“Don’t be rude,” she deadpans, while fighting off a smile, “or I’ll ask Aidan to tell me all the juicy gossip on what you were like as a teenager. Oooh, or even better, I’ll ask Maura.”
I groan, “God, please don’t. It took me a while to get my shit together, and I’d rather keep my past in the past.”
“Well, now I’m even more intrigued. You’re telling me you weren’t always the perfect heir?”
“Definitely not. I thought that maybe if I acted out, it would convince my father to just pick someone else for the job. Did a lot of stupid shit in my teens and early twenties. A lot I’m not proud of, but I guess I needed to learn my lesson on how to grow up and be an adult the hard way.” I shove my hands into my pockets,
“What made you change?”
“One day I woke up, hungover as shit, and joined my dad and Naser for their weekly meeting. They were talking about the Italians. How they had just trafficked over a thousand women and children. And how our two organizations were going to put an end to their vile business for good. The next week, we led the police to their storage facilities and watched them rescue everyone. I nearly threw up at the sight of the victims. The pain in their eyes. The conditions they were kept in. I think growing up, I had judged my dad for the lifestyle he chose. But at that moment, I no longer saw life in black and white. Things were gray. So gray that a man can both take lives and save them at the same time. After that, I took things seriously and caught up fast. But a part of me still feels guilty for rejecting my fate for a while.”
Her eyes soften. “It’s normal to push back on things youfeel are forced on you. Especially something as dangerous as being a boss.”
“You never rejected it though.” A truth she had told me already.
“No, but my dad…gave me space to rebel. Kept my identity hidden, sent me away so I could live my life as normal as possible. If I’d been raised in the traditional way an heir is, I probably would’ve done the same thing as you.”
Her words bring me a level of comfort I didn’t realize I needed. “I appreciate that. Now, should I show you our new home?” She doesn’t protest me emphasizing the ‘our’, instead, she just takes my extended hand and follows me inside.
29
ZAHRA
“Well, my love, I guess it’ll just be the two of us in here.”
I try not to sound too disappointed as I let Cody out of my backpack. He immediately hides under the bed, leaving me to wallow alone. Not that I have any right to wallow. Except for the fact that when Declan led me to my bedroom—mybedroom, notours—I felt my stomach pinch. Which is utterly ridiculous. I’m the one who asked Declan for one night of pretending. I’m the one who was too cowardly to face him after our wedding. I even used packing as an excuse for why I wasn’t talking to him as much anymore. Of course, he was going to go back to us being just friends. And friends don’t sleep in the same bed.
Declan’s cabin house, which I suppose is also now my house, is the perfect mix of cozy and modern—everything a girl could ever dream of. My bedroom is just as perfect, with a massive bed that allows me to sleep like a starfish with ease, covered in silk sheets. There’s a walk-in closet that’s the same sizeas my room, a massive desk that would store all my computers and equipment.
In front of the bed is a stunning antique full-length mirror that looks similar to the one in Declan’s dressing room on our wedding day. My cheeks heat as I think of the last time Declan and I were together. How he had spread my legs and made me watch him finger me until I came over and over again. I can’t stop thinking about how good he made me feel, how hot it was for him to be so dedicated to my pleasure.
Up until Declan, the only time a man was able to make me orgasm was when they used one of my toys on me.Ifthey agreed to it. I’d never understand why, but evidently, lots of men found using sex toys in the bedroom as an affront to their ability. I’m willing to bet Declan isn’t one of them. My eyes move back to the mirror, and for a second, I swear I see the image of Declan and me tangled together in the glass…. God, this was going to be a long year living together.
If his uncle doesn’t kill us first. Declan’s lawyers filed our marriage license immediately, but apparently, neither of our mafias had ties with the office processing our documents. By the end of the week, our license should be officially filed, immediately cutting Declan’s uncle off from any power he has. Thus far, his uncle has left us alone, sans a glaring look here and there at our ceremony. He probably figured we did this to strengthen our alliance, or, knowing him, that I had seduced Declan into getting married. Little does he know what’s coming for him…
I groan as I look at all my suitcases, unzipping the first one in front of me. I may as well get started unpacking. My laptops and devices are the first thing I take out. I have too much anxiety about packing them into a box, so I opted for bubble wrap in a carry-on instead. I chicken out on asking Declan for the WiFi password, not wanting to come off as too needy. Plus,what good is being a hacker if I can’t crack someone’s password with ease? I manage to connect to the internet in a matter of minutes and also make a mental note to talk to Declan about improving his security system.
