“Awww, and here I thought you weren’t capable of paying someone a compliment.”
That actually pulled a genuine chuckle out of him. “I’m capable of many things, Brielle.”
“Like what?”
And when he peered over his shoulder, the devious look in his eye made me squeeze my thighs together.
“Don’t ask for an answer you’re not ready for yet,” he said.
Man, he really knew how to keep a girl on the edge of her seat.
17
DANTE
I hadn’t worn my tuxedo in ages. In fact, I was stunned to see that it still fit. I’d put on some muscle mass since originally commissioning it from across town. I slid my hands down my white button-front shirt as I clocked the position of my ankle gun. I had to make sure there was enough slack in the legs to cover that damned thing up, but it didn’t look too bad.
“At least the pants break at the right place,” I murmured to myself.
My hands slid along my leather belt, disappearing beneath the tailed black tuxedo jacket. I played with the knife holsters on my hips, counting both of them on either side of my body. My palms gravitated up to my breast jacket pocket where I checked to make sure my taser was both accessible and charged, ready to fire.
Then, I drew in a deep breath before winking at myself in the mirror.
“Let’s do this,” I murmured.
I was ready to wrap-up this open-ended contract. We’d had this damned thing on this bitch for much too long, and she honestly made us look bad. Bounty hunting was all about precision and opportune timing. However, if a contract was held onto for more than a month or so, it made the holder of the contract look like an incompetent ass wipe. Plus, it kept us from taking other bounties, which meant our pockets ran dry with each day that passed. No matter where we turned or what we did, this bitch had ruined us. She took our President. She fucked with our money. She dodged us at every turn and taunted us with a fucking contract we couldn’t fulfill no matter what we did.
Four months on a contract was long enough.
She died tonight if I got my hands on her.
“Boy, am I jealous of you,” Mav said, poking his head into my bedroom.
“Is she ready?” I asked as I fucked with my black tie one last time.
He smirked and leaned against the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. “She is, and you should see her in this dress.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, I’m ready when she is.”
“Axton was right,” she said as her voice fluttered into my bedroom, “you do cut nicely in a tuxedo.”
“I’ve had it for a while,” I said as I fucked with my onyx cufflinks and turned to face her, “but I’m glad it… still… fits.”
Brielle held her arms out before giving me a soft turn. “So, what do you think? How did Axton do with the eyeballing? Because I swear, I wasn’t sure I believed him when he said—”
My gaze devoured her presence. “He’s got a few tricks up his sleeve.”
The slope of her waist and the way it blossomed into a decadent set of hips made my fingertips tingle. The way her broad shoulders gave way to her perfect little handfuls of breasts called to my palms. The strapless black dress she donned dripped down her body, all the way to the floor. And the slit up the left side of her dress exposed her long, shimmering leg, all the way up to her hip bone.
I had to draw in a deep breath to contain myself.
“So?” she asked. “What do you think?”
I walked over to her and offered her my arm. “I think I’m ready to go if you are.”
She smiled as she linked her arm with mine. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
Mav playfully sniffled as he dabbed his hand at his nonexistent tears. “So beautiful. My little babies, all grown up.”
