Page 101 of The Defender

“Oh, I think I’ll get over it.”

He laughed again, his eyes crinkling in a way that made my chest glow. Nowthatwas a real smile, not the media-trained one he’d pasted on during the auction. “Good.”

He disappeared into the bathroom and returned with two small towels. He cleaned us up before sliding back into bed next to me. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders while I curled against his chest, basking in the remnants of my post-coital glow.

But now that the fun was technically over, it was time to have a long-overdue conversation.

“I told Scarlett about our kiss earlier, at the gala,” I admitted.

Vincent stilled, his tone turning wary. “How’d she take it?”

“She said, and I quote, ‘thank fucking God’ because apparently, our repressed sexual tension was driving her nuts.”

He relaxed as quickly as he’d tensed. “Classic Scarlett.” He chuckled. “I should’ve known that would be her reaction. Not that she has any right to be angry, considering she was sneaking around with my rival behind my back for months.”

“Now they’re dating, and you two are besties. All’s well that ends well.”

His glower made me giggle again. “Asher and I are not besties.”

“That’s open to interpretation.” I hesitated, then asked, “And us? What happens next?”

Vincent’s frown softened. “What happens next is simple. We’re together. Exclusively. No more games, no more uncertainty.” He brushed a stray strand of hair out of my face, his voice turning tender. “In case you had any doubt, you’re mine, and I’m yours. I don’t care who knows. In fact, I want the whole fucking world to know because I’m done hiding.”

Emotion swelled in my throat, but I swallowed it before I committed the clichéd sin of crying after sex. “It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes, you know exactly what to say, DuBois.”

He laughed, his arm curling more possessively around my shoulder. “What can I say? It’s one of my many talents.”

“I see that.” I bit my lip. “My dad’s going to lose his shit.”

Telling him was what I looked forward to the least. Between my relationship with Vincent and the knowledge that my dad had pulled strings for me behind my back, our next conversation was going to be a doozy.

“Probably. He stopped me after the auction and asked why you bid on me. I seriously thought he was going to throw a hood over my head and drag me to some dungeon for interrogation.”Vincent grimaced. “But whatever happens, we’ll deal with it. Two against one. How bad could it be?”

“Don’tsaythat. Haven’t you ever watched a horror movie? Asking ‘how bad could it be?’ is basically tempting fate.” I glanced around, half-expecting my dad to pop out of the closet. Now that would be a real horror movie.

Vincent laughed again. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” He kissed me softly on the lips. “Lucky for us, we won’t have to tell him until the morning, at the earliest. I’m thinking I should have a last meal in case I die later.”

My pulse quickened at his suggestive tone. “What did you have in mind?”

Instead of telling me, he showed me. He’d been right earlier—he did have great stamina. Enough that for the next few hours, I forgot all about my dad, my neighbor, and everything else except for the man in my arms.

CHAPTER 27

VINCENT

I stayed long enough at Brooklyn’s flat to watch her drift off to sleep. After two more orgasms and a blowjob that nearly fried my brain, I wasn’t in the best condition to walk, much less drive, but I forced myself to leave anyway.

If I had my way, I’d sleep there overnight and wake her up with breakfast…or another orgasm. Possibly both. But I wasn’t living by myself anymore, and Coach would skewer me if I missed our morning run.

I parked in his drive and cut the engine. It was almost two in the morning. The windows were dark, and the house was cloaked in silence. He was most likely asleep.

I breathed a sigh of relief. We had to have a conversation about Brooklyn sooner rather than later—after tonight’s auction, it was inevitable—but I needed a good night’s sleep and a proper strategy first.

She was too important for me to fuck this up.

I unlocked the front door and slipped into the house. I kept my movements as quiet as possible. Coach had the supersonic hearing of a bat, but all I had to do was cross the living room,walk up the stairs, and pass by his bedroom without him hearing me.

Easy.