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“Did you see enough?” I asked, voice a shred too cool.
Talia choked and nodded.
“Good.” I gave into that urge and crossed the space between us. I lifted her into my arms. “I’m surprised it took you this long to break in here and snoop.”
“You knew I would come in here?” Talia asked incredulously, cradled against my chest.
“Yes, but you took your damn time doing it.”
“There was nothing for me to snoop for before. They weren’t my instructions.” Talia hiccupped.
“And what were those?” I set her on the vanity top and reached for a tissue. The soft yellow light emanating from the bathroom cast enough of a glow to see her face, something I was very carefully watching.
“To seduce you into compliance.” The half-truth slipped easily off her tongue.
Odd. This would have been the perfect moment for her to admit she’d been sent here to kill me. Why the omission? I mulled over that, a flicker of hesitation playing at the back of my mind.
“What happens now, Talia?” I demanded, turning on the tap and filling the glass that always sat beside the sink. The edge might be tinged with toothpaste, but Talia drank from it eagerly.
When she set the glass down, she shrugged and lifted her tear-stained eyes to me. Fuck, she was gorgeous. Black hair messily braided for sleep, dark eyes shining without the enhancement of war paint, and skin clear and raw for me to taste. Hell, I wanted to strip her bare and drink in every damn inch of her.
“I think it’s time I made a new alliance. One that is of my own accord, without the agendas of my family driving it. It needs to be with the most powerful force I can find,” Talia breathed, voice growing steadier with each word.
“I’m listening,” I growled, my pulse ratcheting up in response to where this conversation was going.
“My fatheristhe devil—and you have to believe me, Constantine, I didn’t know it.” Talia reached out, bracing her hands on my bare shoulders.
Adrenaline buzzed in my veins. This was it, this beauty would finally be mine. “I do believe you. I’ve known for some time that you were ignorant of your father’s business dealings.”
Talia pursed her lips. “There’s a reason he hates you so much. You’re the only person strong enough to stand up to him.”
“I am.”
She licked her lips at my blunt affirmation, giving me a small nod. “You offered me a stake in your empire,” she continued slowly. “I would like to take it, but my stipulation has changed.”
“I’m listening,” I repeated, my excitement fighting to escape.
“I’ll join you, but I want all the Beaumont enterprises shut down with no hope of rising from the ashes.”
Those words were the sweetest music to my ears. “Done.”
Talia let out a little sigh, and I lurched forward to capture it. I poured all the longing and desperation I’d felt for her into that kiss, coaxing her to seal this newly founded alliance.
With one hand at her back and the other in her hair, I pulled back long enough to whisper against her lips, “There’s something else on your mind, princess. What is it?”
Talia snaked her arms around my neck and dropped her forehead against mine. “Jason was right. I’m just a high-class whore, placed in your life to tempt you to follow my father’s whims.”
“No, Talia. You couldn’t be more wrong.”
She blew out a derisive laugh. Fucking hell, I needed to handle this next part very carefully.
“Why do you think I resisted you for so long?” I asked, pulling her tightly toward me. She spread her thighs so I could move between them, but she didn’t wrap her legs around my naked waist. “Talia,” I continued. “Believe this, if nothing else. From the moment you walked into Club Black, I saw something in you that drove me to partake in this mad scheme. Do you know what I saw?”
She shook her head, lips parting slightly. I turned my head and feathered a kiss across them. “I sawyou. This wild, beautiful woman who defied the most fearsome players in the underworld. You’re a rebel—a gypsy queen—”
Talia snorted softly.
“—and I’m the lucky bastard who got to see you break free from your cage. So, if you don’t want to go into that bedroom, that choice is yours. We can wait, but know that if you want to join me, it will be not only as a partner, but as my wife. You’ve earned the stake in my empire, the place at my side is optional. But it’s yours if you want it.”Please want it. Please be open to becoming the queen this underworld empire needs, princess.
