Page 25 of Devious Kingpin
I was so fucking paranoid that I forgot.
“Maybe someone is visiting,” I offered.
“Yeah, like the unknown bride,” Basilio snickered.
I growled at him. “Listen, fucker. You kidnapped your wife from the goddamn Olympics. Did I object? No, I helped you. Now, shut the fuck up. All of you. And follow the plan.”
That got their attention. Good. I was sick and tired of waiting for Juliette to come to her senses. She belonged to me. I belonged to her. Cities sizzled and sparked every time we were in the same location.
So help me God. She’d be mine.
“Emory, you distract Killian. Basilio, you bribe the babysitter and have her call Davina for an emergency.”
“And the lamb will be left unguarded,” Emory finished dryly.
My family fucking sucked sometimes.
* * *
Fuck.
Juliette looked breathtaking. Two years of pining after a girl who couldn’t stand you were too goddamn long. She was stubborn as fuck and even more proud. But I was even more so.
So far everything was going according to plan. My father and Juliette’s aunt didn’t plan on attending tonight’s nightclub gathering. Basilio already dragged Wynter upstairs. Davina and Liam had the so-called emergency with the sitter. Ivy had a headache.
And Emory dragged Killian out.
Taking another sip of whisky, Juliette and I made it back onto the dance floor. My gaze settled on her. Her cheeks were flushed. Her eyes were shining but her pupils were slightly dilated.
The plan was working.
My lips curved into a smile. I inhaled deeply, my eyes burning over Juliette’s creamy skin, the elegant curve of her neck, her stunning-as-fuck body, and her dark hair.
Juliette’s eyes locked with mine and she smiled freely. It had to be her first free smile in the two years I’d known her.
“Regretting the dance?”
A smirk curved my lips. “Not even a bit.”
Her tongue darted out, swiping over her bottom lip. I had no fucking idea whether she did it on purpose or not, but the gesture made my dick harden in my pants. All she had to do was smile at me and she looked like a goddess of seduction.
I knew I had it bad when I couldn’t get it up or get off with another woman after my first encounter with Juliette in my casino. It would turn out that the DiLustro curse finally caught up to me too. We pined and wanted what we couldn’t have.
Except, this felt different. Deeper. Stronger.
I remembered the little girl with eyes shining like sapphires under the sun staring at me, offering me her pink scrunchie. The little girl that promised she’d save me one day. Nobody ever saved me and this little girl didn’t even know me. And she was willing to save me.
My fucking brother and cousin would die laughing if they knew. I ensured they didn’t. I was close with them but not that fucking close.
Juliette’s lips curved up, drawing my eyes to them. “Well, I’ll give you one thing, DiLustro. You are a smooth dancer.”
Things couldn’t be going any better. I had Juliette all to myself. She reached for a waiter who offered drinks and downed another shot glass of Fireball. She seemed to love those way too much. Her eyes sparkled and her cheeks stained with a permanent blush.
Without warning, she stopped dancing and closed the distance between us. She rose on her tiptoes, bringing her face close to mine. Well, she attempted to. She was so much shorter, I had to bend my head down.
“Let’s go barhopping,” she suggested, her words slightly slurred. “And then chapel-hopping.”
Taking her chin between my fingers gently, her skin soft under my fingertips, I forced her to focus her eyes on me.
