He yanked her against his hard body, one hand possessively splaying across her lower back while the other tangled in her hair. His mouth crashed down on her neck in a blaze of hot, open-mouthed kisses. He sucked and nipped at the sensitive skin, trailing lower to the generous swell of her cleavage, perfectly framed and exposed by the daring cut of her purple dress. A needy whimper escaped her as his tongue traced the edge of the fabric.
With a low, guttural groan, Jokull lifted her effortlessly and set her on the edge of the ornate cabinet. Her legs parted for him instinctively. He stepped between them, pressing the unmistakable hardness of his arousal against her core through the thin layers of fabric. His hands roamed greedily sliding down her sides, gripping her hips, then boldly cupping and squeezing her ass as he rocked against her.
He moved back up, capturing her mouth in a deep, devouring kiss. It was raw, magical, and utterly consuming. Their tongues tangled, desperate and hungry. When she finally broke for air, her lips were swollen, her breathing ragged. "Jokull"
Jokull hummed against her skin, the sound vibrating through her. "Hmm…" He kissed down her neck again, one hand boldly sliding up her thigh beneath the dress, fingertips brushing dangerously close to where she ached for him.
"I've come to realize I love you," she rasped, eyes burning into his, "and I can't be without you. You're the only person who keeps me happy."
He stared at her with raw intensity, then captured her lips once more slower this time, deeper, more possessive. Aine's hands explored him desperately, sliding over his broad chest and down his sculpted abs, feeling the rigid length of him pressing insistently against her.
Jokull pulled back just enough to rest his forehead against hers, breathing hard. "We can't… not here. Someone might come." His voice was thick with frustration and need. "But this is just the starter, baby. Tonight, I'm going to ruin you for anyone else."
They reluctantly straightened their clothes, exchanging heated glances. With one last lingering, bruising kiss on her swollen lips, Jokull took her hand and they slipped back out to rejoin the event, the promise of more hanging heavy in the air between them.
"Where were you two?" Dismas asked, his eyes moving between them with the quiet sharpness of someone who already suspected the answer.
"We went for a rest at the lobby," Jokull said without missing a beat.
Dismas held his gaze for a moment then turned. "Let us go and sit down."
Inside the hall the atmosphere had shifted into something warm and celebratory. Tesni stood at the podium, her voice carrying the kind of conviction that made people lean forward without realising it.
"So let us all learn and live in perfect harmony," she said, and the applause that followed pulled her back into the room, bright eyed and glowing as she stepped away from the microphone.Elsewhere the night was not as warm.
"Randy."
"Yes sir."
Kendle's voice was clipped and precise. The driver moved without question, pulling up to the designated spot and stepping out to open the doors. He paused. Someone was already sitting in the passenger seat, still and waiting.
The driver settled in slowly and started the engine, his eyes flicking sideways.
"Did Kendle send you to accompany me?"
"Yes," the figure said.
Nothing more.
The car pulled up towards its destination and Kendle reached for his phone, dialling Mr. Mendoza. The line connected and he began to speak, his voice measured and routine. But as he talked the car ahead came to a sudden and violent stop.
The windshield exploded outward.
The driver flew through the glass before anyone could process what had happened. The car door swung open and a figure stepped out slowly, deliberately, into the dim light.
Kendle's feet moved before his mind caught up, each step backward feeling heavier than the last. Then the figure turned and the name hit him like cold water.
Ravi.
"Looking for someone?" Ravi said, his voice carrying the kind of calm that was far more dangerous than anger.
Inside the house Mendoza laughed lightly at something on the other end of the line. Then a sound tore through the call and every muscle in his body locked.
A gunshot.
Sharp. Definitive. Close.
The laughter died in his throat.
Mr. Mendoza." Kendle's voice came through the line fractured and barely holding together. "Ravi is here."
The words landed like a stone dropped into still water.
On the other end of the hall Mendoza went completely still.
Back at the scene the air tasted like metal and smoke.
"Should we pack the gold?" one of the men asked, his eyes scanning the crates.
Ravi did not even look at him. "Just destroy them."
"Yes, Ravi." Erwin was already moving.
Q
Inside the house Mendoza paced the length of the corridor, his phone pressed hard against his ear.
"She is not answering." He pulled the phone away and looked up sharply. "Benito."
Benito appeared at a run. "Yes sir."
"Take a car. Go to Jade College now. Bring Hilda and my children back."
"Yes sir." He was gone before the sentence had fully landed.
Aine sat in the hall watching her mother from across the room.
She had not missed it. The way Benito had leaned down beside Hilda's ear, his voice low enough that the words dissolved before they reached anyone else. Whatever he said made her mother's expression change in a way that was barely perceptible to anyone who did not know how to look. But Aine knew how to look.
Hilda gave a small, controlled nod and sent Benito across to the event coordinator. Then she rose from her seat quietly, the way people move when they do not want to cause a scene, and crossed the room toward Tesni.
Aine watched every step.
When her mother leaned down and broke the news quietly into her ear, Tesni felt everything inside her shift at once. She turned immediately and found Aine, leaning close enough that only she could hear.
"Mum said we need to use the back door," she whispered.
Aine's eyes said everything her face did not.