‘She doesn’t want your filthy hands anywhere near her,’ Caelon snaps.
Scarlett chuckles. ‘Ivy, how does it feel to be the shiny new toy everyone’s fighting over?’
Caelon’s hands land on my shoulders, kneading and massaging the cream into my skin. Electricity dances down my spine. ‘It feels so good,’ I sigh, happily.
‘We don’t have to fight, brother.’ Rian smirks at Caelon. ‘We could share.’
‘I swear to fuck I’m going to murder you one of these days.’ Caelon’s voice is dangerously low. Rian guffaws and does the hip thrust thing again.
‘Someone phone Killian,’ James says, prising the baby from Scarlett’s arms and beaming at his fiancée lovingly. ‘Tell him to bring beer and pizzas.’
‘You should probably take your top off, Ivy.’ Rian smirks, pulling his phone from the pocket of his shorts. ‘It would be awful if you got tan lines.’
A growl rumbles in Caelon’s throat, and I feel him inch closer to me. The sun has nothing on the heat radiating from his body. Skilful fingers continue sliding over my skin long after the sun cream is well and truly rubbed in. His hot breath skims my neck. ‘If you take your top off, I’ll take you right here on this beach in front of my entire fucking family.’
‘Is that a promise?’ I think it was supposed to be a threat.
‘And to think I mistook you for a good girl.’ His fingers dip to my collarbones and my nipples go rigid. ‘But I think you might actually be as bad as me.’
Given half the chance, I could be. If I could be sure he wasn’t imagining I’m someone else while he’s buried inside of me.
I can’t compete with that.
Chapter Sixteen
CAELON
She works for me, I remind myself over and over again.
She works for me.
She works for me.
So why does hanging out at the beach with Ivy feel like a date? One that I accidentally brought my super annoying family on.
Killian arrives with pizzas, beer, and champagne for Scarlett and Ivy. His expression doesn’t falter when he spots me sitting with my legs either side of my new nanny, but I’d bet my life his hazel eyes are taking in every minute detail.
I tear myself from Ivy’s towel to greet him.
‘Do I look like a fucking pizza delivery boy?’ he says gruffly, handing out boxes from Juliana’s, the most exclusive Italian in Dublin. ‘How many staff do you guys have between you? Next time, call one of them to do the food run.’
‘Any update on the O’Connors?’ I ask in a low voice.
‘I found the money trail.’ His voice is grim.
‘You did?’ Finally. The proof we’ve been looking for.
‘I sent two female security agents to interrogate StacyBourke. She didn’t deny receiving money, but she claimed it came from an anonymous source.’
‘That’s ridiculous. Does she think we’re fucking stupid?’
‘We need Danny to wake up. When he does, you can extract every detail from his body, painfully. Hang tight.’
‘My patience is wearing thin.’ It’s the understatement of the century. Any patience I had died along with my wife. Now all I have left is a thirst for blood, oh, and a highly inappropriate desire to devour the nanny.
Ivy was right. Even when it’s sunny, I feel morbid. Restless. There’s a beast beneath my skin just bursting to break free.
‘The other problem is that we took or froze all the O’Connor assets. Which begs the question, if it was them, where did they get the money from to pay Stacy, anyway?’ Killian’s voice is grim. ‘They must have at least one remaining affluent friend.’