Page 60 of Thorns of Desire

“Oh my gosh,” I whispered. “It’s my book. They sold every single copy we smuggled in there.”

“And they made quite a profit considering they got them for free,” Reina remarked.

Raven snorted. “Who cares? This is the push Athena needed.”

The bookstores expect a waiting list of orders…

Set to arrive within the next two days…

Watch out, France, the women of Paris are manhunting…

The girls wrapped their arms around me as happy tears spilled over. We laughed and jumped around giddily.

“We have to celebrate,” Raven announced. “We’re long overdue for some good news. Let’s get drunk.”

We poured ourselves wine, clinked our glasses, and toasted. “Here’s to smut, murder, and?—”

Reina stopped and searched for the right word, so I chimed in, “And love.”

Reina’s engagement party was not a happy event, what with tension boiling among all the scowling men in attendance.

My little secret fling with Manuel and all the unknowns surrounding the Triads had me on edge. I hated keeping secrets from my friends, but they had full plates as it was. They didn’t need my shit on top of their own.

I needed Manuel’s protection. I’d be a fool, or incredibly aloof, to think that the recent attack was a one-off, but it was more than just that. His charm was impossible to resist, and I couldn’t deny the burning chemistry. It pulled me further into its flames, and I was all too willing.

Rationally, I knew I didn’t know him well enough to be thinking about the L word. Irrationally… I wanted to believe him when he promised me forever.

It made no fucking sense.

I’d never felt more at home or like myself with anyone else. The layers I’d kept tight around my heart were slowly melting away, leaving me stripped bare around him. The feeling ignited something dangerous and delicious inside of me.

Manuel had warned me when I left him the other day that I might have to go into hiding if his search for information kept coming up inconclusive. I’d resisted the idea but knew there was no way around it. After all, Mom and I had to do the same thing when the Triads attacked us before, nearly burning me alive.

I tapped my chest to release some of the pressure weighing on it.

One thing was certain—I was beginning to trust Manuel.Reallytrust him. He continuously went out of his way to keep me safe, and somehow it felt like he understood me better than anyone.

I promised him that if the threat was still looming, I’d go into hiding after this party. I’d already made concessions when I accepted his insistence to have round-the-clock surveillance, and even though I was reluctant at first, I knew it was necessary.

Once we arrived at the venue for Reina’s farce of an engagement party looking like circus freaks in our multicolored dresses, I finally relaxed. I took in the gleaming marble floors and the soaring ceilings adorned with sparkling chandeliers. The venue was very impressive, and unsurprisingly, it belonged to the Marchetti empire.

“It’s an amazing space,” I murmured to Raven, who looked bored to no end.

She shrugged, her gaze roaming. “I’m just ready for this shit show to be over with.” She pointed to the bar. “Let’s get a drink.”

I felt a gaze burning a hole in my back and there was no question as to whose it was. I slowly turned around and met Manuel’s dark stare, zeroed in on me.

My mouth went dry.

He looked gorgeous in his designer three-piece suit. His handsome face had a five-o’clock shadow and the edges of his mouth were curved slightly.

“You go ahead,” I muttered to Raven who was already on her way to the bar. “I’ll be there in a second.”

Manuel closed the distance between us in less than five strides. His fingers wrapping around my wrist, he dragged me into an alcove and spun me around, pressing my back against the wall and bracing his hands on either side of my shoulders.

My breath hitched, the sounds from the party drowning against the drumming of my own heart.

He ghosted his lips up and down my neck as though he were drinking me in.