His jaw clenched hard. She had no idea how wrong she was, but that was okay. He’d show her.
Luis didn’t take his eyes off her when she placed the contract on the coffee table and stooped to scribble her name on the line. He noticed her hand trembled, but she didn’t hesitate. Despite everything she’d seen that night, his girl still had a spine of steel.
Gods, thank you for this treasure you’ve given me.
Job done, Francesca handed it back to Maxine, who looked like she’d sucked down a mouthful of vampire blood. “I’ll hold this at my office,” she muttered.
“I want a copy,” he insisted. “And I want one sent to my lawyer as well.”
Giving him the stink eye, she agreed, “Fine. Whatever. Are we done here?”
Alvin was just tying off the end of his stitches when Luis shook his head. “Nope. Milo, if you could…”
His brother didn’t need further instruction. In one smooth motion, he’d reached across the couch to pull Easton into a crushing headlock.
The little prick squirmed, his arms and legs flailing, as he tried and failed to free himself. His bulging eyes swung to his cousin for help, but Maxine sat grim-faced, perhaps aware that this was a long time coming.
Still in his relaxed pose, Luis told him, “You, my weaselly little friend, owe my family some money.”
“I’ll pay it,” Easton choked. “I promise, I’ll?—”
“Oh, Iknowyou’re going to pay it,” Luis drawled. “Because you’re going to do that right now.”
It was amazing how someone could look so red and so pasty at the same time. Easton truly had a gift.
He sputtered, “But I don’t— The money from the Games— I can give you half, but the rest?—”
“You’re going to transfer what you owe me and what you owe my girl to our banksright now,or you know what’s gonna happen?” He waited a beat before answering his own question. “My baby brother is gonna squeeze until something pops. And Ireallydon’t want my girl to see another head explode tonight, so let’s just skip that, huh?”
In the end, it was an easy choice for a coward to make. After business was done, Maxine escorted her much poorer cousin out of the penthouse with a promise — and threat — to call Francesca the following evening.
Tomas left quickly after that, absconding with a particularly expensive bottle of synth as payment for his troubles. Milo and Alvin left soon after him, once everyone had been deemed fit enough to not require medical care, leaving just Luis and Francesca.
Dawn began to lighten the sky. It’d barely turned a velvety blue on the horizon before the automatic blinds came down, protecting Luis from a nasty burn.
The penthouse plunged into darkness.
Luis stood up from the couch and was pleased to note that the painkiller Alvin had injected him with had set in. That meant he was capable of scooping his girl off the couch with a lot less discomfort than before.
Francesca squeaked when he turned on his heel and started marching them toward the bedroom.
“What are you doing?” she demanded in a breathless voice.
“It’s been a long night,” he answered. “We need a shower, then bed.”
“Weneed a shower?”
“You heard me.” He kicked the bedroom door shut behind him. The lights in his bedroom were automatically set to a low,moody glow that wouldn’t irritate his sensitive eyes, and his bathroom was much the same.
When he set her bare feet down on the tile floor, he took a second to observe her in the soft light.
He tucked his finger under her chin and lifted it, forcing her to meet his eyes when he declared, “First rule: If we’re home together, we shower together.”
Francesca narrowed her eyes. “What if I don’t want to be naked with you? I could be shy.”
“Seeing as I’ve had my fingers in your pussy and you’ve had my cock down your throat, I think we’re probably past that,” he dryly replied.
“What if I want to say no?”