It was surprisingly easy to get in. Once the chips in our necks had been scanned, we were let through and handed a glass of champagne upon entering.
Champagne that probably costs more than I can even imagine.While I’m tempted to sip it, I don’t want to accept anything gifted here. This organization, this event, is behind my parents’ deaths.
I’m discreetly pouring the drink into a large plant when warmth envelops my back, and a deep baritone speaks into my ear, “Is my champagne not to your liking, Miss van der Meer?”
That voice.
My blood freezes to ice at the mention of my real name. How did he find out? I straighten up, pretending I’m not quakingon the inside. “Your champagne? It’s funded by your little boys’ club, is it not?”
As I turn around, I am confronted by his expensive pressed suit, a warthog mask that covers half his face, and piercing frosty eyes. His cardamom and tonka bean scent invades more than just my senses when his lips pull to the side in a dirty smirk that’s all sex.
He takes the flute from my hand and passes it to a waiter without breaking eye contact. “The champagne was my contribution to tonight’s event. I had it imported directly from France. The champagne you used to water the plant costs 1.6 million dollars per bottle.”
“So you have a lot of money. Impressive.” I let my gaze wander, but I’m shaking on the inside.
“Is that sarcasm?”
When I pin him with my eyes, I’m struck by the intensity in his. “Wow. Not only are you rich, but you’re smart too.”
“What can I say? I’m a catch.”
Light laughter bubbles up from my chest before I can stop it. I try to push past him, but he steps in my way, towering over me with his six-foot-three frame and deadly smirk. “Bachelor of the year, several years running.”
“Good for you.” This is my opportunity to reach for my knife and stab him, so why am I hesitating?
“What I can’t figure out”—he fingers a strand of my hair, causing my breath to catch—“is why you’re back, Miss van der Meer. This is a dangerous place for an orphaned heiress like yourself.”
The mention of my deceased parents has years of suppressed anger rushing to the surface. I push on his chest, but he’s as immovable as a mountain. When he still doesn’t shift, I part the slit in my dress and grab my gun, but I’m stopped by his hand on my wrist. Surprised, I glance up.
“Allow me,” he says, sliding the gun from the holster strapped to my thigh. My throat dries up at his sensual, slow touch. Who knew retrieving a loaded weapon from a holster could be so sexual? Delacroix takes his time removing it, brushing his fingers up the inside of my thigh, and I swallow hard, eyes locked on his smirking mouth. I never knew teeth could be sexy, but those sharp incisors look threatening in the dim light.
The moment his fingers curl around the gun, I lift my eyes to his and fight a shiver. Delacroix is fucking me with his dark gaze.
The weapon slides from the holster slowly, and he uses the gun to brush a lock of hair away from my brow and then places it in my hand. My heart pounds hard as he guides the barrel to his chest, right over his heart.
Leaning in close, he whispers against the corner of my mouth. “Put a bullet in my heart, Miss van der Meer. It would be a mercy, for you have me under your spell.”
Who talks like that? What is he? A duke from Shakespearean times?His spicy scent drugs me as much as his warm breath against my parted lips. He places a kiss at the corner, and my heart threatens to break free when his prickly beard brushes against my chin.
Christ…I gulp, my knees growing weak. We stare at each other, suspended in a bubble of sexual tension and something else. Something unspoken and dark. In my mind’s eye, he slams his sinful lips to mine, kissing me senselessly while stealing the breath from my lungs with strokes of his tongue. In my mind’s eye, I pull the trigger and clutch his blood-soaked shirt to keep his knees from buckling from beneath him. In my mind’s eye, he bleeds out in front of me.
A commotion startles me from my haze, and I look behind him to see Keith open fire on the crowd. Piercing screams andchaos erupt as people scatter. It happens in slow motion and reminds me of fireworks.
Delacroix shields me with his body, forcing me behind the large plant pot. He exudes calm as he aims and shoots three times.
Keith collapses to the marble floor, clutching his bleeding hand, while men dressed in sharp uniforms storm the room to haul him away.
I try to rush past Delacroix, but he digs the gun into my forehead and forces me deeper into the shadows until we’re shielded by the plant.
“You’re not going anywhere.” His arctic eyes deepen in color as he plants his free hand over my mouth. The cool wall is at my back. There’s no escape. I try to reach for one of the knives strapped to my skin, but he rams his leg between my thighs, and the pressure against my clit has a whimper brushing against his big palm.
“Your friend made a mockery of my hospitality tonight, Miss van der Meer. You see, I knew you were heading here before you even stepped out of the Antichrist’s stronghold.” When my eyes widen, he tightens his grip on my mouth and grinds his thigh against my damp lace panties. “I knew your plans, sweetheart. I knew and still let you and your friends enter these premises unharmed.”
It dawns on me then that I brought my friends to their deaths. What happens next is my fault. We were naïve and thought we stood a chance at taking the Exodus by surprise—and it would have been worth the sacrifice if I hadn’t foiled our plans by catching the eye of a monster. As I drown in his bottomless ocean, I know he’ll never let me go.
“Now,” he whispers, dragging his thigh across my damp slit, “what am I to do with you, little troublemaker? Or are you athrill seeker?” His eyes burn into me. “You seem to enjoy danger. Here’s the thing: danger comes with a hefty price.”
If he didn’t keep his hand firmly clamped over my mouth, I would tell him to fuck off. Since that’s not an option, I settle for letting my eyes speak for me instead. Judging by his dark chuckle, the fury amuses him. Those sharp canines reappear, gleaming in the shadows. His hint of a smile is breathtaking.
