“You almost killed me tonight,” I breathe in her ear.
She shrugs, blasé. “What are you gonna do about it?”
I turn to Kenta. “Give me a hand?”
He grins. “Gladly.” As Matt turns into a line of traffic, we both reach under the hem of her dress. She gasps as we each slide a hand up the inside of one thigh.
“Finally,” she murmurs. “I’ve been waiting for my birthday sex all day.”
I slip my hand up higher, until my fingers brush soft, damp curls. My eyes widen.“You’re not wearing…”
She shrugs. “I didn’t want panty lines.”
I think back to the photographer lying on the ground, and my whole body tenses. “That guy—”
“Is on film attempting to commit a crime,” she finishes. “And you’d better believe I’m gonna report him. So stop worrying about him andget inside me.”
“You heard the lady,” Kenta murmurs, tugging down the strap of her dress with his teeth. I dip my head to kiss her ear, trailing my fingers lightly between her legs. She’s dripping and throbbing. As I press my thumb against her hood, swirling her wetness across her skin, she turns, pressing her hot cheek to mine and mouthing at my throat. I can feel all of her muscles tightening as her breath speeds up. Kenta tugs down the neckline of her dress and licks a line down her cleavage. Briar jerks and arches against me, moaning urgently.
“We’re being followed,” Matt says suddenly.
We all freeze. “What?” I say.
He doesn’t answer, staring at the rearview mirror. Kenta twists and looks out of the windshield. “Blue Sedan,” Matt says.
“Slow down,” Kenta orders, and Matt lifts his foot. “Okay. Switch lanes.” Matt does. Kenta swears, and I fight the urge to twist and see what’s happening behind us. We don’t want this guy seeing we’ve noticed him. Briar shivers again, and I gently reach over her body and clip on her seat belt.She clutches at my shirt.
“License?” Matt barks.
“Can’t see it,” Kenta replies, “he’s got his brights on.”
“Could just be paparazzi,” Briar pipes up.
I cup the back of her head, tugging it down against my chest, and reach for my gun. “Either way, we don’t want anyone following you back to the hotel.”
“Everyone buckled in?” Matt asks. “I can lose him, but it’ll take some fancy driving.”
“Yeah,” we chorus.
“Hang on, then, princess,” he mutters, and hits the gas.
Thirty-Six
Briar
?
The mood when we finally get back to the hotel is subdued. Matt lost the car pretty quickly—the driver stopped tailing us when he realised that we’d noticed him. Which is worrying. If it were just a paparazzo, he wouldn’t have cared whether or not we saw him. No one mentions it, but we all know what it means.
X was there tonight. He knew exactly where I was. He followed me.
As soon as we step inside the suite, I kick off my heels and flop down on the sofa, fiddling with the clasp on my clutch. My mind is going at a hundred miles a minute.
“Wine?” Glen offers.
I nod. “Thanks.”
Kenta pulls off his suit jacket and drapes it over the back of the sofa, coming to sit by me. “Sorry if the drama ruined your evening.”
