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Adele
Something was off with Cole, but I couldn’t seem to put my finger on it. There had been a fierceness in his tone when he’d ordered me to stay away from the Bianchi estate. More than just a Daddy who wished to be obeyed, although I imagined that had also fed into the sternness behind the order.
Under normal circumstances, quitting would be a no-brainer. Over the past few days, I’d managed to avoid Giorgio and his unwelcome advances, but it was only a matter of time before he managed to corner me again, especially since I was on his radar now.
But these weren’t normal circumstances, and my position in his household wasn’t just a job. Sitting on the bed we’d shared the past few nights, I hit the button to call Pierce, praying he’d answer for once.
“What?”
“Porter wants me to quit my job. As Bianchi’s maid. He thinks we are running away to America together; I assume when he has done whatever he came to do.” The thought twisted my stomach into knots. Avoiding the actual word didn’t diminish the enormity of Cole’s plans.
Murder. Cold-blooded, calculated, murder.
It was the only thing that made sense. A man like Cole Porter wouldn’t let his cousin’s death go unanswered. And everything we’d uncovered pointed to Giorgio being behind the girl’s death.
There was a small part of me, a dark, violent part I tried to pretend didn’t exist, that wanted him to succeed. Natalie’s face was imprinted on my mind. Young, beautiful, vibrant.
Innocent.
But society had order, and vigilante justice was not a part of that order. So as much as I might sympathize with Cole’s thirst for revenge, I couldn’t stand by while he murdered a man in cold blood, no matter how much I felt it was deserved.
“You mean after he kills Giorgio Bianchi,” Pierce said, echoing my own thoughts.
“Yes,” I snapped back, nerves and fear having drained my already shallow well of patience. “What should I do?”
Silence fell, weighted with the enormity of our next move. “Go ahead and call the agency, tell them you’ve had a family emergency and you need to leave Paris immediately. We have a handle on Giorgio, so your main objective now is to stay close to Porter.”
“Understood.”
After ending the call, I made another to the agency, pulling on years of training to put tears in my voice as I spoke of the aunt who had raised me after my parents’ deaths and her illness, explaining I needed to rush to Nice immediately to be by her side, and I didn’t know when I would return. Guilt coated my stomach at my supervisor’s sympathetic tone urging me to go and be with my aunt.
I stretched out on the bed, willing myself to sleep at least for a few minutes. If my instincts were right, things between Cole and Giorgio were about to come to a head, and I needed to be as clear-headed as possible in the coming days.
But sleep eluded me, so I made my way into the almost sinfully luxurious bathroom just off the master bedroom. A giant soaking tub stood along one wall, with a basket of bath salts and other frilly feminine things beside it.
When was the last time I’d allowed myself the simple luxury of a long soak? Bolstered by the idea, I turned the water on as hot as I could stand it and peppered the water with a bath salt mixture simply labeled Tranquility before stripping and stepping into the tub.
That was where Cole found me, nearly an hour later, with my eyes closed and my head resting on the edge of the tub. While I still hadn’t slept, I felt calmer, and far steadier than I had after my call to Pierce.
“This does not look like taking a nap, little girl.”
Opening one eye, I peered up at him, relieved to see he didn’t look angry. “I couldn’t sleep.”
“Hmmm.” Head tilted to the side, he studied me, his expression unreadable. “Well, the point of a nap was to allow you time to rest, and you certainly seem rested.”
“I feel rested.” Although, his sudden closeness had my body humming and tensing up in anticipation. “Am I in trouble?”
“No, sweetheart. As a matter of fact, I think you deserve a reward for being such a good girl today.” Kneeling beside the tub, he unbuttoned the sleeve on his dress shirt and slowly, deliberately rolled the cuff to his elbow. My mouth instantly watered in response to the sight.
The tips of his fingers trailed across the surface of the water, the anticipation sending little bolts of electricity straight to my clit every time he came within a few inches of my breasts.
By the time his hand dipped below the surface, my breaths were coming in short, fast pants, every nerve alive with expectation. My knees seemed to part of their own accord, granting him access to the parts of me that most craved his touch.
And when he finally slipped a finger inside of me, then two, his thumb pressed firmly against my clit, I nearly came undone then and there. Water sloshed over the sides of the tub as I bucked under his touch, my cries of need echoing off the tile walls.
“That’s my good girl.” Coaxing, cajoling in that deep, graveling voice of his, he worked me straight to the edge—and held me there.
“Adele.” The whip-crack of his voice forced my attention to his words. “Promise Daddy you won’t leave the apartment tonight.”
