Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
By the time I make it downstairs, Raina has disappeared from the bar, but it only takes me a few seconds before, like magnets, my eyes find hers across the dance floor.
There’s a sultry smile upturning her lips as she sways her hips in time to the beat thumping through the club. It could be completely silent for all I know, because the only thing I can hear is the pounding of my heartbeat in my ears.
My palms twitch by my sides with every step closer to her, and as I stride through the insane amount of bodies, the crowd seems to part for me. I have no plan when I end up toe-to-toe with the woman who’s buried her way deep into my soul.
“Follow me.” My lips brush against her ear before I move around her, leaving the dance floor without looking back to see if we’ve attracted any curious watchers.
Privacy is limited, so I duck down a nearby hallway where the restrooms are housed, the short wall the only concealment from the rest of the club. There’s a couple people standing around outside the bathroom doors, but not enough to stop me from gripping Raina’s waist the second she’s within reach.
She lets out a small yelp when my fingers dig into her hips, and I turn her, pressing her against the wall.
Burying my head into the curve where her shoulder meets her neck, I drag my teeth along her delicate skin, getting lost in her scent as I kiss my way up.
My hands roam her body, and I groan low, desire clouding my mind.
“This seems a little reckless, Luce,” she breathes, bringing her hands around my neck. Her fingers rub along the edge of my hairline, sending a tingle down my spine. It makes my cock twitch, and I press into her.
“You have that effect on me.” My hips roll against her, not giving a damn that there’s a small audience who is likely watching us. They can enjoy the show for all I care.
Finding the hem of Raina’s dress, I slide my hand beneath it and up her thigh until I reach the warm heat I crave. Back and forth, I tease her through the fabric of her panties, forcing myself to not come undone just from the small whimpers she’s rewarding me with.
“We shouldn’t do this here,” she hisses, turning her head to me.
We’re nose to nose, and with the slightest tilt of my head, I rub mine against hers before catching her lips.
I slide my tongue along the edge of her lip. “Are you telling me no?” I kiss her again, not waiting for an answer. My middle finger finds her clit and I circle it slowly.
“I’m not saying yes,” she breathes as she pulls her mouth away from mine to speak, then immediately reconnects us. Her hips drive forward to meet my touch.
“Could have fooled me.” The words leave my lips as a growl, and she takes the opportunity to deepen the kiss. Bringing her hands to the front of my shirt, she bundles the fabric and pulls me closer.
A sharp inhale hisses through her as I push her panties aside and plunge a finger into her. I can tell she fights against her instinct to ride my hand, and I smirk at the small whimper that leaves her. “I need you.”
“I know, baby. Me too. But you’re right. Not here.”
“Get a room,” a drunk man slurs from a few feet away.
Ripping away from the warmth of Raina’s mouth, I look at the idiot who had the balls to interrupt us. I bite back the urge to tell him to fuck off when I see the level of intoxicated he is, trying to push into the men’s room but instead pushing into the wall next to it.
Turning my attention back to Raina, her blue eyes sparkle up at me, her chest still rising and falling in heavy breaths. My hand’s still under her skirt, and as much as it pains me, I remove it, watching a pout grace her pink-painted lips as I do.
“Take me home?” she asks, trailing her hand down the front of my body until she reaches the painfully hard bulge in my pants.
“Soon,” I promise, and I mean it.
This may have been a shitty place to realize the magnitude of my feelings for this woman, but now that the discovery’s been made, I don’t want to waste another second of my life not showing her how amazing she is.
Even if that means risking everything I’ve worked for.
Parq East hasn’t slowed for a second, if anything, the amount of people in the club has doubled, and while I’m not a fire marshal, I’m confident if one were to show up right now the whole place would get shut down.
Swirling my whiskey, I look down from my perch in the lounge and take it all in, my self-given birthday present of allowing myself to relax a little.
Returning my gaze to whom it’s been constantly trained on all evening, my brow immediately furrows, face turning into a glare when I see a very tall man standing next to Raina. The look etched into her features sends ice through my veins, and I can tell something isn’t right.
Her posture. The half-swivel she makes on her barstool.
The way her eyes flick around as if she’s looking for a way out of the situation.
I don’t hesitate.
Rushing to the stairs faster than I can fathom, I take them two at a time as I race down to get to my girl.
Footsteps pound behind me, and I don’t need to look to know Sully and Nixon—who were leaning against the private bar of the lounge—are following close on my heels.
