The reporter continues. “At this point in time, it is believed that Lorenzo DeCarlo was involved in gun-trafficking and illicit drug manufacturing. More details to come.”
The camera pans to the estate to where cops are flooding through the doors of the property and bringing out boxes upon boxes of evidence while I sit here with my mouth hanging open.
An amused chuckle has my gaze flicking toward Colton. “Did you know he was involved in this shit?”
His eyes sparkle and the way his lips pull up into a devilish smirk tells me that he knows a shitload more than he’ll ever let on. “I might have heard a few things along the grapevine.”
I narrow my eyes at the man I’m very quickly falling in love with. “Did you have something to do with this?” I question, hooking my thumb toward the screen and recalling the exact moment Colton stood in this very room with Vincent DeCarlo and vowed to take down each of his sons and then leave the old man for last.
He shrugs his shoulders. “Don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says, his smirk not budging one bit. “The cops have been looking into Lorenzo for years now, they just lacked a little … proof. What can I say? It’s not my fault that video footage from their break in just happened to land on one of the only good cop’s in Bellevue Springs’ computer showing exactly what they needed to put him away for the rest of his life.”
My mouth drops as I stare at him in awe. “Hmm, strange,” I say, taking on the same devilish smirk. “I wonder how that could have happened.”
“Like I said, it’s a mystery to me.”
I stare at him in awe. “You know you’re kinda incredible?”
“Just kinda?”
“Yeah,” I laugh. “Now, if you were the guy who actually handed that footage over and sealed his fate, then I’d be a little more impressed, but like you said, it’s a mystery to you.”
Colton grabs my arm and yanks me back to him. I go crashing down onto his wide chest and his hand spanks down on my ass as I fall. “Watch it, Jade. I won’t hesitate to show you exactly how I feel about that.”
I laugh and find myself staring down at him, the seriousness of it all instantly sobering our moods. “Maryne would be proud of you,” I whisper. “You did good.”
His eyes flare with love and he watches me for a long, drawn-out second and it’s almost as though he needed to hear those very words, that my support has some kind of weight lifting from his shoulders. “Including Vincent, there’s still five more of those bastards to go,” he tells me. “I promised Harrison that I’d take each and every one of those fuckers down and I intend to keep my word.”
“I know you will,” I tell him. “They won’t get away with this. You’re Colton Fucking Carrington, and they’re going to learn the hard way that you can’t be fucked with, and not only that, it’s sending a message to every other douchebag who wants to take you down that you can’t be beaten. Never have, never will.”
Colton’s hand slips up my back until it’s wrapping around the back of my neck. He pulls me down to him and seals my words with a deep kiss, conveying everything that he’s not ready to say out loud.
“Come on,” I tell him when we finally break apart. “You must actually be hungry. What do you want? I can make pancakes or bacon and eggs.”
“You know I have staff that does that for me.”
“Ha,” I scoff. “You’re looking at her.”
“Babe,” he says with a low groan as I grab his hand and pull him up from the couch. “You know I don’t actually look at you as one of my staff, right? You’re my girlfriend who just happens to clean my place in the sexiest little outfits.”
I raise my brow as I search around for my sweatpants. “The fuck are you talking about?” I question. “It’s not like I’m getting around in those tiny little maid outfits with my ass showing and hooker heels. I’ve only ever worn sweatpants and whatever tank I can find that has the least stains on it.”
“I know, but it’s fucking sexy. The way you dance around with your earphones in, forgetting that everyone can see you. It’s you and it’s real. It’s not like the others who wear those ridiculous uniforms. They look so robotic, but if you wanted to get one of those sexy maid outfits and wear it for me, I’m down for that ...”
“Careful,” I tell him, dragging him into the kitchen and trying to ignore his last comment before I allow him to bend me over the kitchen counter and fuck me senseless. “You’re drooling.”
He rolls his eyes. “Is it that hard for you to just accept a compliment when you hear one?”
“Yeah,” I laugh. “It really is.”
He shakes his head as I go about the kitchen, grabbing all the things that I’d only just put away an hour ago. “Actually, I think I'll get rid of the uniforms. It’s so formal—too fucking formal. That’s not the vibe I want when walking around my home. That’s one of those bullshit rules Dad brought in after he fucked one of his maids and she claimed sexual harassment in the workplace. It was probably his way of punishing her and enjoyed making everyone else suffer right along with her.”
I stare at him with my mouth hanging wide. “Your dad really was a creep.”
He laughs, coming to stand by me. “Trust me, you haven’t heard the half of it.”
“I can’t wait,” I tell him, reaching across him to grab the large mixing bowl
