Page 20 of Vicious Heir

“It was good meeting you,” he says and bends down. He kisses my cheek very briefly, his hand lingering on my hip.

I get a spark. Just the briefest moment. A reminder of what he did to me. Like a shadow of that night.

But he pulls away and any connection is instantly gone.

He turns and leaves.

I watch him go, wondering what the hell just happened. I didn’t expect to get down on my knees and suck him off in the formal sitting room or anything like that, but at least we could’ve enjoyed each other’s company for a few minutes.

Instead, it felt like I was pulling his teeth.

Something’s going on. Whatever he met with Grandmother about must’ve been pretty bad. I’m lost in my head, thinking about how I’m going to ruin this and let everyone down, and I don’t notice the card in my pocket until I’m back in my suite.

I take it out and stare, mouth hanging open.

It’s black, just like the one Luca gave me. That one’s still safe in my nightstand drawer, shoved in the back under a raunchy novel.

Adriano’s name is in white. His number is right below it.

But written on the back is a message.

You haven’t called. Fix that.

Chapter 7

Lucy

The Velvet Echo looks way different without all the naked sweaty people fucking each other.

The beds are gone. Instead, it looks like a traditional club. High-top tables ring around the large central bar area while most of the club’s occupants are packed onto the massive dance floor. A DJ’s spinning loud Top 40 hits and the bass rumbles down between my legs like sledgehammer blows. I stay off to the side of a secondary bar, drinking wine and watching the crowd, not sure what I’m doing here or what my plan is.

I have one night to figure this out. Kennedy can cover for me, but that won’t last forever. She told Grandmother that I’m sick with something and holed up in my room, so I’ll have to sneak back inside later and pretend like I’m not feeling good. But for now, I’m looking around nervously, trying to spot the security cameras hidden up in the high ceiling.

I know he’s watching.

Assuming he’s even here tonight.

And if he’s not, what will I do? Would it even matter if I sat right here alone all evening, drinking a few glasses of wine, and went home without talking to him?

I don’t even know what I want to say.

Except his conversation with my grandmother is bothering me. Something's wrong, and it's not like I'll ever hear about it from her. All my life, the family business has beennone of your business, young lady. Even though Pierre runs the Willing-Morris hedge fund and I'm technically going to inherit a very large chunk of our family fortune, or whatever's left of it, it's like nobody wants me involved in anything at all.

I'm a bargaining chip. Nothing more than that.

Even if I've always desperatelywantedto be more.

I kill an hour sitting around. I down two glasses of wine and start on a third. I'm feeling comfortably tipsy, though not drunk yet. I'll get there soon unless something happens. I know I should stop, but the longer I sit here alone and think about how useless I've been my whole life, the more miserable I feel and the more I want to drown all the chatter in my head with alcohol.

It wasn't always like this. Grandmother's been hard on me since forever, but I was good in school. I got straight As and graduated from a prestigious and difficult prep school in the top five of my class. I could've gone anywhere to college if Grandmother had let me apply. I had friends back then, extracurricular activities, reasons to get out of bed in the morning.

Now I'm adrift. I'm flitting from nothing to nothing. And all I have to look forward to is marrying a man I don't even know.

"I keep waiting for you to come up to my office, but it looks like I have to make the first move tonight."

I flinch in surprise and look to my left. My jaw drops open as Adriano leans against the bar watching me. His face is draped in a dark scowl, and I marvel all over again at how large and terrifying he is. Tattoos disappear into the sleeves of his perfect designer suit, and there's not a single hair out of place on his head. He licks his full lips as he tilts his chin toward me, inching closer like he's thinking about putting his hands on me.

Please, god, do it.

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