FIFTEEN

As they sat down for their second and final meal of the day, Lukas was still reliving the blinding pleasure that had been etched into Dale’s face as he’d brought her to orgasm for the first time. The highlight of the event hadn’t been him getting her off but her open acceptance of the pleasure.

She hadn’t been shy or uncomfortable. She’d given him the gift of a goddamn yes, then had been eager and exposed, and she’d allowed him the honor of watching her come apart for him. Even when she’d returned to earth and had eventually gotten up to go into the bathroom to get him a wet washcloth—that he hadn’t needed because he’d licked the evidence of her desire clean from his fingers the minute her back had been turned—she hadn’t ducked her head or refused to meet his eye. She’d smiled. She’d kissed him. And she’d hurried him along so Samuel and Farah wouldn’t have to wait on them.

The blushes and downcast eyes arrived when they’d stopped by the jewelers on the way to the hospital. After some initial nervous hysteria on the bride-to-be’s part, Lukas finally had the distinct pleasure of sliding his ring on his woman’s finger. They’d received congratulatory hugs and kisses from Samuel and Farah and had gone on to the hospital with the two proudly grinning idiots to spend an hour with his beaming father.

Lukas glanced up to watch his fiancé move around the table in her strappy sandals and burgundy lace dress that was classy but casual. She quietly thanked him before taking the seat he held out for her.

Should never feel this good. Making me so stupid.

He frowned, remembering her words as he pulled out his own chair while everyone else did the same. He’d caught her, more than once today, nibbling on her thumbnail and looking as if she might be second-guessing her decision to marry him.

Or she could have needed to use the restroom.

Fucked if he knew for sure because she’d stuck to surface chatter all day. Not that they’d had much time alone, but still. Samuel and Farah fucked off into their own little world every thirty minutes. They didn’t care who else was around.

But the moment he’d slipped his arm around Dale’s waist or tried to take her hand, she’d suddenly developed an itch or had needed something from her purse that Farah had handed her when they’d met in front of the garage. She hadn’t been happy to see her phone was missing, but she’d been a good girl and had yet to mention it. Lukas was in the process of replacing hers with a tweaked phone that would be near impossible to hack.

Reaching for one of the bottles of Pinot Noir he’d gotten from the cellar a few minutes ago—Dale had shaken her head without meeting his eyes when he’d asked if she’d wanted to see it—he tuned into the conversation she was having with Farah just in time to hear her dreamy sigh.

Vasily, Maks, Sergei, and Samuel were having a private—speaking Russian—discussion about what had gone down at James’s son’s homes, because it turned out, the accountant hadn’t had what it took to get all four screws out, and he’d perished with his shoulder still attached to the chair.

Gheorghe had taken a seat at the other end of the table, on Farah’s left, and was listening to the girls.

“Dean and Sam were my go-to for the longest time,” Dale was saying, “but Erika forced me to binge watch her show. Now, I’m sad to say, I share my fantasies equally between the Winchesters and Rick and Daryl.” She put a hand up when Farah started to protest. “I know what you’re going to say, and it won’t change anything.” Smiling at Gheorghe, she accepted a platter of grilled lamp chops. “I don’t know why, but all the grime just adds to it for me. Can you imagine not having to do a PTA check before bed every night?”

Farah laughed as she wrinkled her nose and accepted a glass from Lukas. “Thank you.”

Wondering what flavor of fantasy Dale was partial to using when she masturbated—if she masturbated—he poured for her and Samuel before handing the bottle across to Farah so she could reach Gheorghe.

“What’s a PTA check?” Lukas asked Dale as she transferred some mixed greens to her plate from a large wooden salad bowl.

Her gaze went around their guests before she whispered, “That isn’t something ladies talk about at the table, Mr. Murdery.”

“Then you shouldn’t have any issues. What is it?”

Her eyes widened on a shocked laugh, and for the first time since they’d left the bedroom, she voluntarily touched him by cupping his jaw and kissing the corner of his mouth. “Screw it. I can’t resist you.” She gave him an affectionate little nuzzle. “We’re officially friends.”

He licked the taste of her off his lip. She’d been resisting him all day? “How’s that?”

“You just insulted me, and I liked it.”

He arched a brow. “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. PTA?” he reminded her.

She leaned into him under the pretense of placing the salad bowl down in exchange for the salt. “Pits, tits, and ass, baby,” she said quietly enough for no one but him to hear.

Naked. He needed her really fucking naked.

To get his mind off his cock that was once more straining against his zipper, he sent his attention across the table to Gheorghe. “Markus stayed with us when he was in town a couple of weeks ago,” he said, speaking of Lucian’s younger brother. “It was a nice change to host a Fane rather than have one show up unannounced the way you and Lucian tend to do.”

“Markus and my sister are anomalies in our family.”

