Page 138 of Discretion at Its Finest

It wouldn’t have been the first time I threw her over a desk and fucked her out of her mind… but we were on a tight schedule.

Her lips chased mine when I leaned back, breath still unsteady, her hands still fisted in my shirt, not even realizing she was doing it.

“Vieve,” I murmured, brushing my thumb over the corner of her mouth, wiping a smudge of her lipstick onto my skin, “don’t start something you know I don’t have the time to finish.”

A faint sound escaped her. Half-embarrassed, still half-needy as a smile threatened to grace my lips at her flustered state.

“Reid, stop,” she muttered, pulling away like what I’d said was ludicrous. I placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

“Later,” I promised her against her skin, “we’ll have the jet all to ourselves, and then—”

She slapped my shoulder at that, a small gasp leaving her, and turned away before I could tease her further.

I didn’t bother to hide the way I watched her walk, her hips swaying, confidence slipping back into place. Her scent still clinging to the air, her taste still on my tongue. I licked my lips as I watched her.

Later…I walked after her, masking the face of a man with just a hint of self-control left.

Yeah, I was definitely going to have to fulfill my promise to her.

Chapter fifty-two

Reid

Time can change everything or it can change nothing.

I’d lived long enough to know that much. Over the years, power came easily. Especially when you already held all the cards dealt.

Months had gone by and the issue that was the Newman family was finally gone. Calvin was all too proud to be the bearer of good news. The memory slipped in easily, his nasally voice, too pleased with himself for a man who had failed spectacularly for more than a decade.

“Mr. Kaufman,” he’d said, voice laced with idiotic triumph, “the Newman problem has been… addressed. Permanently this time. Rather messy, but effective. Your son was quite productive this time around. Now,” he continued boldly, “given this extraordinary success, I assume this secures my future… our future? My seat in the throne of such a fine dynasty?”

His obsession with the Russels was what I’d considered a carrot for a horse. The line between usefulness and extermination was paper-thin with him. He’d danced on it for years. Still did to this day.

But he truly was the only man desperate enough to handle the job. Just didn’t know he’d be a pain in the ass for more than fifteen years.

My gaze shifted to the worn leather journal on my desk, Genevieve’s handwriting curling across the pages. Lists, notes, recipes Brielle had sent her from the family butlers they kept on retainer.

The two of them grew close over the years. Closer than I ever expected. Brielle had forgiven her mother in ways Eugene never could.

She called often. Asked about her life. Shared pictures of her children. Invited her into the world she’d built from abandonment and found family. It steadied Genevieve, softened her grief at losing her children. Gave her purpose again.

And soon enough, she asked the question I’d known was coming.

“Reid… Brielle invited me to spend Christmas at the estate… I want to go.”

She’d finally asked me to see her daughter—her family… and I told her yes.

Because time did change something. It grew the bond between a lost mother and daughter. It made the world forget the past that kept us hidden.

And apparently, it had softened me too. More than I’d like to admit.

The soft click of my office door pulled me from the memory. Genevieve slipped inside, wearing one of her silk slips, hair still damp from the shower, robe framing her perfect body.Time had definitely done my wife well.

“Reid?” she said gently, approaching my desk as my eyes lifted from my work. “Are you busy?”

“Yes,” I said, but I had already turned my chair to face her anyway. I leaned back, my legs sprawled for her in invitation,veined hands resting on my thighs, waiting for her to sit. She sat across my lap, legs crossing as she toyed with her hands. I wrapped my arms around her waist, waiting for her to speak.

“I… I wanted to ask you something.”