“Ron?” Arthur said, breaking the tension Vinnie’s outburst had brought.
Ronnie took a deep breath, readying to relay the information on Pearl she’d managed to find after we returned home. “It’s true. It’s all true. Pearl is alive and goes by the name Annie Lawson.” Ronnie shook her head. “I don’t know why she doesn’t remember you, or her real family, but it’s clear something happened to make her forget everything.” Vera nodded at Ronnie to continue. “For all intents and purposes, Ollie was her big brother.” Arthur stilled. “They took her to Switzerland, to get her away from this family. And there she was raised, schooled, still lives. Ollie visited her all the time. Pearl runs their drug business in Switzerland.”
“Who the fuck are they?” Arthur asked, his voice rough like cut glass.
“The Sidel Group,” Ronnie said. Arthur sucked in a short breath.
“You’re fucking kidding me,” Eric said.
I looked to Arthur for an explanation. His expression was stone, but his blue gaze burned with fire. “Our biggest rivals in Europe,” Arthur said.
“Your sister runs the rival European business?”
“I—we—had never heard of her by name before,” Vera said. “They kept her hidden—obviously. But she’s the boss of the Sidels now. No doubt about it. Took over when their—Ollie’s—dad died last year. We have no idea if she knows it was Ollie that killed him. We just know it’s her.”
Arthur laughed, but there was no humour in it. “My little sister is our rival. She fucking hates us and, according to Lawson, will have a fucking bounty on our heads for his death.”
“We’ll sort this,” Betsy said to Arthur. Eric nodded at Betsy in agreement. “Pearl’s safe … even though she doesn’t know us as her family anymore. She’s safe over there in Switzerland, and she’s alive. At least we can take comfort in that.” Betsy downed her drink. “We’ll get her back. Somehow, Arthur, we’ll bring her back to us. To Vinnie … to you.”
Arthur exhaled, and I could hear exhaustion in his heavy breath. I put my hand on his cheek and turned his face to me. “Let’s go to bed. Let’s get you cleaned up, and let’s get some sleep. We can come back to this another time. We won. We’re all safe. Now it’s time to rest a little.”
“She’s right,” Vera said, tiredly getting to her feet. “I’m bloody knackered. We all are. I haven’t got bags under my eyes, I have fucking suitcases.” She took Ronnie’s hand, holding on to it like she might never let go. “We’re going to get some sleep too.”
I got up from the chair and, keeping my hand in his, led Arthur from the living room and straight through our bedroom into our bathroom. I stripped off his clothes. Arthur watched me silently, heat burning in his gaze. I turned on the shower and took off my clothes too. I stepped into the shower with him and began cleaning him of the blood that still clung to his skin. Arthur didn’t take his eyes off me the entire time. It was as though he couldn’t believe I was here with him. As though he didn’t want to close his eyes in case I disappeared.
When the water ran from red to clear, I switched off the shower and gently towelled us both off. I led him to the bed. Standing beside it, I placed my hands on Arthur’s face and kissed him. Arthur didn’t hesitate in pushing his tongue into my mouth, sliding it against mine. His hands wrapped around me, an iron cage, bringing me to his chest, his hardness pressing against my stomach.
I moaned at the feel of him, and Arthur lowered me to the mattress. My back pressed into the soft duvet, and he broke from my mouth and kissed my neck, forcing the awful events of last night from my mind, instead bringing me nothing but pleasure and heat and love.
He kissed down my stomach and to my hips. I rolled my hips as he widened my legs, wanting him, needing him inside me. His blue eyes caught mine as he wrenched my thighs apart and then licked along my pussy. I cried out as he sucked on my clit, as he pushed his fingers inside me and fought for me to forget tonight and just be with him. The man I loved. The one who came for me, the one who’d saved me.
Over and over again.
I had fallen for him at age thirteen, and now I was with