Page 131

Six months later…
“Ican’t believe I was wrong about him being a criminal, though,” Henry tells Iris.
I’m sitting in an armchair along the wall in his gym, waiting for him to finish up so we can grab dinner before going home.
On Fridays, I often get done early with class and go to a study group, but tonight, my group can’t meet, so Henry wants to take me out to a romantic dinner.
We haven’t had a nice dinner out, just the two of us, in months.
Law school is amazing but often feels all-consuming, and we, of course, have lots of things going on when we do have free time. We’re in Autre a lot, and then, there are our roommates, the friend of the sister of one of my classmates, and a young guy Henry met through one of the trainees he’s working with. They both had very rocky childhoods, are no-contact with their parents, and are now enrolled in college thanks to a personalscholarship from Henry Dean. They both need mentoring for sure, but they’re doing great.
“Well, at least there’s that,” Henry tells Iris over the phone. “Thanks for letting me know.” He pauses. “Okay, talk to you later.”
He disconnects and sighs.
“They still haven’t found anything my dad’s been doing that’s illegal?” I ask.
“No. That’s simply impossible to believe,” he says.
Henry and Cian would both love to see my father sitting in a prison cell. I’m just happy that his church is slowly failing.
“Attendance at church is down fifty percent, though,” he says. “And contributions are down sixty-two percent. The youth group is also down to about ten kids.”
I nod. “I actually like that better. It’s one thing for people to turn their back on him if he’s an actual criminal, but somehow it’s kind of sweeter that they all just realize he’s not a good guy and leave him because of that.”
Henry drops into the chair next to me. “I guess.”
I laugh. “Sorry my biological father isn’t a hardened criminal.”
Henry looks over at me and grins. “Me too.”
He looks so good. He’s been working out with Tabitha, Kai, and Sera, the new young adults who’ve been recruited as bodyguards into the O’Grady-Olsen circle.
He’s training Tabby and Kai to accompany Mariah to college, and Sera will eventually be assigned to Saoirse. Saoirse will probably have at least one other as well, but Sera showed such promise that Iris, Miles, and Henry agreed they needed to bring her in early.
Tabby and Sera live in New Orleans full-time right now, but Kai only travels in on occasion. He’s already been training as a bodyguard for about two years and spends most of his timein Emerald as an ‘exchange student’ from Hawaii. That helps explain why he’s living there and going to school but has no parents with him. He keeps an eye on Mariah and also checks up on Cian and Scarlett whenever Henry needs a report.
“What time is our reservation?” I ask, sliding into Henry’s lap, straddling his thighs, and slipping my hands into his hair.
He’s a little sweaty, he hasn’t shaved in about a week, and he’s wearing athletic shorts and a black tank that stretches over his broad chest and flat stomach.
He looks so hot. I wiggle on his lap and feel the hard shaft of his cock between my legs.
He’s also been teaching me self-defense whenever we have a chance and that getsveryhot.
“Maybe we could have a session?” I say, pressing closer and rubbing against his erection.
He grasps my hips and holds me still. “As much as I’d love to have a session, fuck you on these mats, and then just order pizza like we did last time, we haven’t been out on a really nice date where we can linger over dinner, and I can treat you and pamper you in a very long time.”
He leans in and runs his stubbled jaw along my jaw, down my neck, and over my collarbone, making goosebumps break out everywhere.
“The money is just building up in my bank account. I don’t know what to do.”
I laugh. “Oh, no. I know how you get when you can’t throw it around on ridiculous things.”
He chuckles and the vibration against my neck causes my nipples to tighten.
“Let me pamper you tonight, Gem,” he says huskily. “I’ll fuck you hard and sweaty and dirty another time.” He nips my neck. “Lots of other times.”