Page 79 of Blind Devotion
“Or, hear me out,” Erel said, “you have Thibault handle it.”
I snapped around to face him, surprised at his suggestion after the fiasco with the Serbs.
“No one is taking this kill from me.”
He raised his hands in surrender. “I get it. I do. She’s Persy, the love of your life, but Senior probably knows something’s up. Come to think of it, he’s been avoiding us. Stay at her side. Send Thibault instead, and you’ve got deniability. No one would ever suspect your brother. He smiles too much. Everybody thinks he’s a puppy. Use that, and let him redeem himself.”
With all my throwing knives in the board, I slipped my hand around my pocketknife, thumbing the ridges on the spine. It helped me think.
“A solid way for Thibault to show his skills to the crew without an extra cleanup required. No means to embarrass himself further. If he can’t stomach it, I step in.” I flicked my pocketknife open to plant it into the board with the rest of the knives. “Set it up, but I want it done to my exact specifications.”
Hours of pain, patch by patch of skin removed, every finger hammered to bits, and lastly, his favorite appendage disposed of. Before the end, Gaspard Barrot was going to regret every decision of his short, pathetic life.
Chapter 32
“Youlookbeautiful.”Adrien’sarms wrapped around me from behind, and he kissed up my neck. “An angel I thoroughly enjoy corrupting.”
I took a deep breath, sweeping my hands over the diamond and emerald necklace, then down my cocktail dress that molded to my body with a satiny feel. “You don’t think it’s too much?”
“Never. I mean, I’d prefer you took it all off and just sat on my face…” I gave him a gentle slap on the arm. He chuckled, leaning to whisper into my ear. “I’ll get you nice and sloppy wet. Coming for me…over and over. And over again. Me owning this gorgeous body of yours forever. You never leaving my bed again. I say win-win.”
Turning my head, I caught his lips for a quick kiss. “Tempting, but they’re expecting us.”
We’d been in our own little world for days. A fuck fest of the best variety, only coming up for food, bathroom breaks, and the occasional work interruption Adrien had. After six days of that, my body was sated in a way I was certain it had never been before. It was like we were making up for lost time, and while Iwasn’t complaining, it made me wonder. What about all the days we wasted before now? What happened to us? Something had kept us apart, and I couldn’t ignore the danger or problem of whatever that was.
I eyed the dark blur that was Adrien’s head in the mirror. He was being surprisingly tight-lipped about it, no matter how many times I asked. Same thing about contacting my family.
He was hiding something from me. Something important. I couldn’t say yes to his marriage proposals until I knew what it was.
“I don’t want to share you,” he mumbled, nibbling at my skin.
“Seeing as Alizé’s the only one I’ve even seen in the last two and a half weeks, I don’t think you have to worry about that.”
He groaned. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”
I rolled my eyes. My big ol’ grump at his best.
I elected to leave my mobility cane behind as he led me out of the room on his arm.
He was reintroducing me to his family, people I was just starting to remember from the occasional new memory. They hadn’t seen me for five years, I knew that much. Why? That was part of whatever secret Adrien was trying to keep from me. Either way, I wanted to make a good impression. Five years was a long time.
“It’s just dinner. Stop fidgeting.”
“I can’t help it.”
He squeezed my hand. “They’re going to love you. They always have. I expect Maman to be thrilled I’m finally settling down.”
“I haven’t said yes yet.”
He huffed his annoyance. “You will.”
“Cocky much?”
“You know I have every right to be.”
I bit my lip. Damn right he did. A cock like his, thick and a good length, was what dreams were made of, especiallyconsidering how gifted he was with it. Nope—to his amusement, I shook my head—not thinking about sex right now. I was about to meet the rest of the De Villiers, and a woman with a flaming face was not what I wanted them to see for our second first impression.
“Maybe a surprise will soothe your nerves,” he whispered in my ear.
