“Wake up, Sami.”

I roused from a deep sleep to the feel of heat and need burning my body.

My pussy was swollen and throbbed for release.

I opened my eyes and saw Dev’s feet sticking out the bottom of the comforter.

His hands glided along my inner thighs, making my pulse jump, and his body weight pressed my legs into the bed.

It had been years since he’d woken me this way.

“Devin.” I lifted the covers to see him crawling upward.

“Shh. I’m busy. I promised my wife that I’d satisfy her when she woke.” He smiled up at me with mischief in his eyes.

He looked years younger, like the way he had when we’d first met, twelve years ago.

He butterflied my legs apart, exposing my wet center to his gaze.

His fingers traced the outside of my labia, sliding my thong between my dampening folds, and then squeezed, working my lower lips in a slow seductive rhythm designed to make me insane.

Every nerve ending woke with a vengeance, making my body arch against him.

My nipples pebbled and my breasts swelled as my clit throbbed for more.

He pulled my minuscule underwear against me, making me cry out.

“I’m almost there.”

“No, you’re not.” He stopped his ministrations and lifted his body up, throwing the duvet off us.

I growled. “I thought this was about satisfying me?”

He pulled his shirt over his head, revealing a body sculpted to perfection from hours of training for triathlons. His beautiful cock strained against the seam of his jeans, making my mouth water for a lick.

I sat up, getting onto my knees, and ran my nails up from his waist, over his abs, and along his pecs. His skin was hot to the touch and covered in a light dusting of blondish-brown hair that tickled the tips of my fingers.

“It is, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy seeing you squirm.” He fisted my hair as our lips met, devouring each other.

His mouth tasted of cinnamon and brandy, telling me Jacinta had served some of her signature cocktails.

I grazed my palm over his fabric-covered cock, stroking up and down his length.

Just as I deepened our embrace and began to unbutton his pants, he pushed me back onto the bed, yanked my feet out from under me, and wedged his way between my legs.

“You aren’t going to distract me. I’m on a mission.” With a quick jerk of his hand, my thong was ripped from my body.

“Do you know how many pairs of underwear I’ve had to replace over the years?”

He leaned down and blew on my center. “Are you complaining?”

Goosebumps prickled my sensitized skin. I shook my head. “Absolutely not.”

He pushed two fingers deep into my soaked core and covered my pulsing clitoral nub with his mouth.

“God, you taste better than ever.”

His tongue circled and strummed my clit as his fingers curled inside, hitting the spot that made my pussy clench in a tight grip around him.

I was helpless as the first tide of sensation washed over me.

I threaded my hands through his hair and arched up.

“Devin,” I screamed.

My pussy clenched and pulsed, flooding the pistoning fingers inside me. This man could play my body like a concert pianist.

A hand slid up my belly holding me in place, while the other strummed the G-spot inside me.

“More,” he murmured against my pussy. “Give me one more.”

His mouth continued its exquisite torture of licking and sucking until I shattered again in a writhing, heaving mess.

I took deep, hard breaths as I stared up at the plastered crown molding that gave away the age of the historic house.

My body felt numb and blissfully content.

Dev shifted to lie beside me, his face flushed with desire and breaths coming out in short pants.

I leaned over him, kissing his jaw. “Your turn.”

He grabbed me and pulled me against his chest. “No, this was about you. I plan to fuck you until you pass out later.”

I listened to the steady beat of his heart.

“I’m sorry I left you to come here without me. I wouldn’t have gone unless it was absolutely necessary.”

“Dev, was meeting this man so important? If I wanted to, I could finance a campaign with the money my grandparents left me.”

“I know this.”

“Then why?”

“Because I know you’d eat dirt before touching your inheritance. It doesn’t matter that the money came from your mother’s side. It represents the millions of ways your dad tried to control you and tell you that you’d never make it without it.”

I had no idea what to say. Dev had verbalized something I hadn’t ever expressed to him.

From the moment Papa discovered I could do complex equations as a six-year-old, he’d planned my life for me. He had pulled me out of my top-of-the-line private school and hired some of the best tutors money could buy.

He used his money and influence to control every aspect of my life, from the schools I would apply to for college to picking my major. He was the reason I’d become a lawyer.

The only decision I’d made for myself before marrying Dev was applying to Stanford for law school instead of Harvard as my father expected.

No matter how successful I was in life, if I didn’t follow Papa’s plan, I was a failure.

“Dev, will he ever accept me?”

He sighed and kissed the top of my head. “I wish I could say yes, but your father believes you made a fool of him when you married me and moved to Washington.”

“I miss my mom. Do you think he’s going to let Ashur bring her here tomorrow?”

“I don’t know, baby. Ash will try, but ultimately your father makes the decisions.”

“I wish Mommy would stand up to him, even though I know she never will. Papa has her under his thumb, and she’s too scared to challenge him.”

