Page 3 of Vicious Heir

“What kind of distraction?”

“I don’t know yet.” His gaze moves up my thigh. “I’m trying to figure that out.” I shiver slightly, a thrill running into my stomach. Adriano has a good voice. It’s low and sexy, and I like the way he stares at me. There’s no shame in his gaze. He doesn’t turn away when I catch him. If anything, he likes that I notice him staring at my body.

Like he wants me to notice him looking.

“Well, what do you normally do during these things?”

“Paperwork.”

I laugh, unable to help myself. “Seriously? Paperwork?”

“You’d be surprised how much of running a club is paperwork. Food and drink orders, cleaning bills, utility repairs, staffing issues. A million different problems.”

“Sounds stressful.”

“It’s a good kind of stress.”

“I didn’t know that was a thing.”

He leans closer, his voice softening. “Then you’ve never had something you wanted more than anything in the world.”

I stare at him, my mouth open slightly. I lick my lips, and he’s sitting very close to me now. He’s not touching me, but he might as well be. My chest is rising and falling, and I can’t believe how nervous and excited I am.

Downstairs was a buffet of sex and vice. I could’ve gotten any kind of dick I wanted. But none of it seemed remotely interesting. If anything, the orgy turned me off even more than I thought it would.

But sitting up here with the man I’m supposed to marry?

I’m more excited than I’ve been in years.

“You care about this nightclub that much?”

He shakes his head. “It’s what the club represents.”

“And what’s that?”

“Home. Power. Money.” His lips press together again. I like that smile. It’s reserved but expressive. “And sex.”

My heart skips a beat. “I thought you weren’t into the orgy?”

“Oh, I’m not, but I like controlling it. I like that it happens in my space, at my whim, by my grace.” He puts a hand on my knee. “Is there anything in the world you’d happily stress for?”

That one touch sends my heart into convulsions. My stomach is a twisted mess of excitement, and I try to think clearly. What do I want most in the world? Right now, I want Adriano to keep moving his hand up my thigh. But beyond that? If I could have anything?

It’s hard to say. I’m a Willing-Morris. My family name is very, very old. We have money, though that’s running out. We have social status and connections, though those are mostly drying up. We’re an elite institution, though we’re also tainted and ruined from years of bad financial decisions and various scandals. I’ve never wanted for anything. But I’ve always never had what I really needed.

“I really don’t know,” I admit, and it’s the truth. I’ve never known what I really want. I’ve always drifted, doing what Grandmother tells me to do, because that’s all I’ve ever known.

“What if I could give you something?” He moves closer. His hand shifts higher. Fuck, I’m more turned on than I’ve ever been. It’s not just that Adriano is extremely attractive, because he’s definitely that, but it’s also the situation. I’m here to spy on him. I’m here to find out information I can use against him when we’re married. And he doesn’t seem to realize who I actually am yet.

It’s terrifying and intoxicating.

I doubt Grandmother imagined I’d be doingthiswhen she sent me here.

But actually, knowing her, this is exactly what she wanted.

God, even with a sexy man’s hand on my naked skin, I still can’t get that old woman out of my head.

“You know what I want?” I say without thinking and just let the words spill out. “I want a half hour of quiet. I want to stop thinking for ten seconds. I want my brain to just be right here in this moment. No worries, no regrets, no desires. Just nothing.”

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