Page 48 of Sinister Devotion

"Yes," he pants as we move in unison. Our rhythm picks up as Julian stands, never sliding out of me to put me on my back on the top of his desk. He slides in and out of my pussy, taking control to bring me to orgasm quickly.

The sound and aroma of us christening his office create a memory I'll never forget. The faster he fucks me, the longer I want this to last. The pressure and pleasure combine, making me whimper under his thrusts.

"That's right. Come for me, Claire. Come all over me." His words are raspy, coming in short spurts until I feel his climax emptying inside of me.

My pulse races as Julian leans over me, kissing me gently before pulling his softening erection out of me.

"Thank you for that." His voice is soft, almost apologetic that something as simple as sex could be a mood stabilizer.

"You don't have to thank me, Julian." I let him help me off the desk. Slipping back inside my pants, I turn to his desk and notice the thick envelope. I pick it up, raising an eyebrow, and holding it out to him. "What is this?"

"Charleston brought it as a contribution to my political campaign."

"When did you decide to run? And aren't donations supposed to be tracked? Government oversight and all that?" I ask him.

Julian shrugs. "Charleston said he's in trouble and needs me to run for office to funnel this money through the campaign."

"Wow. That sounds illegal."

He nods. "Very much so. Money laundering to be exact."

"Are you going to do it?" I ask him. I hate that after everything Charleston has put his family through, he still places Julian in impossible situations.

"I might have to, Claire. He has a lot of secrets. Not just his own, but mine, Edward, Fiona, my mother, this company, my uncle. He even has stuff on your Dad."

"What? How did that happen?" My pulse races as the only images of my father are wholesome bits from my childhood, the first ten years of my life with him, and the memories of him in videos with my mother. The man in those videos cannot have secrets the likes of which would be useful to a man like Charleston Blackwell.

"Charleston killed a woman, a prostitute he kept as a mistress. He shot her after she threatened to expose their affair. He got help getting her out of the house. That person dragged me along to dump her body, but he kept the gun."

"Oh my god," I gasp. "and this was while he served as a judge?"

Julian shakes his head. "Actually, it was way before and it led to my mother leaving him. Charleston wouldn't let me go live with her and took his frustrations out on me. That I told you about. What I didn't tell you, was that about three or four years later, Edward used to spend the night at the manor. Charleston came home and didn't like that, so he beat the crap out of me."

Tears form and fall for young Julian, but I still don't know how this ties into my Dad.

"I was so angry at him, broken, physically and emotionally, that I got the gun he used to kill that prostitute and shot him with it."

I turn around as if Charleston's about to walk in, glancing at his office door.

"He survived, but your Dad played a big role in that. He took the gun and got rid of it, but convinced Charleston to stop beating me or else the gun would find its way to the police along with the location of the buried body. Your Dad hiding the gun kept me out of jail for attempted murder and kept Charleston out of jail for everything he did to me and let him get away with murder."

"I…how…I don't know what to do with that. That's not the man who loved me. That's not the man who fought off carjackers to get to me and lost his life trying to save me?—"

Julian cuts me off. "That's exactly who Derek was! He gave his all to the people he loved. I've loved him and Edward like brothers my entire life because they kept me safe from that animal. And in return, I make sure they want for nothing. Edward doesn't need to be my head of security for any other reason than he's tormenting himself with guilt that I got the worst beating of my life because Charleston discovered him asleep in my bed."

"All of this happened in the manor? The home I have been sleeping in? The home where we train and live?"

"It's been renovated and redesigned, Claire."

"And you said that Carmine Scarpella was a mob guy? I felt awful that night. A dangerous person I invited to my birthday party when you have a murderer just parading around insulting everyone, and provoking Edward and Fiona every chance he gets! Don't even get me started on how Charleston makes my skin crawl when he calls me Eclair."

"Claire, don't go there."

"You told me if I knew what Carmine did, that I'd want him dead. Since you're being so open, what could a perfect stranger have to do with me? Tell me now, Julian."

"He's a mob boss who runs a carjacking operation. Has been and still is. He hires street punks to steal cars and because he owns so many warehouses off the docks, he puts the cars right inside cargo containers as soon as they’re stolen. They're halfway out to sea before they're even reported as missing."

It takes a while for my brain to connect the dots. My mind is swimming through every revealing piece of information Julian's telling me. It can't be. "He had my father killed?"

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