Page 124 of Reckless Love

“I treated my employees at Reckless pretty well, I think. All those surveys will tell me if I’m right. But I never asked or even questioned if Raul was doing the same. Part of me probably knew he wasn’t. But this…” I toss my hand at the computer. “How was all this just swept under the rug? Like none of these people mattered?”

“This is unlikely to be all of it,” Stephen says with a grimace. “Your mother would never show all of her cards.”

“More? No. Really?”

“I would bet money on it. She had this file already set up. I’m sure she did it after you came to see her, knowing I’d never let her say no to you. As well as I know her, she knows me too, Ava. You’ve always been one of the people I’d walk through hell for, and Celia has wielded that—and honestly, so has the rest of your family—whenever it suited them.”

“What’s that mean?”

“Come on—none of them ever said they’d used you as a bargaining chip to get me to do something?”

My cheeks heat because of course they did, and I never questioned it, never wondered if it was good for him or even for us. “I’m sorry,” I say. “I shouldn’t have let them do that.”

“I let them do it too.”

“Yeah, but they’re my family, and I knew you’d do anything.” My voice cracks. “I knew you’d do anything for me, and it wasn’t fair. That I knew that. That I used that. That I let them use that.”

He lifts me out of my chair and over onto his lap. With gentle fingers, he eases my hair behind my ears, and he stares at me for a beat. “I really would, you know. Pay any cost if it meant you paid nothing.”

“I know,” I say, “but that’s not how things work now. When you pay, I pay. When you suffer, I suffer. There’s no you and me now. We’re an us.”

“We’re taking down Raul. That’s not even a question. But your mother?”

“Family meeting,” I say. “If we’re going after her too, I need to know she can’t get to you.”

“I don’t know how anyone in your family can guarantee that, Ava. But I’m willing to see what they say.”

“If they can’t,” I say, cupping his cheek with my palm, “then we stick with Raul. I’m not losing you over some revenge plot that leaves Landon without his dad and me without the love of my life.”

“Say it again,” he murmurs, nuzzling my ear.

“You’re the love of my life.”

“You’re fucking right I am,” he says, and then he kisses me before lifting me up to set me on the desk. “Every time you say that, something inside me goes absolutely feral. I’m going to claim that title right here on this desk, in this house, just because I can. Would you like that?”

“Yes.” I wrap my hand around the back of his neck as he kisses me deeply before pushing up my skirt.

“Have I told you how much I love all these skirts and dresses you wear?” He kneels to kiss a line up my thigh.

“Not lately.”

“Every single one has my seal of approval.”

“I like it best when you approve of them by exploring what’s underneath.” I open wider as he makes his way inward.

He chuckles, running his nose along my panties. “And I love looking at you later and knowing there’s still some of me inside you.”

His eyes are full of desire when they meet mine briefly before he returns his focus where I really want it. “Are you wet for me yet, baby?” He runs his index finger over my panties and along my center. “Mmm. You are. We should get you out of these wet clothes.” His index fingers grip the edges of my panties and tug them down until they’re on the floor. Then he runs his finger up my center. “Just the way I like it.”

“Warm and wet and waiting for you,” I agree, breathless with anticipation. “Don’t make me wait.”

He sets my legs on his shoulders, and then he licks and sucks, falling into the rhythm that’ll drive me to the brink as quickly as possible. I let my head fall back, my hair skimming the desk, as I let the anticipation build. How did I ever settle for anything else when I knew this kind of passion existed? That I could lose track of time and space so easily…

When I’m close, I wind one of my hands into the short strands of his hair, and immediately, he’s over me. I don’t know when he took off his pants, but I’m grateful for the multitasking. He pushes in deep with forceful thrusts meant to spur my desire on, urge me into the spiral of sensations only he can achieve.

“That’s it, baby,” he murmurs against my ear. “Make me proud.”

Then I’m clutching him as I’m swept away, limbs shaking with pent-up desire, at the same time he scoops my ass up, angling deeper, hitting exactly the right spot.