Moonlight Scandals
by Jennifer L Armentrout
Published by Avon Books
Book 3 in the de Vincent Trilogy
Even a ghost hunter like Rosie Herpin
couldn’t have foreseen the fateful meeting between two mourners that has brought her so intimately close to the notorious and seductive Devlin de Vincent. Everyone in New Orleans knows he’s heir to a dark family curse that both frightens and enthralls. To the locals, Devlin is the devil. To Rosie, he’s a man who’s stoking her wildest fantasies. When a brutal attack on her friend is linked to the de Vincents, he becomes a mystery she may be risking her life to solve.
Devlin knows what he wants from this sexy and adventurous woman. But what does Rosie want from him? It’s a question that becomes more pressing—and more dangerous—when he suspects her of prying into the shadows of his past.
Now, the legends surrounding the de Vincents may not be myths at all. But if she’s to discover the truth, she must follow them straight into the arms of the man she can’t resist—the handsome devil himself.
RATED: 18+ CATEGORY: MOOD:
Steamy #Romance Mysterious
Moonlight Scandals by Jennifer Armentrout is the final book in the de Vincent series, a series about the three de Vincent brothers finding love despite the darkness and secrets they carry about their family and pasts. This final book features the oldest de Vincent brother, Devlan de Vincent, heir to the de Vincent business, and Rosalynn (Rosie) Herpin, Nikki's best friend from university, and a widower. Opposites attract in this story, and as their attraction grows, their lives get more confusing and dangerous.
First of all, I called it! I knew who the big bad was since the last book, and I also knew who Dev was going to be matched up with. And I loved it! The book gets points for originality, and I was quickly drawn into the story, and had trouble putting it down. I knew there had to be more to Dev's story since the first book (as there was no way we were going to root for a cold and douchy Dev), and he quickly became my favorite of the brothers. Rosie and Dev together though ... total passion. Whether they were trying not to kill each other, or couldn't keep their hands to themselves, their chemistry was HOT. At the conclusion of the series, we don't get a definitive answer as to whether or not the haunting and the curse is real. Usually this would bother me, but I actually appreciate it in this case. It's left to the reader. My take on it, the ghosts were real. The curse wasn't. If you have a different theory, let me know in the comments!
Dev is kind of swoon-worthy if you like a bad boy. I mean, can they be bad things if you actually agree with it? Perhaps an argument for later. Seriously though, I was not expecting Dev to be my favorite of the brothers. While he has done questionable things, he is a good man. All he wanted to do was protect his brothers, so they could have normal lives. All he wanted was to put a stop to what his father was doing before his death. Because of this, I don't think Dev ever really got the chance to actually live his life. It was consumed by his father's misdeeds. Until Rosie. And boy do I love Rosie. Older than our last two female leads at the age of 33, she is intelligent (she has three degrees, English-Education, Business, and Psychology), has just past the tenth anniversary of the day her husband died by suicide, and works at her parents successful bakery. She is also a lover of all things supernatural, and is a ghost hunter. So the cackle I let off in my head when my prediction was confirmed that Rosie was being matched up with Dev was pretty epic. Especially when their first conversation with one another is arguing about beaded curtains, and what wood is real wood. Their chemistry together I swear was instantaneous and passionate, which made for a very good romance.
I think Moonlight Scandal was the perfect conclusion to to the de Vincent series. It's thrilling, entertaining, and sexy as hell (come on ... that part with the mirror? Wow.) If you like mystery romance, I think you will really enjoy the de Vincent series!
Where to Buy
Paperback (Amazon)
Paperback (Chapters/Indigo)
Rosie: "You really have a problem with beaded curtains, don't you?"
Dev: "They're beaded curtains. Are they even made out of real wood?"
Sighing, she arched a brow
Rosie: "Yes. They're made of particleboard and yes, I bought them down at the local Walmart."
Dev: "Particleboard is not real wood."
Rosie: Isn't it made with wood chips, and the last time I checked, wood chips are wood."
Dev: "It's also made with sawdust and synthetic resin."
Rosie: "So?"
Dev: "It's not real wood."
Rosie: "Whatever."
Dev: "Whatever?"
