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Fuck! Fuck!
“Julian!” Poppy shyly hisses. She shoves me out the door and follows me.“You’re an animal.”
“I know,” I mutter, trying to engage in the conversation, but my eyes scan the room, looking for the exact angle from which the photo was captured. It had to have been taken from the bar; it’s elevated and overlooks the dining area. It’s packed, and I’m sure the cameraman is long gone. Andrew isn’t the type that faces you eye to eye; he stabs you in the back and runs. That’s exactly what he did tonight. Hired someone to try and frighten me.
Poppy hurries me through the restaurant, probably thinking the side eyes everyone is giving us are from my barreling through to the women’s room and not through the tables to get to her,“You can’t just rush into the bathroom, Julian.”
“I wanted to kiss you,” I say, hoping she still believes the lie.
“Well, patience is a virtue. We’re headed back to the hotel anyway,” she rolls her eyes, but her smirk can’t be hidden.
I grab her waist and keep it glued to my side,“Your mistake was thinking I was a man with morals; when it comes to our sex life, I have no laws to live by. When I want you, I have to have you, Pumpkin. It’s called an addiction.”
She giggles,“Do I need to find you a 12-step program?”
“The only 12 steps are of the foreplay I’m going to act out when we're behind closed doors.”
She elbows my side.
A part of me wants to grab her, throw her over my shoulder, and rush us through the kitchen to a back door exit.
Think smart. Andrew isn’t going to hurt her. He wants her.
I keep walking, allowing her to push me outside. The thick New York air filled with humidity and car exhaust fills my nose.
I spot my uncle's team with the car waiting. I shake my head at them.“Let’s walk,” I tell Poppy as I tuck her closer to my left side so she is trapped between the building and me, perfectly safe from the road.
“Walk?” She replies,“You just caveman-style barreled into the ladies' room and grabbed my ass, and now you want to walk. I was half worried you’d have me stripped bare before we reached the car.”
I pretend to laugh, but it’s too tight and sounds off.
“I’m trying to behave. We didn’t finish the date yet. I wanted to walk Central Park with you. Consider it step one.”
She wraps her arm around my waist,“Jules, I love that you planned this date, but if you don’t get me back to the room and thoroughly fuck me, I might combust.”
Five minutes ago, that statement would have had me hard as granite, but now all I can do is scan our surroundings.“Okay, Pumpkin.” I look down the street and spot two of my uncle's men tailing us. That used to make me feel safe. My eyes narrow; which one is the mole?
“Let’s take a taxi. They drive faster than the driver we have,” I say as I look back at Poppy. She’s grinning and doesn’t seem to have caught onto my exchange. I probably have the bottle of wine we finished for that aloofness. I hail a cab and get her inside first. Looking over my shoulder, I see the men's confusion before I slam the door shut. I pull out my phone and text my uncle, including Harper.
Julian: You have a mole. Andrew knows where we are this very minute.
“You okay?” Poppy asks with a hint of concern.
I look down at her; her round face is glowing, but her eyes are searching now. I nod.“More than okay,” I lie as I lean in and kiss her, slipping my tongue inside to swirl around hers. Before the kiss gets too intense, she pulls away and shyly looks down.
I take her hand and place it on my lap. She smiles and looks out the window, tipping her head up as she looks at the skyscrapers. I use her distraction to think. If I can't trust Uncle Dan's team, I have no other option but to trust my last resort.
I pull out my phone, keeping it to the opposite side so Poppy can't see. Her eyes are still glued to the blurring lights of the city. My fingers move with urgency as I send the text along with a screenshot of what Andrew sent me.
It's time to make a deal with a devil, otherwise known as my deceptive older brother Theo.
Chapter 23
Theo
Seven hours later.
Poppy doesn’t know it, but there’s another man besides my brother who cares for her deeply. Another man who’s watching her, although watching her in a very different way than Andrew did.
