Chapter 35 Brady
brADY
Holy Shit.
My mouth goes dry.
Elizabeth is standing in the middle of the bedroom in a red dress that looks like it’s painted on, and her thick, dark hair tumbles over her shoulders in waves. She looks like sin and salvation in one body, and every man in that ballroom tonight is going to want her.
I can already feel it—the feral need to lock the door and keep her here, where no one else can see. I stare at a spot high on the wall, telling my body to calm the fuck down.
My sister’s in the room, for fuck’s sake.
Sera snickers beside me, like she knows how close I am to snapping.
“I’ll give you a minute,” she says, still laughing as she closes the door behind her.
“Brady.” Her breathy voice hits me, and before I can think better of it, I’ve got Elizabeth backed against the wall, my hands gripping her hips hard enough that she gasps. Her eyes widen, but she doesn’t push me away. She tilts her chin up instead, daring me.
“Mine,” I grind out, my voice almost unrecognizable. It’s not rational—I know that. It’s primal. The idea of walking her into that room, of putting herself out like bait for those animals, rips at every nerve I have.
Her lips part, chest rising in short shallow breaths against me. I dip my head, just close enough to brush her lips. “I shouldn’t mess up your makeup.”
“I don’t care,” she insists immediately.
Fuck. My hips press forward, pinning her tighter to the wall.
I want her so badly, it’s almost unbearable.
My mouth hovers over hers, every ounce of me screaming to take what I want. To kiss her until she can’t breathe. Until she’s moaning my name, the world forgotten.
Her fingers slide up my chest, and grip my shirt encouraging me to give in.
I want to. God, I want to.
But I can’t. Not now.
I drop my hands from her hips and step back before I break completely. Dragging in air with a harsh inhale, I force myself to focus.
“They’re waiting for us downstairs.”
Her pupils are huge at the reminder of what is waiting for us tonight. The passion drains from her face along with some of its color. She doesn’t protest though, only nods and follows me down the stairs to the conference room.
“Let’s go over the plan one more time,” I tell the group gathered around the table. My voice is almost dispassionate as I go through a plan we’ve gone over a hundred times already. “Elizabeth, you enter with Ray as his plus one. The Lapidarists seem to like him.”
“Just more proof they’re evil assholes,” Sera sneers.
Elizabeth gives her a soft smile and says, “My job is to smile, drink champagne, and wait for an opportunity for Ray to introduce me to Anna.”
My muscles pull tighter. “Tell her you have the necklace but don’t understand why it’s so important, however you are happy to return it.
Assure her you didn’t have a relationship with your ex—that you don’t know why he involved you.
Convince her he was a selfish, cowardly asshole who left you a long time ago. Play it like you’re out of your depth.”
“Shouldn’t be too hard,” she mutters. “That part’s true.”
I look at her with concern, and she holds my gaze like she’s trying to convince me she’ll be okay.
It doesn’t work. If anything, it makes me want to tear this entire plan apart and take her upstairs.
Vincent cuts in, probably sensing I’m seconds away from blowing it all up. “Try to get Anna talking. Make her believe you want to give it back—that you’d prefer to arrange a discreet swap as soon as possible. Say the necklace is in safe hands, but you’re willing to return it.”
Elizabeth nods. “Got it. Play scared, but don’t overplay it.
I lean forward, elbows braced on my knees, voice low. “We have to assume they know everything about you. So just be yourself. Your normal, intelligent, no-nonsense self. Let her think you want out. That you want nothing to do with it.”
The silence that follows is suffocating. My chest aches with it. My ribs feel like they are being crushed under cement, pressing harder with each second.
“At least I’m not walking in blind,” she says finally. “You’ll be there… Vincent and Rhodes. Hell, even your dad might throw a punch if it comes to it.”
I don’t like the reminder that her safety involves trusting Ray. But she’s not wrong.
“You’ll have a tracker in your shoe and your phone.” I continue. “Your comms will be in your bra and the earrings I gave you have a camera. We’ll hear everything that they say, and we can communicate back, though it’s important you don’t speak to us unless absolutely necessary.”
“She’s not wearing a bra,” Sera chimes in when Elizabeth doesn’t speak.
Fuck me.
“Hmm,” Finn rubs at his jaw. “I have a pair of clip-on earrings that can double as camera and comms we could use,” Finn adds. “They don’t have as good a range, but since you won’t be leaving the building, they’ll work.”
“We won’t let anything happen to you.” Rhodes gives her a reassuring smile.
“I know.” Elizabeth smiles back at him, and I don’t like it. When I growl under my breath, Sera snickers at me not helping my mood.
“I won’t ever let anything happen to you,” I promise in a low voice.
Her clear blue eyes are steady when they meet mine. “I know that, too.”
The trust in her gaze loosens something deep inside me, but not enough to draw a deep breath.
Vincent checks his watch. “It’s time.”
No, I’m not ready.
I’ll never be ready for this.
Everyone files out, leaving us alone. Elizabeth rises, smoothing down her tight skirt, and the sight nearly levels me. I tell myself to focus on what will happen in a few hours. Then I’ll strip it off her and hold her in my arms again.
When this is over.
That’s the picture I cling to, because the alternative is unthinkable.
“Brady.” Her voice pulls me back.
I stand. Elizabeth catches my shirt, tugging me closer and her mouth crashes into mine.
Hard.
There’s nothing soft in it. No hesitation. Just her—kissing me like she’s making a promise, like she’s telling me everything neither of us has been brave enough to say.
My hands fist in her hair, tilting her head as I devour her. Her tongue sweeps against mine, and I pour everything into it—every word I can’t say, every ounce of fear and love choking me.
She moans into me, and I lose it. My palm slides down her back, over the curve of her ass, squeezing, needing to feel her before I let her go. She grips the back of my neck, and pulls me closer, her nails biting into my skin.
When we finally break apart, we’re both breathing hard. Her lipstick is smeared, and her chest heaves against mine. My forehead rests against hers for a beat, and I almost say it.
Stay. Don’t go.
I love you.
But if I speak, I won’t let her walk out that door.
I force myself to pull back, every muscle in my body locked against the urge to drag her into my arms and keep her there.
Thirty minutes later, her makeup immaculate once more, I watch from the van as she enters Ray’s hotel with Finn beside her.
I want it to be me, but know that if anyone is watching, they won’t know his face, and since he’ll be monitoring from the van later, they won’t recognize him inside the party.
My jaw clenches and fists tighten as she exits ten minutes later with her arm around Ray’s, flanked by his useless body guards, and climbs into an SUV idling at the curb.
My eyes drop to the tracker software on my phone.
The red dot blinks steadily. Like a heartbeat.
Appropriate because mine is in that car with her.