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Every trip I’ve taken, every time I’ve reminded myself my decision to leave was for the best—it all took a toll on me. From the outside, I might look as powerful as ever. On the inside… my soul corrodes.
I need her.
My tongue slips between her lips, stroking and claiming as my fingers tighten in her damp hair. Her scent is floral from her shower, but beneath that, it’s all Raegan.
A wet hand grabs my forearm and pushes me away.
My heart hammers as I take in her swollen lips, her hazy eyes.
Of all the decisions I’ve made in my life, I’d regretted exactly one—telling my parents to get out of the business and causing their deaths.
Since I learned they weren’t trying to leave, that regret faded away, replaced with rage and confusion. The past year, I’ve been angry at them, and at Ivanov for killing them and setting me on a path that made me build a business that would redeem and honor them.
But around the anguish, I’ve found a new regret: losing this woman.
Because I can’t regret loving her, not when the feel of her under me is so jarringly exquisite.
Before I can speak, her palm cracks across my face.
Stars explode behind my eyes, a riot of white and black blossoming as pain radiates up my cheekbone and jaw.
When I can see again, my neck is craned awkwardly and I’m staring at Sebastian reclined on the floor and chewing a piece of rescued cereal.
“Fuck,” he declares. “I’ve never seen a woman hit you before.”
But when I turn back to Rae, she looks surprised by her own reaction.
“We need to talk,” I say. “In private.”
“No.”
Frustration rises up. “I’ll take you for dinner.”
“I have a show tonight.”
“It wasn’t on your schedule.”
I catch my mistake at the same time she does.
“A recent addition,” she says.
She’s changed since I saw her last. Besides the quiet confidence that’s more than skin-deep, she has “recent additions” that come up, independent of me apparently.
Her gaze narrows. “I need to get dressed.”
“Need help choosing an outfit?” Sebastian offers from the floor. “The two you talked about on the plane sound good, but I’d like to see them in person.”
I could hit him again.
“Both of you stay out,” she tells my brother before turning that hot gaze on me again. “If someone so much as knocks on the door while I’m getting ready, I will tear them a new one.”
She heads back down the hall, her hips swinging under the towel in a way that has me furious and horny at once.
“If we’re done with the violence, you could buy me dinner,” Sebastian says, grimacing at the mushy cereal pieces on the carpet.
When I came here, I thought I knew my intention—reminding my brother he has no business with this woman. But looking at her, sharing space with her, kissing her…
I know it was a lie. I need Raegan Madani in my life again, and it can’t wait until my work is done.
