“What?” she asks. “Are you okay?”
“No,” I say, feeling the energy drain from my body. “You drive me utterly insane.”
She turns and takes me in her arms like a child. “I’m sorry.”
My hands and feet tingle. Am I having a heart attack? “Let go.”
“No.” She hugs me tighter. “You know I’ve never seen you less than fully dressed.”
Because I never want to be. If I could fuck in a suit and not be labeled as a freak, I would. The champagne seems to be catching up with me, coating my brain in a low fuzz.
January’s hand creeps to touch my tie. “Can I undo this?”
I say nothing, but I let her pull open the knot and slip the silk from around my neck. She drops the tie to the floor and starts on my shirt buttons. Soon I’m naked from the waist up. January runs her hands over my stomach. “You shouldn’t hide your body.”
“I’m not hiding anything.”
Her mouth twists, but her touch is gentle. I let her continue stroking me, closing my eyes. It’s been a long day. A long life. The feel of her against my skin is a release from all of it.
“Eli,” she says quietly. “Can you please just say you would have taken me to the hospital like Adriano?”
My abdomen tenses under her palm. “No.”
“But I know you would have. When I was locked in the East Wing you didn’t even come and take your necklace.”
“That’s because you were born to wear my rubies.”
Her smile mixes with the alcohol in my blood and makes everything glow for one seamless instant. Then it fades. I sigh. “Why does everything have to be so difficult,bella?”
“I don’t know,” she says, stroking my hip muscle. “But if you admit you would have helped me, I’ll make love to you.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes. And I’ve had practice now. I might be good at it.”
A chuckle from beside us. “She’s better than good at it,” Bobby says.
“Can confirm,” Doc agrees.
I feel a sudden rush of affection for the pair of them. These men with whom I’ve unwittingly shared a life. “Are the two of you going to hold it against me forever if I bow to this brat?”
“I mean… I did it,” Doc says. “So it’d be pretty hypocritical of me.”
“Yeah,” Bobby agrees. “I can’t pretend like I’m better…”
“…so, I don’t think we’ll bring it up,” Doc finishes. “Get a move on, Morelli. I want another turn.”
I laugh. It just tumbles out of me the way it did when I was younger. Light and loose.
“Thank you both.” I touch a hand to January’s cheek. “Are you really ready,bella?”
She nods so I bend to her ear. “I wouldn’t have taken you to see your Zia.”
January rears back in shock but I slide my hands around her waist, keeping her close. “Iwouldhave paid to have your Zia medevacked to a hospital in New Jersey where I could have taken you, saving her life and protecting yours at the same time.”
January lets out a slow breath. “You mean it?”
“Yes,” I say stiffly, praying she doesn’t want more. If she does, Christ knows what I’ll do. Fall to my knees and give her every dollar to my name? Swear to take my life if she’s ever unhappy? But January’s fingers are already on my belt, unbuckling and pulling away the leather.
