When he lifted his head, Cadence was clutching his dress shirt, her gaze clouded with desire. "W-Why did you do that?"
"To prove to you how bothered I am about public opinion."
"O-Oh."
"Do you need more proof?" Keiran drawled.
Three seconds passed.
I'm fucked.
Because he had seen her eyes lit up, and he didn't even have time to step back. She was already pulling him close and raising herself on her toes—-
FUCK.
She had pulled his lower lip between her teeth to give it a bite, and it was all Keiran could do not to fuck her then and there.
When Cadence pulled away, all eyes immediately zeroed in on the impressive evidence of his arousal.
"Dammit, Cadence."
She was about to laugh when she belatedly noticed what had practically every woman in the room staring, and she ended up gulping instead.
Keiran bit back a groan. Seeing that only made him think of what else Cadence could be gulping down her sweet throat.
"K-Keir—-"
"I'm going to take a walk," he bit out.
"Oh, should I—-"
He glared at her, and Cadence said meekly, "Enjoy your walk."
Keiran stalked off, needing air and distance from the temptation he had only himself to thank for. The balcony was mercifully empty, the cool night air helping to calm his body if not his mind.
What the hell was wrong with him?
This night was supposed to be about making her pay.So why the hell—-are you fucking kidding me?
Keiran had just turned back toward the ballroom, and the first thing he saw were both James Preston and Grant Poorly taking advantage of his absence by swarming around Cadence like starving flies.
Assholes.
He was about to return to the ballroom when the doors to the balcony swung open again, and a man in his late thirties walked out to join him.
Giancarlo Marchetti.
Keiran's face turned impassive as he came face to face with Boston's most powerful mafia billionaire.
"You're a hard man to get a hold of, de Laigny."
"I wouldn't have attended tonight if I hadn't met you," he said evenly.
"I had a feeling that much was the case."
"What do you want, Marchetti?"
Giancarlo leaned against the railing, his posture deceptively casual, but Keiran wasn't fooled at all. Most people thought Giancarlo's rise from the dead was an urban legend to turn him into a more terrifying boogeyman than he already was. But Keiran's trusted sources had told him otherwise.