Page 67 of In Love and Revenge

It’s win-win.

I end the call and place the cap back on my pen.

‘How was he?’ Aurora asks, her gaze boring into the upturned notepad.

I bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from chuckling. She has the subtlety of one of Benedict’s farts after he’s gorgedhimself on the special brand of tinned salmon that Gabriel insists on buying him.

I hold the pen, running my thumb up and down its smooth surface. ‘He’s having some issues, nothing major,’ I say, studying her reaction.

‘Oh really? What kind?’

She inches a little closer, reaching up to toy with her necklace so my eyes are drawn to the opening of her blouse and her smooth, bare skin.

‘Why did you really come into my office, Aurora?’

She drops her necklace like it’s on fire. ‘I told you. I came to say thank you.’

I lean back again and study her. Liar. Just like when she told the authorities she didn’t know where her father put the money. When she insisted that he was innocent.

‘Sit on the desk,’ I growl.

‘What?’ Her eyes widen.

I lick my lips, dropping my attention back to her blouse and the hint of lace bra that’s visible through it.

She thinks she can come into my office like this, bat her eyelashes at me a little, and what? I’ll tell her something that’ll re-write history and save her criminal of a father from facing his time? She’s deluded.

But it’ll still be fun to see how far Daddy’s little princess is willing to go. She’s spent long enough playing with me. It’s time I played back.

‘Sit on my desk,’ I repeat, dragging my eyes up her chest to her face.

Her cheeks are pink, but there’s a flash of determination in her eyes as she hitches one hip in preparation for sliding herself up on to the desk.

‘Not there. Here.’

I push my chair back just enough that there’s a space in front of me.

I can practically hear the nervous thud of her heart as she hesitates, before squeezing into the gap, and slowly lifting herself on to my desk.

For a second I just soak her in, sitting there in her tight little pencil skirt and silky blouse, blond hair pulled up into a high ponytail, begging me to wrap it inside my fist.

I could fuck that little pretty mouth. Stuff it so full she couldn’t spout any more lies.

She fidgets and I pull my chair even closer until her legs are practically in my lap.

‘Are you uncomfortable?’ I say, a perverse satisfaction rumbling in my chest as she shakes her head and lies to my face. Again.

‘No. Of course not. It’s nice talking to you.’

The look on her face is akin to someone being told they’ll need a rectal exam with a barbed-wire glove. She might be a terrible liar, but she’s also a terrible flirt. The latter brings a sense of calm to me. She’s obviously never tried doing this to get what she wants before. I like that I’m the first man she’s done this to. That I’m theonlyman she’s ever done this to.

‘I’m enjoying myself too,’ I tell her, watching her reaction.

She brushes away imaginary lint from her skirt.

‘Sit still, Aurora,’ I instruct, a quiet bite in my tone.

She sucks in a breath, and her aquamarine eyes dart up to meet mine. I drink them in. The innocence that I know isn’t to be believed. The sheer beauty of them. A weaker man would fall for it. But when it comes to her, I know all of her expressions.