Rosie: "Yeah, whatever."
Dev: "You cannot 'whatever' away the fact that particleboard isn't real wood."
Rosie let out a soft laugh.
Rosie: "I cannot believe you're still talking about particleboard."
Dev: "And I cannot believe you think particleboard is real wood."
Another giggle squeaked out of her as she spun around and walked over to her couch.
Rosie: "You're still talking about particleboard."
Dev: "I am not."
Rosie: "Yeah. you are. And those beaded curtains are freaking ah-mazing, particleboard or not. So, don't talk smack about my super-cool beaded curtains."
Dev: "They're beaded curtains."
Rosie: "Were you harmed by beaded curtains as a child? Did they not want to be friends with you or something?"
He gaze sharpened
Dev: "Besides the fact that beaded curtains are inanimate objects incapable of harming a person or being friends with one, a door would suffice, would it not?"
Smirking, she took a sip of her coffee
Rosie: "Suffice? Fancy."
His nostrils flared.
Rosie: "Look, I'm not the one who seems to be personally offended by beaded curtains, so excuse me for asking a genuine question. I mean, have you been smacked by a beaded curtain? Those things can sting."
Dev: "I'm sure your question was genuine."
Rosie: "Totes."
Dev: "How often are you smacked by beaded curtains?"
She snorted
Rosie: "More often than I care to admit."
Dev: "It looks like a twelve-year-old obsessed with The X-Files and B grade horror movies decorated your apartment."
Rosie: "Okay, I draw the line with you insulting Scully and Mulder. Seriously."
Rosie: "Man, you are something else."
Dev: "That I am."
Rosie: "That wasn't a compliment."
Dev: "You sure about that?"
Rosie: "Uh, yeah. I am."
Dev: "Hmm."
Rosie: "I think you are the most uptight person I know."
Dev: "You know nothing about me."
Rosie: "I know enough to know you need a hobby or pastime. Maybe a different workout regimen to de-stress or you need to get laid. Something to loosen you up a bit."
His lips parted as he stared down at her. He looked affronted. Like if he had pearls, he's be clutching them.
Dev: "Did you seriously just tell me I needed to get laid?"
Rosie rolled her eyes
Rosie: "Did you seriously just prove what I said?"
A moment passed
Dev: "Are you volunteering?"
Dev: "There's something else you need to know."
He tugged on her arm, and before Rosie could react, her chest was suddenly flush again his. The contact was jarring, sending a riot of sensations through her.
Dev: "I don't make threats. I make promises."
She drew in a deep breath and immediately regretted it, because it pushed her chest against his even more, and ... God, her stomach was dropping and twisting in ways that were not unpleasant. She felt her nipples harden, and started praying that he couldn't feel them through the incredibly thin and worn shirt she wore and the lacy, nearly nonexistent bralette she'd slept in.
She didn't back down though.
Rosie: "I don't think you know how to use words correctly, because that, yet again, sounded an awful lot like a threat."
Dev: "Does it? If it was a threat, it doesn't seem to be working."
Rosie: "Why is that?"
Devlin shifted just the slightest, and the next breath Rosie took lodged in her throat. She felt him against her stomach, thick and hard, and unless he had something weird in the front of his pants, he was totally turned on.
So was she.
And they were both apparently freaks, because she'd just tried to shove him and he had just threatened her, but here they were, utterly aroused, and there was a really good chance she needed to find a therapist stat.
Dev: "I think it's doing something entirely different."
It was. For a multitude of wrong reasons, it was, and Rosie bit down on her lower lip as her hips shifted of their own accord.
Dev: "Are we going to pretend like you don't feel me?"
Rosie: "Yes."
Dev: "How's that working out for you?"
Rosie: "Just great."
Rosie: "All the gossip magazines have it wrong. They call you the Devil, but they should call you the Dickhead."
And with that, she slammed the door shut in Devlin de Vincent's face.
Stefan; "You know what your fatal flaw is?"
Dev: "I don't have many, but do enlighten me."
Dev: "I'd chosen to be with her. Wasn't like it was against my will."
