Page 90 of The Pakhan's Forced Bride

“You'd better make that call quick, then.” She throws me a cheeky smile.

I slide the green button to answer Drake’s call.

“Hey man, we just landed, what’s up?” I ask.

“Shit, I know you told me not to bother you unless it was an emergency, but I locked myself out of the store room.” He chuckles nervously.

“The receptionist at warehouse five has a spare set of keys.”

“Tessa, oh my word. Dammit, I forgot about that,” he huffs.

“Mm. You spend so much time eyeing her whenever you’re around her that you don’t pay attention to these important things.”

He chuckles. “Bullshit,” he says defensively, but I know they’ve been dating for a few months already. I’ve been dropping hints that I don’t have a problem with it, but he’ll only admit it when he’s ready.

“While I’ve got you on the line, and seeing as this is theonlywork call my wife is going to let me take this weekend—" I wink at Belle, and she nods seriously. “Can you just giveme a quick update on the status of those attacks, San Diego included?”

“It’s completely quiet. I chatted with Emmanuil an hour ago. Nothing is happening. We still have no idea who’s behind the attacks, but for now it’s quiet.”

“Nestor said the same thing. I’ll talk to Ben now, too. So weird that they just up and vanished.”

“I’ve got a feeling they’re just lying low. They’ll be back.”

I let out a heavy sigh. “I know. I hate the fact we don’t have any leads.”

“Stop worrying about it and enjoy your weekend with your wife in Vegas.”

“You’re right. I’ll talk to you when I get back. Have a good day, man, later.”

I hang up the phone, and Belle takes my hand, pulling me off the plane.

We walk towards the waiting car and climb into the back seat together.

“I’ve booked a really good hotel,” I say, pulling her close to my side.

“Good. Benedikt offered for us to stay there, but I get shy doing naughty things there; it doesn’t feel right,” she giggles, her cheeks flushing, and I know she’s thinking about what happened in the sunroom the last time we were at her brother’s place.

“He’ll never find out about it,” I laugh.

“Still. I want our own space—I’d like to have you bend me over a balcony naked with views of Vegas below us.”

“Fuck, let’s skip dinner and go straight to the hotel.”

Her bright blue eyes shine with mischief. “You have to wait.”

“Mm. You’re such a tease,” I complain, slipping my hand between her thighs and pushing it up between her legs.

She bites her lip and spreads her legs to grant me access.

By the time we arrive at her brother’s place, we’ve worked each other up, and I don’t know how we’re going to get through dinner without sneaking off to a back room.

Walking into the house feels different now. There is no tension between Ben and me. In fact, we’ve been getting on great. It turns out we have a lot in common, and he’s a brilliant businessman. We’ve started a number of joint ventures together, and our alliance has become stronger than ever.

It is definitely going to make it easier to take down our common enemy when they show their faces again.

“Hello, Barbara,” I say, leaning down to kiss Belle’s mother’s cheek and hug her hello. She gushes over me, grabbing my bicep in her hand and squeezing.

“My daughter is a lucky girl,” she says, winking at me.