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Chapter twenty-five

Lingerie

Kylie

“L et’s get inside first. Out here, you’re too out in the open.” He held the door for me.

Chase scanned the area for threats. When I was with them, I almost forgot why they were here. To keep me alive. To ensure I lived to see the sunrise tomorrow and for many years to come.

The thought doused a fraction of the lust that had descended over me. When we returned to the house, then I could entertain the idea of bringing Chase into my bed. Conceding, I entered the high-end lingerie store.

The Lacey Closet exuded luxury and sexy femininity. The walls were understated in a soft gray and pale pink with ivory molding. The stands and display cases were a shimmering gold and combined with the cool walnut hardwood floor, made the entire store feel like stepping into a quiet dream. The seductive scent of bergamot surrounded us.

This store carried some of my favorite panties, including La Perla. To me, there was something sublime about wearing silk undergarments. They made me feel sexy.

“Well fuck me, beautiful. Are you trying to make me lose my mind so that I drag you into a fitting room and fuck you blind?” Chase growled low so only I heard him.

“And if I am?” I didn’t know where my sense of propriety had gone since their advent into my life. Because it vacated the building and unleashed the stopper on my mouth.

Chase’s eyes darkened. Then he swore silently under his breath, almost to himself. “Get what you need before I decide to say fuck it and bend you over the nearest surface. Audience be damned.”

I shivered at the lust pulsing in his eyes. The shopping excursion was the first time he had displayed interest in me and it was intoxicating. My body was so turned on, there was a part of me that wanted him to lose the tether on his control. But I wanted him so overcome with lust, he bent me over the table with all the delicate satin and lace panties and took me from behind until I screamed my release.

I retreated, providing us some breathing space because I was a hairsbreadth away from jumping the man’s bones. Then we would do something where the owner would call the cops on us.

That stopped me from pushing the envelope further. Then I imagined the disappointment on Axel’s face.

Thinking of Axel and Gideon, I went through the store, selecting items with them in mind. I knew my sizes and didn’t have to worry about trying them on. I added quite a few panties so I would have extras for them to rip off me. Chase followed me through the store, hovering at my back. I didn’t mind, feeling him behind me was comforting. Because I knew he would protect me no matter what. A few times when I picked things up and added them to the handbasket, he emitted a strangled sound as if he was in pain.

But I got a kick out of teasing him. Enjoyed the way his gaze darkened when I selected a pair of matching bra and panties in a fire engine red. Because I knew he was imagining what I would look like wearing the set and nothing else as he took them off me. And okay, so I went a little overboard, but this was our brand of flirting. How far could I push him before he broke? Would he really do as he threatened? My pulse raced and the panties I wore were drenched. Once I had everything I wanted, I headed to the checkout counter.

“This one too.” Chase stated, holding up a skimpy black number with bright pink bows. It was a lingerie set with bra, panties, garter belt, and stockings.

“Okay, add it to the pile.” I nodded, noting he had paid attention to my sizes while I shopped.

Chase stood behind me as the clerk rang up my purchases. His hand gripped the side of my waist. And he pressed his hips against my ass where I felt the firm ridge of his shaft. He leaned his mouth down by my ear and whispered, “I should punish you for teasing me like this.”

My sex clenched in response. Did I want him to punish me? That would be a hell yes!

“I’m going to enjoy seeing you in every one of these outfits. The one with the pink bows is for me. You don’t wear it for anyone else. And I plan to remove them—with my teeth.” He growled. My sex quivered at his husky voice.

God, he was hard—everywhere. The thought of all those inches pounding away inside me left me shaky and needy. And it took everything inside me not to swivel in his arms and plant my mouth against his lips. I wanted Chase so badly I ached with need.

I won’t admit how much I spent in that store. Between Chase’s heated looks and thoughts of Axel or Gideon seeing me in them, I dropped a small fortune on bras and panties. But being obscenely wealthy had its perks.

When we finished at The Lacey Closet, Chase ushered me down the street. We stopped in the corner market. I grabbed a cart, and Chase held my bags because there were too many to fit in the cart with the food we needed to purchase.

