Chapter 16
I checked my phone for the umpteenth time and huffed.
There were still no new messages, so I went back to making some last-minute touches to my makeup.
It had been the best phone sex of my life, and he’d been into it.
I know he had, but two days later, he was still blocking every phone number I messaged him from.
Oddly, though, he hadn’t removed the camera in his bedroom. I still watched him, and every time he passed beneath it, he glared up. I wasn’t sure what that meant, and it was driving me crazy.
“Enough. Eat,” Maeve said, sliding a piece of toast with a chocolate-hazelnut spread my way. “Before you drive me into a nervous breakdown with all that heel tapping.”
God, it looked delicious. The smell was addictive, but the sticky spread would smudge my lipstick, and I couldn’t meet up with husband dearest looking less than perfect. My hair and makeup were my armor and a way to capture his attention.
“Can’t,” I said, shaking out my curls. “We’re leaving in five minutes.”
She leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms, watching me.
The street drag race started in a little over two hours, and I had to catch Cillian the moment he arrived. I couldn’t give him the chance to overlook me, or I’d be right back where I started, chasing my own goddamn tail.
I smacked my lip gloss in place, then shook out the nerves cramping my hands.
“How do I look?”
“Babe, you look hot. If he can’t see that, he’s crazier than he looks. And that’s saying something.”
“It would make this whole thing a lot easier if he stopped resisting at every turn.”
“What about getting to know him, instead of just trying to sex him up? Honey and bees instead of vinegar kind of thing.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll have him eating out of my palm in no time.” I gave her one of my signature lopsided smirks to hide my unease.
How people saw me was all about what I showed them. So I hid my anxiety behind smiles, perfect makeup, exquisite outfits, and panache. No one knew my weaknesses that way. No one thought of me as less than.
Clothing was just as important as pretty words and a pretty face. I’d chosen my outfit for peak interest without being too sexual. Tight jeans with killer mid-rise boots that didn’t automatically scream “open for business,” but the bustier top drew the eye to my natural assets.
“That’s my girl. You go out there and bring him to his knees.”
Her confidence made my own soar. I could do this.
I knew it, but like always, my mind played tricks on me.
What if I wasn’t good enough? What if nothing went according to plan?
What if I was relegated to the background?
It was a constant uphill battle, but I’d like to think it helped shape me into the strong woman I was today, because I refused to let myself become my worst fears.
I’d lived through them before. I wouldn’t again, and that depended solely on me.
“Erel,” I called out in French. “We’ve got to get going.”
“I’m coming,” he yelled from the floor above us.
“Oh, look at you. A few words, and you’ve already irritated him,” Maeve mocked, though she didn’t understand French.
I shrugged. “It’s a gift.”
“You do you, and make sure to bring him back stressed out.” She gave me a saucy wink. “He’s good beneath the sheets, but when he’s got some crankiness to work out, damn, I eat that shit up. And you somehow manage to wind him up better than anyone else.”
I hip-checked her. “You little slut.”
“Takes one to know one.” She took the plate from the table. “If you won’t eat this, don’t mind if I do.”
I stuck my tongue out at her as she bit into the toast. A string of chocolate spread dripped down her chin as she moaned.
“Show-off.”
She smirked, eyes twinkling. “Nah, just good at making you jealous.”
That she did. When Erel finally ended his virtual meeting with my brother, he and Maeve were all over each other.
They whispered sweet nothings into each other’s ears, shared fierce kisses, and groped each other in ways I wished I’d never seen.
But what hit the most was the way Erel’s face softened and lit up at the same time whenever he looked at her.
I wanted that someday. I wanted someone who thought a moment of tenderness with me was worth leaving late for.
“Have fun storming the race,” Maeve said, waving us off.
“Do you love her?” I finally asked, after the last twenty minutes of prying updates, about home and Adrien, out of Erel as the car rumbled down the interstate.
His eyes jumped between the darkening road and me.
“It doesn’t concern you.”
“It’s a simple question. Yes or no.”
“You know I do.”
“But not enough to leave the business and move here?”
The French C?te d’Azur mafia was different from the Italians and even the Irish.
It didn’t trap its members indefinitely in the organization.
That was because it grouped dozens of street gangs over a range of cities, overseen by a ca?d, my brother.
That meant each gang handled the comings and goings of its members, as long as no one damaged the bottom line.
It wasn’t uncommon for people to buy their way out, in one form or another, if they wanted it enough.
If Erel wanted to leave, my brother would hate it, but he’d never force him to stay.
Erel ground his teeth and took the exit for the Fall River Expressway that would take us down to Stoughton.
“Same can be said for her. She refuses to leave her company and Boston. Doesn’t want to live in Europe. Says she shouldn’t have to be the one to give up her life.”
I let that hang. It did sound like Maeve.
Maybe that was why their long-distance relationship hadn’t evolved over the last two years.
They were both too stubborn not to see it through, but too dedicated to their separate lives to really commit to each other.
It was such a contradiction to their earlier affection that I couldn’t help but pity them, all my jealousy up and gone in a puff of smoke.
“One of you is going to have to give in, or this won’t go anywhere,” I finally said.
He sighed. His speed slowed as we entered town and veered down a road on the right. “I know, but I don’t think either of us can.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Both.” He tapped his window at a blur of lit-up cars in the parking lot of a one-story business cluster. “We’re here.”
As planned, we pulled into a small, dark parking lot belonging to a single building on the opposite side of the road a little farther down. From here, we could walk to the gathering and still have a full view of what was happening, while keeping the vehicle hidden.
“If you’re serious about her, I’ll help convince Adrien to let you out.”
“Let it go.”
“You could frame it as a business expansion to the US.”
“I said drop it.” The door handle clapped and released from his forceful tug. “My love life is none of your business. Stay out of it.”
He exited the car.
“Don’t forget the gear handle,” I said.
“As if I could forget.” He tapped the bulges in both of his back pockets, then pulled his skull balaclava over his face. “One of the most renowned hitmen in the world and security advisor to one of the biggest European banks, and I’m relegated to bodyguard and prank duty.”
“Don’t lie. You’ve actually been enjoying this change of pace. And honestly, it’s been nice getting to know your broody self outside my brother’s shadow.”
He cleared his throat. “You’re going to have to explain how any of this is going to get O’Leary to divorce you.”
“Watch and learn.” I got out of the car and adjusted my breasts in the bustier to show just enough cleavage to tempt. Then I slipped on a cropped faux-fur jacket and flipped my hair out. “I’m playing the long game. Right now, it’s about snaring and fucking with my prey.”
“Whatever you say, princess.”
Loose gravel crackled and rolled under my wedges. I punched him in the shoulder, hard enough to make him grunt.
“Don’t call me that.” I waved over my head. “I’ll distract him as long as I can. Good luck.”
The moment I no longer felt his eyes between my shoulder blades, I shrugged away lingering tension and walked across the street, with a seductive smile, intrigue in my eyes, and a sexy strut. It was showtime.