Apollo shook his head, and the same smirk that I’d seen the past fourteen years graced his lips. “No drinking, and I haven’t bumped my head.” He grabbed my hand and laced his fingers through mine. “I wasn’t expecting to see you tonight. I have to say you were a surprise that I wasn’t expecting.”
“It’s not really a surprise if you were expecting it, is it?” I laughed.
“I suppose not, but I’m not a fan of surprises unless I’m the one doing the surprising.” He squeezed my hand and tugged me closer. “I think you’re the only one I wouldn’t mind getting a surprise from.”
“You’re always two steps ahead of everything, so you can’t be surprised, and you see me back home, Apollo. I don’t know what the difference is from now to then.” Sure, he hadn’t known I was going to be here, but it shouldn’t have mattered to him.
His hand that was holding my hand wound around my waist pulled my arm back, and my chest arched into him. I stumbled forward, my legs tangled with his. “The difference is, I’ve tried to keep my distance from you, but this dress and those heels you are wearing are testing my restraint.”
“Restraint against what?” I mumbled.
“You, my sweet Greer. I’ve been trying to restrain from taking you for the past nine years.” He brushed my hair off of my neck and leaned in, his lips brushing against my ear. “Eleven years, if I’m honest,” he whispered. “I’ve wanted you since you were seventeen, Greer.”
His words stunned me and left me speechless. A gasp escaped my lips. “What…why did…who…” I couldn’t form a coherent thought to save my life. Apollo Banachi has wanted me since I was seventeen?
“Breathe, Greer. Is it really that much of a surprise to you? I only crave the finest things in life, and you are at the top of my list of things that I crave. Greer Cassidy, the thing I’ve always wanted but known I couldn’t have.” He pressed a kiss to my neck, and his right hand glided up my body and cradled my head. He pressed his lips to my ear, and a shiver ran through my body. “Until tonight,” he growled.
I melted into Apollo, unable to hold back any longer. I had wanted this man for as long as I had known him, and now I was wrapped up in his arms, exactly where I wanted to be. Whoa. “If this is a dream, I don’t want to wake up,” I whispered.
“Come back to my room with me, Greer, and we’ll make both of our dreams come true.” He released the arm I had behind my back, and his hand spanned my lower back as he pressed me closer. “I need one night with you.”
“One?” I wasn’t sure I could handle only having one night with Apollo. I didn’t think forever would be long enough with him, but I knew one night was not enough.
“I’m starting with one. But I’m sure there will be more,” he whispered into my ear. “I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of you, Greer.”
“I don’t think-.”
“No, stop,” Apollo cut me off. “No thinking tonight, just feeling. Come with me, please, Greer.” He leaned back and looked down at me, desire burning in his eyes.
My words caught in my throat, and I slowly nodded my head.
One, ten, or fifty nights with Apollo? I would never say no.
Two
Apollo
I pulled her behind me through the crowded ballroom, wishing I had approached her sooner so we didn’t have to battle through the crowd to the door. It was half-past eleven, and everyone was crowding around the windows, trying to get the best view of the fireworks that would be going off soon.
I watched Greer all night, knowing that I couldn’t stop myself anymore. It had been eleven long years since I noticed Greer, and every day seeing her had been pure torture knowing that I couldn’t have her. Except for tonight, I didn’t give a flying fuck about all of the things that were keeping me from her.
Our age. Seven years wasn’t that much.
Her brother. Screw, Kane. I’d deal with him later.
Work. Well, work wasn’t something I’d entirely figured out, but Greer knew what I did. Her accepting it was something we would have to work through later. The Banachi’s were a family everyone knew about. The extent of what most knew was limited, but Greer knew more than most.
“Apollo,” she gasped, “you’re going to pull my arm out of the socket.”
I looked over my shoulder and saw her struggling to keep up with my long strides. “The shoes are hot as fuck, Greer, but they’re slowing us down.” If we didn’t get out of here right now, I was going to take her right here on the ballroom floor.
Greer tugged on my arm to slow me down. “Waiting thirty seconds longer to get back to your room, Apollo, is nothing compared to twelve years. Slow down before I end up on my butt,” she whined.
I slowed down, slid back next to her, and rested her hand in the crook of my arm. “The only place your ass is going to end up tonight is in my bed, Greer. That’s a guarantee,” I promised
We finally made it to the end of the room and slipped out one of the side doors that led into a dark hallway. “Where are we?” Greer asked as she looked around.
“Back of the house.” I pulled my phone out and sent Trey a message to bring the car around to the back. “Two more doors then left.”
“How do you know your way around?” Greer asked, bewildered. “I could barely find the restroom before.”
“Always know your surroundings, Greer. You never know when you’ll have to make a quick escape.” I winked at her and opened the patio door.
“Something makes me think that this wasn’t the reason you know how to get around here.” Greer swept through the door, and I couldn’t help the grin that settled on my lips. “This seems rather planned.”
“You always were too smart for your own good, Greer.”
She scoffed and brushed her hair off of her shoulder. “I know that I should be scared of you and what you do, Apollo, but I have never been able to walk away from you. You and your cousin may run the underground of Chicago, but it doesn’t scare me. I’ve known you too long to think that you’re some evil man.”
“You’re right; Leo is the evil one. I’m the good one.” I wiggled my eyebrows, and Greer giggled. “Don’t tell anyone.”
She looked me up and down and shook her head. “I still firmly believe that you’ve been drinking tonight, Apollo. I’ve never seen you like this before.”
“Like what?” I asked as I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the closed door.
“Carefree. Nice? Happy?”
“I think I should be offended by that, but you’re probably more right than wrong. But I thought you said that you weren’t afraid of me?”
“I’m not,” she murmured. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not fully aware of what you are and what you do. Apollo Banachi, right-hand man to Leo Banachi. The family that runs Chicago.”
I nodded my head. I couldn’t deny anything she said. “That generally scares people.”
She shrugged her shoulders and looked up in the sky. “I’m not afraid of you, Apollo,” she said simply.