“Sami, your dad is a powerful man, and according to Ash, you’re the only one who has ever turned your back on him, his aspirations, and his money. It pisses him off that he has no hold over you, so the only way to get back at you is to keep you from your mother.”

“I just wish…”

“Sam, you have to stop hoping for his approval—it’s never going to come. You don’t prescribe to his plan for your life.”

I lifted my head and glared down at him. “You’re one to talk.”

A knock on the door saved me from a grumpy response.

“Dev, if you’re done waking Sam up, Dad has requested your presence for a family discussion. I suggest you and Sam hurry. Something is up and one of you is the cause of it.”

I glanced at Dev, who shrugged his shoulders and slipped off the bed, pulling me with him.

“Let’s get this over with.”

* * *

Dev and I arrived at Jacinta’s private library ten minutes after she left us. It was one of my favorite rooms in the house. Floor-to-ceiling shelves of books and nooks and crannies filled with comfy couches made the perfect place to relax and lose oneself in the pages of a novel.

As we entered the room, I felt a distinct edge of tension.

Dev’s brother Tyler, who I hadn’t seen since February, paced with a worried expression on his face, Jacinta and Carol nursed cocktails without looking in our direction, and the senator was on the phone, red-faced and reaming the person on the other line.

“Samina dear.” Carol jumped up and wrapped me in a tight hug. “I’m so glad everything is out in the open now. From the time you roomed with Jaci, you were always part of this family, but now it’s official and permanent.”

I squeezed her back and let her warmth soak in. There was nothing like a hug from a mother who cared about you.

“I see how it is. We both come in at the same time, and all you see is Sami. I thought I was your favorite child.” Dev pouted with his bottom lip sticking out.

Jacinta snorted from her place on the sofa

“Your place in the favorite hierarchy is questionable at best, Devin James Camden. It’s going to take me some time to get over how you hid Samina from us. And we haven’t had our conversation yet. You’ve spent most of yesterday and this morning doing God knows what and then the moment you arrived here you were locked up with your father.”

Carol released me, guiding me to a spot between Jacinta and her on the sofa. I lifted a brow in Dev’s direction, who pretended he didn’t notice my unsaid question about his suspicious whereabouts.

I nodded toward Tyler, Jacinta’s twin. “Good to see you, Ty. How’s Charlotte?”

I had given Tyler a rescued shepherd-husky mutt when his fiancée broke up with him and took the dog they shared.

Of all the Camden siblings, he was the funniest as well as the most sensitive. He hid his true emotions behind a wall of humor and impeccable Southern charm. The only people who saw the genuine Tyler underneath was his family.

“Good, as always. I left my girl at home. She misses you.”

“Then you better bring her to the house next time you visit.”

“Nothing like a puppy to heal a broken heart,” Jacinta said as she handed me a drink.

I brought the drink to my nose, and one whiff of it made my stomach turn.

I handed it back to her.

“Did you leave any alcohol in the bottle?” I asked. “If I drink that, I’m going to be useless, and something tells me I’m going to need all my wits for the discussion ahead.”

A minute later, Dev’s father ended his call.

“Samina, it’s good to see you.” With a forced smile, he came over to shake my hand.

“Senator.”

“Call him Richard, if not Dad.” Carol patted my leg and fixed the senator with an annoyed stare.

“There’s something we need to discuss.” He ignored his wife’s words. No doubt Dev got his tactics from his father. “I heard what Decker did to you.”

I turned to Devin, who leaned against the doors leading to the patio.

“You told him.”

“Yes, Sami. He needed to know what was going on under his nose.”

“And?” I probed, sneaking a quick look at Jacinta, who was wringing her hands together.

No one seemed to notice her agitation at the mention of Decker’s name.

“I’m going to meet with some of my colleagues to handle it my way,” the senator stated.

“Meaning?”

Devin answered, “Decker made an enemy when he went after you to get back at Dad.”

I bet it had less to do with me and more the fact Devin was associated with an alleged scandal of a secret marriage.

“I will make his life a living hell for trying to orchestrate a scandal with one of my children. His son’s arrest will be the least of his worries. I was hoping to let Jacinta run this election her way, but after this, I’m going to use every connection I have to make sure Jaci gets the party nomination.”

I couldn’t believe the reason he was going to openly support Jacinta’s run for Senate was that Decker pissed him off. As a father, I’d expect him to be one of her biggest supporters, but I should have known better. He hadn’t given Tyler an ounce of recognition when he’d run for the United States House of Representatives. He’d said he wanted Tyler to run on his own merit, but then he’d taken all the credit once Tyler won.

Jacinta was her party’s darling and the up-and-coming hopeful for the highest office in the nation. Her popularity was higher than her father’s, and instead of helping his daughter, he’d used her status to benefit his campaign. Richard had so many traits that reminded me of my own father, but I kept those thoughts to myself.

Jacinta adored her father. He was the reason she’d entered politics. She’d tell me he wasn’t the typical conservative. I never had the heart to tell her she viewed him through rose-colored glasses.

