Page 52 of Wicked Games
Draco drove us away from the hustle and bustle until the real estate spread out a bit more and the property values escalated. He pulled into a driveway and stopped at a gate. Instead of reaching toward the box to punch in a code, I saw a blue light pop on above the camera angled toward the driveway. I looked for a barcode sticker on the windshield for it to scan but didn’t see one. Within seconds, the gates opened, and Draco drove forward.
“It’s a sophisticated biometric scanner,” Carmen said from beside me. “It recognized Draco’s face, retinas, and even his body temperature. The last one is a bit tricky for most because it changes based on outside stimuli, but Draco’s changes so little that I’m starting to doubt he’s human.”
The big man behind the steering wheel snorted, indicating he had a sense of humor. I forgot all about him when I caught sight of the huge white mansion overlooking the sea. Exterior lights strategically placed on the grounds bathed the home in a soft blue glow.
“Not red?” I asked Carmen.
“I prefer the serenity of blue lights.”
“Your home is stunning,” I told her. “The ocean breeze must be amazing.”
“Thank you, sweetie,” Carmen said, reaching over and patting the hand I rested on the seat between us. “You’ll get to see for yourself. I think our conversation calls for fresh air and a fine bottle of wine.”
“I prefer Scotch,” Lucien said, sounding surly.
“You can pick your poison, Lucky.”
Lucien groaned. “Not you too.”
“Why? The nickname suits you,” Carmen told him.
“Until recently, I haven’t felt very fucking lucky.”
“Well, I promise tonight will change your opinion of the word forever. It’s yourluckynight, I suppose,” she teased as Draco stopped in front of the house. Up close, it was taller and more imposing than I first imagined.
“Who cleans all those windows?” I asked randomly.
“Not me,” Carmen said. “That will be all for the night, Draco.”
“You don’t want me to drive the gentlemen back to their hotel later?”
“Yes,” Lucien said at the same time Carmen said, “No.”
Carmen opened her door and said, “Come on, boys. We have work to do.”
I got out and walked around the car to join Lucien and Carmen on the sidewalk. Lucien pulled me close for a quick kiss as if he needed to assure himself I was okay.
“The only lucky time in my life was when I met you, then I proceeded to fuck up for the next six years.”
“Maybeourluck has started to change.”
Linking our fingers together, we followed the lady in scarlet up the walkway and into the foyer of her home.
Carmen was immediately greeted by two gorgeous German shepherds who flattened their ears and growled low in their throats when they spied us. The enormous dogs bared their teeth and crept toward us.
“Halt, Günter and Hans,” Carmen said, and the dogs stopped. “Sitz.” Both dogs sat but didn’t look happy about it. “Freunde,” she said next, identifying us as friends. They stopped growling, and their ears returned to an erect position.
“You speak German?” I asked.
“I only know bits and pieces of German—mostly to command the dogs—but I am fluent in many languages.”
The stunning animals whined low in their throats until Carmen nodded, then they rose and walked over to us.
“Can I pet them?” I asked her.
“You can now,” she teased.
I knelt and extended my hand. One of the dogs held back while the other ventured forward. “What a magnificent beast you are,” I said, scratching behind his ears.