“Hmm.”
I hang up, leaning against the kitchen counter. That was one of the most surreal phone calls I’ve ever been part of. I didn’t even think about the possibility of his father knowing about this and coming after me for revenge…
Which is stupid in hindsight.
As messed up as this is, it’s a good thing.
“What are you smiling about?” Elle says, walking into the living room in a bathrobe and a towel on her head.
“I just got a call from Lucian’s father.”
Her eyebrows shoot up as she walks to the counter and grips the edge of it. “Okay…”
“He says he’s not going to come after us for what we’re going to do,” I tell her, still a little shocked. “He’s going to look the other way. As long as we do this quietly. We’re not taking out a mob prince, just taking out the trash.”
She nods, her eyes wide with a hint of relief. “Then let’s do it.”
I shrug. “There’s not much to do tonight,” I say. “I can’t rig the place in the dark.”
“Rig the place?”
“Set traps and barricades in your house. We’re going to need to get you…” I trail off, feeling sick.
She walks around the counter and stands in front of me. She takes my hands and holds them firmly, looking up at me full of certainty. “What, Rhett?”
“A bulletproof vest,” I grunt. “Protection. You’ve got him fooled, which is good, but we still need to take precautions. This would be easier if I took him out?—”
“Please, Rhett. We’re going in circles.”
“You distract him, lead him outside… I’ll pull the trigger and drop him before he even knows it. It’s cleaner.”
“But it’s not what I want,” she says fiercely, sliding her hands up my arms and sinking her fingernails into my shoulders. “I think that’s who you are, Rhett. I know it hasn’t been a very long time. I know we’ve got alotto learn about each other. But I know this. You’re the sort of man who gives his woman what she wants.”
“My woman,” I mutter.
She tilts her head. “Isn’t that what boyfriends and?—”
She gasps when I yank her against me and kiss her deeply. I can feel the shape of her body through the bathrobe, the luscious lumps of her breasts, the curviness of her body.
“Don’t make this about the fake boyfriend thing,” I tell her. “You weren’t in character when you said that.”
“So I’m your woman for real?” She says sarcastically. “Is that what you want me to say?”
“What if it was?”
My hands move as if with a mind of their own, gliding down her bathrobe, lifting the hem. I just need to feel her heat, her skin, the reality that she’s with me and she’s safe.
She moans and grinds against me. “Then I’d say you’re a little crazy, Rhett. Which is fine because I think I’m a little crazy too.”
She throws herself against me. I groan as my hands slide to her ass. I lift her off her feet, putting her on the counter, arching my back and driving my groin between her legs. Hard and unrelenting, my erection pressed against my pants, ready. She makes the sexiest gasping noise as I dry-hump her naked raw pussy.
I can feel her wetness through the fabric of my jeans, feel her lust swelling inside of her.
“We can’t just say this is forever.” She gasps between kisses. “You don’t know if you want that, and I can’t think about anything else until after… But this, here, oh, fuck…”
She shifts on the counter, grinding her pussy against the front of my pants, making me shiver and ache as I try to hold myself back. It’s like she’s coaxing the beast out of me again.
“I’ve never felt anything like this before,” she moans. “I never dreamed I could be so confident after… you know. But you changed me. This time,Iwant to be in charge. I want to take control.”
