Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
I was impatient for more, but Luca made me see reason, that just because she wanted to wade into the water instead of jumping in headfirst with me didn’t mean she was any less committed.
“You already know how she feels, and that’s all that matters,” he said. “It doesn’t matter when she’s ready to say it.”
I arrived at Adrien’s house, the rest of the guys waiting by the SUV smoking cigars and waiting for orders.
The butler showed me inside. Adrien was standing in the sitting room like he’d been pacing to pass the time. The second he realized I was there, he gave a sigh. “How’s she doing?”
“She’s fine.”
“Fine? What does that mean?”
“She had a rough couple of days, but she’s been doing well ever since. Goes shopping, runs on the treadmill, bakes cookies. She doesn’t take baths like she used to, but I’m sure warming up to that idea will take more than a couple weeks.”
The relief swept over his gaze. “Good…that’s good. Has she gone back to work?”
“She quit.”
“Why?”
I shouldn’t subjugate myself to this conversation, but I wanted him to understand he’d been replaced, that he’d thrown her away and I’d put her back together. That when he’d tossed out the trash, there had been a diamond in the rubble—and now that diamond was mine. “Because she doesn’t need money when she has me.”
He didn’t appear stung by that response, his only concern for her well-being. “I’ve been worried but knew a call or text wouldn’t be welcome.”
“Bother her, and I’ll kill you.”
His eyes immediately flew back to mine, his stare shifting as if trying to understand if I meant that threat.
Yes, I fucking did. “She made her wishes clear.”
“I just want to know she’s okay—”
“That’s my job now, asshole. You’ve been fired and replaced.” I snapped my fingers. “Like that.”
He looked away, like the truth of my words dug under his skin.
“Where’s her stuff?”
“I tried to pack everything, but…it was too hard.” His hands went to his hips, and he looked at the stairs. “I didn’t expect it to end like this.”
“If you didn’t want it to end, all you had to do was not fuck other people.”
He turned to me. “You’re a real prick.”
“You expect me to feel sorry for you? Expect Fleur to feel sorry for you? No one gives a damn, Adrien. Were you thinking about Fleur when you were balls deep inside someone else? Were you thinking about her when you came in a bitch’s mouth and told her to swallow? Were you thinking about her—”
“Stop.”
“Then take me upstairs so I can get her shit and go home.”
Adrien said nothing else before he finally headed upstairs to the primary bedroom he used to share with Fleur. The bed was covered in piles of clothes, and the shoes were placed on top. There were other things, a jewelry box, a box full of pictures and keepsakes, a couple pieces of décor.
I called the guys downstairs. “Bring at least twelve boxes—and all the tape.” I hung up then looked at Adrien across the bed, unable to believe I was standing in the room where Fleur used to sleep every night before she met me. “The only grace I’ll give you is the fact that I think this was all meant to happen. Fleur was meant to be mine—so this was destined to go to shit.”
I had the guys put the boxes in one of the spare bedrooms so she could go through them at her convenience. Adrien let us go without a fight. Didn’t mention the Aristocrats or his plans for the business. He still had a target on his back, but this time, I wouldn’t help him.
It was early morning when I walked in the door. She wasn’t on the couch or in bed, and when I stepped into the bathroom, I found her in the shower, her soiled workout clothes on the floor where she’d left them.
I stared at her through the fogged-up glass, seeing her sexy curves soaking wet. She grabbed my bar of soap and rubbed it over her chest, over her plump tits, and then across her throat, her movements slow like she was in no rush and had nowhere to be.
I dropped my clothes in a pile on the floor and joined her.
When she felt the draft from the cold, she quickly turned toward me with wide eyes, like she assumed the worst instead of the best. But when she realized it was me, that bright affection entered her gaze, sunshine through the clouds in her eyes.
Wordlessly, I greeted her, hooking my arms around her soapy body and bringing her into me for a long kiss. I gripped her tight ass in one hand, while I squeezed her around the torso with the other. The kiss continued, growing from soft and slow to hot and fiery, full of tongue and little moans masked by the sound of the falling water. Shower sex was not my favorite, not when there were so many obstacles and the height difference between most women and me was so great, but I wanted this woman whenever she stepped into the room. Her kiss was scorching, her touch like a spark to a pyre that burned my soul.