Page 51 of Hush Money

He brightens at the sight of me, a steady glow of warmth that makes my insides fizz. “Ready for dinner?”

“I am.” I snap my laptop closed and get up to greet him with a proper hug. He returns it with interest, his arms sweeping me up tight against all his hard planes and making me sigh with contentment. I pull back just enough to see his face as I run my fingers through his hair. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

He takes his time lowering his head to kiss me, building the anticipation until I can’t take it anymore. So I surge up on my toes and tighten my pressure on the back of his neck, bringing him in the rest of the way. He rumbles with satisfaction, his kiss leisurely but thorough. By the time he lets me go, I’ve suffered a massive outbreak of tingles all over my body and I’m sure that I look dazed and goofy.

“Miss me?” I ask lightly, but I don’t need his answer because I already know it.

A flash of his dimples. “Not at all,” he says gravely.

I do my best to glower, but my glower hasn’t worked all day. “You’ll pay for that later.”

“I’m counting on it,” he says silkily. “Have you kept herself busy?”

“I have. What about you and Roman?”

He flaps his hand. “We’re trying to get the Vanderbilt deal figured out. But I don’t want to talk about that. I’m starving. Let’s go.”

“Yeah, let’s—” A woman cries out somewhere in the distance. “Oh my God,” I say, stiffening as I glance around. “Did you hear that?”

He frowns. “No. What is it?”

The woman cries out again, louder. We both hear it that time.

I hurry to the window, which overlooks the pool in the distance. “I think it’s coming from outside— Oh my God.”

And there it is. The rising moon illuminates the kind of illicit scene that makes me want to cover my eyes. If only I weren’t too stunned to move. Lovers on a lounge chair doesn’t quite describe what I’m seeing. There’s too much naked flesh for that, and way too many limbs. Then it all comes together, and the picture is excruciatingly clear: a big-breasted woman flat on her back, legs spread wide while being eaten out by another woman on all fours. The cherry on top? Roman standing at the end of the lounge chair, enthusiastically fucking that woman from behind. He’s got his head thrown back and there’s an expression of twisted ecstasy on his face as his many, many muscles bunch and flex. The bottom line? They all seem to be enjoying themselves immensely, and my virginal eyes have just beheld the kind of extreme carnality that I wasn’t sure existed in real life.

“Oh my God,” I say again, hastily turning away.

“What the—?” Lucien comes up behind me and peers out the window. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. Not again.”

I focus on him, too scandalized to get my words out for a beat or two. “Roman has two girlfriends? He’s in a throuple?”

Lucien bursts into laughter. “Roman? That’s a negative.”

“Oh, so he must be on one of those fetish dating sites,” I say, finally feeling as though I’m coming up to speed.

“Or something like that,” he says, choking back more laughter.

I blank out for another beat or two until the light bulb eventually goes on over my head. “You don’t mean that he pays for sex?”

“I’m saying nothing. I’ve already seen way more than I want to know about my brother’s personal life. I’m not putting it in the streets.”

“He’s already put it in the streets,” I cry, gesturing at the window.

“In fairness, most of the staff has gone home for the night.”

“So, he does pay for sex.”

“Let’s just say that he likes to keep things transactional. And that he gets off on sex in semi-public places.”

“Wow.” I’m not sure I was ready for this glimpse into how the rich get off. And why would Roman need to pay for sex? He’s incredibly sexy with his sandy-brown hair, easy smile and bright blue eyes. Not Lucien sexy, obviously, but more than enough to land whomever he wants, I’m guessing. “So they’re escorts, aren’t they?”

“Again: no comment.”

“Will I get to meet them?”

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