The Romanian didn’t soften his statement with a smile, but he did appear at ease as he ate, keeping his eyes on his plate. The man needed to see a barber.

“Markus and Daria are social beings,” Lukas explained to Dale. “They enjoy the company of others, whereas Gheorghe and Lucian, who you’ll meet when we go to New York next month, don’t. You’re not to take offense. It’s nothing personal.”

Gheorghe didn’t comment, but a trace of a smile was evident when he raised his glass in a silent salute. The only time Lukas had known the guy to converse like your average person was when he was with Lucian. Otherwise, he observed and was standoffish to the point of being rude.

“What about you, Dale?” Farah wiped her mouth with her napkin. “Has he ever bothered you? I’d have remembered if you’d come to me with it, but maybe you took care of it yourself.”

Dale tipped her head and paused her task. She’d taken all the meat off the bone and was cutting it into small pieces. Lukas smiled privately, thinking she would do the same for their child in a couple of years.

“Who?” she asked.

“Garrett Dawson. He’s a handsy dick who frequents the club,” Farah explained to Lukas before going back to Dale. “He’s made a real nuisance of himself with Gretchen. So much so that I had to send Kong and Yusef to his place to give him a warning. He hasn’t been to the club since, and I was hoping we’d seen the last of him, but you were there when Gretchen said he called her. He said some horrible things in his message. We’re trying to figure out how he got her cell number.”

Concern dotted Dale’s expression as she ate a piece of lamb. “He targets my section every once in a while still, but he doesn’t talk to me anymore. His friendly attitude changed in a hurry when I told him I was gay. He didn’t believe me and asked why I live with a man, and I had to tell him Liam was also gay and we were best friends.” She shrugged. “I think he might live near me because I see him at the grocery store I go to. He pretends not to know me,” she said with an eye roll.

“You live with a man?” Maksim asked as he passed on some butternut squash Vasily offered him.

Lukas gave the instigator a warning look. “We’d have known that if Samuel kept better records.” He addressed his brother. “Who collected the few bits of information in that file? Damien?” Damien was Samuel’s byki’s four-year-old son.

Samuel grinned. “I didn’t think she would one day be living under our roof, so I only asked for the basics.”

Maksim’s attention was still on Dale. “Does he know where you are?”

Shifting in her seat, Dale fiddled with her cutlery. Her ring glittered beautifully beneath the chandelier. “I moved out before work yesterday, so it doesn’t matter.”

“It never did,” Lukas added.

“Not to you,” Maksim said. To Dale, he confirmed, “You’re not really gay, though, are you?” The interested note in his voice had Vasily giving Lukas an apologetic shrug as he pushed his empty plate aside and picked up his wine glass. Dmitri was at the end of the table, and like Gheorghe, he was observing in silence as he finished eating. Sergei was absent as he’d opted to have dinner sent to his room.

“No. I only said that to Garrett so he’d stop groping me.”

Groping her? Lukas pictured some desperate prick touching her without her permission. “Two killings in two days?” he murmured. “You’re going to make me set a personal best, yagodka. Now.” He looked across to Samuel. “Let’s move onto how the fuck this asshole knew her roommate was a man, and why he’s been nosing around her neighborhood.”

“One of the girls probably told him about Liam.” Dale wasn’t eating anymore but pushing her food around her plate. “And, as I said, I think he lives near me because I’ve seen him more than a dozen times in the past couple of months.”

Everyone at the table looked at her.

She looked back with those innocent emerald eyes wide with discomfort. “What.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that?” Farah put her utensils down.

“Farah said you live—or used to live,” Samuel corrected when he saw Lukas open his mouth, “just outside of Midtown. Garrett Dawson lives in Garden Oaks with his wife and two kids.”

“Oh.” Dale’s smile was forced as she shook her head when their housekeeper touched her elbow to offer her lemonade or iced tea. “No, thank you.” As Oksana went around the table, Dale said, “Maybe Garrett works around my old apartment. Or the studio where I teach. Or he could drive through that neighborhood on his way to and from work.”

Farah shook her head, looking more and more disturbed. “He owns one of the dealerships on Shepherd Drive.” Which was on the other side of downtown Houston.

“Do you have someone on this?” Lukas asked his brother.

“When Farah came to me with it last night, I sent the boys out. The wife told our ‘detailers’ Dawson hasn’t been home in a couple of days, and he hasn’t shown at the dealership either. She said he gambles, and he’s done this before, but we don’t think he’s on a bender. I’ll let you listen to the message he left Gretchen later.”

Farah made a face that had Lukas wanting to hear the message now.

“Don’t worry,” Samuel said to her. “We’ll find him before he follows through on it.”

“On what?” Dale asked. She was rubbing her stomach like she felt sick. “What did he say to Gretchen?”

