by Sienna Snow
“Duly noted. What would you like to do tonight?”
I wanted to say have multiple orgasms, since my body hadn’t come down from our airplane escapades. Instead, I answered with, “You decide.”
“How about we check out Hagen’s club?”
I smiled. “That’s a perfect idea.”
“Holy shit. You’re gorgeous.”
I beamed at Sebastian’s reaction as I stepped out into the living room of the penthouse an hour later.
He walked up to me, offering his hand. I slid my palm over his, feeling a tingle of energy sizzle between us.
“You don’t look too bad yourself.” I let my gaze trail up and down his body.
The correct word for the way he looked was hot. Fucking hot. With whipped cream and a cherry on top.
This man epitomized sex appeal. His fitted black textured shirt and dark denim jeans accentuated his honed body and height. He’d pushed up the sleeves of his shirt, revealing his tattooed arms.
My libido was on overdrive and I wanted him on me, in me, any way I could get him.
“How about we skip the club and get naked?”
“Horny, baby?”
I frowned. “You know very well I am. What are we waiting for? We just got married. We’re supposed to fuck like rabbits.”
“It’s called delayed gratification.”
“Delayed gratification, my ass.” I stalked to the elevator, dragging Sebastian behind me. “Come on, let’s burn off our frustrations.”
Sebastian seemed unfazed and followed without a word.
The moment we entered Nyx, the world-famous nightclub, my annoyance with my husband and my hormones was gone.
The pictures I’d seen hadn’t done the place justice. The straight lines and neutral interior of the property flowed into here but there was a more sensual vibe. Splashes of reddish-gold were everywhere from the light fixtures to the statues.
“Holy fuck. Those are real.” I pointed to a set of Greek figurines positioned in a wall alcove above the dance floor. “Those have to be worth ten million apiece.”
“I guess you aren’t the only one who gets to claim they have original artwork in their clubs.”
“It’s not something I advertise. I just thought it fit, and I happened to own the pieces.”
“Come, let’s dance.”
We made our way onto the dance floor, and immediately Sebastian pulled me against him.
“The last time we danced together, I had to let you go. Tonight, I go home with you.”
“Too bad sex doesn’t seem to be on the menu.”
We rolled our hips and bodies to the rhythm of the music, completely in tune with each other.
He danced like a man who knew what he was doing. His moves were commanding yet sensual, almost seducing.
We stayed on the dance floor through three tracks, lost in the beat.
Sebastian’s hands slid up the sides of my body and then one fisted the hair at the nape of my neck as the other settled on my back, drawing me flush against him.
“You’re my every fantasy come to life.”
He was aroused, and the hunger in his dark eyes had my breath unsteady and my sex growing slick with need.
He’d left me hanging all day and I was desperate for release.
“Baz, I want to go to bed.”
“Are you sure?”
I rubbed my pelvis against his thick, hard cock. “Absolutely.”
“Then let’s go.” He picked up my hand and kissed my fingers before linking his with mine and leading me out of the club.
Chapter Seventeen
Sebastian
“Are you still mad at me?” I asked Isa as we drove to Adrian and Ana’s estate where the Lykaios-Kipos clan were waiting for our arrival.
“I’m not as mad but you’re not my favorite person right now. What you did was wrong on so many levels.”
I almost laughed at the incredulous scowl Isa shot in my direction.
Our night hadn’t ended the way she’d expected. Instead of tearing off her clothes and burying my cock deep in her as I wanted to, I’d helped her undress and tucked her into bed.
I knew she was shocked and completely pissed off, but she’d complied, no doubt plotting some sort of revenge like the one she’d implemented on the jet.
The fact she had fallen asleep within minutes of me turning off the light hadn’t mattered, she’d still woken up in a piss-poor mood, barely saying two words to me all morning.
I knew I had to tread carefully, so I did the one thing I was positive would get her temper calmer. I’d taken her to a range, the very one where Adrian and I had met during training. The one run through joint agency cooperation under the guise of a private shooting club.
The second Isa realized where we were, her frown disappeared, replaced by an eager calmness that was both unsettling and intriguing.
For someone born to be a pampered princess, her fascination with guns confused the hell out of me. I wasn’t sure what kind of introduction she’d received from Bri in firearms, but Isa was a fanatic. It was more about mastering a skill versus using her ability for a fight.
Her ability was something I’d read about, but seeing it in person was beyond impressive. Watching her focus as she hit the bullseye of every single target she shot at was eerily arousing. If I’d told her this bit of news, she’d probably say I deserved it for torturing her.
If she wasn’t my wife and I’d met her a few years earlier, I’d have recruited her for the agency.
That was when I’d realized she already worked for one in particular, Solon. Now that I thought about it, I’d heard about an antiquities expert based out of Germany the Berlin office of Interpol would call in on various cases.
It had to be Isa. We were definitely going to have a long conversation about her “clients.”
Before I could even broach the subject, I was going to have to tell Isa the truth about Interpol and most of all about what had happened with Ana and Adrian on our last assignment.
