in a tight black miniskirt and a corseted top, she sparkled from head to toe in the shimmering onyx fabric. With Ivory on one side, she turned and whispered something into her raven-haired friend's ear.
I hadn't known Irina would join them, and judging by his scowl from his place of guarding set back from the girls, neither had Scar. I smirked at him, raising a brow as his eyes met mine. Wondering when he'd find a way to get over his own issues and make a move with the woman. Their history was complicated, Irina suffering far too many rejections from him to put herself out there again.
Particularly after what had happened the last time she made her interest clear.
Sadie's honey eyes found me when she turned her attention back to Ivory. Smiling that seductive little grin she did so well, she turned and rolled her hips so that her ass rubbed against Ivory's thighs. With her hands over her head, she broke our eye contact to lose herself in the music.
With the love she had for dancing and the movement music brought her, it was a miracle she hadn't pushed harder to learn to pole dance. Sadie would have been a very expensive stripper if I'd have ever let her work at Tease. With her Filipino features that made her look so sweet and innocent, but a firecracker personality that knocked men on their asses, I didn't know that anybody could ever resist her.
Matteo interrupted their dance to take his wife in a claiming kiss, drinking from her mouth like it was the very air he needed to breathe. Sadie swatted him away. Probably the only woman in the world brave enough to risk the wrath of Matteo Bellandi like that. I chuckled as he grinned at her, patting the top of her head in a rare moment of affection between them and striding over to take the stairs up to his office. Ryker emerged from where he'd accosted Calla in her mauve mini-dress, her shoulder length wavy hair looking worse for wear with the way he'd undoubtedly assaulted her.
I followed them up the steps, glancing at Sadie one last time to give her a meaningful look that she understood. I'd fuck her so hard she couldn't walk if she tried to sneak out. It comforted me only slightly that she would have tried it before we arrived on the scene if she had any intention of it. She might not have been able to say the words yet, but Sadie knew damn well what she felt for me.
It was only a matter of time before she gave me those words, because I was many things.
But a patient man wasn't one of them.
Rafael sat in Matteo's chair when we walked into the office, looking far too comfortable in Matteo's space. If it had been anyone else, Matteo might have demanded he vacate it. But not Rafael.
I suspected Matteo was wary of him. With good reason. He even made Ryker look sane, and that was not an easy task.
"How did it go?" Rafael asked, but his voice was uninterested. He didn't need a summary to know that Tiernan Murphy wouldn't back down so easily. Still, a guy could dream.
"He'll strike soon," I said. "He's too volatile to wait it out and play the long game. He wants his revenge."
"Yavin?" Matteo asked, nodding his head to the quietest of our entourage.
"Probably a good bet. He's the one who stands to get everything Tiernan sees as his. Aoife, the O'Connell operation, all of it. He isn't stupid enough to think eliminating Yavin will solve the problem and get him the keys to the castle, but he'll still want him out of the picture," I agreed.
"What difference does it make?" Yavin asked. "If killing me won't get him what he wants, why target me at all?"
"Because he wants Aoife to be a virgin for him. Liam said he was very particular about that. Yet he called Liam antiquated." I rolled my eyes. "With you out of the picture, Liam will have to dedicate the time to finding another replacement. He'll be able to stall a bit. And then when he kills Liam, he'll force Aoife to marry him because most of her father's followers will do what it takes to keep her alive, since she is the O'Connell blood. The Irish are still much more traditional than we've become," Lino answered, plopping down into one of the chairs in front of the desk.