Tempting the Crown (The Crown 1)

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Deacon smirked. “I’d take it sweetheart. Cole is being more than generous.”

“Right. Of course.” She settled into the chair. “Just tell me. Along with the art, what do I have to do to get your trust so I can leave when I want? Daily blowjobs? Would that work?”

Deacon leaned forward. “You are our guest. You are our travel companion. And we will never order or ask you for anything sexual. Is that understood?”

She noticed how his neck tensed. The easy smile he had faded.

She nodded, yet she didn’t completely believe him. Why else would they want her to stay with them?

“Dinner is at six o’clock,” Cole explained. “We will see you then.”

“Are you dismissing me?”

“Did you need something else?” he asked. “Douglas is in the hall. He will escort you the house. He will show you to your room. You’ll find everything you need there. We will see you at dinner.”

Abby rose from the chair in disbelief. “I’m taking the wine with me.” She clutched the wine and marched out of the office. She had no idea what in the hell had just happened.

4

Deacon

He spun around to face Cole. He didn’t know if he had the words to describe what just happened. Shit like that didn’t happen to him. Never.

“Fuck, did you see her?”

Cole shook his head. “Yeah, I saw her.”

“She hates us, doesn’t she?”

“What did you think would happen? You bought her in a poker game. Why couldn’t you stick with gambling for cars or horses? Cash? Why her, Deac. Why?”

Deacon pushed off the couch and paced around the room. “Damn. She’s perfect. More than perfect.” He hung his head. “She is incredible.” He’d never seen more beautiful lips on a woman. Her hair was golden—it almost shimmered as if she were an angel. “This isn’t going to be easy.”

“You wanted an empress.”

“Instead I got a caged panther.”

Cole stood next to him. “I’d say back out of the deal, but…”

He cut him off. “No. We can’t let her go.”

Cole shook his head. “No. We can’t. On this, I actually agree with you for once. Even if I completely disagree with how she came to us.”

“Are you ever going to stop giving me shit about it?”

He knew he gambled too much. He knew sometimes it got out of hand, but this was the one time it had paid off. His bet brought the most amazing woman into their lives. A sassy spitfire with gorgeous tits and an ass that was round and soft. And there was an entirely unexpected side—she was an artist.

It was a part of his life he had never been able to share with anyone before. He had collected for years. Toured the world, visiting the most prestigious collections he could find..

“She isn’t going to go for this, Deac.”

“Then, we do it the old-fashioned way,” he decided.

“Old fashioned way?” Cole questioned.

“We seduce her with everything we have. We will be relentless. Put everything on the table. Everything.”