Page 94 of Sweet Lies

“Start the party before the others arrive? How rude,” Claire says, stepping forward to grab a glass.

“No one ever said I was otherwise.”

We all sit down and then Claire asks for the details. While they talk, it gives me time to get lost in my head. Could I really stay here, in this world, with Andre and the rest of them? There’s so much history with everyone, including Alex and Logan. Maybe the better question was, could I go back to the gambling hall and forget them again? Did I want to?

My thoughts are interrupted when Alex and Andre step into the room.

“Logan didn’t want to join the family party?” Elijah asks gleefully.

“He thought it would be a little much if he was seen here.”

“Ah yes, all the secrets we have to keep up with,” Claire mutters, raising a glass. Alex bends to kiss her then goes to pour two more drinks.

“Cheers to another day,” Elijah states, raising his glass.

“To another day,” we all repeat, taking a sip.

It doesn’t take long for most of my brother’s men to show up for the party. It’s different from the past events I’ve attended. I feel able to talk to everyone, and they talk to me. It feels like being home, and I understand I’ve made my decision without realizing it.

Hours later, I try to hide my yawn in my glass, but Andre catches me. Excusing myself, I leave the party to my much more motivated siblings.

I slip into a long shirt that covers my ass and crawl into bed, moaning in pleasure at the softness of the sheets. Before long, I slip into a dreamless sleep.

At one point in the night, I feel arms wrap around me, but I don’t have a knee-jerk reaction to being touched. I know these hands as if they were my own. Breathing deeply, I take in the familiar scent of Andre and fall deeper into sleep. I don’t move until the sun starts filtering through the window the following day.

* * *

I wake to his lips against my neck.

“Hm. That’s nice,” I mutter, swinging my arm over his back. I keep my eyes closed, still half asleep.

“It’s one of the better ways to wake up.”

“That much is for sure.”

He nibbles my neck, his hands moving across my arms. “This should be how you wake me every morning going forward.”

I feel him grin against my neck. “We might be late to a few meetings.”

I laugh. “Pro for working for the family.”

I lift my leg and wrap it around his back. The shirt I wore to bed is now bunched up around my waist, and his fingers move over my bare stomach before tracing the hem of my panties. My nails bite into his back while my other hand digs into his hair, keeping his mouth against my neck. His lips are sending my senses into overdrive. Our loud breathing fills the room, the temperature rising every second.

His fingers slide inside my panties to find the dampness there, and I moan at the sensation the slight touch elicits, my back arching like a cat’s. His hand rubs in all the right spots, causing that delicious pressure to build.

“I love you.”

“Good, because we’re stuck together.” He kisses me and I love the feeling.

“I love you, Bec. Always have and always will.”

“Took you long enough to realize it,” I tease.

“I always knew it, but I hoped you’d have a different life. A better life.”

“I can’t imagine a life without you and all this craziness in it.” And I realize I can’t. I’m happy. We’d agreed that I would continue to run the gambling hall on the condition that I have extra men there that Elijah and Andre handpick, although I’d rolled my eyes at that stipulation, and everyone was happy that I was back in the fold.

My thoughts return to the pleasure my body is feeling at Andre’s skilled ministrations.

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