Page 37 of His Deadly Devotion

“You could try, but you’ve met my girlfriend, right? Aurora likes my tongue way too much to let anyone cut it out,” I reply with a smirk.

Aurora snorts from beside me. “He’s right. I do like his tongue.”

16

Connor spent hours on that laptop. As soon as his fingers hit the keyboard, he was lost in whatever it was people like him did. Every time I looked at the screen, all I saw was a bunch of random code. I have no idea what he was doing. But I trust him. If he says he has it under control, then he does.

“I’m going to find Kyla and get her to do some online shopping for us,” I tell Connor.

“We don’t need their money, Aurora,” he grunts.

“I know that, but what are you going to do? Have a ton of shit turn up here? How are we going to explain how we did that? Where the money came from? How did we even get online to order it?” I ask him.

“You’re right. Order the bare minimum, cheap shit. We don’t need to go overboard,” he says.

My brows draw down. Did he just tell me not to go overboard on shopping? I feel like he doesn’t know me at all. “I’ll order what we need,” I reply cryptically. I bend over the laptop screen to press my lips to his. “I love you.”

“Mmm, I love you,” he says.

“You know, I used to think about what it would be like if we weren’t secret anymore. If everyone knew you were mine,” I admit.

“Yeah? Did those thoughts include us being on the run?”

“Sometimes. But I was worried it would die off. That all the attraction was just because we weren’t supposed to be together.”

“We were always supposed to be together. To hell with anyone who doesn’t want that to happen.”

“We’ll burn them all to the ground together.” I smile.

“We will.” He nods his head and goes back to typing on the computer.

I find Kyla in the living room a few minutes later. I really do need supplies, clothes, underwear, shoes. I can’t walk around in my brother’s shit forever.

“Hey, you busy?” I ask, falling into the seat next to her.

“Never too busy for you.” Kyla smiles at me. “What do you need and how much trouble is it going to get us in?”

“Are you bored in this ivory tower?” I lift an eyebrow at her.

“Bored? No. If I were bored, I’d just go find your brother and he’d entertain me in ways only he can.” She gets that dreamy look on her face.

“Gross.” I shake my head before continuing. “I need to buy some things. Can you grab a computer so we can do some online shopping?”

“ThatI can do.” She nods as she stands.

“I’ll go get Lorenzo’s credit card,” I tell her.

“I’ve already got it. Although I’ve never actually used it, which only pisses him off.” She laughs. “I don’t want him to think I’m giving in, so you go get his card. That way, you’re using it, not me.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell her to just use his money. Even if it’s for a coffee. The men in my family like to provide. Theyneedto feel like they’re providing for their wives and children. I don’t agree with it, but it’s their thing.

As independent as I am, I would never tell Connor I didn’t want his money. I’ll joke about it but I’m never serious. I wouldn’t want him to feel like he can’t provide for us. We both know I don’t need anything from him, but that’s not the point.

I was shocked when Connor told me how much cash he has hidden away. I was thinking it was more like tens of thousands, not millions. Sometimes, I think he forgets he’s only eighteen. Dante has that problem too. Maybe it’s asmart kidthing.

Walking straight into Lorenzo’s office without knocking, I’m met by a glare. “Are you purposely trying to get yourself killed?” he asks me, dropping something into his desk drawer—something I’m assuming is a gun.

“Not purposely, no.” I smile at him. “I need your credit card.”