Lucian: "Yeah, you did, and yeah, I've heard you had your reasons - ones that I'll never fucking understand - but at the end of the day, she's not going to be your wife, so hallelujah, my brother, that is reason to celebrate. Now you can find someone who isn't a grade A bitch."
Dev: "I'm not currently in the market to find someone."
Lucian: "And isn't that when you usually do."
Gabe: "Lucian is cooking dinner. Or attempting to."
Lucian: "Hey. I know what I'm doing."
Lucian reached across the island and tugged on the end of Julia's ponytail.
Lucian: "Don't I?"
Julia: "I'm hoping you do, because we're starving."
Lucian: "You don't have faith in my culinary skills? What about you, Nikki?"
Nikki: "Strangely I'm relieved I can only eat liquids right now."
Dev smirked as Gabe laughed under his breath.
Lucian: "That's rude."
Gabe: "Why don't you join us? I can't promise that this Instant Pot thing is going to work -"
Lucian: "It's going to work. It's really not that complicated. You put the beef in the pot and you push a few buttons."
Dev: "What's an Instant Pot?"
Lucian: "It cooks food. Instantly."
Something didn't sound right about that.
Nikki: "It's kind of like a crock-Pot, but it's more of a pressure cooker. Supposedly you can roast beef in about thirty minutes."
That really did not sound right.
Lucian: "I bought it today. At a store."
Dev: "Really? All by yourself?"
Julia: "I was with him."
Lucian nodded
Lucian: "That is true."
Gabe: "Have dinner with us. It would only be fair if all of us were poisoned at once."
Rosie: "Would you like me to move my car?"
Dev: "That would've been nice of you to suggest when I first mentioned your car was in my spot."
Gabe: "You don't have to move your car. Dev is fine."
Devlin's gaze still held hers and there was a challenge in that stare.
Rosie: "You know what? I'll move my car."
Nikki: "Rosie."
Rosie: "No, it's okay. I'm more than happy to move my car out of the way for him. After all, I wouldn't want him to get stressed-out over it."
Dev: "I'm not stressed out over it."
A slight frown pulled at his lips as he turned, watching her walk to her purse.
Rosie: "Oh, I don't know about that. You seem like you're one more occupied parking space away from having a cardiac issue and I would not want to be the cause of that."
Rosie: "I can't picture you eating pralines."
Dev: "You can't?"
Rosie: "Yeah, I pictured you eating raw vegetables, lots of fat-trimmed steak, and beets."
Dev: "Beets?"
She nodded
Rosie: "Isn't that what people eat when they're in a permanent state of constipation?"
Rosie: "Okay, I won't call you Dev, Dev."
Dev: "You just did."
Rosie: "How about I just call you Dickhead, then?"
His thumb curled under her chin and his touch was oddly gentle in comparison to the hard line of his jaw. Then he dipped his head, bringing his mouth within an inch of hers.
Dev: "Being shushed was a first for me and it will be the last. But most importantly? The insinuation you made on the phone about most things not lasting long with me? I can assure you, that is not the case."
His finger slid over her lips, eliciting a gasp from her.
Dev: "That takes longer than I'm better you can last and you'd be begging me to stop while pleading with me to keep going the whole time. I can assure you, no one would fuck you longer or harder."
Mom: "I like it down, though. Makes you look sexy."
She wrinkled her nose at her mom.
Rosie: "I could die a happy woman if you never refer to me as sexy again, Mom."
Rosie: "It's not like I don't date."
Mom: "Using Tinder is not dating."
Rosie: "Mom. Like you know what Tinder is."
Mom: "Oh I totally know what it is, and quite honestly, I'm jealous there was nothing like that back when I was single. Love your father with all my heart, but it would've been nice to have this eat little dating app on my phone."
Rosie: "You'd be swiping right nonstop."
Rosie was simply breathtaking.
Not that he hadn't noticed that about her before, even when she wore loose clothing and had her hair pulled back. From the moment he'd seen her in her apartment, he'd thought she was beautiful, but he recognized now how utterly stunning she was. And he'd know a lot of beautiful women, those born that way and those that achieved it through a gifted surgeons hands. None of them could hold a candle to Rosie, because she was a fire.
Dev: "Are you always this argumentative?"
Rosie: "Are you always such a douche canoe? Oh wait. Don't answer that. I already know. You are."
