Page 84 of Devilish

That made sense. OfcourseShep had been invited to the wedding of the year. I’d been so caught up and consumed with everything going on in my world that it hadn’t even occurred to me that the Rinaldi wedding was going to either be one of the most advantageous or disadvantageous unions Libertine could make.

That, however, was all going to come down to Theo—and maybe, by the sounds of it, Shep.

I didn’t envy him that position at all. But then again, that was the reason he was King’s number two and I was not.

“Good thing you’ll be there, then.” I finished off my second pour and got to my feet. “Imagine if we sent Benoit.”

“In all fairness, he is the life of any party.”

“That he is. Listen, if that’s all…?” I gestured over my shoulder, and was about to hightail it out of there and back to Kai when Shep got to his feet. His famous, charming smile from minutes ago fell away.

“I heard what happened to your club.” He looked across the hall to Alessio’s office. “He working on it for you?”

“He is.”

Shep nodded, those twinkling eyes turning shrewd, and as if a mask had slipped down over his face, King’s second-in-command appeared in front of me.

“Anything I can do for you?”

That was a loadedanythingif there ever was one, because whatever you needed, Shep could get, and sometimes that offer was too tempting to refuse.

“I’m good right now. Things are in motion, but if I need you, I’ll call.”

“Good deal. Have a good night, brother.” Shep clapped me on the shoulder and headed back to the bar, and as he poured a third glass he called out, “You should bring your new man around next time. We’re all looking forward to officially meeting him.”

His words had an immediate grin curving my lips as I left Libertine and made my way home. To my “new man.”

I fucking loved the sound of that.

31

KAI

LUCIEN’S TASTE WAS impeccable, and so was his penchant for finding the best view in any city. I’d never been to the top of the KeyLark building, where a revolving restaurant gave three-hundred-and-sixty-degree views of the city and far beyond, and watching the sunset from every angle was nothing short of breathtaking.

So was the lobster crepe with creamy truffle sauce— topped with truffle shavings—that I was currently inhaling. If we hadn’t been in such an opulent setting with others around, I probably would’ve scooped up the sauce with my finger and licked it off. It wasthatgood.

“I think I might’ve gotten the wrong entree,” Lucien said as he cut into his steak and watched me with a hint of amusement on his lips.

“You did. Absolutely.” I scooped some onto my fork and held it up to him. “Can I interest you in a taste?”

Lucien leaned forward and slid the crepe off with his teeth. As he swallowed, my stare dropped to his throat, and then back to his mouth when he licked a bit of sauce from his lower lip.

Damn.How did he look so hot even doing something as normal as eating?

But nothing about Lucien was normal, and that was one of my favorite things about him—the way he made sure to make the little things interesting.

“You’re right,” he said, and dabbed his mouth with his napkin. As our waiter passed, Lucien caught his attention and said, “We’d like two more of these to go, please.”

The man nodded, and as he went off to put in the order, I grinned like a fool.“You’re so good to me.”

“Oh, those are for me. Why, did you want some?” Lucien couldn’t hold his smile back for long, and I found his leg with my foot, barely able to hook it behind his from where he sat across from me.

“Guess I’ll have to be quicker than you to the fridge.”

“I have longer legs.”

“But I’m shorter and faster.”

---