Page 25 of Red

“Oh fuck! Erik! Erik! Erik!” she chanted until her mind blanked and all the stars in the Universe danced before her. Firecrackers went off inside her, exploding and sizzling.

“Shhhh, sweet girl,” he cooed when she finally fell from the heavens down into her own body. All of her muscles shook. Tremors ran from her head to her toes and back again, but she was no longer cold.

“So good for me.” He kissed her pussy once more then gently returned her foot to the floor and rose to his feet. He quickly undid the wrist cuffs and caught her as she started to slip to the floor.

He swept her up into his arms, and she wrapped herself around him, gathering his heat, his protection as he unlatched the hidden door and carried her from the room that, at first, terrified her and then had brought her to a plane of pleasure she never would have guessed existed.

He silently carried her through the rest of the basement and up the stairs. She noticed the warmth once they were on the first floor of the house, but she remained snuggled in his arms.

“Erik.” An accusatory voice boomed from behind them. He tensed but didn’t stop walking.

“Not now, Ian.” Erik’s chest rumbled when he spoke, his low voice reminding her of a parent keeping the sound down to let their child sleep.

“What’s going on?” Another voice, not as harsh, but more concerned. Melinda tucked her face into Erik’s neck. Looking up would break the spell, the peace he’d brought to her, and a few more minutes wouldn’t hurt.

“I want Simpson here first thing tomorrow,” Erik commanded as he started up the steps to the second floor.

“Why?” the hard voice demanded.

Erik paused briefly, tightened his arms around her. “Because there’s been a change in plans.”

She searched his face for answers, but true to Erik’s form—there were none. He carried her up the stairs and to their bedroom then laid her on the bed.

She wiggled beneath the covers and pressed her head into the pillow.

“Sleep.” His rugged and raw voice countered the light press of his lips against her cheek. The room darkened, and the bathroom door opened and closed, leaving her in resounding silence.

Sleep tugged heavily on her eyelids. All of her energy depleted, she gave up the fight.

Chapter 10

“But it is possible.” Erik pressured Walter Simpson for a straight answer. His uncle’s attorney had been rambling on about the requirements of the will, completely avoiding a real response.

The old man flipped through papers, appearing flustered.

“There’s nothing here prohibiting it. It’s a bit of a loophole. I suppose it’s up for interpretation.” Walter dropped the last piece of paper to the desk and pushed his thin-rimmed glasses up his nose.

“Whose interpretation? Yours or a judge?” Either could be bought with enough capital. He only needed to know where to deliver the cash.

“Only my signature is needed to turn over the estate in full, or that of one of my associates.”

“So, you could have ignored all of this bullshit and simply signed it over?” Nico’s question boomed from where he sat in the corner.

Erik waved him down. Getting emotional wouldn’t help the situation.

“Technically, no.” Walter let out a long breath. “I would be accountable to my partners as well. As you know, a portion of the debts collected by these sales are turned over to my firm for payment on services rendered. If I were to sign over the estate without the debts all being cleared as specified in the will, I would have to come up with that money on my own.”

“Kristoff was a fucking prick,” Ian muttered from his corner of the room.

Erik had been unsure whether to include his brothers in the conversation with Walter at first, but this affected them as well. What he decided was for the betterment of all three of them.

Walter cleared his throat. “That he was.”

“I thought you held him in great esteem. Wasn’t that what you told me when we met?” Erik walked over to the desk, surprised to hear the attorney changing his views.

“Yes, well, I had not met you prior to then, and, well…I wasn’t sure of your temperament. If you were like—”

“Our uncle.” Erik finished for him. “As you’ve seen, we are not.”

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