“She’s nobody,” Lycan assures me under his breath, but I know it’s a lie. Nobody can ever be nothing to another person when they act like that. The jealousy is clear. There’s no doubt about it, that woman and Lycan were involved, and it was more serious than he’s letting on.

“Let me make something clear,” I hiss as my grandmother continues. “Never lie to me again.” I step forward as my gran calls me over, and I make my way toward her, stopping beside her as she gifts me a show of affection.

27

Lycan

Fire courses through my veins. The need to pin her down and whip her with my belt has taken over, but I can’t do shit since her grandmother is standing a few feet away. As much as I don’t mind an audience, that would be pushing my nonexistent limits.

When Scarlett joins me again after her grandmother allows her to, I wrap my arm around the slender waist of my pretty little red and tug her into my hold. The movement earns me a soft gasp of surprise. There are eyes on us, waiting to see what I’ll do. With a slow smirk crawling along my lips, I turn to Scarlett, cupping her face in my free hand, and pull her closer, touching my lips to hers.

Every set of eyes that are watching us scorches my skin. I know there is one woman who is ready to kill, who will easily take Scarlett from me, but I can’t let that happen, so when my beautiful bride-to-be opens her mouth, I allow my tongue to dive into her sweetness and put on the show everyone was waiting for.

A cheer surrounds us, clapping and shouting, a few pats on my back as I pull away from Scarlett, and I smile at the viper who’s piercing me with her glare. I can’t help but taunt her with a tip of my head, knowing that I’m goading her into making a fool of herself. She spins on her heel, leaving the room and heading outside, and I watch for a short moment as she lights up one of her long, menthol cigarettes. The shit used to stink up my bedroom, but when I let her go, I made sure to never come close to falling down that dark abyss again.

The guests congratulate us, but my mind is on getting out of here, making sure I can leave with Scarlett as soon as possible. The jet is ready, and I’m aching to be on it, with the woman in my arms, as we fly to New York. Heaven is waiting for me, and we’ll leave the devils behind.

It should be easier to fake a smile. Especially with the assholes in this room, but deep down, I don’t want to. I’m exhausted. Playing a game I know I’m no longer focused on. Each of the men at the party are clients of my club, and they all know what goes on in those private rooms.

Music tinkles from the band that’s been set up in the corner of the large ballroom. People couple up around us, as the party properly gets underway. They dance and sway along the space that’s been turned into a dance floor, and I decide it’s time to escape.

“Let’s go.” I take Scarlett’s hand and lead her to where Grace is standing, talking to guests I don’t recognize. Her gaze turns to us as we near her, and the glint of annoyance in her expression makes me smile. “Thank you for a lovely evening, but Scarlett and I have to leave. I have business I need to finish up before we get to the jet.”

“Oh,” she gasps. “I’m sorry to see you go,” she tells her granddaughter, not meeting my stare. “We’ll need to talk. I hope you can give me a call soon. There are so many things I’d like to catch up with you on.”

“We’ll be back soon,” Scarlett tells her grandmother. “I would like to talk to you about the books.” I tense when Scarlett mentions those, and I notice her grandmother’s mouth pinch in frustration before she looks at me. “I found them, I mean, those notes.”

“We need to leave,” I speak up, knowing that this is not the time and place to get into this fucking conversation. “Thank you again, Grace. It was lovely as usual.” My hand in Scarlett’s tightens, and I offer her a squeeze of warning as I take a step away.

“Darling, please,” Grace pleads in a hushed whisper before we can escape. “Leave the past where it is,” she informs Scarlett. “It’s no longer relevant. Move on.”

Tension bunches my muscles, holding tight as they twist. I know she’ll never tell Scarlett the truth, that she walked away from the only man who loved her just to marry a piece of trash, gold-digging bastard. I’m sure there’s more to the story, but because my father is dead and all his secrets buried with him, I doubt I’ll ever find out.

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