This woman made me feel more like a king than anyone else. My fingers gently touched her hair, almost in apology for the aggressive way I fucked her mouth, before I grabbed my boxers and pulled them to my hips. “Get on the bed. I’m not done yet.”
Ariel and I worked together in my office, everything falling back into perfect normalcy like she’d never left in the first place. We went over the weekly schedule and discussed the social events I would be attending.
Now that London was in my life, I didn’t spend much time gathering intelligence or putting my men on the job. I stuck to my scotch business, taking the less stressful route. So that made me stationary for the first time in my life.
“The Duke of Romania is having a celebration in Manchester. You’ve been invited, of course.”
Leaving the house was less tempting now that I had a pet I loved to play with. I didn’t care about fancy parties and famous people. I’d just seen him in London not too long ago, and I vaguely remembered him mentioning it.
“His daughter, the Duchess of Romania, has returned from university in America. I suspect he wants to show her off to the world.”
And marry her off. That’s what all the royals did. “I’ll pass.”
Ariel spun her pen in her fingertips. “Well, you already told him you were going.”
“I did?”
“When you were in London.”
I was so busy thinking about the woman who left me that I hadn’t noticed anything around me. I had been speaking to a fellow duke but tuning him out at the exact same time.
“You can’t back out now. The dinner is on Saturday.”
Damn. “Alright. I’ll let London know.”
“You’re going to bring her?” Ariel looked down and made notes in her folder.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Ariel made her feelings for London perfectly clear, but I hoped we had moved on from that by now.
“It’s a big event, that’s all.”
“London did fine during Holyrood.”
“True,” Ariel said with a sigh. “It’s your decision, Crewe.”
Where I went, London went with me. It was as simple as that. I didn’t give Ariel as much attitude as I would to someone else since we had just been reunited. My temper remained under control for the time being.
“Shall I make arrangements for London’s gown, hair, and makeup?”
“Yes, please.” I always delegated that sort of thing to someone else. “Thank you.”
“Sure.”
“Will you be joining us?”
She smiled. “As much as I would like to, I wasn’t the one invited.”
“I can still bring you along.”
“It’s okay, Crewe.”
“When are the four of us going to have that dinner?”
“Cassandra and I have an open availability. We both work the same hours.”
“Then how about Friday night?”
“I’ll check with her,” she said. “But that should be fine.”
“Great.”
Dimitri walked inside without knocking. His cheeks were red, and he was clearly flustered since he forgot his protocol. “Sir, we have a situation. Joseph Ingram is outside. We have him surrounded, but he’s unarmed. What would you like us to do?”
Shit. “Don’t shoot.” I tossed my folder aside. “I’m coming.”
Ariel watched me through her thick glasses. “Can I help?”
“Stay here.” I walked outside with Dimitri and found Joseph standing in front of his car with his arms crossed over his chest. A dozen of my men surrounded him, all holding pistols or AK-47s. Joseph didn’t seem the least bit worried about all the bullets sitting inside the barrels.
Joseph leaned against the front of his car. “Beautiful day, huh?”
I raised my hand then lowered it. “He’s fine, guys.”
Dunbar was the last one to drop his gun. His hand shook before he finally cooperated.
“Search him,” I ordered.
“Oh, come on,” Joseph said. “If I were packing, I would have shot these fuckers for pointing their guns at me.”
“It’s not for my sake,” I said. “But theirs.”
Dunbar did a quick pat-down, feeling Joseph’s arms and thighs to make sure there wasn’t a Glock or a knife hidden anywhere. He finally stepped away. “All clear.”
Joseph adjusted his jacket then walked up to me. “Is this how you greet all your guests?”
“Just the ones who shoot me.” I walked to the front door and heard him trail behind. Whatever he wanted to discuss shouldn’t take place in front of my men. It either had something to do with London or the heist he was about to pull off.
Joseph chuckled behind me. “Alright, that’s fair.”
We walked into my office where Ariel was still waiting. “Can you give us the room, please?”
Ariel stared at Joseph with a look colder than ice. She’d nearly been taken hostage, but she didn’t show an ounce of fear. She sized him up like he was an easy opponent she could take down in a heartbeat.
Joseph whistled under his breath. “You’re looking fine this morning—”
“Speak to her again, and I’ll slit your throat.” I stared him down, no longer hospitable now that he had the nerve to insult one of my closest friends. If he thought I would let him objectify her, he was stupid. If he weren’t London’s brother, I would have already shot him by now.