Page 44 of Shattered Empire (Shattered World)

Swallowing it all down, I dragged my mouth off his softening cock and tucked him neatly back into his pants before straightening my dress and discreetly climbing out from under the table. There was no way to escape without her noticing, so I simply cleared my throat to gather her attention.

“Where did you come from?” She stared up at me with thinly veiled distaste.

“From,” I smirked, “around.” I winked over at Matthias, who coughed a laugh before taking a long sip of his whiskey. The woman’s gaze darted between the two of us before she gave a disgusted snort and stormed off.

“Well,” Matthias grabbed my hand and drug me toward him, “that was entertaining.”

“Definitely not something tits for brains over there would do.”

Matthias hummed, tilting his head a bit to look up at me. His hand snaked around my waist to grab at my ass and pull me into him. Even sitting, he was still nearly as tall as me, and I was in heels. The distance between us was minimal. The other hand grabbed at my jaw, firm but gentle, and then he was devouring me.

“Ava,” he murmured, pulling away, and the past faded with him.

* * *

“You had the men move Abram’s widow and children?”

Vas nodded as he prepared himself a cup of coffee at the hotel’s continental breakfast. One look at me, and he handed me his cup and poured another. Damn. Did I look that bad? Sleep had been negligible at best. Haunted by memories of the past. Didn’t help that it was all one large porn dream that had me waking up hot and heavy with a growing need pulsing between my legs.

My hand wasn’t the same as Matthias’s. That was for sure.

“Sully and his men cleared them out this morning,” he informed me. Taking a sip of his coffee, he continued. “Seems like Abram had a contingency plan in place in case things went to shit. She wasn’t even surprised when we showed up on her doorstep. Had suitcases ready to go and everything.”

“Good,” I murmured, my eyes closing as the taste of pure heaven seared my tongue. It was cheap, but that was fine with me. I’d spent a year downing cheap coffee and booze. “Sully said we can’t touch Cartwright. Not yet, anyway. What about O’Neill?”

Vas’s eyes twinkled with mirth. “Oh, I have just the plan for that.”

“Why do I have a feeling I’m not going to like this?” I groaned.

“Depends.” He shrugged, grabbing a plate and helping himself to a hearty helping of eggs, bacon, and grilled veggies. “How quick of a study are you?”

“Pretty good,” I told him. “What are you having me learn?”

“How to be the CEO of a billion-dollar security company in less than,” he looked at his watch, “six hours.”

“Great,” I muttered. “’Cause that’s something I’ve done before.”

Vas grinned at me as we sat down with my father at one of the tables situated in the back. “Did you tell her the plan?” he asked.

I turned to him. “You’re in on it, too?” I pretended to be appalled.

“It’s not like it’s a real date.” My father shrugged casually. “It’s just business.”

Pump the brakes.

“I’m sorry.” I stared at the two men incredulously. “Did you just say date?”

My father shot Vas a look. “You didn’t tell her that part?”

Vas chuckled lightly. “Hadn’t gotten that far.”

Liam cursed under his breath.

“You want me to go on a date with the guy who had a hand in covering up my mother’s murder?” Disbelief was written over my entire face in red permanent marker. “He’s old and crunchy.”

The two men choked on their breakfast.

Served them right.

---