“But one day it’ll be yours?” I ask as a few men greet Theo as we pass them.
I spot Stella marching back into the room with Seb, Alex, Nico and Toby trailing behind her. Following her stare, I find Daemon on the other side of the room with a beautiful blonde.
“If I want it, yeah,” Theo says, reminding me that I asked a question.
“You get a choice?”
“Yes and no,” he says cryptically.
“Right,” I mutter, not understanding in the slightest how the mafia hierarchy works. “Who’s that with Daemon?”
“Uh… Isla. She’s the daughter of one of dad’s soldiers.”
“They together?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. Is that an issue?” he asks, looking at me curiously.
“Well, now that you mention it, I was hoping I would end up going home with him tonight.”
I squeal when he digs his fingers into my ribs teasingly.
“Watch your mouth, Hellcat. I have no issue pulling that sexy dress up and spanking your arse in front of the entire room if necessary.”
My breath catches at his dirty words, and damn it if my cunt doesn’t flood at the thought.
“Shit me, babe. You’re fucking wet right now, aren’t you?”
Biting down on my bottom lip, I stare at him. “Maybe you should find out,” I breathe, hoping for my sexiest voice.
“Hell, don’t fucking tempt me.”
I want to, I really fucking want to. I want to let him lead me away from all this and the destruction I’m going to cause. I could plead innocence and demand he keep me in his sex tower until the end of time.
“Emmie, where the hell have you been hiding that body?” Nico barks, appearing almost out of nowhere while I’m lost in my own head.
“In my bed. Keep your eyes to yourself.”
“Oh bro,” Alex joins in. “You’ve got it fucking bad. Well done, Em,” he says, turning to me and holding his fist up for me to bump. “You’ve done the unthinkable and whipped this motherfucker right into shape.”
“Uh…” With a laugh, I bump his fist with my free hand but immediately realise my mistake when Alex’s gaze drops to my finger. How I got away with it with the girls was beyond me. I never expected it to be one of the boys who noticed.
Before I know what’s happening, my hand is being lifted and everyone, including Stella, Seb, Calli, Daemon and his girl are all staring at my hand as if they’ve never seen one before.
“Bro, did you put a fucking ring on it?” Seb asks, utter disbelief written all over his face.
“Yeah,” Theo states as if it’s the most normal thing in the world.
“You’re both fucking seventeen,” Nico points out.
“And Emmie’s dad will fucking slaughter you in your sleep,” Stella says.
“Probably her grandfather and her uncle too, just to make sure you’re actually dead.”
“Chill, guys. It’s not actually a big deal. We’re not about to start announcing dates and colour themes or anything,” I say with a laugh, mainly because we don’t fucking need to.
Theo’s hand squeezes the one he’s holding onto before he levels Seb with a look.
“When you know, you know, right?” he asks him, knowing that Seb’s the only other one of his friends who would come anywhere close to understanding this right now.
“Y-yeah, I guess. But fuck, bro. You bought her a ring.”
Releasing my hand, he wraps his hand around my waist and pulls me into his body, dropping his lips to my temple in case those around us didn’t already get the memo.
“Yep, Emmie’s mine. It’s time everyone knew it.”
Someone calls something from the other side of the room and everyone starts moving toward an empty table, which apparently, is waiting just for us.
I let Theo lead me over, happy that I don’t have to sit anywhere near his father.
Maybe the first half of this night won’t be too bad after all.