I shift to unpacking my clothes when I catch my laptop flashing from the corner of my eye. Shit. When I connected to the WiFi, one of my malware software automatically installed onto his servers, allowing me to dig through the entire security system of the cabin house. Thankfully, I’ve coded this software so that it’s extremely hard to detect and likely won’t trigger any alerts. I’m unsure if Declan would believe that I’d accidentally managed to hack into his system, and I don't want him to think that the trust that’s slowly been building between us these past few weeks is nothing but a farce.
Quickly, I close out the various tabs that have popped up on my screen, trying my best not to be tempted by all the things that would normally catch my eye. I'm almost in the clear when I notice the final screen includes a series of various security cameras. One of which appears to be pointed right at me. “What the fuck…” I whisper-yell in rage.
Lifting the laptop in my hand, I move across the room slowly, trying to decipher what angle is showing up on the camera. Step by step, my eyes flicker from the screen to my surroundings, moving ever so slightly until I freeze. A very zoomed-in image of my face pops up on my laptop screen, and I lean into the mirror. It takes me a few seconds to scan the wooden frame until I see it. Embedded within one of the grooves is a small camera, barely detectable to the eye. From the way the mirror is angled, it misses the majority of the bed, allowing me and whatever guests who stayed here in the past a modicum of privacy. Well, as much privacy as one can get when there’s a camera in their room.
Typing away ferociously on my laptop, I search for a way toturn the camera off. The code doesn’t seem unbreakable…but it does seem a bit more complex and will likely require a few hours for me to crack. I contemplate taking the old school way out—breaking the camera and bringing it to Declan so I can chew him out for spying on me. I tap aggressively through the recording history, noticing this camera was rarely used. In fact, the only reason it’s turned on in this moment is because Declan’s security did a system-wide reboot a week ago, which likely triggered all dormant cameras to be reactivated.
Fine. Maybe I wouldn’t pound Declan’s face in for something he was likely unaware of. For now. I’d give him a chance to rectify the mistake. Not having the mental energy to hack into the camera, I decided to easily edit the configurations instead and have it play hours of B-roll footage, leaving no one the wiser. I should have just left it there, but now that I knew a camera was hidden in my room, I needed to know what other rooms were bugged and what corners of the cabin house were safe for me to speak and move freely.
One of the first things my father taught me was to always assume you are being watched. Especially in spaces where you think you’re safe—those are often the ones that are most lethal to let your guard down. Flipping through the different live security streams, I make note of all the cameras in the kitchen, living and dining rooms, garage, and perimeter of the cabin. All cameras are in standard form, and mercifully, none are in the bathrooms. Some paranoid bosses opted to leave no room uncovered, but even I was against watching people do their business.
I’m nearly finished when my body freezes, throat tightening, at the final security footage of Declan’s office. He’s sitting at his desk, eyes closed, head leaning back against the chair as he bites down hard on his bottom lip. The image in itself is enough to send a rush of heat down my body, but it’s the sightof Declan’s hand wrapped around his massive cock that has my legs start to feel like Jell-O. His very massive and verypiercedcock. Wetness starts to pool between my thighs as I imagine how good he would feel inside me. How much he would stretch me. How the piercing at the tip of his cock would feel pressed against my G-spot. Declan lets out a low moan, as if he can read my thoughts. As if he’s aware that I’m watching. Except he’s not.
He’s currently enjoying a very private moment. Watching him makes me a hypocrite, given that I’m annoyed that there’s a camera in my room.
I’m about to close the video when Declan lets out a feral groan and pants, “That’s right, Zahra, slide that sweet tongue of yours over my cock. Show your husband how hungry you are for him.”
A soft gasp leaves my lips. He’s thinking of me. Imagining me taking him into my mouth?—
“Fuck, baby. That’s right, lick up all the precum that’s leaking from my tip. So good. You're my sweet little wife, aren’t you?” He hums in approval, dragging his thumb over his very swollen head over and over again. I make a mental note of how exactly he likes to be played with as I feel my nipples tighten.