“Spencer Miller broke into our house to make money from the pictures Decker hired him to take,” I said. “Miller was planning to double-cross Decker up until his arrest. I had him investigated. A tabloid had offered him six hundred thousand.”

A look passed between Dev and Richard.

“Both Dad and I agree with you,” Dev said. “It was too much of a coincidence that Decker was available to help Miller. There is no way to cover up an incident like yours without long-term planning. That’s way I had Tyler do some digging. Tell her what you found out.”

Tyler stopping pacing and leaned against the back of a recliner in the corner of the room. “I used my contacts to trace what accounts paid for the bail. Decker has had Miller on a ten-thousand-dollar monthly stipend from before the break-in. I believe he made plans starting from the time Dad won Senate Majority Leader. Your marriage is public record. It just wasn’t acknowledged. And if spun correctly, a perfect scandal.”

“I’ve dealt with the manipulation and double-talk of politicians and celebrities over and over again, and now I’ve been a pawn in one of their schemes.”

Jacinta winced at my words, and I cringed inside. I was in a room full of politicians and would become one soon.

“You better get used to it. If Devin is giving up his judicial prospects for a political bid on your part, you’ll have to face the fact that anything and everything about you is fair game,” Richard said.

“Since when is breaking into someone’s house, taking nude pictures of them, and threatening to rape them fair game?” I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to soothe a headache that had flared to life. “If I were a man, this type of tactic would never be considered or tolerated.”

Richard shrugged and then said, “It all comes with the territory.”

I couldn’t believe my violation was something he viewed as par for the course. And I thought my father was ruthless and manipulative.

I lifted my chin and stared Richard in the eyes. “My question to you is, if this were Jacinta in the same situation, would you feel the same way?”

I didn’t dare glance at Jacinta. I’d see pain etched all over her face. Her father’s answer would seal his fate in her eyes.

“If you can’t handle it, then I suggest you learn to keep a lower profile. This is only the beginning, little girl. Let’s hope you don’t have any scandalous pictures other than you sitting on the floor of a shower. The media will have a field day with pictures of you with a past lover.”

“Dad, watch it,” both Dev and Tyler ordered at the same time.

“Don’t ever speak to her like that again.” Dev moved behind me, placing a hand on my shoulder. “She’s my wife, and you will show her respect.”

“I’m telling her the truth. Politics is ruthless,” Richard challenged. “She needs to learn. She’s about to enter the big leagues, and her gender doesn’t mean anyone will take it easy on her. I wouldn’t.”

“So, what you’re saying is that you’d hire someone to take compromising pictures of all your opponents, male or female, to win an election. You’d condone it as collateral damage if in the process the victim was assaulted?” My gaze bored into the senator’s.

“I said no such thing. Don’t you dare question my integrity, girl.”

My temper hit an all-time high. This fucker was going to get it, but Carol placed a hand on my leg and squeezed.

“Richard, enough.” Carol’s face grew cold. “I suggest you think before you speak, or one of your sons may be the one to challenge you for your seat next election. And I will be more than happy to support them.”

“You’re on her side? Our son has turned his back on a possible appointment to the United States Supreme Court. He’s giving up his dream for her.”

“Dad, that was your dream, not mine,” Devin said from behind me.

“I have never asked him to give up anything for me.” I clenched my fists. “I’m the one who’s given up so much over the years for both of you.”

I stood. I wasn’t going to put up with shit from him, especially when I refused to do it for my own father.

“Let me make this clear to you, Senator. Your son chooses the path he walks. I’ve rarely been a factor in his decisions. I moved to another state for him.”

“Bullshit. If it weren’t for you, Devin would never have left Louisiana. Because of you, he lives halfway across the country.” He laughed. “Just wait. All your father’s money isn’t going to protect you from what you’re about to jump into. DC will eat you alive. Those pictures you allowed the reporter to take are the least of your worries.”

“Richard, how dare you?” Carol shouted.

“No, Carol. It’s okay. I’ve dealt with men like him and the games they play from the time I clerked for Judge Kerry. I’ve handled more than my share of male egos.”

It was hard enough trying to make a name for myself in the legal field, and then add in the fact I was barely out of puberty, a female, and small in size, made me learn how to assert myself in a male-dominated field.

I clenched my fists and then felt Dev at my side. He linked his fingers with mine.

“I never thought I’d see the day that you’d blame the victim for a crime committed against them. You’re the exact type of good old boy who needs replacing,” Jacinta said through clenched teeth as she rose from the sofa and joined Dev and me, threading her fingers through mine on the other side. “I’ve never been more ashamed of you than I am right now.”

Richard staggered as if Jacinta had hit him. “You don’t mean that.”

“Yes, Richard. She does. As do all of us. In the forty years we’ve been together, we’ve disagreed about many things, but I’ve never thought I didn’t know you. I truly have no idea who you are.” Carol stood and walked toward the door. “Ladies, I think it’s time for some fresh air. Care to join me?”