Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Naomi
Cassius’s back stiffened a second before his hand captured mine, and he turned to face me.
His blue eyes blazed with a deep longing I hadn’t seen before, a vulnerability he’d never revealed to me.
The surge of awareness shot through my system, as it always would whenever he touched me, and his pupils dilated, feeling the same boost of lust.
No matter the situation, our chemistry remained visceral, almost animalistic.
“Will you come with me? I have something to discuss with you,” I said, holding his intense stare.
What I had to lay out for him went beyond physical. We both needed more, and I’d made my choice. Now, all he had to do was believe.
I felt the weight of Christopher Lykaios’s scrutiny.
Just like the rest of the Lykaios clan, he inspected everything about the people around him in microscopic detail.
And from the conversation I’d overheard and, to be honest, what he’d let me overhear, he and Cassius shared a more brotherly bond than distant cousins.
Without a word, Cassius set his tumbler on the table in front of him, rose from his seat, and moved around the section he sat in. All the while keeping his hold on me as if he believed I’d disappear.
“Follow me. I’ll take you to one of Akari’s offices.”
As we worked our way through the club, his presence behind me was a heady thing, calling to me, making me yearn for all that lingered between us for the last few weeks, all that I missed, all that I’d held back.
I smiled at the bartender as I approached the bar. He took me in and then Cassius behind me. After a few seconds, he nodded, reached under the counter to unlock the security door, and pointed to the private hallway leading to the back office.
We crossed into the management-only area of the club, where the music lowered to a dull hum of beats, and the colors changed from vivid reds, blues, and greens to a more muted palette of neutrals.
I set my hand on a metal plate. A second later, the door to Akari’s private lounge and office opened, and we walked inside, closing the door behind us.
We remained silent for a few seconds, both of us staring. Then all of a sudden, as if a storm broke, we reached for each other.
Cassius slid an arm around my waist, drawing me against him, and cupped my throat, bringing his mouth a hairsbreadth from mine. “What did you mean by, ‘There is no fight. I’ve made my choice’?”
I gripped his forearms and tried to control my unsteady breaths.
“Exactly what I said.”
“And who do you choose?”
I leaned forward, grazing my teeth over his bottom lip hard enough to sting. “You tell me.”
“What changed your mind?”
“I never changed my mind, Cassius. The truth is, I refused to make a choice. I love Papa, and I love you. But in the end, my future is with you. I can’t live this role Papa wants, no matter how many good intentions he has behind his actions.”
“So if I said you, me, and a fake Elvis officiant?”
I shook my head and smiled. “I’d say sure, but it won’t get you out of an insane three-day extravaganza orchestrated by my aunties.”
“I can handle it. You have a million and one Lykaioses to inherit.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Before we consider any of that, I believe you need to prove to your sister that you had a hot affair with a random guy and ended up marrying him.”
“Random?”
“You didn’t know I was a Lykaios until a few months ago.”
I narrowed my gaze for a brief second and then smirked. “I suppose you’re right. And five thousand dollars is on the line.”
“What do you say? Wouldn’t it shock Mia to learn that her big sister married a newly crowned Vegas deity within months of her arrival in the city?”
“Okay, Mr. Lykaios. Elvis is waiting for you to put a ring on it.”