But we were in luck. The store had the ingredients I needed to make the dish tonight. I grabbed two loaves of freshly baked French bread. Some crusty garlic bread would pair swimmingly with coq au vin. And then tossed in a few other items we were running low on: fresh fruit, veggies, coffee creamer, milk, lunch meat, and bread for sandwiches.

Today had been a great day, even with the fight with Gideon. But I would make it up to him tonight. When he tasted my coq au vin, he’d get on his knees and beg my forgiveness.

Okay, likely not that. But I would mend things with him. Especially when he saw he didn’t have to worry, and we made it through the shopping excursion unscathed.

With our arms full of bags, we exited the grocery store into the blaring midafternoon sunlight. I’d toss together some sandwiches for lunch once we got home.

“Well, isn’t this a homey sight?” Luka Santos's slimy baritone with a hint of a Spanish accent stopped me in my tracks.

Unholy fear froze my steps. My heart rate sped up until it galloped like a runaway stallion. A side glance at Chase had me inching toward him. At the untimely intrusion into our day, his face had shifted from playful to hardened warrior.

“Luka, I didn’t know you were in town,” I replied, proud that my voice didn’t shake.

Now that I was past the shock, I studied him closely. He had this untouchable vibe, as if there was nothing and no one who could take him down. He was dressed semi-casually in dark gray slacks and a powder blue button-down dress shirt. Even though the temperatures were warm, he had the sleeves buttoned at his wrists. And his loafers had that high gloss sheen on the mahogany leather shoes like they had recently been treated at a shoeshine stand. He wore a pair of Ray-bans with reflective silver lenses, hiding his eyes. But they only made him appear like a dashing businessperson with his perfectly styled thick midnight hair and clean-shaven angular jawline. When he was anything but. Because Luka Santos was the devil incarnate. If he wanted us dead right now, we would never make it back to the SUV.

All I could think was that Gideon had been right. Damn him.

Luka smirked. The son of a bitch knew how uncomfortable he made me and got off on it. “I like to stay on the move and check in on my interests from time to time. You haven’t introduced me to your friend, mi querida. I’m wounded.”

He acted like we were long-lost friends instead of the man who made me a widow and had every intention of making me his newest acquisition. Before I could respond, Chase held out his hand.

“Chase Nash. I’m Kylie’s boyfriend.”

Luka’s black brows rose from behind his sunglasses in genuine shock. “Boyfriend? You didn’t tell me you were involved, senorita.”

I pressed even closer to Chase. “You never asked, you just assumed.”

“How long have you been dating?” Luka studied us like an interesting bug he had every intention of squashing, but wanted to make us as uncomfortable as possible until he did.

“Months. Since before that idiot got himself ganked,” Chase sneered, acting like a completely different person. When I was shopping, he had been fun and engaging. But now, he was a stony, formidable mountain. Danger rippled off him. I recognized the badass Marine beneath the friendly veneer.

“I see. Did you enjoy my last gift, senorita?” Luka asked gleefully.

He meant the one with pieces of my gardener in it, the sick fuck.

“I did not.” There wasn’t much more for me to say. Unless I wanted to thank him for scarring me for life, for giving me an image I can never scrub from my memory. The only thing I could do was shove it down deep and bury the pictures as much as possible.

“Good. There’s more where that came from. You two have a fantastic day. Adios.” Luka nodded with a smarmy grin that sent skitters of fear into my soul. Just what was the sadistic madman planning?

I stood beside Chase as Luka Santos headed to the curb and climbed into a black Escalade with blacked-out windows that pulled up. The moment the SUV sped away, Chase steered me to our vehicle. Axel’s expression was murderous.

“What the fuck was that?” Axel demanded, glancing between the two of us, waiting for an answer.

“Luka Santos came to pay us a visit. Let’s get her home,” Chase stated, shoving my purchases into the back.

It wasn’t until Chase towed me into the back seat and sat beside me that I realized I was shaking. We’re talking teeth rattling, hands shaking, feel like I was about to vomit quaking.

“Fuck,” Axel snarled, climbing back behind the wheel.

After he secured his seatbelt, then withdrew a firearm that I hadn’t realized he had, Chase pulled me into his lap. He wrapped a solid arm around me. Through my haze of fear, I heard Axel speaking to Gideon on the phone. But none of the words filtered in through my shock.