By the time we make it downstairs, Raina’s off her barstool, trying to inch away from the man. Our eyes connect, and the second they do, her face pales, and he follows her line of sight, turning to face me.
“Oh, so there he is,” he says in a thick accent as a slimy smile tugs at his lips. “The fiancé himself.”
The guy is a behemoth, at least four inches taller than my six-two, with probably fifty pounds on me. Dressed in all black, he keeps his hands in his pockets, which makes me a little uneasy.
“Fiancé?” I hear Nixon's question behind me, but I ignore him, my eyes never leaving the man.
My shoulders square and I look behind him at Raina, searching her eyes for the answers to the questions running through my mind.
“I was just asking this beauty where you might be.” His voice forces me to pull my attention from Raina and look back at him.
I take a step forward, which he mirrors. “Yeah? And who the hell are you?”
“I come with a message. Javier is not pleased with you.” He looks over his shoulder at Raina. “With either of you. So much so I’m surprised he did not come here to deliver this message himself, although under the circumstances, I’m sure you can understand his absence.”
“In order to understand, I would have to care, which I don’t. Go ahead and deliver your little message and get the hell out of here.”
The man laughs, the rumble mixing with the bass of the music that hasn’t faltered around us.
In my peripheral, I see Sly, Vinnie, and Cecilia join us, followed by Enzo finally sauntering over, and I put my hand out wide, my palm facing them, indicating for them to not come closer. My hackles are raised.
“What’s going on?” my far too sweet sister asks.
“The message,” I growl, refusing to let my eyes stray from the man. I don’t trust him. Everything about him screams bad news.
He rubs his jaw, watching me with fascination. “I can entertain you with the first part. Javier wants your fiancée back in Spain for the succession, as discussed. You are not to join her. If you do, Javier will see to it that the divorce is not granted, and your career is destroyed.”
Fuck.
I keep my face stoic while I stare at the guy who single-handedly managed to turn my stomach into knots.
Like a fool, I never considered the possibility that Javier would look into me.
Of course he did, and it took him two seconds to figure out I am a divorce attorney, and likely less time to make the connection that I’m representing Raina.
Behind me, dots aren’t being connected quite as quickly, though. I glance over my shoulder at our friends, who all look confused as hell.
“Fiancé? Raina?” Vinnie looks at her best friend with a small tilt of her head.
“What does he mean, divorce?” Cecilia asks, turning to Sully.
For once, Sully has the good sense to keep his mouth shut.
“I’m not going,” Raina speaks up from behind the man. She lifts her chin in an attempt to be strong, but I can tell she’s nervous. Her eyes bounce from the guy to me, and as he slowly turns around, she takes a half a step back.
“You are, penque?a novia. It would not be wise of you to cross him.”
“It’s not for you to decide!” Her voice raises, and she takes a step forward like she’s ready to hit him. Her nerves have completely disappeared, replaced with the fire and attitude that make her her.
But I’m not going to let her try and fight this grown man.
Stepping between them, I give him my back—which in hindsight probably isn’t the smartest thing to do—and focus my attention on her. “Bottle it,” I instruct, staring into her bright pools of blue.
“But, Luce?—”
“I know. But for now, just trust me, baby. Bottle it.”
I’m aware our friends are watching us—I can feel their eyes burning a hole in my back.
She stares at me until she’s forced to blink, her eyes becoming glassy as we stare at each other. She doesn’t back down, and she definitely doesn’t let a tear slip. With our eyes locked, she’s able to pull herself back together as the rollercoaster of emotions slam through her.
Behind me, the guy clears his throat. “I’ll be staying in Manhattan until it is time for you to return to Spain. We will travel together.”
Snapping toward him, I growl, “Like hell you will.”
“The succession isn’t for months!” Raina gasps.
He laughs in my face, completely ignoring me as he looks over my shoulder at Raina. “I’ll be around, penque?a novia. I still have to deliver the rest of his message.”
He gives me one more passing glance before he walks away, and the moment he disappears into the crowd, I turn back to Raina, my hands flying around her as I pull her into my chest.
Her uneven breaths are warm through the lightweight fabric of my button-down, and I find myself tangling my hand through her hair, cradling her head against me.
Neither of us says a word, but even through the ear-splitting music around us, the silent questions that hang in the air from our friends behind us are deafening.
We have a lot of explaining to do.