The Grand Pact (The Grand Men #1)(87)

“Are you—”

“Oh my god, the cake!”

I turn to find two waiters carrying a huge, three-tier chocolate cake to the table.

“It’s huge,” Lucy shrieks with pure, unfiltered glee in her voice.

“I will just get the knife to cut it,” one of the waiters tells me.

I start to sing her “Happy Birthday,” and the other waiter weirdly sticks around and joins in. Lucy stands and blows out the candles, then swipes her finger through the chocolate icing.

“Hmmm. That’s good,” she tells me, pointing to the cake.

Thankfully, the waiter chooses to disappear.

Lucy uses her spoon to scoop up a piece of the gooey chocolate. I watch with intense fascination as she brings it to her mouth.

“Did you know you have fuck-me eyes… for my cake?”

I catch her gaze.

For the cake. Yeah, as if.

I tip my chin. “Come here, birthday girl.”

She looks up at me through her brow, the spoon lodged in the cake.

She takes another bite. “Should I bring this?” She holds up her chocolaty spoon.

“Why else would I be asking you?”

“Well...” She stands, walking around the table to stand beside me. She places the plate down beside mine, then brings the spoon to my mouth. “I thought you said you’d eat your dessert without the spoon. Open.”

She slips the spoon past my lips, her eyes flicking between my eyes and mouth.

“Good?” she whispers.

I wonder if she is thinking about pancakes. Late nights. Us. “Too good.”

She smiles a warm smile, pursing her pouty lips before turning to walk back to her chair. She doesn’t flinch when my arm bands around her waist. I pull her back to my lap.

“I’m sorry,” I rasp against her ear.

Her head turns, her nose dusting my jaw. I catch her smile. “What for?”

“It’s been too long. I don’t feel like being a gentleman tonight.”

I watch as she swallows thickly, her gaze lifting until it locks with mine. “Does that mean I can be someone else tonight?”

“Someone else?”

She nods.

“Why would you want to be someone else, Luce?”

Pain flashes in her eyes, and I wonder if it’s because of what happened between us. What I did.

“Princess, you can be anyone you want to be. But I need you to always be real with me.”

She shakes her head and sits up on my lap. “No. No, tonight I want to pretend. I want to be the Lucy I was before I got here.” I frown, not understanding.

Her hand moves to rest on my shoulder, and I wrap my arm around her back, slotting us together.

“Whatever you want, Luce.”

Because I’d do fucking anything for this woman.

“One night. Me. You. And nothing else.”

My eyes are glued to her. I try to dissect the look she gives me, but I don’t find anything fast. She stands from my lap and holds her hand out to me. “I want to dance.”

I stare at her hand until I see the hesitation register in her eyes. I stand, lacing my fingers with hers and not leaving any room for it. “Then we dance.”





We enter the club from the back doors and find it just as full as it was when we first arrived—if not busier. Lucy immediately squeezes my hand tight, and I lean into her, keeping her back to my chest as I move us forward.

“I’ve got you.”

“I need a drink!” she yells, twisting her neck to look into my eyes.

She’s feeling anxious. I can see it in her wide gaze, and she wants me to see.

She needs me.

I usher us to the bar, keeping her snug to my front until we reach it. I place my arms on either side of her as I rest against the polished edge.

She looks everywhere around her, not focusing on one thing and not giving me the attention I want.

“Baby, breathe,” I whisper against her ear, not knowing if she will fully hear me.

Her head drops back to my chest, and I wrap my arm around her waist, taking any weight she wants to give me.

“You smell divine,” she tells me.

Her height puts her tilted head between my pecs. I look down at her and raise a brow. “Edible?”

Her grin tells me she’d take the fucking lot of me.

I feel her unease slip away as she closes her eyes and starts to sway to the music.

The coldhearted bastard in me wants to pick her up and take her home. It’s been months since I’ve seen her, and to finally have her with me again—this time in my arms—it feels good.

“Luce,” I groan into the top of her head, my fingers poised on her perfectly rounded hips.

She turns to face me, looking up as I lock her in again. “So, you missed me a little bit, huh?”

“Just a little smidge.” I shrug.

“A smidge?”

I nod, our eyes saying more than our mouths in the moment. We can’t look away, or at least I can’t. She has the most hypnotising eyes—wild blues with a thick black band that conceals that illusioned ocean.

“Wanna know a secret?” she hums, moving so close I should inch back.

I don’t.

Our noses brush, and she smiles as her body eases away from me. “I missed our calls the most.” She nods her head, her eyes dropping to my lips. “I missed your voice at the end of my day more than anything else.”