Page 58 of Ties That Bind Us

“That’s fine. Make-up sex is my favorite anyway.” I pinned her against the wall, driving my hips into her.

“Generally, someone has to apologize for it to be make-up sex.”

“I’m sorry.” I smirked. “Happy?”

Ava leaned her head back as my fingers trailed up her thigh and beneath the material of that goddamn dress.

“Nick . . .” Fuck, the way she whispered my name like that always made me weak. “Everyone is waiting on us.” She giggled, trying to move out from underneath me.

“It’s our party. Let ’em.” I smiled mischievously.

“Don’t you want to hear about how my day was?” She was toying with me.

“Eventually, yes. But right now, all I want to do is get this dress off of you.”

“Nick, seriously.” She slid away, successfully this time. “This is my father’s office. We can’t do anything in here, he could walk in at any second.”

“Then lock the door if that’s what you’re worried about,” I countered, not letting her talk me down so easily.

“You’re impossible, you know that?” She grinned, tilting her head slightly. She hoisted herself up on the edge of the desk, swinging her legs teasingly. The slit on her dress parted, giving me quite the view as she let her legs fall apart. That was all the invitation I needed.

“Let me be clear about something.” I smirked smugly, reaching behind me to lock the door, just in case. I loosened my tie and made my way toward her slowly. “The only reason I am letting you go in there wearing this dress, looking as insatiable as you do, is because you’ll be on my arm. You’re not allowed to go out in that dress without me.”

“Yes, sir,” she whispered seductively.

Chapter 21

Nick

“Thank you,” I said, taking my drinks from the bartender and sliding a few bills across the counter.

Our parents had gone all out for this party, and even though I was having a good time, the only thing I could think about was getting Ava home. We had taken advantage of a few stolen minutes in Alessandro’s office, but it had only been a tease. I spotted her across the room, and started to make my way over so I could ask her how much longer we had to stay, but I was intercepted by Vince.

“Hey,” he said gruffly.

“Hey,” I said, anxious about how this conversation was going to turn out. The last time I’d seen him was when he accused me of murdering Andrew. I definitely didn’t want another scene like we’d had that night.

“I just, uh . . . I wanted to tell you . . .” Vince mumbled, scrambling for words. I knew where he was going, but I wanted to hear what he had to say. “I reacted badly the other night. I didn’t know what happened with Andrew, if I had . . .” He trailed off, sighing.

“Hey, man.” I held my hand up to stop him. “I get it. I probably would’ve reacted the same way.”

“I’m sorry if it caused problems with my sister,” he said genuinely.

“No big deal, I should have told her from the beginning. I thought your dad had.”

“Yeah, well.” Vince rolled his eyes. “He’s always got some sort of ulterior motive where Ava is concerned.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

Vince shook his head. “Look, all I can really say is you need to be careful who you trust around here.” Vince looked around as if he was worried about getting caught saying too much to me.

“Your dad?” I asked, confused. This entire thing had been his plan from the beginning. Why would he not be happy with it now?

“He likes to use Ava as a distraction,” Vince said quietly. “I don’t know what he’s planning, but you need to keep a close eye on things. Ava is a pawn, and she’ll wind up getting hurt if we don’t take care of this soon.”

“We?” I arched an eyebrow at him.

“Don’t let it go to your head, Caponelli.” Vince chuckled. “I still can’t stand you, but I’m willing to compromise where my sister is concerned.”

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