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Her hands were in my hair, tangling, playing, tugging, and she murmured my name against my lips. Nicolas.
I inhaled sharply at the sound. She’d never said it before, and I wanted her to scream it as she came, for her to know she was truly mine.
I lost myself in her kiss, taking all she gave me, giving her everything she wanted.
But a shrill noise interrupted our moment, and Leia spoke against my mouth.
“I think that’s your phone.”
I sucked her lower lip into my mouth then nibbled on it, careful to control my fangs so they didn’t descend, although my gums ached. “Ignore it.” My words were a low command. “Whoever it is, they’ll go away.”
As if on cue, the noise stopped, but so had Leia. Her kisses were lighter, less passionate. She was withdrawing, and when my phone rang again, I growled but answered it.
I didn’t even look at the caller display as I blew out an irritated sigh. “Yeah.”
Then I helped Leia from my lap, my movements jerky and ungraceful before I walked out from under the awning like I just wanted a better view of the cityscape.
“Leave whatever it is you’re doing,” my uncle barked down the phoneline, and I tensed automatically at his tone. “You’ve picked up a spy. Someone from New Orleans is interested in your business.”
“Fuck. I’ll sort it,” I snapped back, caught between ending the call and just tossing my phone over the building.
I hated bad news, and I especially hated bad news that interrupted a kiss like that. My body was still on fire from it as I shoved my phone in my pocket and strode back over to the table. My dick didn’t know whether it was coming or going…well, really not coming. But it wasn’t happy.
“We should get back downstairs.” I tried to pitch my tone casual, but Leia’s eyes widened and she ran her fingers through her mussed hair.
When she spoke, I couldn’t tear my gaze from her swollen lips. “Are you okay?”
I nodded sharply. It was nothing she needed to worry about.
Once downstairs, I sought out Jason. “Something came up,” I muttered, and Jason’s eyes widened. “I need you to look after Leia. Spend some time with her in the casino, gamble a little if you can get her to do that. Tell her I’ll be back for dinner with her.”
I couldn’t even look at Leia. If I did, there would be nothing to stop me pressing her against the nearest wall and testing for her arousal with my fingers, all of the people around us be damned. Even Jason wouldn’t have been able to pull me off, and I trusted Leia’s safety with him most of all. He wouldn’t betray me by trying to claim her for himself.
Our human clientele was vaguely aware we had offices—security, camera room, my office, and the meeting room, and most of them didn’t give two shits about those. The real action was on the casino floor for them. But for me, the real action happened underground, in the part of La Petite Mort humans wouldn’t even dream about.
Fucking hell. I beat my hand against the wall as I walked, but there was no rhythm in it. Just fury. One of my subjects had been selling secrets to the New Orleans royal family, meaning they now knew information about the Baton Rouge royals that they could use against us.
Specifically about the virgin mate who would help me secure my rule. And that heated my blood and loosened my control for a whole other reason. No one endangered my mate and lived to tell about it.
No one.
And who the hell even knew? Who couldn’t I trust? I’d find the fucker and deal with them, but not yet.
No, right now, I had something else I needed to take care of.
I thumped the wall so hard the plaster cracked and chips flaked away to land on the floor beneath me. I wanted to shout my rage, but that would just alert Percival that I was coming for him. My uncle had ensured Percival had already been brought in for me to talk to, but I had no idea why he thought he was here.
I shook my head. Fuck it all to hell. Now the New Orleans vamps would be all over Baton Rouge, trying to kill Leia or take her for themselves to secure their own future. It looked like my one-month timeline had just shortened.
My stream of curses grew in volume as I stopped caring whether Percival could hear me. His day of reckoning had arrived, and maybe he deserved to know that. And before I delivered his final punishment, I was going to tell him exactly why.
“Percival.” I greeted him as I threw open the heavy wooden door to smack into the damp stone wall of his cell.
He took one look at my face and screamed.
Chapter 7
Leia
