Page 85 of Enthrall Ecstasy
What I had with De Sade was one thing, but with Rue it would become an obsession—that much I knew. She was just too damn mesmerizing not to distract me from my work.
My job needed focus. It was about keeping everyone safe. Everyone out of harm’s way. I was too busy and too important to Enthrall and Chrysalis to let myself get involved on that level of intensity.
All roads led back to me when it came to security.
After engaging the safety, I set the gun down and then punched the button to zip my target toward me to take a closer look at my aim. The bullets had brushed the edges of the bullseye.
Rue was affecting my focus.
I could do better, aim better, but I just wasn’t in the mood to prove it to myself.
I checked out of the range, leaving the gun behind. The rule of thumb at Chrysalis was that all weapons were banned and, apparently, mine was also included in that protocol.
Within minutes, I was speeding back towards the elite Bel Air manor perched on a hill. Enthrall may be closed but Chrysalis remained open.
For now, anyway.
A year ago, we’d installed a wrought iron fence around the property. The scanner automatically read the tag on my car window. Seconds later, those impressive iron gates swung open.
I drove up the private road and crested the hill, that vast palatial manor coming into view. It blended easily with the other multimillion dollar properties that were scattered across the area.
Parking out front, I let the valet know I’d be keeping my keys.
I wasn’t staying.
Not for long, anyway.
Heading around to the rear, I admired the well-tended acreage and dramatic view beyond the garden. The impressive swimming pool reflected the morning sunlight.
I kept a look-out for one of the many peacocks we had here. One especially needed to avoid them during mating season—they could be territorial fuckers sometimes.
I’d gone around to the rear of the manor because there was a decent view of the breakfast room. Which meant I could observeherbefore going in.
And there she was.
Rue sat alone.
Bright sunlight bounced around in there, too. It caught the highlights in her hair. Tangling my fingers through those silky locks was the kind of pleasure I’d never know again.
Rue had proven she was loyal, too.
She’d not betrayed me, refusing to tell Richard and Cameron that she’d met me at Pendulum. That kind of loyalty was rare and impressive. Especially since what she’d stood to lose was everything she’d always wanted.
God,she was so damn beautiful. The way she peered from underneath long lashes toward the other end of the room, as though imagining me there.
This ache in my chest worsened, as though I’d already lost her.
Already let her go.
The next few minutes were inevitable.
Rue wrapped her hands around a coffee mug, looking forlorn and staring at the place I should be sitting as though she was trying to conjure me out of the ether.
Rue.
Her name left my lips like a curse or a prayer or a plea.
She’d fallen for me.
