I chuckled. “Ariel is a very pleasant person…when she likes you.”
“Well, she needs to start liking me soon because I’m not going anywhere.” London watched Ariel and Cassandra walk up to one of my biggest clients in London, a man who owned several restaurants and bars that required large shipments of scotch.
I eyed London while she was distracted, concentrating on the words she just spoke. She couldn’t leave my side unless I gave her permission, but the fact that she just assumed she was going to be around for a long time gave me a strange sense of satisfaction.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, so I pulled it out and glanced at the screen.
It was Crow. Meet me upstairs. First door on the left.
I returned my phone to my pocket and leaned into London. “I need to attend to something. I’ll be right back.”
“What?” She whipped her head in my direction, horror written on her face. “Where are you going?”
“Just upstairs. I’ll be back in a minute.”
“I’ll come with you.” She grabbed my hand.
Not that I didn’t enjoy her affection, but I was surprised by her neediness. “I’ll be right back, Lovely. He’s not even here.”
“But he can show up at any moment.”
“I need to talk to Crow,” I whispered.
“I’ve been there when you’ve spoken to him before…”
I just didn’t want people to think we snuck off together to fuck in one of the offices. But if she was this adamant about it, I wasn’t going to argue with her. Besides, I liked it when she clung to me like this. She used to push me away because she despised me, and now she needed me every second around the clock.
It was a nice change.
“Okay.” We walked up the stairs and reached the second landing. London kept looking around, as if she expected Crow to jump out of the shadows and scare her. I didn’t understand why she was so on edge. It was like she’d never been to a party before.
I walked inside the office where Crow was waiting and shut the door behind me.
Crow was standing at the window, looking down over the entrance. With his hands in the pockets of his dark jeans, he turned around and joined us near the doorway. “Have you heard anything?”
“No.” Bones said he might come by, and I didn’t pressure him for a concrete answer. If I showed any special interest, it would scare him away like fish in a lake. If you wanted to survive in the underworld, you had to be on your guard constantly. Observing and studying people was the key to that. He paid attention to every word I said, every word anyone said.
Crow crossed his arms over his chest, his jaw stern with unease. He didn’t look at either one of us as he contemplated his response. “Cane and my men are hiding out in the vicinity, waiting for my signal. But if she doesn’t come…” Crow was difficult to read, but it was obvious that he was upset. His eyes were narrowed, and his face hadn’t been shaved in days. Now it was covered with thick and coarse hair, how mine turned out if I didn’t shave every day.
“We’ll figure it out.” Vanessa wasn’t my problem and I didn’t even consider Crow to be a friend, but I pitied him. I saw so much of myself in him, how devastated I was when I learned my parents and brother were never coming home. I was young at the time, but I still remembered the pain.
Crow slid his hand through his hair and glanced at the window again. “I’ll keep an eye. Let me know if he contacts you.”
“I will.”
“And thanks for doing this. I know this isn’t your problem.”
I nodded. “I understand your pain. I wish I didn’t, but I do.”
London kept her hand in mine and gave me a gentle squeeze.
“Enjoy your party,” Crow said. “Don’t mind me.”
I pulled London with me out of the room and to the hallway.
“I feel so bad for him,” she whispered. “Do you think Bones will come?”
“I really don’t know. The guy is unpredictable—which he does on purpose.”
“Is there anything we can do to help?” she asked. “What if I called him…?”
I stopped and looked at her, knowing her offer was significant. She didn’t even want to come tonight because she didn’t want to be in the same room as him, but now she was willing to interact with him.
“What if you offered to exchange me for Vanessa? Then you could grab both of us.”
The idea repulsed me. I couldn’t put London in danger like that, no matter how much control I had over the situation. She was something I couldn’t afford to lose, so I refused to gamble her like poker chips. “It’s nice of you to offer, but I don’t want you involved in this. I did the best I could. In the end, this is Crow’s problem.”
“This is an innocent woman we’re talking about,” she whispered. “It is our problem.”
When she said things like that, it made me realize we weren’t different at all. We had the same stubbornness and experienced the same heartbreak. I wanted to tear down the people who deserved it, but I never wanted to destroy an innocent person. “We have to let it go, Lovely. I did my best.”
Her eyes softened when she looked at me. “I know you did…you’re a good man.”
Now my eyes softened. “You really think that?” I was told I was cruel and evil. This woman was my prisoner, and she said the same thing months ago. But now I felt like I was the prisoner—infatuated with this woman.
“Of course I do.” Her hands slid up my chest, and she rose on her tiptoes to kiss me. Her lips were soft against my mouth, and the kiss started out subtle. It was meant to be a quick peck on the lips, but the second she felt my mouth, she remained pressed against me.
My arm tightened around her waist, and I maneuvered her against the wall, pressing her against the foundation with my hard-on right against her hip. My hand moved around her neck, and I gently felt her pulse as I kissed her, forgetting about all the people waiting for me downstairs.
Her hands moved to my shoulders, and she gave me her tongue, that sexy embrace that always made my spine shiver.
If I didn’t pull away now, I’d pull her into a bedroom and fuck her. I didn’t want to screw when it had to be quick and rushed. I wanted to take my time, to peel that away dress before I slid inside that wet pussy for the rest of the night.
I moved away from her and licked my lips, tasting the lipstick she wore. My thumb wiped the corner of my mouth to make sure none of the paint was on my own lips. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t care. But it wasn’t exactly appropriate for the black-tie event. “We’ll pick this up later.”
13
London
I stuck to Crewe’s side for the evening, doing my best to be a good conversationalist with a bunch of sophisticated strangers. My eyes kept wandering to Josephine, and every time I looked at her, she was staring at Crewe.
That pissed me off.
Crewe didn’t tell me what happened between them, but based on watching their behavior, it was obvious. They were together, and he broke it off. She struggled to accept the ending of their relationship, which was why she still wanted him even though she was seeing someone else.