Page 89 of Ruthless Lord

We stay like that on the couch for a little while. I’m breathing hard and dizzy. He squeezes tightly and holds me. I feel like we’ve melded, our breathing synced, and I wonder how I didn’t notice this before. The way my head fits in the crook of his arm. How his chest is the perfect shape. His smell is overwhelming, musky and good. The way we just fit. His hardness, my softness. The ease in which I melt and break for him.

All my life, I’ve been looking for something more. I haunted the fighting pits, wanting to become another person. It wasn’tenough, being the heir of the Westbrook fortune. At some level I knew my grandfather was always going to hold onto the family’s business for as long as he was alive. And once he’s gone, we’ll tear each other apart trying to get as big a piece of the empire as we can.

It was never going to be mine. I could drown myself in work, but where would that get me?

The same old house with the same awful people.

No joy, no happiness.

Money and power, but nothing to build and nothing to buy.

This though…

“Davide checked your GPS data.” Stefano sounds sleepy as he speaks, like a bear waking from hibernation. “You weren’t anywhere near the depot during the break-ins. At least, your phone wasn’t.”

“And what about my communication with my family?”

“Nothing. You’ve barely spoken to them at all. Not even a text.”

I kiss his arm softly. “I made a mistake taking that keycard. It’s not something I’ll ever do again.”

He shifts so he can look down into my face. “I’ve done things. Some of them I’ve regretted. Some have been truly awful. My hands are far from clean. I know what it’s like to wish you could do better.” He leans down and kisses me. “I don’t need perfection from you, Charlie. I just need you.”

“That sounds fair.” I kiss him one more time before gently pulling myself away. I can tell he wishes I’d stay right there, and a big part of me wishes I could too. His eyes roam my naked bodyas I stretch and start gathering my clothes. “But we have more work to do now, you know that, right?”

“What kind of work?”

“Someone broke into your house. They tried to kill me.”

His expression hardens. “I know that.”

“We need to find out who it was. I have a feeling once we figure that out, the break-ins will stop.”

“You’re probably right.” He sighs, stretching, and rolls onto his side to grab his phone. “Take a look at this.”

He pulls me down next to him again, still naked. Seemingly totally comfortable with it too. Not that I can blame him. The man’s a perfect physical specimen. He shows me a map on his phone with a big light blue circle placed over Radnor, and my heart immediately skips a beat.

“Why are you showing me this?”

“Davide thinks the GPS units we took off the trucks were transmitting to a building in this area.”

My heart immediately sinks. I stare at the map, trying to come up with another explanation, but none make as much sense. “Oh, shit, Stefano…” I shake my head and zoom in slightly, down to a specific block, a specific house, one I know well. “I think I know what we’re looking for.”

Chapter 27

Charlie

Stefano drives and I give him directions. The GPS unit from the truck is in my lap, a little green light glowing at the far end. “How’s it look?” Davide asks, his voice coming through the car’s speakerphone.

“Looks like a fucking suburban neighborhood.” Stefano glares at the road like he can make it explode with his mind. “What’s the data say?”

“You’re close.” Davide sounds like he’s having fun. “Within a few miles, I think.”

“We’ve been driving in circles all morning trying to triangulate this shit.” Stefano’s impatience is starting to show. He’s a man of action and clearly hates sitting in a car going down street after street. “I thought you said you knew where you were going, Charlie?”

“I want to be sure before we just show up there.” I pat him lightly on the arm. “Come on, it’s an adventure.”

“And a fun puzzle,” Davide adds.