Page 40 of The Devil's Daughter

Baz looks up with a grim set to his mouth and nods. “Yeah. But we’re not having much luck and I don’t know what we’re going to do if we don’t findsomethingin time for the party. I don’t want to go in blind.”

“We’ll find something,” I say. “We have to.”

But we don’t have much more luck by the time Ben returns just after dusk. We’re demoralized and the delicious gourmet meal Drake’s chef serves us barely improves our moods.

“You don’t have to come if you believe it’s too dangerous for Elle,” Drake offers somberly when our plates have been cleared and we’re sharing a second bottle of wine.

“But I’m not the one being threatened,” I say. “You are. They have to go to protect you, Drake. And I have to go because they won’t leave me behind. Please don’t suggest your life isn’t valuable enough for us to stick with you.”

I push back from the table, rise, then slide onto his lap, wrapping my arms around him. My chest feels tight, the frustration of the lack of progress today adding to the fear and desperation to protect him.

“We have tomorrow,” Baz says. “We still need to look into the Typhon Board. If any were close to your dad, that would help to know. We do have a couple potential leads from today though. Nothing that’s panned out, but I want your input.”

“Give it to me,” Drake says, idly caressing my thigh.

“Something doesn’t add up about Curt Hagler,” Baz says. “He had too strong a resume not to land somewhere decent, but I can’t find a link to a new company. I’m going to keep looking into him. At least his name isn’t on the guest list, but that doesn’t mean he’s not linked to someone who is. The only other potential lead I found is for one of the VPs—a man named Miles Sitnik, who runs the South American Regional office out of Brazil. I haven’t nailed down a deeper connection, but my algorithm keeps pinging him as a potential red flag. Elle and I will take a look and see if we find anything concrete, but if you know anything off hand, it could speed things up.”

Drake frowns and shakes his head. “I don’t know Miles all that well, but I’ve never had issues with the Rio office. I’ll ask my secretary if she knows anything. As for the Typhon board, none of the directors were any closer to Dad than the others, that I’m aware of. I wasn’t close to him either though, so I didn’t keep tabs on who he was friends with. I’m sorry I can’t be of more help.”

“It’s not your fault, man,” Baz says. “We’ll get to the bottom of it somehow.”

“Well, it isn’t happening tonight,” Drake says, cupping my face and looking into my eyes. “Can we put this stuff on hold for the night and take you to bed?”

I blink and stare back into his blue depths. “All of you?”

“If the twins don’t mind. I think we need to make sure it will work.”

“Thought you were just into watching,” Baz says with a smirk.

“Wouldyoube able to keep your hands off her if you didn’t have to?” he replies.

“Is that what you want, Elle?” Baz asks, looking at me. “I guess we may be due for a conversation about how this will work. Not just the—ah—choreography, but the balance of attention.” He rubs the back of his neck and gives me an awkward smile. “’Cause I’d monopolize you if I could get away with it, but I don’t think that’ll fly in this situation.”

“I have an idea,” Ben says, standing and adjusting the bulge in his shorts. “Let’s take her to bed and see how things play out. If we need to make adjustments, we can talk about it after.”

I smirk up at him as he steps over to me and reaches out a hand, helping me up off Drake’s lap. “Someone wants to get laid,” I tease.

“Baby, sharing you with Drake the other night was the hottest thing I’ve ever done. I think it’s only going to be hotter with all three of us.”

I turn to lead the way to the elevator, and Ben smacks me lightly on the ass. I toss him a playful look over my shoulder, but my insides are a turmoil of anticipation, and a little dread. What if it doesn’t work with all three of them? What if Baz gets weirded out and it turns into a huge disaster?

But I’m not backing down, and it seems neither are they.

20

Elle

When we reachthe end of the hall where it meets mine and Drake’s bedroom doors, Drake touches my elbow. “My room,” he says.

I nod, not sure why it matters, but I trust him. When we get inside, he turns on the light and faces us, blocking our entry.

“I want all three of you to trust me implicitly,” he says. “Making thisourspace is part of that. Elle, I want you to be able to retreat to a place that’s yours alone if you need a break from us. So I think one of our rules should be that we let you keep your room to yourself. If that means you never sleep in your own bed again, I’m fine with it, but if you go to your own room, it’ll be a signal that you need space.”

He pauses and swallows, his gaze intent. “If …whenwe move back to the penthouse, assuming you all want to stay, I’d like to convert one of the guest rooms into a new master bedroom.”

“So… watching me like this morning… won’t be a thing?”

His eyes darken and he steps close. “I didn’t say you couldn’t fuck us in your own room, or that I wouldn’t be watching. I think you enjoyed believing that Iwaswatching, didn’t you? Doing that dance.” He teases a fingertip beneath the strap of my tank top, and my skin lights on fire from the brush of his knuckle.

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