Dev: "Douche canoe? I haven't heard that word since I was ... thirteen."
Rosie: "So?"
Dev: "So who still says that?"
Rosie: "Me. I'm bringing it back in style."
Dev: "Thought I was a dickhead."
Rosie: "You're both. A dickhead and a douche canoe."
Dev: "That's rather impressive."
Rosie: "Not really."
Dev: "So you don't accept my apology?"
Rosie: "Not really. Words are meaningless. Actions are everything."
Rosie: "Do you think you deserve a gold star by your name for not being a stalker?"
Dev: "I think so."
Rosie: "Wow. You are ... something else."
Dev: "I'll take that as a compliment."
Rosie: "Of course you would."
Rosie: "So you think your house is haunted? Then why the attitude when I first asked you?"
Dev: "Because I'm a dickhead?"
Rosie: "Sounds about right."
Dev: "I'll get you into the house."
Rosie: "What? You're for real?"
A half grin tugged at his lips
Dev: "On one condition."
Rosie: "What condition?'
Dev: "It's a pretty big condition."
Rosie: "Okay? What is it?"
Dev: "Kiss me. That's my condition. Kiss me."
Rosie: "I'm going to need you to say that again."
Dev: "The condition is a kiss."
Rosie: "You want to kiss me?""
That small grin appeared again.
Dev: "I do. Very badly."
Rosie: "It's the dress, isn't it?"
Dev: "It is. And it's so much more than that."
Dev: "I do not think my condition is going to cut it."
Swaying slightly, she held on to him as his finger moved back and forth over her breasts.
Rosie: "It's not?"
Dev: "No. I want to make an amendment to the condition."
Rosie: "What kind of amendment?"
Dev: "I need more than a kiss."
Rosie: "Do you have any idea of what you would need?"
He pulled his hand around from her breast.
Dev: "I have so many needs."
Her gaze met his.
Rosie: "Then why don't you show me?"
Dev: "I want you to watch us."
Rosie: "I'm watching."
Dev: "Good. I don't want you to miss a moment of this."
Dev: "There's something else I remembered. From the night when I died? There wasn't a tunnel. But it was so damn cold. Never felt that kind of cold before. It was deep, unending, and beyond physical. Do you understand? It wasn't my skin or bones that were cold. It was me. Felt that coldness ever since."
Rosie: "Are you cold now?"
Dev: "No. I'm on fire now."
Dev: "You'd let me in you, right now, wouldn't you?"
Rosie: "I'd let you do just about anything right now."
Dev: "I know. That makes this dangerous."
Rosie: "Why?"
Dev: "Because I want to bend you over and sink so deep inside you, that you'd feel me for days.
Rosie smacked her hand over her mouth, smothering the giggle that finally broke free.
Dev: "You think this is funny? I can barely walk and I'm needed onstage where I'll be standing in front of hundreds of people."
Rosie: "I'm sorry. Do you want me to take care of it? I'm rather fast and good at it. Or so I've been told."
Dev: "God. That suggestion is not helping."
Rosie: "But it could."
He caught her wrist
Dev: "You are ... trouble."
Rosie: "That's my middle name."
Dev: "I need to go."
Rosie: "I know."
Dev: "I don't want to."
Rosie: "I know."
Dev: "My condition about Lucian's house? You just met Lucian, by the way. All you needed to do was ask him. He would've let you in. His girlfriend is terrified of ghosts and would definitely want to know if their new place is haunted. You didn't have to go through me."
Her mouth dropped open as the loudest laugh she ever let loose erupted out of her.
Rosie: "You jackass."
Catching her gaze, he winked and then bowed.
Dev: "I'll be in touch."
Lucian: "So, she's a friend of Nikki's and you guys were talking about me - the latter is interesting, but there is something I want to know. Who is she to you?"
Dev stopped at the bottom and then, as if he was compelled, he looked over his shoulder and then up the stairs.
Lucian: "Dev?"
Dev: "I don't know. I really don't."
Sarah: "Remember what they say about dancing with the devil, Rosie."
Her mouth dropped open as she stared at her friend. The devil. Rosie could only think of Devlin.
