Ri smirked. “And there he is. The billionaire alphahole with the touch-her-and-die vibes that Kat loves reading about in her smutty books.”
I rolled my eyes. “And what smutty things do billionaire alphaholes do to their sexy, pregnant wives?”
Ri nibbled on her bottom lip, her eyes suddenly sinful. “I don’t know aboutallof them, but this one—with the curly black hair and the hot swimmer bod and the slutty little glasses …” Her fingers trailed down my chest, my muscles rippling under that touch.
“He buys her ice cream—with sprinkles, because their tiny human demands those—and he spreads her out on the kitchen bench and eats his off her body until hers is melted, because it’s really hard to eat ice cream while you’re screaming from back-to-back orgasms.”
“And then?” I rasped, my mouth watering at the thought of my favourite vanilla ice cream being used for some very un-vanilla sex.
She stepped closer. “Then, he fucks her with hispula monstruuntil she can’t walk straight for three days.”
I cleared my throat. “You do realise that now I have to walk out of our midwife’s clinic with a raging erection … that’s not very alphahole of me.”
Ri winked. “Well, it’s lucky I secretly prefer my sweet, soft, sexy nerd husband, who blushes and gets flustered when he’s sporting a boner in public.”
I brushed my nose against hers. “It’s very lucky. Now, say something unsexy so I don’t have to hold you like a human shield to escape this place.”
Our ice creams melted for a very different reason in the end. Lucian greeted us at the gate to the marina, his face a storm cloud.
“What’s got your panties in a bunch, Pookie Wookie?” Ri asked, shoving a heaped spoonful of mostly-sprinkles-with-a-dash-of-ice-cream into her mouth.
He glared at her. “I noticed a young bloke loitering around the gate. His face is a mess, and he looks dodgy. When I enquired about the reason for his presence here, he said he was looking for you.” His eyes met mine, and he nodded once.
Ri swallowed hard. “For me?”
“Where is he?” I asked, tightening my hold on Ri’s hand.
Lucian tilted his head in the direction of his SUV. “Shoved him in the back seat. He’s unarmed, and he seems cooperative enough, but he’s very insistent that he speak to Irina.”
Before I could put myself between her and the car, Ri was at the back door, tugging on the handle until it opened. She let out a shocked cry, staggering backwards.
I jumped into action, my hands on her waist, pulling her back against my body. Lucian stepped forwards. I wasn’t sure how this was going to go. I’d thought I would have more time to talk to her about it. Prepare her.
“Stefan …” Her word was barely a breath. “What are you doing here?”
Stefan climbed out of the car. He stood almost as tall as Lucian, and was at least as broad. He looked exhausted as he ran a hand through his thick, sandy-brown hair. One eye was swollen almost entirely shut, surrounded by a mottled mess of bruising.
“Your husband invited me,” he rasped in thickly accented English.
Ri’s eyes, wide and shocked, turned to me. “You did?”
I wrapped her tighter in my arms. “He’s the only family member you have left who cares about you.” I glanced up at Lucian, who watched warily. “I know that feeling, and I wasn’t about to let you lose him.”
“But … how?”
“I got out, Ri.” Stefan rasped, swiping a hand over his stubbly jaw. “I did what he needed from me … and I made him promise to let me go after.”
The man looked haunted, and I opened my mouth to suggest that we take this conversation onto theGirl on Firewhen Ri blurted, “Who?”
Stefan sighed, exhausted. “Calin. He’s got what he always wanted now … and both of us get to live free of it all.”
“What did you do?” Ri asked, her voice barely a whisper. She reached for him, but he flinched away from the touch.
“I killed him. I killed my father.”
BREAKING NEWS: SECURITY BREACH RESPONSIBLE FOR MULTIPLE INTERNATIONAL ARRESTS
Interpol has credited an anonymous source hacking into their systems for the arrest of an entire organised crime ring operating across Eastern Europe.
