Page 90 of Convict's Game

“Only you, Mila. I’ve only ever wanted you, and that is never going to change.”

It triggered the approach of a fast climax. Abruptly, I came, and with such sweet relief I could’ve sobbed.

Convict groaned, tucked his head beside mine, and thrust hard for three more beats. He stilled and pulsed into me.

Both of us gasped for air, clutching the other. For a long minute, I didn’t want him to let go. But by degrees, he set me down on my heels and stepped away. The lust in his gaze shuttered.

“Go clean up. I know you won’t want to wear me all evening.”

I did as ordered, but with the strangest sense of regret.

When we arrived at the warehouse, Convict led me to the central corridor outside the office and made a public display of kissing me stupid.

In my ear, he whispered, “Thank you for playing your part.”

If he meant with the kiss, nothing on my part was an act, but all too quickly, he was leaving with Arran, and Cassie had hooked her arm through mine to lead me into the lift.

Him walking away felt like my heart was separating from my body.

It took a long moment for me to realise we weren’t heading into the nightclub. “Where are we going?”

“Genevieve’s place. She’s made cocktails and mocktails, and Everly baked something.”

I hadn’t met Everly, though knew she was Shade’s girlfriend. She was also lovely, welcoming me with a hug and apologising for the fact she wasn’t drinking due to her pregnancy, one hand to the oversized hoodie that covered her stomach.

I congratulated her and concealed my shock. Surely babies didn’t mix with gangs and sex clubs, but then again, it felt like a different world up here at the top of the building.

On the eighth floor, the red-brick apartment had polished floorboards, arched windows with a view over the glittering city, and a gleaming kitchen. A fluffy brown cat wound around everyone’s legs, purring up a storm.

Cassie got behind the kitchen counter where Genevieve had bottles, a shiny cocktail shaker, and fruit on a chopping board. Pendant lights lit their station.

Cassie took frosted glasses from a silver freezer and dipped the rims in a liquid and then into salt. “Margaritas,” she explained.

I tilted my head at her, or more specifically at the t-shirt she wore over a red microskirt. “Skeleton Girls Detective Agency,” I read.

Cassie grinned. “Last year, there was a spate of murders in Deadwater. We investigated them. I had shirts made.”

“Those are too cute.”

“Aren’t they? Pertinent for tonight as well.”

Genevieve rattled the cocktail shaker then tipped the contents into four glasses, while Cassie prepared a fifth, sans the alcohol, and handed it to Everly.

“Are we expecting anyone else?” I asked. There were four of us but five glasses.

I took a deep sip of mine, the sourness of the lime exploding over my tongue, followed by the burn of the tequila.

“Lovelyn. With her access to police information, she’s my new best friend.”

A knock came at the door.

Cassie hopped in glee. “That’s her. The fun can begin.”

She trotted over to answer it, giving a hug to Lovelyn, then lingered to talk to the man who’d escorted her. It was Riordan, Cassie’s boyfriend. He snaked an arm around her, muttered something about her being a wild girl, then drew her in for a hot kiss that had me exchanging a look with the other women.

Lovelyn giggled and greeted the rest of us, taking a seat at the kitchen counter next to me. The pendant lights lit the blonde highlights in her waterfall of sleek light-brown hair, and her dove-grey sweaterdress had tiny purple flowers stitched onto it. “Got to hate being single. I feel like the odd one out. All of you are matched up.”

I pulled a face. “If it helps, I’m barely talking to Convict right now.”