Sarah: "But what they don't say is something you need to get burned."
Sarah winked.
Sarah: "Have a good night, Rosie."
Rosie: "Okay. But I need to tell you something first, all right?"
Devlin made this sound that was sexy as hell and then he nipped at her bottom lip.
Dev: "Do you have to tell me I'm a dickhead? Because we've already established that."
She couldn't stop the grin.
Rosie: "No."
Dev: "Do you want to tell me that the beaded curtains in your house are made of wood? Because, Rosie dear, particleboard is not real wood."
Dev: "What are you?"
Rosie: "I don't understand."
Dev: "I don't either."
Rosie: "Seriously. You're a dickhead."
Dev: "Positive that's already established."
Lucian: "She's the woman you were with last night. Wasn't she? Nikki's friend. Rosie."
Dev: "You already know the answer to that."
Lucian: "Yeah, but for some reason, I want to hear you admit it."
Dev frowned
Dev: "Why?"
Lucian: "Because it would amuse me."
Rosie: "What did you do to this thing? I do not get paid enough to mess with this."
Mom: "You're lucky you get paid at all."
Bella: "It's just plastic wrap. It can't be this difficult to manage."
Rosie: "Just plastic wrap? Have you ever tried to find the tangled, jacked-up edge on a three-foot ball of plastic wrap? Giving birth has to be easier than this."
Bella: "Are you out of your mind? Giving birth is not easier. I would know, because -"
Rosie: "You have two beautiful babies and I'm childless and joyless and going to die cold, alone with fifteen cats who are going to feast on my dead carcass. So, why don't you come over here and fix this with baby-birthing magic?"
Bella: "But you're doing such a good job at it.
Dev: "Hi. I'm hoping you can help me."
Rosie's eyes snapped open. That voice ...
Dev: "I'm looking for someone I believe works here? Her name is Rosie."
No.
No way.
Slowly, Rosie lifted her head and looked up at her mother as her mother looked down at her.
Mom: "There is a Rosie who works here. And I happen to know exactly where my very lovely and very single daughter is."
Oh my God!
Rosie went to stand up, but lost her balance, and landed on her ass just as a shadow crossed the counter.
Dev: "Found her."
Dev: "What are you doing sitting on the floor?"
Rosie: "I'm meditating.
Dev: "Seems like an odd place to do that."
Mom: "Now, she's telling you a fib. She actually fell over. She's a little clumsy, but my girl is well educated. Did you know she has three degrees?"
Dev: "No. I did not."
Mom: "But I am sure you know she's stunningly beautiful."
Rosie slowly turned her head toward her mother - her soon to be dead mother.
Mom: "Well educated and pretty as a peach pie, but she's about as clumsy as a three-legged alligator."
Rosie's mouth dropped open.
Dev: "She is beautiful."
Dev: "So you always speak to people like you're barking at them?"
Rosie: "Barking? Are you calling me a dog?"
Dev: "That's not what I'm saying, but you do remind me of one of those little dogs. The fluffy ones that nip at people's ankles when they want attention."
Rosie: "Did you seriously just say that I remind you of a Pomeranian?"
Dev: "I wasn't thinking of a Pomeranian, but now that you mention it ..."
Dev: "Do I look like I'm kidding?"
Rosie: "You look like you need a foot up your ass."
Rosie: "I'd rather swim in Lake Pontchartrain and then bathe in the Mississippi River than even stand here and talk to you. You do realize that, right?"
He stared at her and then bit out
Dev: "Fuck. You're making this so difficult."
Rosie: "I would say I'm sorry, but I'm not. Nothing about this needs to be difficult, because there's no reason for you to be here and there's no reason for you to be here and there's no real reason why Lucian can't just let the team into his house."
Dev: "I think you misunderstood what I said about you making this difficult. It's not the fact that I'm here, talking to you about Lucian's house. You're making this difficult because I actually ... like you."
Dev: "I'm making another amendment to our condition."
Rosie: "There will be no more amendments. Why? Because last night didn't happen. It was a figment of out imaginations."
Dev: "Do you think I'm going to forget what happened last night?"
Rosie: "I already have."
