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Seventeen
Cole
“Was this all really necessary?”
Standing in the living room, fists planted on her hips, Adele eyed the pile of bags and carefully wrapped packages from our impromptu shopping spree with the same caution most women would use when confronted with a snake. Or with a man holding a gun to their lover’s head. The latter she’d handled without an ounce of fear, but apparently spending “an excessive amount of money” on a new wardrobe was her breaking point.
“Yes. And do you know why?” Wrapping my arms around her waist, I turned her to face me.
“Why?”
“Because I am the Daddy here and if I say my little girl deserves to be spoiled, then she deserves to be spoiled. Do you need more of a reason than that?”
A perfectly shaped eyebrow arched up toward her hairline. “Other than ‘Daddy said so’? Yes, I do need more of a reason than that.”
Feisty little brat. More and more I felt as if I was seeing the real Adele, and I couldn’t get enough of her. I’d been intrigued by the sweet, unassuming maid. But this Adele fascinated me. I felt protective of the first. But I was compelled to claim, own, possess the second.
Moving my hand to her hair, I pulled her head back, exposing the slim column of her throat. “How about just saying ‘Thank you, Daddy,’ instead of arguing, hmm?”
“Thank you, Daddy. But you really shouldn’t have spent so much. I don’t need all this.”
Switching tactics, I loosened my hold on her hair and brushed a kiss across her cheek. “You don’t need it now, perhaps, but you’ll need it when we are back in the States. If my men think I can’t provide for my wife, they’ll begin to question my ability to run my empire.”
Her breath hitched, and she tried to step back, but I held her firmly in place. “Your wife?”
“Yes, sweetheart. Did you really think I’d let you loose in Chicago without the protection of my name?” With my free hand, I captured her fingers, running the pad of my thumb over the spot where my ring would soon sit. “How do you feel about rubies? I know a diamond is traditional, but a ruby feels more fitting for my feisty little girl.”
“Is this your idea of a proposal?”
The dry question made me grin, and I lifted her hand to my lips. “I suppose you could consider it a pre-proposal. I’ll do it up right once we’re back stateside.” Once I know you’re safe.
Her lips parted, as if she were about to protest, and I was hit with the sudden thought that she was about to spill some long-held secret. A storm raged, dark clouds gathering in her eyes. That side of her I’d seen hints of during our grand escape, the darkness I’d sensed inside of her from the very beginning.
What aren’t you telling me, little girl?
And just as quickly as it came, the storm cleared, and she was smiling up at me. “I accept your pre-proposal, but I reserve the right to change my mind if the real thing is not up to my standards.”
Fighting back the urge to bend her over and paddle her until she spilled every last secret she was keeping, I returned her smile. “Good girl. Why don’t you go take a nap, and tonight I’ll take you somewhere obscenely expensive to celebrate.”
“But I am not sleepy.”
I needed to plan my next shot at Giorgio. After the botched attempt last night, his guard would be up, and it would be next to impossible to get to him. There were new patterns to study, increased security to review.
But none of it held any appeal. For the first time since I had begun my quest for vengeance, something else had taken a front seat. It was unnerving, how quickly she’d become the most important thing in my life. Even more so than my family.
Pushing away the uncomfortable thoughts, I swept her up into my arms and strode toward the bedroom. “Well, then, let’s see if Daddy can help you relax.”
Adele
Relaxed was not the right word for what I felt when Cole was finished with me. Exhausted, wrung out, completely and thoroughly used was more like it. So much so that I did, in fact, sleep rather soundly once we were finished.
I was alone in the room when I awoke. A quick peek out of the bedroom confirmed Cole was nowhere nearby, most likely holed up in his office planning out his next attack on Giorgio.
With a twinge of guilt, I quietly closed the door to the bedroom again and fished my phone from my purse. It felt wrong to be planning to sneak off and deal with Giorgio behind his back, but what other choice did I have? If Cole so much as showed his face at the meet tonight, he’d be arrested on the spot.
Just the thought of him behind bars had my stomach doing somersaults. No, it was far better for him to be kept in the dark for now. Once Giorgio had been dealt with, I would tell Cole so we could begin our new life together.
Extricating myself from Interpol was going to be tricky, especially since they apparently had their eye on Cole. Even a new identity wouldn’t be enough to keep me off their radar. But it was something I was certain we could figure out.
