Page 87 of Forsaken Devotion: Part 2
I couldn’t stop kicking my feet.
I navigated to my banking app to find the routing information. For a moment, I stopped and exited the app. Thenumber displayed in my account wasn’t what I had deposited. It was twenty times the amount.
I shook my head and logged in again. There were a lot of zeros.
I made minimum wage, not this—damn it, Lucian.
That damn sneak.
I settled into the bed, legs crossed, and did the math to figure out what was allotted to me based on the time I’d worked.
Two could play this game.
LUCIAN
I shut off the car.
Josephine stifled her yawn. She’d been half asleep the entire drive home. Her temple rested against the cold pane, and she remained unmoving. I got out and went to her side of the car. I opened it and caught her before she spilled out. I swept her up into my arms.
Her eyes widened, and she gasped.
She blinked up at the sky and said, “It’s already tomorrow?”
“It’s dawn,” I confirmed.
“I’m going to work in a few hours.” She smothered another yawn. I hid my reaction. It was a good thing she’d be distracted. I’d have someone watch her while I hunted for Cierra.
“How about you rest for a bit first?”
She grunted.
My feet crunched over the gravel until I reached the front steps. I nudged open the door and had her upstairs within the next moments. She was already snoring.
I smiled, shaking my head.
With one arm balancing her, I pulled back the comforter, lowering her slowly so as not to wake her, but her eyes popped open.
She brushed my hair back from my temple, her eyes searching my face. When she looked at me—when she was around me—everything about her—drove me to distraction.
“You are so pretty,” she muttered. My lips twitched at her begrudging compliment. “It’s not fair loving a man prettier than myself.” Her fingers caressed my jaw. I froze, my grip stiffening against her.
Her eyes widened, and her mouth opened and closed. As she reeled, I experienced a shift inside. My heart thundering so hard as if it tried to escape. Her words continued to echo in my ears, but I wanted more of them.
“Say it again,” I ordered gruffly.
“What?” she spat, panicked. “Nothing! I didn’t say anything.”
“You said you love me.” My voice sounded foreign to my ears, awed. The muscle in my chest pulsed. “You love me.”
This swell of emotion made it hard to breathe. I couldn’t take my gaze away from her face.
“Say it again,” I rumbled.
She gawked up at me, mouth opening and closing.
“Josephine.”
“Yeah?” She yawned, exaggeratedly, and wiggled onto her side, pillowing her face under her hands.
