There’s so damn much I don’t know.
But right now, none of those things seem as important as sitting here wrapped up in Marcus, breathing him in.
“I meant what I said,” he murmurs finally, his breath warming my skin as he speaks. “I’ll find a way out of this. I won’t marry Victoria. Ever.” He pulls back then, his gaze serious, his jaw set. “I’ll kill her before I ever fucking marry her.”
He does mean it. There’s not an ounce of sarcasm or exaggeration in his voice.
I feel like I should tell him not to say that, but I can’t. The truth is, I think I’d kill her before I let him fucking marry her—and if that makes me as psychotic as Marcus, well, I guess we have more in common than I thought.
So I just nod, accepting his words at face value.
The situation is complicated and dangerous, even more so now that Luca undoubtedly knows about the engagement. I have a sudden memory of Theo telling me that the only person who could win this game through political cunning and social maneuvering alone is Victoria.
I can see why he thinks that.
She’s adopted a new strategy, binding herself to one of the other players through this forced engagement, effectively tying her fate to Marcus’s. And if Marcus follows through on his threat and kills her anytime outside of the allotted period of violence, the consequences will be dire.
Tension gathers in my shoulders as thoughts churn in my head, and Marcus makes a low sound, brushing his hands through my tangled hair. “I can see you thinking, angel. Hell, I can hear you thinking. What is it?”
“Just…” I huff out a humorless laugh, gesturing around us to encompass the whole house. The whole world. “Everything.”
He nods. “It’ll be all right. I promise.”
That’s not a promise he can keep, and we both know it. We’ve each got three bullet wounds apiece that disprove his statement. But hearing him say the words eases some of the tightness in my chest.
“Marcus?” My fingers slide through the hair at the nape of his neck, my nails gently scratching his scalp.
“Yeah?”
“I’m really fucking glad you didn’t die.”
My words are quiet. Simple. But their effect on the man in my arms is immediate. He smiles, and it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen on his face before. Even the pallor of his cheeks seems to lessen, the shadows beneath his eyes fading a little.
“How could I?” He traces the line of my jaw with his fingertips, his eyes warming. “I still owe you a hundred million heartbeats.”
He kisses me one more time, and just when I think we’ll never come up for air, he slowly breaks away, pulling out of me as he steps back. He tucks himself away and zips up his pants, adjusting his rumpled tux. Cum slips down my inner thigh, and he grabs one of the towels off the shelf and cleans me up before tossing it into the same corner where my panties landed.
When he moves to help me off the washing machine, he hisses out a pained breath, and I push his hands away, sliding off on my own and letting the fabric of my dress fall around my legs again. I look up at him, my concern growing deeper as I realize how truly reckless what we just did was.
Fuck, if I hurt him or set his healing back, I’ll never forgive myself.
As if he can read my thoughts, Marcus shakes his head. He grabs my chin and presses a hard, quick kiss to my lips.
“I’m all right,” he tells me firmly. “I’ve been healing well. It just hurts.”
I don’t like the sound of that last part at all, and I’m tempted to demand he strip off his jacket and shirt and let me examine his wounds, but before I can do that, he slips his hand into mine, lacing our fingers together.
“Come on,” he says softly, motioning with his chin toward the door. “Ryland and Theo are waiting.”
Right. The party.
Jesus, I can barely remember what our initial purpose was for coming here tonight. Everything got flipped sideways when Marcus walked through the door into the ballroom, and I’m still reeling a little.
Adrian Reyes.
We were going to try to put pressure on him. Theo said there’ve been several high profile losses for his dad’s law firm recently, so it’s possible his family is going through a rough time. We were going to try to leverage that weakness to our advantage.
It’s still a viable strategy, but with Marcus’s return, there’s been such a seismic shift in the game that I don’t know quite where things stand anymore.
But regardless, we can’t stay in this damn laundry room all night, as appealing as the idea might sound.
I nod, drawing in a deep breath. “How do I look?”
Marcus smirks, not an ounce of shame on his face. “Like you got fucked on a washer.”
I bite back the smile that tugs at my lips. The pride in his voice makes a little zap of pleasure shoot through me, and I realize I really don’t care what any of these rich, privileged, corrupt party guests think of me. And if my showing back up like this undermines the credibility of Marcus and Victoria’s sham engagement, so much the fucking better.
He holds the door open for me as we step out of the room, then leads me back through the wide hallways to the ballroom.
The party has continued unabated in our absence. People are still talking, drinking, and laughing as the orchestra plays in the background. My gaze settles immediately on Ryland and Theo. They’re on the far side of the ballroom, standing near Victoria, although they’re not speaking to her or even looking at her.
But I get the sense they know exactly where she is, and I also get the feeling that if she’d tried to follow after me and Marcus, she would’ve found two burly, intimidating men in her way.
My heart gives a little squeeze in my
