Chapter 239

Kent clicks his tongue in sympathy and I look up at him, my eyes wide with regret. He just shakes his head at me. “It wasn’t a bad plan, Fay,” he murmurs, holding me tight. “You’re just…playing chess with the grand masters now. You’re kind of bound to be outmatched.”

I frown at him a little bit. “Are you suggesting that what I did in the months while you were in jail was easy?”

He shakes his head, his face perfectly serious. “Don’t accuse me of things I don’t mean just to get the upper hand, Fay,” he murmurs, and I sigh, realizing that…well, maybe I was doing that a little bit. “But your dad was…never a top tier player, even if he lucked into some of the right moves with Ivan’s help –“

“Took you out,” I mutter, a little bitter.

Kent gives a short laugh and shakes his head. “And you don’t have the element of surprise anymore, Fay, which you have to admit was a big part of your plan to get me free and escape the country. They know your name now – Bianci, he has a reason to see you coming.”

I sigh again, resting my head against his chest, frustrated. “So, what was the right move?”

“The right move,” he says, tightening his arms around my me and resting his head against mine as the water pours around us, “was coming to me with this idea and working together to figure it out.”

I pull away a bit and frown up at him. “And you’d have let me do that? You’d…work with me? Let me be part of the planning?”

Kent stares down into my face and lifts a hand to my cheek, stroking it with his thumb. “You’ve proven yourself capable, Fay,” he answers. “More than capable – a talented strategic mind. I’d be stupid to turn you away – what, because you’re young? A woman? Pregnant?” he shakes his head at me. “Give me more credit than that.”

I narrow my eyes at him, not quite believing it. Not yet. “You always shut the door on me before.”

“Yeah,” he sighs, his hand slipping down my back now. “That was before you put together a fairly brilliant plan to get me out of jail that went off without a hitch. That was frankly dull with its perfection – honestly, not a single shot fired, Fay –“

And I laugh now, shaking my head up at him, my heart raising a little bit.

“So did I totally fuck it up?” I whisper, anxious.

“You did not,” he murmurs, his hand slipping lower now to take a firm grip of my ass. “We’ll work it out, Fay. It’s not what I’d have chosen, and you acted sooner than I’d have chosen to act but…you’re not wrong that we’d have had to face him eventually. And your first move was not a bad one.”

I start to smile a little but hesitate when he frowns, narrowing his eyes at me, his hand tightening its grip and pulling me closer against him.

“But that’s not what we really need to talk about right now,” he murmurs, his voice deepening, darkening.

“It’s – it’s not?” I ask, my eyes going wide with anticipation and a little bit of anxiety. Because what…

But suddenly I give a little gasp as Kent uses his grip on my ass to pull me hard against him and then lifts, sliding my wet body up along his until I’m lifted up firmly against him. He glares at me again before striding three steps forward until my back presses against the cool tiles of the shower wall.

“We have to talk,” he growls, “about you lying to me, and sneaking out of the house, with Daniel of all people –“

And I smirk a little – I can’t help it – because this? This fight is more familiar territory. This I can handle.

But Kent just shakes his head at me, narrowing his eyes until the smirk falls from my face.

“I’m serious, Fay,” he says, pressing me back against the wall. “We’re not going to do it like this, with you doing whatever the hell you want and just swanning back into the house and taking your clothes off until I’m not mad anymore. I admit – it worked this time. But that’s the end of it.”

And I hesitate, not really wanting to agree to this because…

I mean. This worked out pretty great for me.

And so I loop my arms around his neck and move myself closer, letting the wet skin of my breasts press against his chest. “Well then what will we do instead?” I murmur, lifting my mouth to his.

But, to my surprise, he just shakes his head at me again. “No,” he snaps. “I’m serious, Fay, this is the end of it. That is the last lie you tell me, and the last time you do something behind my back. We agree – I won’t do it to you, and you won’t do it to me. Or else this is done.”

I pull back a little in shock, blinking up at him, trying to judge if he’s serious. But when I take in the clenched line of his jaw, this drawn brows…I realize that he is.

“All right,” I say, my eyes going wide with sudden fear. “Never again, Kent. I promise – that’s the end of it. The end of it all. Okay?”

He nods tersely, but doesn’t stop glaring at me, doesn’t let me down from my place pressed against the wall.

“So,” I say, anxiety coiling in my chest now. “Kent, are we…are we okay? Are we good?”

“Not yet,” he snaps, his grip on me tightening once more.

My frown deepens, confused. “What –“

But before I can get my question out Kent’s mouth is hard on mine. I moan almost instantly as he parts my lips with his, as his tongue slides into my mouth. One hand wraps around my waist, pinning me firmly to him as his other hand leaves my ass and slides between us.

My moan deepens as he slides his fingers against me and I tear my head to the side, pressing my eyes shut at the intensity of the feeling of Kent’s hands sliding against me. God – Kent’s hands – all thoughts of this afternoon, of mafia drama – it all disappears, because the only thing I can focus on now is the way he’s slipping his thumb right to that point at the crest of me.

“I’m going to show you, Fay,” Kent growls, his voice low, “that good things come when you listen to me, and do as I say.”

My back arches, pressing me closer to him as I moan my agreement, my consent, anything that will keep him going. Then angry hum in his chest deepens as he continues to stroke me with his thumb, sending shivers through my entire body. Then, when a moan slips from my lips at every stroke, Kent’s fingers slip lower, two pressing into me, slow and thick. I groan and shudder at the feel of him starting to fill me – his fingers curling right at that spot –

My breath comes in hard pants already, because I want him – I mean, I always want him, but now, especially – I want to be as close to him as I can. My eyes flutter open as Kent’s hand begins to pulse and water drips down my face, dragging over my lips as I stare into his gorgeous face –

Kent shifts his hand, going deeper, and my head falls back a little, my eyelids fluttering because it’s perfect – god, fuck, how does he know precisely –

He lowers his mouth to my bared neck, and I swear I light on fire at the press of his lips against my pulse. My hips buck against him, wanting more, needing it – pleasure builds in me already to the breaking point, coaxed there in an instant by Kent’s expert hands. I lift my head, my hands going to his face, wanting his mouth on mine again as I start to spill over –

“No,” he snaps and I whimper a little as he pulls his hand away –

I blink, my breathing rough in the hot foggy air of the shower, and stare at him, confused –

Why –

“On your feet, Fay,” he orders, his grip on my waist loosening.