Page 66 of Carnal Games

My jaw clenches and I snag my jacket off the back of my chair. He stares back smugly, like he knows his words got me. “You should be more concerned by the fact she’s a reporter working for a newspaper that has it out for us and is sniffing around here. Whether or not she’s my brother’s fiancée is irrelevant. Discreetness to our clients is the foundation of our business. Tasha put it at risk tonight by letting her in.”

“I let Tasha go before I came to you. So don’t lecture me whenyouput our business at risk too by throwing out Rajbeer, who’s been a member since our opening night,” he accuses in an even tone. “He didn’t do anything wrong. She was wearing the bracelet that implied she was available. Might I also mention you’re the reason she was here in the first place?”

As much as I hate to admit it, he’s correct. I jeopardized our club too. Another reason why I need Iris gone permanently. Pocketing my phone, I make my way to the door. On my way past Zain, I inform him, “I’ll fix it with Rajbeer.”

I’m almost to the door when his words stop me cold.

“I won’t lie, I’ve waiting for years to see a crack in your impenetrable armor. Never thought it’d be because of a woman half your size.”

I whip around to glare at him. “There’s no crack.”

Shooting down his drink, he rises, and comes to a stand before me. “She had a message for you.”

“What?”

A smirk tips his mouth as he relays, “You can’t hide forever.”

Like I said—annoyingly ballsy.

***

The first thing I notice when I exit the elevator on my floor is the light blue and fluffy welcome mat outside the empty apartment across from mine. Second thing I notice, which has my senses sharpening and my body going alert, is the ajar door.

Both are jarring and out of character in the white hallway.

Did Nathan finally decide to move in? Last I checked, he had a mansion up on the hills on the city’s outskirts.

Walking closer, I eye the mat. His taste wouldn’t be so girly and cute and… But his little fiancée’s would be.

No! My entire body jolts as I stare at the half-opened front door with dread.

“You can’t hide forever.”

Motherfuck—her taunt slams into me like a bullet train.

My feet move of their own volition, crossing the threshold, zooming past the drawing room, and I grind to a halt when I see her.

Dancing in the middle of the kitchen with headphones on, oblivious to the wolves who can smell her innocence from a mile away.

I’m powerless to her pull. Incapable of not admiring her shape. All but forgetting why she’s off-limits.

Her luscious ass barely concealed in a tiny pair of shorts sways to whatever beats are playing in her ear. A man’s worn-down T-shirt loosely hugs her upper body with a knot against the dip in her lower back, baring an inch of sun-kissed skin.

Shiny and straight black hair swish everywhere when she twirls. I swallow a hungry growl at the sight of her bangs, fluttering on her forehead. They complement her heart-shaped face too beautifully. Especially those catlike eyes and high cheekbones with a natural dark pink blush I can see from my spot.

Her eyelids are closed but I know the color that lies behind them by heart.

A piercing deep blue, like an ocean.

Mesmerizing from the shore, but deadly if you dive and don’t know how to swim.

A teasing smile plays on her plump lips as she continues to dance. Her moves are practiced, like she’s done it a million times. A mix of adorable and sexy. Clueless she’s no longer dancing like nobody’s watching.

Like the siren she is, she’s drawn a captive audience.

One who’s riveted by the serene expression on her face. The complete opposite of the shy and nervous girl who would lower those eyes in front of me one second, and breathe fire in the next.

In the moment, mine can’t help but drag down her throat, past her slender shoulders, and lower to her—