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“Okay. I’ll see you then.” She kissed the corner of my mouth, her lips moving over the thick hair that had come in since I skipped the shave that morning. “Sorry that I interrupted you.”
“You never interrupt me.” My hands cupped her face, and I gave her another kiss, needing something to hold me over until I was finished speaking with Ariel and Pias. I forced myself to step away before I kissed her hard all over again. Then another ten minutes would pass, and Ariel would only be angrier.
I walked back inside and felt the tension the second I entered the room. I knew shit was about to hit the fan because Pias was nowhere in sight. Ariel had obviously excused him so she could speak to me in private.
I knew it was coming.
“Crewe, I’m very concerned about you and that woman.”
“I can tell.” I drank my water to mask my irritation. I didn’t tell Ariel off like I normally would with someone else. She was a great business partner and deserved more respect than that. I wasn’t ignorant of her capabilities. But if she pushed me too far, I would come undone.
“I’m serious. You said she didn’t mean anything to you, but I see the way you look at her.”
“And have you seen the way she looks at me?” London couldn’t get enough of me. Every morning when I left the sheets, she begged me to stay with her. During our meals together, her hands were usually on my body—her eyes glued to mine. When we fucked at night, she was all over me. She took my cock like she wanted it as much as I gave it to her, and when we slept, she was wrapped around me like a child with a teddy bear. I wasn’t stupid.
I knew she loved me.
I didn’t know when it happened, exactly. But at that opening, she was fiercely jealous of Josephine—not that there was anything to be jealous of. She didn’t want to leave my side—not even for a second. I was the center of her universe. She was pissed that she’d been taken from her home, but now she didn’t care anymore.
I was home.
The realization didn’t bother me. I loved her infatuation, her obsession. I loved it when she demanded that I be faithful to her. Her need only made me need her more. I’d never been turned on by clinginess or commitment, but I liked knowing London needed me.
That she wanted me.
Ariel shut her notebook, her lips pursed and her eyes angry. “Crewe, you gave me your word that this meant nothing. You told me you would marry a suitable partner.”
“Who said anything about getting married?”
“Well, it doesn’t look like you’ve made any progress on finding a partner—unless you’ve chosen her.”
I drank my water again and considered pouring myself a glass of scotch. I’d been sticking to my new diet, but this interrogation made me want to slip. “Ariel, I don’t stick my nose in your business. Don’t stick your nose in mine. Who I fuck is none of your concern.”
“I don’t give a damn who you fuck. I give a damn who you love. Crewe, she’s not right for you.”
“I never said I loved her.”
“Are you saying you don’t?”
I stared her down.
She sighed and pulled her glasses off. “That woman is smart. She’s manipulating you, Crewe.”
“Manipulating me how?”
“She thinks you have a bomb in her brother’s head. Of course she’s playing nice so you remove it.”
I shook my head. “No one is that good of an actress. Her feelings are genuine.”
She rolled her eyes. “Come on, Crewe. I see right through her little act. It’s all a game.”
Ariel didn’t fuck her every night. “Let me handle my sex life. Worry about your own.”
“I don’t give a damn about your sex life. It’s repulsive, honestly. But who you marry directly affects my involvement in your business. You already know this, Crewe.”
“Like I said, I’m not getting married.”
“But you’re definitely on the path to a poor choice,” she hissed.
“Don’t worry about our business. We’re up by fifty percent since last year. We’re growing.”
“And we’ll plateau if we don’t keep working. The second you get comfortable, that’s when things go to shit.”
“I’ve been doing this for a long time, Ariel. You need to calm down.”
She looked like she might throw her glass of scotch in my face. “You have other avenues of wealth, an inheritance that most countries can’t even afford. I’m not so fortunate, Crewe. This is all I have. I’m not willing to gamble it.”
“I would never let that happen, Ariel. Our wealth will always be secure. The business will maintain itself even if I never get married at all.”
“But it’ll never grow unless you marry someone like Princess Leonida of Russia.”
I nearly crushed the glass in my hand. “You know I’d never marry someone like her.” I’d never have any ties to Russia as long as I lived. They were my enemy, as far as I was concerned.
