Page 83 of Caught in the Crossfire

“Giulio just texted me that the Albanians hit Max pretty hard tonight.” We’d made no more progress in locating Vokshi since we lost him at the marina. He’d been a ghost, and it was driving Wynn and Ciel crazy with frustration. The two of them had been trying to pool their efforts to figure out how he had disappeared.

Her eyebrows knit together. “What? How?”

“A bomb went off in one of his casinos. Diamonds.”

“That’s the big one.”

I nodded. “Giulio said the word on the street is that five of his men died, and about a dozen customers.”

“Holy shit,” she whispered. “That’s going to hamstring hisoperations. No one will want to come, especially not if the attack is going to be investigated by the cops. How the hell did they get a bomb inside?”

I shook my head. “I’m not sure, but it was a big hit. Well-planned.”

She looked up, her voice tight. “Was Max there?”

“I think he was, but I haven’t heard if he was injured or not.”

She let go of a breath. “This is… good, right? I mean, our enemy hit our other enemy. That’s what we want, isn’t it?”

My lips pressed together. My brain said yes, but my body couldn’t decide. My chest felt tight. It felt nothing like relief or happiness. Weshouldbe jumping for joy right now. “Yeah. I think so.”

“Yeah. You’re right.” She wound her arms around my neck. My palms planted on her waist. “My heart is racing, probably because it’s good news. This will distract Max. It’ll make it easier for us to keep hitting him, won’t it?”

I drew her closer, pressing her chest against mine. “Yeah. That’s definitely it.”

“I mean, he’s a total dick,” she said, her voice growing stronger. More confident. “He deserves this. The Albanians are doing us a favor. Maybe now he’ll stop interrupting our business. Vokshi only got free at the marina because of him.”

“That’s right,” I agreed, pulling her tighter against me. “It’s a taste of his own medicine. Remember when he tried to blow you up at Ryuji’s club?”

“Fucking asshole,” she said. “I almost forgot about that.”

“Yeah, so, fuck him.” I cradled the back of her neck. I’d almost lost her then. I’d almost lost her with the Albanians. I was so fucking grateful to have her in my arms now.

“Cas,” she said, pulling back. Her eyes flicked down to my lips, and a slight blush dusted her cheeks. The air between us crackled. “I…kiss me.”

She pushed up on her toes and pressed a kiss to my lips. I mether softly at first, but it only took the sweep of her tongue on my lips for a wave of emotion to overtake me.Fuck. I tilted her head back to deepen the kiss, and it turned heated in an instant. I switched our positions so she was against the desk, gripped her ass cheeks, and sat her on the wooden surface. My hips wedged between her legs while her heel wrapped around the back of my thigh.

I was so fucking greedy for her. Desperate, even. I loved her so goddamn much.

“Touch me,” she whispered.

My hands traced the outline of her waist and ribs, feeling the smoothness of her skin. With a groan, I dipped my head and inhaled her scent as my nose brushed against her collarbone.

“Princess,” I breathed. My dick strained in my pants. I wanted to be buried to the hilt inside her, to mark her and claim her and remind the entire world that she wasours. She wore my ring. She’d be my wife. Our souls were twisted together, and no one could tease them apart.

My fingers were just skimming the waist of her leggings when her phone dinged on the desk next to us. Then it dinged again. And again. Until Leona broke our kiss with a laugh.

“Sorry,” she said, picking it up and silencing it. “It’s just Fallon and the girls.”

“Yeah?” I nipped her bottom lip. “What are they saying?”

“Willow roped us all into a group chat,” she answered, breathless. Her hands reached for my sweatpants at the same time an idea popped into my head.

“Maybe you should go visit them in Philadelphia?” I doubted Ryuji would be happy with her leaving the penthouse—he’d probably camp out in front of Willow’s or Fallon’s house—but I had a feeling that she needed that.

She paused just as her fingers dipped inside my sweats. I almost groaned at her touch on the dip of my muscles. “But we’re so busy here…”

“Yeah, but maybe seeing Willow and talking to her would be good.” I tried to sound light and encouraging while I left a trail of kisses up the column of her neck. “Maybe you could talk to some girls at her haven, too.”