Pushing back the doom I knew was going to come sooner rather than later, I focused on the game I was playing with Isa.
“I promise, the wait will be worth it.”
She mumbled something under her breath as we pulled up to the front of a large two-story stucco and Spanish-tiled-roof house with a giant front lawn designed to blend in with the desert landscape.
“Damn. I never get tired of seeing this place.” Isa scooted toward the car door as it opened.
I stepped out first and offered her my hand so she could exit. When she took it, I tugged her toward me, bringing her in for a kiss.
When I pulled back, the heat was back in her blue eyes. “Want me to build you something like this?”
She shook her head. “No, our penthouse is perfect. I’m a city girl. Plus, I prefer gifts of deadly weapons versus mansions.”
She patted her handbag, where she’d placed the pistol I’d bought her from a dealer near the range.
“You’re definitely the perfect woman for me.”
That got a smile to touch her lips.
“Are the two of you going to stand outside all day making moony eyes at each other or are you coming in? There’s a pregnant woman in the house who’s about to come out and drag you inside,” Penny shouted from the open front door.
Isa
I couldn’t help but smile at Penny’s snarky tone.
“We were discussing weapons,” I called back. “You know how I like weapons.”
Penny snorted and raised her brows toward Sebastian. “I’m sure you like the weapon he’s carrying.”
The woman was incorrigible.
“Obviously. I wouldn’t have married him otherwise.”
Penny rolled her eyes. “And you’re positive it had nothing to do with some archaic European tradition of arranged marriages?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Come on, let me introduce you to my baby brother, Adrian. I’m sure you know he and Sebastian go way back. The
y studied together at UNLV.”
Adrian came over, and I couldn’t help but take in his sculpted male beauty. The man was built and was almost too good looking, especially with the added effect of the dark shadows of his beard and a slight scar on his chin.
Damn, Ana had done good.
“Hello, Isa. I didn’t get a chance to meet you when you came last time. I heard you’re a bit of a card shark. Hopefully I’ll get to see your skills in action.”
“You never know.”
As I moved into the house, I paused and watched Adrian fist-bump with Sebastian and then hug him.
“It’s good to see you again.” Sebastian smacked Adrian’s back.
“It’s been too long.”
Sebastian’s tone changed to almost a whisper. “I’d gotten used to seeing your ugly mug almost every week.”
“It’s better this way. I’ll do what I have to for Ana. She’s still working through what happened.”
Sebastian knew about what happened to Ana? We were seriously going to have to talk.
“Did you tell her?” Adrian asked as they stepped back from each other.
Sebastian shook his head and then I heard Adrian mutter, “Idiot. It’s your grave.”
What was that about?
Before I could question the men on the unusual exchange, I was engulfed in a plethora of hugs and welcomes. Hagen, Pierce, Zack, and Henna swarmed me.
It was like coming home being around them. They were happy to see me and welcomed me in. It had been like this from the first time I’d met them. The brothers especially were reputed to be hard men but with me they were nothing but affectionate. At first, I’d thought it was because I was their half sister Ana’s friend, but then I realized they genuinely liked me.
Now, anytime one of the Lykaioses made a trip close to Germany, we met up. Of all of them, Hagen was the one who came to visit the most often and had advised me as I’d started my clubs.
“Where’s Ana?” I tried to look over the shoulders of the men but it was like trying to see over a wall of over-six-foot-tall men. “You guys are great to look at and all but I need to see my girl.”
“I’m the soon-to-be beached whale over here,” Ana said, and she came into view as her brothers shifted.
“You’ll never be a beached whale. You’re absolutely gorgeous.” I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her.
I wasn’t lying. Ana looked as if she could have walked off the pages of a high-end maternity catalog. Her unique golden-hued skin that she’d inherited from her Indian father and Greek mother added to her beauty. She was a real-life fertility goddess.
I was literally in a house of people who looked like they were created by the Greek gods.
“You’re good for my ego. I may not let you go home.”
“Where Isa goes, I go.” Sebastian came up behind me.
Then he did a silent conversation thing with Ana. Ana’s amber, almost tiger-like eyes grew wide and then flashed with annoyance before she shook her head.
“What am I missing?” I asked both of them.
Almost as soon as the question was out, the pieces fell into place.
Sebastian had told me he’d worked with Bri. I’d assumed it was as an informant or consultant as I was. Which couldn’t be true if he saw Adrian nearly every week until recently. Then there was the fact Sebastian knew about what went down on Ana’s last assignment. The only reason I found out some of the details was because it was in the file for some of the artwork I’d had to evaluate after the case closed. Even then, my information was limited and I could only guess as to what might have happened to Ana.
Sebastian clearly knew more details than I did.
This meant one thing—Sebastian was the man who’d helped rescue Ana when her assignment went south and she was kidnapped. The assignment Ana had been on was a joint Solon/Interpol/CIA case. Ana was the Solon contact, and Adrian was the CIA component. Which left Sebastian.
He was Interpol.
My husband, a mob boss, was an agent for an intelligence agency. Now the favor he’d done for Bri made sense. He’d helped save one of her agents. Ana.
