Page 96 of Royal Desire

So she’s still here and still numbing her life away. Apparently, she had enough of her houseguests after the scene at breakfast.

Dinner was a repeat, but without Tallie.

Sadie joined us like it was a normal thing, which I guess it is. It turns out, she and Payne eat together in the kitchen often. Sharing a meal with my family, Payne, and Sadie felt like I was living a dream. I never thought I’d be in the here and now with Payne.

Together.

Happy.

And having copious amounts of unprotected sex.

Payne was polite and entertained my family all evening. But I could tell he was as anxious to say goodnight as I was.

“Roll, baby.”

I look up at him and don’t roll. “The grownup Payne is bossy in bed.”

The moment he locked us behind the door to his bedroom suite, he wasted no time. He had me naked before we were anywhere close to the bed. By the time he had me on my back, he was naked too. Since then, it’s been slow, teasing, and he’s brought me to the edge of an orgasm at least twice.

I’m a ball of nerves—frustrated and needy and ready to lose myself in him.

Payne is propped on an elbow and looks pleased with himself. I gaze up at him through the dim light of his bedside lamp. His fingers trail up my body, over my abs, between my breasts but don’t stop. He wraps his hand possessively around the side of my neck. “The grownup Payne has spent way too many years fantasizing about you. I can’t help myself.”

This is different than last night. Last night we couldn’t wait another second to be together. Tonight, Payne is taking his time. I’m the one left waiting and wanting and needing whatever he’s willing to give me next.

Including rolling over.

“Are you just going to tease me more?”

A smirk touches his lips. “Maybe. Why are you so anxious? We have all night, baby. You have nowhere to be. When was the last time you slept in or did anything for yourself?”

I roll up to my side so we’re flush and hike my leg over his hip. “I could ask you the same thing. Don’t think I didn’t notice your cell today. How many work calls did you ignore to be with us? And Sadie was shocked you took a day off.”

His hand slides down my back to my bare ass and pulls me into him. His cock is hard and pressed against my tummy. This is not the conversation I planned to have right now.

Payne leans in and kisses the tip of my nose. “I don’t work on Sundays.”

I prop my head up to mirror him and flick his nipple with the tip of my index finger. “Why did you do it? Leave your practice to come back here and take over your father’s business? Grandma told me she heard you were going to be made a partner in your firm in Seattle.”

“Is now really the time you want to talk about this? I’ve been waiting all day to get you naked.”

“This is what you get for teasing me into oblivion. Talk first, then sex.”

Payne pulls in a deep breath, like he’s contemplating what to say or how much to tell me. But just like we’ve done with everything else between us, our years apart have disintegrated completely. We’re back to us—the old us, the original us—where there are no secrets and nothing we won’t share.

“My dear old dad managed to skirt the law for years. It didn’t matter what he did or how bad it was. He has connections, and not just here. All the way to D.C. When he ran into that bus, it was bad. He wanted me to represent him. He actually wanted me to make a deal to get him off. And the thing was, I could have done it. The lawyer representing the victims reached out to me. My dad had enough money and knew the right judges, they saw the writing on the wall and were willing to cut a deal long before it went to trial.”

“But I didn’t think there was a deal. It brought Grandma a great deal of pleasure to keep me updated on the case. Some days, it was minute by minute.”

“I’m not surprised. It’s not like my parents are well liked here. I might have refused to represent him, but he had no problem finding a big-name attorney in the state to take his money. Hell, the deal was there. All the victims had to do was sign on the dotted line. It would’ve been a huge setback for Dad financially, but he would’ve recovered eventually.”

“Then what happened?”

“This is the part no one knows.” His tone changes. Gone is my Payne. Every feature of his face turns rigid and intense. I press into his body tighter and prepare for what he’s about to say. “Art Ramos was my mentor at the firm and left to go out on his own to practice. He works for Brand Vitale and has connections bigger than my father. I called in a favor. I had so much hate for my dad that I didn’t care what it took. I was willing to do anything to make sure he was put away for good.”

I tense further at his words. “What did you do?”

“That so-called cousin I told you about who’s in the Mafia? He did what I needed him to do. The lawyer representing the victims immediately withdrew their offer. The judge, who was also my father’s golf buddy, turned on him. Dad went away for decades. Three of them to be exact. In exchange, I agreed to help them invest the legitimate income for Brand and Art, the clients you met last weekend. Not working for my father was never about the job. It was about him. But you knew that.”