Page 100 of Sinful Desires
When the floor was clean, he pulled me up by the hair and kissed me deeply, his tongue filthy and claiming. Then he turned me around, pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, and wiped my chest. My collarbone. My neck.
Gentle in the cruelest way.
He reached for my dress, helped me slide it back on, then zipped it up and dropped a kiss on my bare shoulder. “Let’s go before someone starts looking for you.”
He took my hand. I barely had my heels steady under me when he stopped, veered toward the massive portrait of Louis XVI, and tapped the frame.
A soft click, then it opened.
I blinked.
I’d lived in this house for more than a decade, and I’dneverknown there was a goddamn secret exit behind the French king.
“How the fuck did you find this?”
He held it open as I stepped through. Beyond the crack in the wall, a long brick hallway stretched out in front of me. Théo closed the panel behind us with a quiet snap.
“I’m a genius in technology, Scarlett. The Navy trained me to break into anything, find every hidden panel, every electric lock. There are three in your house.”
I turned to look at him, raising a brow. “Three?”
“Guess your father has a lot of things to hide.”
Guess so.
We walked. My heels echoed against the cold stone as his hand stayed firm on my lower back.
“Where does it lead?” I asked.
“To the entrance lobby. With any luck, everyone’s still eating dessert.”
After three minutes of silence and shadows, we reached another wall. Théo pressed something near the corner, and it gave. A narrow door creaked open.
He stepped out first, scanned the corridor, then turned and offered his hand. I took it.
The lights were off. Only the hallway glowed faintly from under antique sconces. No voices. No footsteps. No witnesses.
I pulled out my phone, typing a quick message to Victoria.
We left. I felt sick. Probably the prawns.
Sent another to my father.
I left.
Then I turned to Théo speaking quietly enough that no one else could hear.
“Take me home, please.”
Chapter
Twenty-Six
“Soul connections are not often found and are worth every bit of fight left in you to keep.”
? Shannon Alder
Théo
