupt. The gentleman you wish to speak to has called. Where would you like to take it?”
With a sigh, Lachlan tosses his napkin on the table. “In my office.”
Leaning over to kiss the top of my head, he says, “I’ll be back soon. Be my good girl and stay right here, aye?”
Good girl? Stay?