I studied Sebastian’s worried face.
There was still something I was missing. I looked between Ana, Adrian, and Sebastian.
“I think the three of us need to go into another room and have a conversation.” Ana glared at Sebastian as she tucked her arm in mine and pulled me toward the back of the house and an open door.
The four of us moved into a room that looked like a library.
Once we were inside and the door was locked, I blurted out, “You’re Interpol.”
“Yes,” Sebastian answered.
“I know Ana is Solon.” I glanced at her.
“Former. I left.”
Then I moved my attention to Adrian. “And you’re CIA.”
“Retired.”
I walked over to a window overlooking the desert. “And the three of you were on Ana’s last case.”
I tried to remember everything I’d heard and read in the case analysis. They’d been on an assignment to stop a sex-trafficking ring. Ana was supposed to pose as one of the victims when she’d been kidnapped. Two agents had gone in pretending to be buyers.
“You slept with Ana. Didn’t you?”
A wave of jealousy hit me, making me want to throw up. Ana was someone I respected, who I looked up to. She was literally a badass spy.
“Yes.” Sebastian took a step toward me but I shook my head.
He couldn’t touch me right now.
“How many times?”
“Once.”
I caught Ana rubbing her belly with worry etched all over her face and Adrian’s hand on her shoulder.
She’d gotten pregnant during that time, there was no doubt in my mind.
“Is there any chance the baby is yours?”
Surprise flashed on Sebastian’s features. “No. Without a doubt.”
“Absolutely not,” Adrian added but I ignored him, my focus on Sebastian.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know how to tell you I slept with one of your close friends as part of my work without revealing who I worked for or hurting you.”
“I would have rather heard it from you than learned it like this.” A tear slipped down my cheek. “Haven’t you learned that keeping something from me is just as hurtful as lying?”
“Baby, there are always things I’m not going to be able to tell you.”
I clenched my jaw. “I don’t want to hear it. There’s a fucking difference between having slept with my girlfriend and running the business.”
He had to believe I was an idiot. I knew the rules, I knew when it came to the family some things I’d never know.
I looked at Ana again. “You stalled my investigation into Sebastian. You knew I was going to marry him.”
She nodded. “I didn’t have a choice. But I promise, I gave you everything that was available on him that wasn’t classified.”
“And telling me you fucked my soon-to-be husband was classified.” I couldn’t hide the hurt or anger in my tone.
“Isa, you know the way it works.” Ana sighed. “Some cases require us to do things we wouldn’t think of doing in the real world. We were undercover. We had no choice in what happened. We had an audience and had to make it look real.”
I cringed thinking of what she’d had to experience.
Logically I knew some agents went so deep they lived out what they’d been sent to do. Ana had been kidnapped and sold. Adrian and Sebastian had done whatever it took to get her back.
“I’m just so tired of the secrets.”
“Isa, our lives are all about secrets.” Sebastian came to stand in front of me. “Can we talk alone?”
I nodded. And in my peripheral vision, I saw Ana and Adrian get up.
Was I being too dramatic?
Maybe I was.
Maybe it was jealousy fueling the hurt.
No, I’d been l
ied to. Again.
It pissed me off that someone I knew had seen Sebastian naked, had felt his touch, knew what it was like to have him deep inside her. But it was more that Sebastian had kept it from me. Another check in the “I have no idea if the man I love is real or a figment of my imagination” column.
“Isa?”
I looked at Ana.
“If it makes you feel better, I’ll let you sleep with Adrian.”
“The hell she will.” Sebastian’s roar was almost comical, and I would have laughed if I wasn’t so pissed.
“Ana, babe,” Adrian said with a slight amused tone. “I don’t think that’s a solution. Besides, if my dick goes anywhere near another woman, you’ll cut it off.”
“I suppose you’re right. The thought does make me stabby.”
They walked out of the library, still talking.
Sebastian went to lock the door and then came back to me.
“We need to get something straight.” He towered over me. “There’s only one woman I plan to fuck, as you put it, for the rest of my life. And that’s you.”
I opened my mouth to argue that point, but shut it. He was right. Being jealous of something that happened before we knew each other was ridiculous. I’d had relationships and lovers before him. Though I wasn’t sure I’d ever want Sebastian to meet any of them.
“Nothing to say?”
“So, do we just pretend nothing ever happened with you and Ana?”
“It’s the way it works. Once a case is over, we debrief and walk away.” He cupped my jaw, tilting it up.
I stared into his dark irises. The pain of another lie made me question whether it was possible to have any sort of real relationship with him.
“Isa, when Jonas forced my hand to accept our marriage, I was angry and determined to live my life as I always had. Which meant all my focus was on my job and completing my assignments by any means necessary.
“I wasn’t expecting to feel this way about you. But now that you’re mine, my priorities have changed. I’m never letting you go. You’re it for me.”
This wasn’t a declaration of love, but it was something.
I was so tired of being in the dark. I needed things to be transparent between us. It wasn’t as if leaving him was an option.