Dev: "Now, I know that's a lie. There is no way you forgot what it felt like to have my hand between your legs. And I sure as hell haven't forgotten that you said you'd let me do anything. "
Much to her horror, that hot, tight shiver returned and he saw it.
Dev: "There it is. You haven't forgotten a thing, Rosie."
God, she loathed this man.
Rosie: "Can you let go of my hand?"
Dev: "No."
Rosie: "No?"
Dev: "I'm afraid you'll run away from me if I do."
Rosie: "I want to."
Dev: "And that's why I'm not letting you go."
Rosie: "You can let go of my arm now."
Dev: "Are you sure? The last thing we need is you breaking a leg -"
Rosie: "And then suing a de Vincent for damages?"
His lips twitched
Dev: "You wouldn't do something like that, no, would you?"
Rosie: "Depends on how badly you annoy me tonight."
Dev: "I think I can trust you with my number."
Rosie: "You never know. I could post your number online."
Dev: "Or write it in a bathroom stall. Call for a good time?"
Rosie: "More like call if you want to be annoyed but yeah."
Dev: "Get in the truck, Rosie."
Rosie: "Can you say please?"
Dev: "Can you please get in the damn truck?"
Dev: "Are there tacos on your shorts?"
Rosie: "Yes, sir. Taco Tuesday is a national holiday."
Dev: "It's Monday, Rosie."
Dev: "I need inside your apartment."
Rosie: "And I need a million dollars, but you don't see me knocking on your door."
He arched a brow
Dev: "Well, it would be the right door to knock on if you were in need of it."
Rosie rolled her eyes
Rosie: "Nice."
Rosie: "You're searching my apartment for something and you don't even know what that something is? Did you eat bath salts today? Should I call someone? An adult? Caregiver?'
Devlin shot her a droll look over his shoulder.
Rosie: "Do your loved ones know where you are?"
Dev: "Is that the closet?"
Rosie: "That's the bathroom."
As if he didn't believe her, he opened the door.
Dev: "That's a surprise."
Rosie: "What? that I didn't lie? Spoiler alert. I haven't been lying to you. At all."
Dev: "I wasn't expecting your bathroom to be so big is what I meant. Surprised there isn't a beaded curtain in here."
Rosie: "Oh, go choke on a di-"
Rosie: "Are you stopping?"
Dev: "Hell no. I'm just ... savoring the moment."
Rosie: "Why?'
Dev: "Because you're a beautiful danger."
Rosie: "I'm not a danger."
Dev: "Then what are you?"
Rosie: "I'm just .... Rosie."
Dev: "You're not just anything. That's the biggest lie you've told so far."
Rosie: "None of this means I like you."
His kips kicked up on one side
Dev: "I don't care."
Rosie: "Good."
Dev: "Because I know the truth."
Rosie: "What ... what truth?"
Dev: "You may not like me. But you like this."
She groaned as his hand slipped inside her bottoms, cupping her.
Dev: "You like this a lot. Don't you?"
Rosie clamped her mouth shut, but her hips tipped into his touch
Dev: "I like it. I liked it Friday night. I liked it so much that I fucked my own hand more times than I can count since then. All I had to do was think about how soft you were, how wet. Then I remembered how your mouth tasted and I imagined you taking my dick into your mouth. I never came quicker in my life."
Rosie: "I ..."
Dev: "What? What, Rosie?"
Rosie: "I liked it too. I did it, too."
Dev: "Did what?"
Rosie: "Thought of you. Thought of you when I touched myself."
Devlin froze and then he grunted out
Dev: "Fuck."
Rosie: "I came ... thinking about what you did. Even though I don't like you."
Dev: "Same."
Dev: "You still don't like me?'
Rosie: "No."
Her hands slipped down his chest, to his belt.
His lips curved into a smile against hers as his grip tightened on the back of her neck.
Dev: "Then prove it."
Lucian: "I like her. Most of all, I like the way you are with her."
Dev: "What? You haven't -"
Lucian: "You forget that I did see you with her at the Masquerade. I saw you step in front of her to block her from me. I saw you goad me away from the door so she could come out. And I just saw you walk into a room that she was in without stopping to shower and put appropriate clothes on. You, Devlin de Vincent, who is always the definition of put together, was decidedly ... unkempt."
