CHAPTER b0116 /b

Meadow’s POV:

His eyes were dark and hooded, slightly narrowed. Although, this expression wasn’t aimed at me.

It couldn’t have been. Because the tender way his hand reached for my chin was a huge contrast to the

storm roiling in his blue eyes.

b“/bNothing’s wrong, baby,” he whispered with a slight shake of his head. “I’m fine. Even better now that

you’re here.”

ric’s other hand reached for my waist, going downward until it was on the curve of my ass, and then he yanked me against him, pushing his hips into me at the same time so I could feel exactly how… ‘fine‘

he was.

He was trying to change the subject, and at the moment, I was going to wee anything. Anything that would get me to stop worrying about my sister.

Hell, it felt like I was going through withdrawals!

He leaned in to merge his lips with mine and I willingly epted it, trailing my hands from his chest to his neck. ric’s kisses were soft at first, and then, without any warning, they suddenly turned ferocious.

Almost like he was channeling some kind of emotion.

Anger, to be exact.

“Fuck,” he rasped against my mouth, carrying me up until my thighs were wrapped around his waist. A

shiver shot down my spine when my back met the cold tiled wall. Heat pooled between my thighs, and

now that there was nothing between us, it wouldn’t take much of an effort for ric to slip inside of me.

He broke the kiss, resting his head against mine. “I need to leave for Vegaster tonight. After we get

back.”

My pulse stuttered. “What? Whyb?/bb” /b

The moment I asked that, I knew it was a stupid question. ric had other business ventures in Vegas-

the club being one of them. But all of this was just a little too sudden.

“I have some…” His gaze dropped to my mouth. “…business to take care of. We’ve been working on

something at the club for a while and I’m just going to oversee things.”

“What are you working on?” I asked without missing a beat.

ric’s lips twitched. “Ever so inquisitive.” And then he kissed me, cupping my cheek with one hand while the other held me up. A moan slipped out of my mouth when he rocked his hips against mine, his cock grazing against my clit.

His mouth left mine, moving on to my cheek, my jaw… and then he whispered into my ear: “Would you like to fly with me?”

A thrill shot straight to my core and I bit down on my bottom lip. ric’s brows were furrowed, eyes still hard, but he was speaking to me with so much gentleness and control.

“It would be better to show you rather than tell you,” he continued.

“You want me toe with you to Vegas?” I breathed. I had thought he was trying to be evasive when he said he was going on this business trip. But if he wanted me toe along with him… then maybe the problem wasn’t in Vegas.

It was here. And he was trying to get away from it.

I suppose I should’ve been d that he was involving me, but all it made me wonder was what the hell was going on in that brain of his. Two days ago, when I noticed that he’d gotten a new phone, I let my curiosity take the lead and asked him what happened to the old one.

“I just… smashed it,” he’d replied.

I didn’t ask him to borate, and he seemed a little relieved about that. But this was different. He didn’t seem too upset then, but right now…

“ric… what’s going on?”

When his gaze drifted from mine, I cupped his jaw and turned his face to mine. “Talk to me, please. Tell me what’s going on, or at least tell me why you want me in Vegas with you when you’ve never really

asked me before.”

ric’s jaw twitched, his eyes darkening even further. “Meadow…”

“ric. Please.”

b“/bYou worry too much about me,” he murmured.

“Well… that’s what wives do, isn’t it? Worry about their husbands?” I bit my tongue when I was done

speaking. Something at the back of my mind was waiting for ric to say something like ‘Well, what we

have isn’t real, is it?’

Something at the back of my mind always expected the worst. Because at the end of the day–it was not

real. I mean… fuck.

But he didn’t say that. All he did was bury his head into my neck, his grip tightening around me as he heaved a sigh. “You don’t have to do that for me, baby.”

b“/bbI /bwant to,” I whispered..

ric peppered kisses along the side of my neck, and I gently ran my hand through his damp hair,

O

enjoying the way he shivered underneath my touch. And then all of a sudden, he froze. And he spoke.

“Today’s the twentieth anniversary of my father’s death.”