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He loosened his cufflinks and began unbuttoning his dress shirt. “Go on.” His tone was calm, but I could see his shoulders tense up and I wanted to kick myself for not telling him sooner.
“Well, when we were leaving the meeting at R.L. Hemingway’s, I saw Althazair in a car next to us.”
Cian stopped unbuttoning his shirt, his jaw clenching. “Did he try to do something to you?” he growled, and I shook my head quickly.
“No, I really think it was a coincidence. Well, because of who was with him.”
Cian crossed his arms over his chest, his biceps stretching out the fabric. He nodded, and I rubbed my forehead.
“Um, well, that senator you introduced me to tonight? Senator Edwards? I saw him sitting with Althazair, and it looked like they might have been arguing.”
Cian’s face reddened slightly, and he muttered under his breath. “Fucking hell.”
“What? What does it mean?” I rubbed my palms over his arms, his body warm to the touch.
“I don’t know what it means, but if Althazair and the senator are meeting, then Edwards is either working for them, or they are working for him. Neither of which is a good thing.” His shoulders sagged like the weight of the world was on them. “I will steer clear of him going forward. He seemed very interested in having me work on a private acquisition for his family, but now? Hell no.”
“I’m sorry, I should have told you.” I bit on my bottom lip and Cian’s eyes danced with amusement.
“Did you want to get punished? Is that why you’re keeping secrets?” His tone was playful, and my heart skipped a beat at the heated look in his eyes. We both wanted the same thing right now. To forget about what had happened over the past few hours and just get lost in each other.
“You know I always enjoy a good punishment.” I trailed my fingers up his chest and locked my arms around his neck, a yawn sneaking out.
“Good. Then your punishment is no punishment.” He unhooked my arms and marched me towards the shower. “Now get in there and get your ass ready for bed before I change my mind.”
I stuck my tongue out at him, laughing as he shook his finger at me. He was right. It had been a long damn night, and I was ready for sleep. I just hoped the morning would bring good news.
*****
A loud banging at our front door had me sitting up with a gasp. The alarm clock read eight in the morning, and I rubbed my hands over my face. Cian lay next to me looking peaceful, and all I wanted to do was roll over and sleep in his arms.
Ugh, who could be at our door this early? I threw the blankets off and marched down the hall, chatter coming from just outside our front door. Valik’s voice could be heard over the crowd, and I yanked the door open, my eyebrows rising at finding Juliet, Thora, Eros, Orin and Valik all stood there.
“Hey, sleepyhead.” Valik patted the top of my head as he pushed past me, the others following inside.
“Oh, come on in, why don’t you,” I grumbled and shut the door.
“We brought reinforcements.” Juliet held up two bags from Stan’s, which Valik eyed like they were his long-lost love.
“Thanks.” I yawned and stretched my arms over my head. “Damn, I was knocked out after last night.” For once lately, my dreams hadn’t been filled with nightmares. Now that I thought about it, it was probably the best night of sleep I had gotten in a whole damn year. “Cian’s still asleep, so keep your voices down.”
“On it.” Eros popped a doughnut hole in his mouth and headed down the hall towards our bedroom.
I chuckled, shaking my head as everyone gathered around our kitchen bar. “So, to what do I owe this pleasure this early in the morning?” I looked around the room, noticing Thora was avoiding my gaze. It must have been about the art piece she’d “won” last night. If she thought I was just going to ignore that little card she’d showed me, she was dead wrong.
“We all couldn’t sleep. Cian said Agent Delove was supposed to call first thing in the morning… and, well, it’s first thing.” Orin shrugged, a sheepish grin on his face.
“Have you heard anything yet?” Juliet asked as she poured water into the coffee pot and pulled out some mugs.
“Not yet.” I nibbled on my bottom lip, the nervous energy of the room building around me. He’d better call soon, because I didn’t know how much longer I could take it, the not knowing if Ryzen was finally dead and out of our lives. It almost felt like a bittersweet moment. There was so much I wanted to scream at him. I wanted him to live the rest of his life rotting in prison. If that was him charred in that van, then he’d gotten away with everything too easy.
Cian came down the hall and yawned, then groaned as everyone cheered his name. “Good morning, hooligans,” he grumbled and came around the counter to where I was leaning. He caged me in with his arms, kissing me deeply. His body was still warm from the bed, and I cuddled against him as everyone snickered around us.
“Get a room,” Orin hollered.
“We had one. You guys just walked in here and kicked us out of it.” I giggled, resting my head against Cian’s chest. His chest rumbled with laughter, and I sighed.
“Is there coffee, baby?” He stroked my back.
