Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 34520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 173(@200wpm)___ 138(@250wpm)___ 115(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 173(@200wpm)___ 138(@250wpm)___ 115(@300wpm)
“It’s so good.” She moans around my fingers as I pull them back and lick them clean.
“You’re better.” I kiss her, getting a taste of cake and Goldie all in one.
Mrs. Lou takes a million photos, and she can’t stop beaming. Elliott tries to lure Heirloom to him with an offer of frosting. Heirloom, though, only has eyes for Goldie.
“Here.” I show her to the dining table and sit her down across from Elliott. “I’ll serve you. You must be tired.”
“I’m all right.” She smiles up at me, her cheeks still pink from what we’d done earlier.
I lean down and whisper in her ear. “Save your strength, little thief. I’m going to wear you out all night long.”
She gasps, and Elliott smirks as I grab a plate and start loading it up with all the food along the far end of the table. I get extra of the puff pastries with cheese in the middle. I know she’ll like those.
“So how do you know Avery?” she asks.
“I’ve known him since we both joined up with the Dragoons.”
I shoot him a pointed look, which he ignores.
“What’s a Dragoon?”
“Mercenaries.” He shrugs. “We weren’t with them long. The Brotherhood came looking for us to do side jobs for them, so we moved our focus from all out conflicts to more strategic targets.”
“Like what?”
“Assassinations, high value art theft–things like that.” He takes a bite of the shrimp cocktail, thank God.
I hurry back to Goldie and put a plate in front of her. “Here you are.”
“Thanks.” She seems to notice my agitation and grabs my hand. “Don’t worry. You already told me these things, though you did sort of gloss over them.”
I sit beside her and give Elliott a death stare.
“Sorry,” he says around a mouthful of shrimp.
Heirloom jumps into the chair beside him and patiently waits for his own shrimp. Elliott obliges, and I focus on Marigold, serving her champagne and making sure she gets enough to eat.
She eventually says, “I’m going to pop if you put one more thing on my plate.”
“We can’t have that.” I swipe my thumb across her bottom lip and lick the little bit of chocolate sauce that escaped her spoon.
“Elliott, I know Avery is retired, but what do you do now? Are you retired too?”
He shrugs and gives Heirloom another shrimp. “Mostly. I do some consulting work here and there, matching operatives with jobs based on their skillset.”
“So you’re like a headhunter for illegal stuff?”
He smiles. “Something like that. I can match operatives, and if something goes wrong, I’m sometimes called in to find out what went wrong.”
“Like an investigator.” She nods. “Do you like it?”
“It’s all right.” He glances at me. “It was more fun when Avery was still in the game.”
“Don’t start that.” I pull Marigold into my side as Mrs. Lou takes yet another picture. When she pulls out a tissue and dabs at her eyes, Mr. Lou comes over and hugs her.
“I’m not starting anything. Just saying we had a good time, that’s all.”
“I’m out. I intend to stay that way.” I kiss Marigold on her hair. “I have much more interesting things to focus on now.”
“Oh, by the way, the Brewster brothers botched that job.” Elliott sighs. “Made a huge mess of the whole thing.”
I lean forward. “I need details.”
“They were supposed to take out that loudmouth senator, but they accidentally killed an envoy from Qatar. Now Qatar is hunting them down. They’ve gone to ground, but it’s only a matter of time.”
“Absolute clowns.” I snort.
“A senator?” Marigold turns to me, her eyes wide.
I shrug. “He’s actually a Russian asset who’s sold out our military operations time and time again. No loss.”
“Oh.” She doesn’t seem convinced.
I give Elliott a warning look. “Enough business. This is a day for celebration.”
“Agree.” Elliott takes his champagne glass and raises it. “To the happy couple.”
Mr. and Mrs. Lou join the toast, and we all drink. I’ve never been happier. With Marigold at my side, I feel like I’ve captured the greatest treasure on the planet. She’s everything to me. I hope she knows it.
“I love you.” I kiss her again, pulling her close as we begin our new life together. This is just the start, the sweet beginning to a life that will be whatever we want to make it.
“Heirloom, looks like it’s you and me tonight, bro. Hey, how about we watch that bird channel you like so much?” Elliott pats Heirloom, then rises and picks him up. “It’s his favorite. We’ll have a bonding night while you two have a …” He glances from me to Marigold. “A married one.” He smirks and carries Heirloom from the room as Mr. Lou asks Mrs. Lou to dance to the low music playing in the background. She accepts, and they slowly swirl their way into the foyer.
I rise and offer Marigold my hand. “May I have this dance?”