Page 37 of Of Grief And Gratitude

Sloane approached Romeo, placing the pool cue on his pristine leather shoe and putting her weight on it until I knew he had to be hurting. “You shouldn’t have come here.”

He grunted when she pulled the stick off him and tossed it to Sean, nodding her thanks. “See you tomorrow.”

I waited by the door for her, but called back to Romeo. “I expect you to get me the information I asked for about your site. You’ve been avoiding me all week.”

“Sure thing,” he said, chuckling as I marched out the door.

Rian led us to his Jeep, and he and Sloane were blessedly silent as we drove back to the apartment. I kicked off my boots as soon as we walked through the door and tore my jacket off.

“I’m going to bed,” I declared, grabbing a water bottle from the fridge and heading straight to my room.

I quickly changed into an oversized t-shirt and climbed under the covers, ready to close my eyes and forget the night's events. The cash may not have been worth all that.

My phone buzzed where I’d left it on the nightstand, and I reached over blindly, grabbing it and swiping to unlock the message. It was from Romeo.

Watch responsibly, it said.

There was an attachment, and I clicked without thinking, opening a video. I drew a sharp breath as I heard the music play and watched Romeo strip. I couldn’t look away as he removed his jacket, bowtie, and shirt, then unfastened his pants.

Fuck.

When Romeo dropped his drawers, his cock sprang out, long and thick, and… was that a bowtie? I couldn’t look away as he stroked himself, and I found my free hand drifting across my breasts as my breathing grew heavy. Romeo’s grunts made me so fucking hot.

My fingers lifted the hem of my t-shirt and glided through my labia, finding my clit and working it in slow circles, edging myself toward a release as I watched precum bead on the tip of Romeo’s gorgeous cock.

I panted as he leaned forward, working himself harder. The first twinges of electricity buzzed through my body, and I gasped, on the cusp of my release.

The video ended abruptly, and I swore under my breath, my orgasm lost. I dropped the phone onto my stomach and wiped my fingers on my sheets, frustrated and ashamed. Romeo shouldn’t be able to make me feel that way after everything he’d done.

My phone rang, and against my better judgment, I picked it up.

“You know, analytics tell me you’ve watched the video to the end,” Romeo’s voice purred, low and seductive. “Did it get you hot, mia fiamma? Did you touch yourself while you watched me fuck my hand? Did you hope I’d come for you?”

“Shut up,” I mumbled.

“Aw, poor baby,” he rumbled. “You didn’t come, did you? Did I leave you aching and needy?”

“Fuck you, Romeo,” I growled as he chuckled. “I’m going to bed. Goodnight.”

I ended the call and turned my phone to silent, tossing it back onto the nightstand. I turned over, punching my pillow until it was comfortable enough to bury my head against. Sleep didn’t come quickly, and whenever I tried to picture kicking Romeo in the balls, my visions of revenge took a decidedly more sexual course.

Romeo wasn’t a smooth seducer. He was the fucking devil.

Chapter Eleven

Riona couldn’t stay away from me.

That might have been an egotistical thought, but I believed my own hype. When she pestered me about a meeting to discuss my social reform progress, I told her the only way I could meet was if she came back to my place. It took her two days to return my text and tell me she’d come over this evening.

Honestly, I was a little surprised she agreed after I sent her the video from my fans site. She watched it. More than once, I later discovered. From her reaction when I called her, Riona was a horny little voyeur. What would she do if I offered her a live show?

We might need to be on slightly better terms to ensure she didn’t do any permanent damage to my little essential worker. I shuddered at the thought of scratch and bite marks down my dick. Maybe Riona was just into blood play.

There might be merit to that thought. I looked over to where Cosimo sat at my dining table, doing something on his laptop. “Hey, Cos.”

“Hm,” he grunted, not bothering to look up at me.

It was awkward to ask your big brother about sex shit. “You like blood stuff.”

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