A moment later, the tires screech, and we drive off into the darkness. Before we round the corner, I allow myself another look at the carnage, and it’s almost worth the hell I’m going to get from my father. A while later, the wrought-iron gates shudder to life, and my father is waiting on the front steps of the manor when we pull up.
I don’t say anything as I stroll past him and into the study.
Jack shuts the door behind him and turns to face me in a rage. “The only explanation I have for your behavior tonight is that you’re suffering from delirium.”
I pour myself a drink. “Not to my knowledge.”
Jack advances on me, his eyes glittering dangerously. “Have you learned nothing in the past few months? What were you hoping to accomplish by attacking the warehouse?”
I shrug. “I hadn’t thought of it.”
Jack stops opposite my desk and takes out his dagger. “You’d better hope that your meeting with the mayor went well, or I’ll take care of you personally.”
“It went fine. You two would get along.”
Jack throws a dagger at me, and it lodges itself in the wall behind my head. “Stop testing my patience, boy, or I’ll finish what our enemies should have.”
I down my drink and offer him a bored look. “Noted. Was there anything else?”
Jack storms out of the study, and I stare at the space he occupied with a hollow ache in my chest.
Sometime later, I make my way to my room, where I find London half-asleep on a chair by the window. She startles awake when the door shuts and stands up, her fingers moving to rub her eyes. Then, she stifles a yawn.
“I was going to come looking for you.”
My fingers move to the buttons of my shirt, and I raise an eyebrow. “Were you?”
London nods, a little too quickly. “Yes, there’s something I wanted to tell you.”
She stops rubbing her eyes and looks at me. “It didn’t happen on purpose, but I ran into Noah’s father when I was… out.”
I let my shirt fall to the floor, and my pants follow soon after. “I see.”
“He seemed to be under the impression that I could arrange an introduction,” London continues, her eyes widening as my boxers join the heap on the floor. “But I made it clear that I’m not going to get involved.”
“I was just with Noah’s father. He told me all about the meeting.”
London swallows. “I don’t know what he told you, but—”
I hold a hand up and yank her toward me. Then I spin her around, so her back is pressed against my chest. Her breathhitches in her throat as one arm stays on her waist, and the other moves to the buttons of her blouse. She shivers when the shirt falls to the floor, and I splay my fingers over her stomach. London mumbles something unintelligible when my other hand moves to her jeans, and I slide them off her hips.
When she’s in her bra and panties, I spin her around, and my eyes move over her. “I don’t like being kept in the dark, London.”
“I know, and I will tell you everything when I can.”
My eyes move back up to her face, and I hook my thumbs through her panties, so she falls against me. “I can think of other ways to get the truth.”
London exhales when I press my lips to her neck and lightly run my teeth there. “Mason, I…”
I trail a path from her neck to her ears and stop.
Then I thread my fingers through her hair and claim her mouth with mine. A soft sigh falls from her lips as her arms come up to my shoulders to grip them. I growl when one of her hands moves to trace my back and stops at my behind. I bite on London’s bottom lip, hard enough to taste blood. She gasps, and I plunge my tongue into her mouth, sweeping and sucking until I can feel her impatience.
I want her to feel how frustrating it is, and how it feels to tumble wildly out of control.
London’s hands drift down, but I draw back and look at her.
Through hooded eyes, London watches as I throw her over my shoulders and carry her to bed. After setting her down, I pull out a pair of handcuffs and secure her arms on either side of her. She tugs on her restraints, and her chest heaves as beads of sweat roll down her forehead and the sides of her face.