Page 133 of Lovely Venom

“We’re back to being cryptic, I see.”

A hint of humor flickers in his eyes as he reaches for the shampoo and squeezes some into his palm.

He lathers it into my hair, and it’s a strange concept, allowing someone to do this for me, but it also feels too good to protest. So I let him.

When he slides his fingers between my thighs and makes me come, I let that happen too. But when I try to reciprocate, he wraps my wandering hands around his back and presses my face against his chest.

“Sometimes it’s just about you, dea.”

I concede because I know he has to get to work, but I’m already thinking of how I can make it up to him later.

“You’re never going to believe what happened,” Kenzie whisper-hisses through the screen.

“What?” I nibble on a cracker.

Her brows knit together as her gaze darts behind me. “What is that sound?”

“Oh, that’s Goliath. He snores.”

“Goliath?”

“Yep.” I tilt the screen to show her the dog currently sprawled across my lap. “He belongs to Cristian’s cousin, but he’s my buddy when Cristian has to work late.”

“Well, that should be a good deterrent.” She laughs.

“Trust me, he’s more terrifying than he looks. The first time I met him, I thought he might eat me for a snack.”

She nods absently. “What’s going on with you and Cristian anyway? Things got super tense last night.”

“Nuh-uh.” I shake my head. “You were just about to tell me some big news, remember?”

“Ugg, fine,” she groans. “Tiffany got fired in front of everyone. You should have seen the absolute terror she unleashed. She tipped over a vanity and threw a stiletto at Viktor’s head before security dragged her out.”

“Wait, what?” I nearly choke on my cracker. “Why did she get fired?”

“Something about her not being professional.” Kenzie shrugs. “Which, honestly, it’s been a long time coming.”

As she adds more details about Tiffany’s epic tantrum, my thoughts drift. This can’t be a coincidence.

“Ah, shoot,” she says. “Ten-minute warning. I have to go finish getting ready.”

“Alright, well thanks for the update.”

“Yep. By the way, no notes today. Kind of weird, right?”

“That is weird,” I agree, wondering if Cristian found a way to intercept them.

We say a quick goodbye, and I consider texting Cristian, but ultimately I decide to call him instead. He answers, telling me to hold on a second, then I get an incoming FaceTime request from him.

I accept it, and a second later, we’re on a video call.

“Is everything okay, gattina?”

Concern lingers in his eyes as he searches mine, but I’m distracted by the giant conference table full of men in the background.

“Are you in the middle of a meeting?”

“Yes, but it can wait.”