Page 58 of Lethal Salvation

“You like it?”

“Like it? I have no words to describe how stunning you are.”

“It has pockets.”

Nadia put her hands in the pockets of the skirt and wiggled her shoulders. He couldn’t help but return her joyful smile and although this wasn’t a date or a real party, this feeling inside him was. “In all my days on this earth, I’ve never seen anything as beautiful both inside and out as you right at this moment.”

“Gideon, if you make me cry, I won’t be happy.”

He settled his hands on her hips and drew her close, kissing her temple. “I’m sorry, Cookie. Forgive me?”

“I forgive you, but only if you make it up to me later.” Her breath was warm as she turned her head into his neck and kissed his jaw with a shiver.

“Oh, baby, I have so many plans for you later.”

“Are we ready to go?”

Gideon lifted his head to see Lotus waiting with Damon, who looked as star-struck as he probably did right now. Only his eyes were on Lotus, who was wearing a navy blue dress in satin with a one-shoulder décor on her fitted gown that had a slash to the thigh.

She was beautiful but nothing compared to Nadia. She shone like a diamond, a warrior queen with a regal air and proud tilt of her chin that left others in her wake. “Yes, let’s go.”

Nadia took his arm as he escorted her to the car. As they got inside the limo that Hurricane was driving, he wished they were travelling alone so he could show her everything he couldn’t seem to convey with words.

As his parents’ home came into view, his stomach tightened in knots and he could sense the same tension from his brother. This place had been the nucleus of so much of his childhood pain, and the happy memories were buried so deep he wasn’t even sure they existed anymore.

Hurricane got out, dressed in the formal clothing of a driver, and opened the door for him. Gideon nodded his thanks and turned to offer Nadia his hand. She took it and he wondered how this would feel if it were real. If she was his and they were attending a normal function like this one without the artifice.

They waited, her arm looped through his as Damon helped Lotus out of the car before heading inside. Hurricane would be close in case he was needed, and Reaper, Bás, and Titan were already on the grounds, not that they’d be visible.

The house was large and ostentatious, with opulence and wealth dripping from every gleaming chandelier. Family photos of his father and Marsha with Carter were dotted about but it was as if he and Damon had never existed, wiped from history along with the mother who’d borne them.

“Well, if this isn’t a who’s who of the wealthiest and most crooked people on the planet then I don’t know what is.”

Nadia was right. Even he could see that, and he wasn’t as versed in the criminal underbelly as she was. Slap bang in the middle of it was Marsha and his father, holding court like the king and queen they believed themselves to be. Marsha spotted them and he saw her eyes go cold, as much as possible with the amount of Botox in her face. His father, however, gave them a smile of welcome.

“Here we go.” Gideon led the way as Damon and Lotus followed.

“Gideon, my boy, your mother and I are so glad you could make it.”

He could practically hear Marsha’s silent outrage and denial. “Dad, Marsha.” He greeted his father with a handshake but made no move to kiss Marsha on the cheek as was expected in these fake situations, where everyone pretended to like each other while sharpening the knife that would go in their backs. “I’d like you to meet, Nadia, my girlfriend.”

His father kissed Nadia’s cheek and he watched Marsha as she sized the woman beside him up and found her wanting as her nose tilted up.

“A delight, my dear.”

Marsha sipped her champagne, her beady eyes assessing them. “I haven’t heard Gideon mention you before.”

“Why would you? From what I understand, you aren’t close.”

Marsha sniffed. “This one has claws, Gideon. Are you sure you want to stoop to that level? Her body is mutilated too.”

“Mutilated?” Nadia repeated.

He felt Nadia squeeze his arm to bring his anger back under control, but it bit and snarled beneath his skin. His instinct was to defend the woman he loved from this demon queen.

“Yes, the marking on your skin. Really, dear, they’re very common and vulgar.”

Nadia chuckled as his father looked uncomfortable but as ever, he didn’t try and curb his wife in any way, just stood there spineless.