The entire drive home, I trembled. I’d forgotten. For a few days, as I acclimated to having the guys living with me and all the world-altering sex, I’d forgotten that my life was in danger. Stupid of me to forget.

And the award for bonehead move of the year goes to…

He was here in Carmel-by-the-Sea. It was a thirty-minute drive from town to the estate. How had I not known that Luka was here? Where was he staying? Were some of his goons watching the house and everything that happened in it at this very moment?

“Deep breaths for me, beautiful. We’re almost home,” Chase murmured, but his voice sounded distant to my ears even though he was so close.

By the time we pulled into the driveway, both Gideon and Mateo stood outside on the front porch. Each man was packing some serious heat while they surveyed the landscape as if an attack was imminent.

“Let’s get her inside first. Then you can park the SUV in the garage, Axel. Once we’re all inside and everything is secure, then we need a rundown of what the fuck just happened,” Gideon commanded, his eyes scanning the drive.

Chase helped me out of the car. With a steadying hand, he escorted me up the front porch stairs.

“The stuff from the market. I need to get it into the fridge.” Why was I worried about groceries? I was operating on autopilot. It felt like I left my brain back on the sidewalk.

“I’ve got it. You get her inside,” Mateo stated with a nod.

Chase’s hand against my back grounded me as he steered me inside. He directed me into the living room.

I sat at his urging. He lowered himself beside me, then hauled me back onto his lap. And I burrowed inside the shelter of his arms. I wanted to ignore the rest of the world and the tasks awaiting me and stay just like this within the safety and comfort of Chase’s arms.

“The house is secure. Alarm is set. Talk.” Gideon demanded, striding into the room.

I relayed what happened when we left the last store. Then Chase corroborated my story and Luka’s bold as brass move in broad daylight. Because he believed he was untouchable.

“Good thinking, designating yourself as her boyfriend. I’m assuming he didn’t care for the news,” Gideon asked, his brawny arms crossed in front of his chest.

“Not at all. The fucker looked like he wanted to kill me with his bare hands,” Chase admitted. “He’s definitely fixated on Kylie.”

“And now you’ve got a target on your back.” Gideon swore and paced.

“Like I do with every case. It’s fine.” Chase shrugged like it was no big deal.

But it was and Chase shouldn’t dismiss it. The worst part was it was all my fault. Tears slipped down my cheeks. For once in my life, I had just wanted some normalcy. But who was I kidding? My life had never been normal.

“It’s not—Kylie, honey, talk to us.” Gideon crouched in front of me, his eyes full of concern.

“He’s never going to stop, is he? He’s just going to keep coming.” Wetness splashed against my cheeks as tears fell like rain. I seemed to be made to endure the worst parts of humanity.

“Look at me, babe.” Gideon waited until I lifted my eyes to meet his before continuing. “We won’t let anything bad happen to you. I swear we will do whatever is necessary to ensure you survive.”

I inhaled a deep, fortifying breath. “Okay. I trust you guys.”

Something flashed through Gideon’s eyes briefly, but then was gone before I could recognize it. “Good. The four of us need to have a meeting.”

“In a minute.” Chase tipped my face up. He wore a lopsided grin. “Come on, beautiful. You need to experience some fun.”

I glanced at all the guys and then at him. “What did you have in mind?”

My body revved to life. Would they give me my deepest, darkest fantasy to pull me out of the pit of despair I had entered the moment Luka made his presence known?

I admitted I wanted all of them. Each man held a physical appeal for me. Chase hadn’t hesitated to comfort me. Axel looked like he wanted to shove Chase out of the way and hold me himself. Gideon’s jaw was clenched even as he tried to comfort me, because he was tasked with keeping me alive. And even Mateo was solemn, appearing like the soldier he’d been, ready for battle.

Would I be able to handle having all four men at once? I didn’t know, but want to try. Which made me a damn slut. In his eyes, he seemed to know what I was thinking, if his deep rumbling chuckle was anything to go by. Well, that and the fact that there was lust in his gaze.

“Just put yourself in my capable hands,” Chase ordered, a challenge lighting his gaze.

And I did. Because whatever they wanted to do, I was game—anything to alleviate the mind crushing fear.