Page 16 of Seeking Vengeance

I nudge my knee between hers, the material of her dress slipping farther apart to expose more of her legs, bare inches away from what I assume is tempting designer underwear.

I want to taste what’s hidden beneath. To devour and sate us both. Even if what she’s hiding is poison.

“Okay. I get it.” She keeps frantically glancing at the nearby couple. “You can stop the performance now.”

“Look at me.” I splay my hands on her thighs, trailing my calloused palms higher and higher. “Don’t worry about who’s watching.”

She squares her shoulders, gaining composure, but I can tell she’s a skittish lamb. Hungry wolves can sense that type of thing and I’m goddamn starving.

“Look at me,” I repeat, squeezing my fingers.

Slowly, she complies, her wild eyes meeting mine as she hisses, “What the hell are you doing?”

“Showing you the difference between conversation and seduction.” I want to know which brother broke her—Salvatore or Remy. Then I want to crush every memory she holds of the son of a bitch. “Aren’t you having fun?”

Her lips part, and I swear she’s about to give an adamant denial until she snaps her mouth shut.

She wants me.

Wantsthis.

I could almost laugh at the absurdity. The serendipity. Who would’ve thought I’d find someone else at the same restaurant, spying on the same motherfuckers, on the very same night I was?Twice.

“You can’t deny you’re attracted to me.” I lean closer, inhaling her sweet perfume. Jasmine and vanilla. “And there’s no way I can do the same.”

I slide my hand beneath her covered thigh.

She sucks in a breath. “We’re in the middle of a bar filled with people. Do you have no shame?”

“Do you have no sense of adventure?” I counter with a grin. “Surely a woman of your beauty has done far more scandalous things than be admired in public.”

The way she stiffens is a clear indicator she hasn’t.Fuck. She isn’t used to being wanted. Craved.

“This isn’t admiration.” She clears her throat, her shoulders remaining stiff. “This is a man attempting to get information.”

“Can’t it be both?”

For a second, she holds my gaze, tense and unyielding. I don’t breathe. Don’t move. It isn’t until she huffs a derisive laugh, her mouth yet again forming that fucking tempting smile, that my pulse kicks back in again.

“Matthew, I apologize for misleading you, but I have no information to give. I wish I did, but I don’t.”

I don’t believe her, and right now, I don’t care. She’s pretty when she lies. Pretty, tempting, and an increasingly more enjoyable challenge.

“Follow me to my room and let me show you a glimpse of your worth.” I rub my thumbs in circles, trailing my touch higher along her inner thighs. “Let me treat you the way you deserve.”

Her tongue snakes out to moisten her lower lip, her dazed eyes fixated on mine.

She’s going to succumb.

Any second now, she’ll announce her submission and let me claim victory.

“No, thank you.” She blinks away the bewildered look and violently snaps her knees shut. “We’re done here.” She shoves back in her seat and stands, forcing my hands to fall into thin air. “Follow me and I call the cops.”

With a snatch of her belongings from the table and a flick of her dark hair, she storms for the entry, passing Bishop at the bar who slides from his stool to stalk toward me.

“We’re letting her go?” He glowers over his shoulder, watching her stride through the reception area, his focus predatory.

I should leave her alone. No matter what her connection is to the Costa family, she’s nothing but a pawn in a vicious game. But I’m too fascinated to end this here. Too fucking intrigued. I have to learn her secrets.

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