Page 51 of The Scarab's Game

“What’s going on?” asked Scarlett.

“I’m not sure yet.” I wasn’t overreacting. It wasn’t jealousy, despite what Rav said at dinner. It wasn’t evenjustDante. Something wasn’t adding up.

Jenn was right about them hiring her. They’d given her their own conservator’s notes about the painting, which had turned out to be wrong. If they’d known it was a fake, why give her the notes? Why not have her figure out the right steps for the cleaning on her own? That would have avoided questions.

There was something else going on, but what?

“Jammer’s engaged,” said Drew.

A graph on my screen dipped, showing we’d disrupted the Wi-Fi signal at the De Rosa Gallery, taking their security feed down with it.

Time for me to sit back, monitor the team, and hope Jayce found what we were looking for.

The sooner we finished, the sooner we could get everyone out of Monaco.

Including Jenn.

Chapter 18

Jenn

Emmett’s lipsfound my collarbone, and I sighed. His tongue danced along the length of my neck, and I shivered, reveling in the press of his body against mine. He moved with a fluid, predatory grace that threw my pulse into a frenzy. His fingers traced fiery paths down my sides, each touch sending electric shocks through me.

“Jenn,” he whispered, his breath hot against my skin. His voice was gravel and velvet, rough and smooth in all the right ways. “You taste so good.”

Heat erupted in my belly, spreading like wildfire. It felt real. It felt right. His words echoed in the dark, and his body moved next to mine the way I’d always imagined—the way it was meant to be.

His lips trailed down my chest, and I arched into him. His hands cupped my breasts as he kissed his way down my body, each touch leaving a burning imprint on my skin.

“Emmett…” I moaned his name and squeezed my eyes shut.

His tongue circled my navel and continued further south. The sensation was mind-numbingly intense. As he pushed one of my legs to the side, my fingers clutched at his hair as if he were an anchor in a storm.

I had to watch him. I couldn’t keep my eyes closed.

But when I opened them, we weren’t in my room anymore. We were in the Casino. I was naked in the middle of the Monte Carlo Casino, propped up on a bed of pillows on a platform. The clatter of roulette balls and slot machines filled the cavernous space as the gamblers went about their business with an eerie indifference.

“Emmett,” I hissed. No response. “Emmett!”

He looked up at me, confusion on his features. “I told you to be careful.”

“I—” My eyes snapped open, and I shot up from the bed.

Faint light spilled in through the crack between my curtains.

I was in my bed. Pulse pounding. In my hotel room.

Shit.

It was a dream. Just a dream and nothing more.

I flopped back onto the pillow, pressing my hand to my chest, urging my heart and lungs to slow down. How else was I going to get back to sleep and enjoy the rest of that dream?

Other than the part about being at the Casino.

Minutes passed, and my brain remained on high alert. The dream began to fade.

That was the closest I’d ever get to him. I blew out a slow breath. Dante had been so wrong.