Page 83 of Princes of Sin
“And next week will be a trial run. We’ll have our jet at the ready should anything happen, but since there are no events scheduled, we’re hopeful it’ll be quiet for you all. Especially after the week you had. We’ll be around if you have any questions, but other than that, we think you’ll be able to handle the day-to-day.”
“I thought training was six months?” Otto asks, leaning forward so that his elbows are resting on his knees.
“It is,” Alaric tells him. “This isn’t the end of training. We will have a lot to teach you over the course of the next three months. And even when we do the full handover, we’ll be around tohelp with questions that arise. We’d always planned to do a soft handover a couple of months before the full handover, and after yesterday… we think you might be ready.”
I look at Lachlan, and the corners of his lips twitch. I know what he’s thinking, because I’m thinking the exact same thing.
Whose crazy idea is it to put us in charge?!
“Sounds good,” Max says, ever the peacekeeper.
“Thank fuck,” Harlow breathes, leaning back on the couch. “I really need a fucking vacation.”
CHAPTER 35
Otto
At the end of our work day, I decide to take advantage of the evening sun while it’s still around. Starting next month, it’ll get dark at three-thirty, and I’ll be depressed for five months until the sun comes back.
“I wonder if I can convince the Lords to move our headquarters to the south of France,” I muse, sipping my cocktail as Lottie lounges next to me out in the back garden. We’re both fully dressed because despite being sunny, it is still autumn in England, which translates to cold.
She laughs. “Doubt it. You remember the wholefive familiesthing–five families protecting the five corners of Britain.”
I scoff. “Well we’re nottechnicallyone of the five families. We’ve started fresh with a new name, a new lineage… why can’t we start over somewhere warmer?”
“I’d love to see you run that by Sterling.”
“He likes me. And he seems to like you now, too. For a while there, I was afraid I’d see your fingers chopped off and placed on the mantel as a warning not to lie.”
“Jesus, Otto.”
I chuckle. “I wouldn’t put it past him.”
She’s smiling when I look over at her, and with the afternoon sun reflecting off her silver hair and white-blond lashes…
She’s the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen, and I can’t stop imagining a future with her. Withallof us.
“So… you and Lachlan?”
“No.”
“What? Am I not allowed to ask? As someone with a cock that regularly penetrates you, I feel like it’s something I should be privy to.”
She glares at me. “You speak of me like I’m a sex toy.”
“Don’t pretend that doesn’t turn you on,” I purr. “Being my little fuckhole. Letting me use you, being the most gorgeous, little cum dumpster–”
“Otto,” she warns.
“Am I making you wet, darling?”
The corners of her mouth twitch, and she looks over her mafia romance paperback at me. “You’re ridiculous.”
“But you love it.” Her eyes flash with uncertainty, and her lips press together before I continue. “If not love, then something close to it?”
She nods. “Definitely something close to it,” she whispers.
I give her a lopsided smile. “Come here.”
