Page 116 of Bittersweet Revenge

“You’re welcome,” Archibald whispered from behind us.

He hugged Esmeralda and gave me a nod. His eyes trailed in the room to find Taylor Oppenheimer alone by the drinks station.

“I’ll be right back,” he said. He kept his eyes on her like a predator on his prey.

“I smell drama,” Esmeralda whispered reluctantly, following him with her eyes as she chewed on her bottom lip.

She took a step toward them, but was stopped when Antoine came to stand in front of us.

“Esme, thanks for the little party.”

Esmeralda smiled, giving him a hug. “You’re welcome! You’re going to be missed.”

“I’ll miss you too. I’ll come back to visit, see the family.” He put his hands in a prayer gesture. “I’ll miss the drama too. Can you just film whatever shit eventually hits the fan?”

“Here we go,” I muttered. Antoine couldn’t be serious for more than five minutes or he would die.

Antoine chuckled before sighing. “I’m glad you took over. It gives me hope that when I come back I can be me.”

I nodded. Resting my hand on his shoulder, I squeezed it in comfort, something I would never have considered doing before meeting my fiancée. “You can be yourself St. Vincent, I’ll – No,we’llfight by your side.”

His eyes turned misty. This was probably the first time I’d ever really saw something other than his usual clownish persona.

“Well, fuck,” he sniffled with a chuckle. “I need a drink. A plus tard, les amoureux.”

“What did he say?” Esmeralda asked.

“He said ‘see you later, lovebirds’.” I turned toward her. “Talking about lovebirds, we have some matters to take care of. I’ve been nice by staying here for an hour, but now...” I jerked my head toward the stairs.

Esmeralda leaned toward me. “And the matter I need to take care of is your penis, I suppose? Is the little guy feeling neglected?” she whispered softly.

I gasped in mock offence. “Nothingis little about my guy, thank you very much!” I cocked my head to the side. “But yes, he is feeling unloved.”

She chuckled, shaking her head.

“But the business I was talking about was more about mutual, overwhelming, and if possible, multiple orgasms.”

She looked at me with hooded eyes, her desire just as flagrant as mine. “Okay, just let me say goodbye to a few people and we’ll sneak away.”

I looked around the room to find Archibald, but he and Oppenheimer were glaringly missing. A wave of irritation engulfed me. If one of them cockblocked me tonight, I swore they’d regret it.

“I’ll give you ten minutes to say your goodbyes. Then I’ll come find you and carry you to the bedroom kicking and screaming.”

“There won’t be any kicking… But I sure as hell hope there’ll be screaming,” she teased, walking toward Luke.

I looked at her go, hypnotized by the sway of her hips. She didn’t flirt like that often, but when she did… Fuck, it did things to my body I couldn’t control even in a room full of people...which included my mother.

“I couldn’t find Archie and Taylor,” Esme sighed once she was back by my side.

I growled at the concern in her voice. I was going to murder them for killing the mood.

“They’re fine – grown-ass adults and all that.” I took her hand and pulled her down the corridor and up the stairs. I was glad she didn't put up any resistance because if she had, I would have done what I said and carried her.

She dragged her heels when we reached her old room.

“They’re fighting,” she whispered, stepping closer to the door.

There was no need to get that close. The screaming match between Archibald and Taylor could be heard just fine from here.

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