“Oooooh, you’re in trouble,” I sang.
He smacked me on the ass, and I let out a little squeak. “Worth it.”
“Was that necessary?” Dad asked.
“Absolutely,” Louis said soberly. “My hand would have missed the feel of her supple?—”
Dad threw a punch cross his face.
“Dad!” I rushed to Louis’s side.
Dad shook his hand. “Sorry, old habits, forgot for a minute that you’re married.”
“Bullshit.” I laughed. “You’re not senile.”
“I have nerve damage.” He shrugged. “Compulsive punching is a symptom.”
“Is lying another one?” Louis piped up. “Just curious.”
“Keep talking.” Dad glared.
“Go.” I rubbed Louis’s back. It was pure instinct. When I realized what I was doing, I quickly snatched my hand back and watched them walk away from me. Then I shakily reached into my purse and grabbed my phone once I was finally alone.
Cassian.
I quickly called him back. “Yes?”
“Another package delivered,” he said, voice low, clinical. “You have to get it into his system before the meeting. Or he dies the minute they give him his first drink. I’ve seen it happen, I’ve seen worse actually. Part of the thrill in recommending someone to The Family is in guessing what sort of things they’ll do to test him.”
My stomach dropped, and my throat dried. “Say that again. What do you mean he dies? I thought this was so that he could infiltrate and not die.” My lips still burned from his kiss. I paced a tight circle in the hallway and told myself to take long deep breaths.
Cassian cursed under his breath like I was the idiot. “Every time I deliver it, Tempest. He has to take it every time. Or he won’t survive the challenge, the drugs build up a tolerance, alright? He’s building antibodies, and I’m also dosing him with a shit ton of meds so that when they do try to make him sick his body has a fighting chance.” That would explain why he appeared to look like he was feeling sick earlier; it wasn’tnecessarily the small amount of poison, maybe it was the good stuff building up in his body.
Good. That was good.
I stared straight ahead, vision tunneling, the taste of champagne curdling on my tongue, mixing with the taste of him. Across the room, Raven glanced my way—eyes dark, unreadable. She looked away first and laughed at something Ace said. Good, that meant I didn’t look guilty, right?
Cassian hung up without waiting for a reply. I quickly shoved the phone back in my purse, fingers shaking, spine rigid.
Raven made her way down the hall and tilted her head toward my clutch. “Everything okay?”
I forced a smile. “Yeah, totally fine, I mean unless you count the fact that Louis has been with Dad in his office for the past ten minutes.”
Raven made a face. “He can hold his own.”
Jealousy slammed against my chest so violently that I almost stumbled taking my next step. “Yeah, I know that all too well. He’s strong like that.”
Raven nodded slowly. “He likes you.”
“Good. I like him too.”
“Your tongue was far enough down his throat I didn’t have to worry about your physical feelings at least toward him.”
I shrugged. “He’s hot.”
“Right.” Raven sighed. “Right. Let’s get more champagne.”
I hated the distance we suddenly had between us almost as much as I hated that she’d tasted Louis first.