Samuel exchanged a look with his wife, and spoke only after Farah nodded. “He described how he would nail her before he killed her in front of her kid.”

Dale gasped as Lukas went cold. If the guy was planning that kind of fun with Gretchen, what was to stop him from adding Dale to his list of possible victims? Was that why he’d been hanging in her neighborhood? Had he been learning her routine? Hoping to catch her unawares so he could snatch her?

Lukas looked down the table to see Maksim tapping away on his phone. The guy must have a harem for how often he texted. “Maks?”

Without lifting his head, Vasily’s valued avtorityet started rattling off information, listing everything from personal debts to how unimpressive Garrett Dawson’s marks were in high school. “He doesn’t have a car in his name, so I’ll bet that means he drives those off his lot. Give me a second.” He tapped for a minute in the silence that now surrounded him. An awed silence. “Yeah. His dealership’s records show six vehicles are out. Four of them are customer rentals, two of them are not…” More tapping. “GPS says the wife has a Caddy in their driveway in Garden Oaks. That means…” A low chuckle sounded, and when he raised his head to look at Samuel then Lukas, there was a determined gleam in his silver eyes. “Got a laptop? The asshole scrambled the signal on the GPS. Looks like he doesn’t want to be found.” He stood as Samuel did the same, but didn’t follow when Samuel headed for the office and their computers.

Instead, Maksim continued to look at Lukas. He switched to Russian when he spoke.

“I’ll pin this prick down only if I get to come along for the ride. Oh, and I want him in pieces. Or is it pieces of him.” He waved a hand. “You know what I mean.”

Lukas had to smile. Maksim wanted a piece of Dawson. He got it. “Be my guest. But I won’t be going out personally unless there’s evidence Dale was a target.”

“Oh?” Maksim came around the table. “I enjoyed watching you work last night, so how about we make it a date.” When he reached Lukas, he motioned him to his feet with two fingers. “Personal files from his home computer,” he said, holding out his phone.

As Lukas looked at six names—three of which he recognized from Scorch—and long, detailed descriptions of what would be done to the women once Garrett Dawson was in possession of them, the groping sadist earned himself the number one spot on his most wanted list.

He looked to Samuel who was waiting by the door. “Mine, yours, and a friend Dale has mentioned are three of his six targets. You’ll probably recognize the others.” He kept to Russian so as not to alarm the girls. “According to this guy, the ladies are in for a lot of hard fucking. Something that sounds strangely like reconstructive surgery on a pussy that ‘doesn’t deserve his worship any longer.’” He air-quoted. “And when he’s through ‘punishing them,’ a slow, agonizing death, because ‘that’s what stuck-up whores deserve.’”

Samuel was the least violent of the two of them, but seeing the viciousness that twisted his feature just then, you’d never know it.

“What is it? Sammy?” Farah went to get up, but her husband shook his head and came back to place a kiss on her head.

“Don’t. Just ignore me. Knowing this guy was hanging out at the club pisses me off.” His tone was even, but his eyes were still furious. “You’re housebound until I say otherwise.” She didn’t protest when he lifted her by the chin and kissed her before snapping, “Maks? You want that computer?”

The two left, with Gheorghe following like a dark shadow, and Vasily and Dmitri soon did the same with Vasily saying they were going to the hospital to sit with Lukas’s father and Yuri. Lukas was to tell Maksim to keep them updated.

When it was just him, Dale, and Farah, his sister-in-law stood.

“Well, since it’s still early, I’m going to the stables.” She looked distracted as she headed for the exit. “Do you ride, Dale?”

“No. I’ve never had the opportunity.”

“That’s too bad. Maybe Lukas will teach you, and we can start going out together.”

After she was gone, Dale got up. “What was that all about?”

He shrugged. “Dawson’s about to get spanked.”

“That was understood. What were you guys saying?”

He hooked a lock of her hair with his pinkie and brought it under his nose. “I’m aware you don’t speak Russian, Dale.”

“Which is why I just asked you to translate.”

He brought the ends of her hair over to tickle her chin. “We didn’t want you to know what we were saying.”

“Why?”

“Because there are certain things you’re better off not knowing.”

“Am I in danger?”

He almost laughed. “No, yagodka. I would never allow it.” He took her hand and left the dining room.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“Okay.”

Her hand squeezed his while her trust did the same with his heart.

“Farah’s a different animal here than she is at work.”

“She’s not second-in-command here.”

“I get that,” she said as they crossed the hallway to enter the kitchen. “I’m just surprised she was so compliant when Samuel grounded her.”

“She understands that when her husband puts his foot down, it means he’s either protecting her or trying to find some piece of mind. She loves him enough to give him that without causing unnecessary drama. I’m confident you’ll soon do the same for me.”

Lukas hid his smile by kissing her knuckles and played dumb by pretending not to see her skeptical look.