Page 58 of Blind Devotion
“It’s about our last contract.”
I ground my teeth, my hand on the doorknob. “Not now.”
“Shit, man, this is important. There are rumors about your little bird.” I stared at the grain in the door’s wood as if it were the most fascinating bit of architecture. “She’s lighting up Endgame’s back channels. Images of her were posted from the boat and linked to photos in the tabloids of your trip downtown two days ago. They’re saying she’s one of Bogdani’s. They’re questioning our competence. Whether or not it’s true, she might need to be taken care of.”
“I know.”
“What do you mean,you know? You never log into the chats.”
The door handle was going to break off in my grip if he didn’t drop this.
“You’re not surprised, are you? You knew. It’s true, isn’t it?”
“I’ll handle it.”
“What the fuck do you mean you’ll handle it? Adrien, this is a joint enterprise. This isn’t Milieu business. Your word’s not god on this.”
“I said I’m handling it.”
“Are you?”
“Fuck off.” I was handling it. I just needed to figure out what hold she had on me first and shake it off.
“How long have you known? The boat?” he asked incredulously. “Putain, Adrien. It’s been almost four weeks. If you can’t kill the whore, I will. And I won’t hesitate.”
I flicked open my pocketknife and vaulted around. A few strides, the blade was at his throat, his dress shirt in my fist. “What the fuck did you just call her?”
His eyes widened, betrayal raging in them. “Is that how it’s going to be? You’d pick her over us.”
“If you were anyone else…”
“But I’m not. And you know she can’t live.”
I refused to acknowledge the truth of what he was saying. Squeezing his neck, I said, “Next time you call her that, my knife will slip.”
“She’s a dead woman walking. What does it matter?”
I despised how right he was, especially now that the New York pakhan knew about her. Just that made me want to sink the knife in. I held back, barely, and shoved him away.
“You don’t go near her.”
“And if Leontyev hears of this?”
“He already has.”
Erel’s eyes went wide. “You can’t even see she’s already got her talons sunk deep into you.”
I did see it. I just thought I was strong enough to resist.
Chapter 23
ThemomentTessawalkedby the dark nook where I stood sentinel, all my reasons for avoiding her the last two days went up in smoke. She was beautiful and real, and there was no denying that she was so very much mine. Leontyev’s warning didn’t matter. Erel’s anger didn’t matter. Something about her called to me on a molecular level.
Moonlight glimmered through the floor-to-ceiling windows at the end of the corridor. It cradled the soft contours of Tessa’s cheekbones and chin while accentuating the curves of her plump, parted lips and the tenseness of her jaw. The gray light reflected off her eye shields like beams and highlighted the blonde in her long hair. With her silky nightgown gliding against her skin and shaping to her curves, she almost appeared ethereal. My cock twitched in my pants.
She had an ass worth biting and sinking into. I imagined bending her over to put it further on display before glazing my fingers over its warmth. I visualized it bouncing with every slap of my hand. How it would dip around the press of my fingers as I gripped her hard and buried my cock in her over and over. Iwould fuck her hard enough to leave an imprint that she’d feel for days until the next time and the next. I sucked air in with a hiss.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get her out of my head. That mouth of hers. The way her leg wrapped around me. I wanted to haul her to me, grab her, and never let go.