Dev: "Unkempt?"
Lucian: "Sweaty. Half-naked. That's unkempt. I've never seen you like that. Not even when we were boys. And I've never seen you like that with a woman. Ever. So yes, I like her and I like how you are with her."
Dev: "I've been thinking about us."
Rose: "Us? There isn't an us."
Dev: "There is most definitely an us."
Rosie: "You've shared with me, but you've held back on everything you've shared."
Dev: "And I want to change that. For the first time in my life, I want to change that, because I ... I can't stop thinking about you. I've tried. God, I've tried, but I can't, and I've never experienced that. Not like this."
Rosie: "All you ... all you rich people are just weird. Legit weird."
Rosie: "We didn't get along, but there were moments when we did, and during those moments, I ... I liked you. A lot."
Dev: "Is that so?"
Rosie: "Yeah. I still like you a lot and I know .... I know that liking you isn't always going to be easy, but I want ..."
His hands tightened on her hips
Dev: "You want what?"
Rosie: "You're a lot of things. And I want you. All of you."
Dev: "You have me."
He moved his fingertips down her throat, over her shoulder. A small sigh escaped her.
Slowly, he moved his hand to the neckline of her gown, his palm pressing against the swell of her breast.
Dev: "You have all of me. I want you. I want all of you tonight."
Rosie: "Then take me."
Dev: "And if I want to keep you?"
Dev: "You make me want ... so much, Rosie. You have no idea."
She lifted her head, brushing her lips against his.
Rosie: "Show me."
Dev: "There's just one problem."
Rosie: "What problem?"
Dev: "When I want something, I don't let it go. Ever."
Rosie: "What if I don't have an issue with your problem?"
Dev: "Don't make a promise you won't keep."
Rosie: "I don't make promises I don't plan on keeping."
Rosie: "Dear God, Devlin, you weren't weak. You were a child. Don't put that on yourself. That is all on the fucking monster who I am glad is dead."
His lips twitched.
Dev: "You're a little bloodthirsty."
Lawrence: "Goddamn, you're ... you're in love with her."
Rosie: "You guys are clueless. Seriously. Fucking clueless."
Lucian: "Rosie -"
Rosie: "No. Everything he's ever done has been because of you all. What he's become has been because of both of you. You have no idea."
Gabe: "We wanted to know. He kept us in the dark."
Rosie: "No. Absolutely not. He didn't keep you in the dark. He kept you both in the light."
Lucian's entire body seemed to jerk in response to that.
Rosie: "He put up with a psychotic woman who was obsessed with you to protect you. She knew everything and if it weren't for Devlin, she would've held that over your head. If it weren't for him, you wouldn't be with Nikki right now. You'd be saddled with that woman. And you remember that funny story you told me about the three of you at school? How Devlin got busted for you all breaking curfew? What is really funny about all of that is Lawrence beat him so badly after that, his body still bares the proof. You didn't know that, did you? Have either of you seen his back? Have either of you ever seen the scars? All over his back? I'm guessing you haven't. And I'm guessing neither of you pulled your heads out of your asses long enough to even wonder why Devlin is the way he is or to realize that while both of you were out there living your lives and doing whatever the fuck you all wanted to do, he was trapped with those monsters. So, no. He didn't keep you in the dark. He kept you all in the light. Think about that while you're dragging him through the mud he's been living in for years."
Dev: "What I said was true. I love you, Rosie. I know it seems impossible, but it's real."
Rosie: "I thought ... I was worried you weren't going to come back."
Dev: "I told you I was. Besides, I had to. I never did get to tell you the other part of the de Vincent curse."
She laughed as his face blurred.
Rosie: "No, no, you didn't."
He smoothed his thumb over her jaw
Dev: "Our great-great-grandmother claimed that when de Vincent men fell in love, they did so fast and hard, without reason or hesitation."
Rosie: "Really?"
Dev: "Really. I didn't believe it."
Rosie: "Obviously."
Dev: "But that changed. I met you. And now I do believe it."
Rosie smiled.
Rosie: "I guess that's a good thing then."
Dev: "Why?"
Rosie: "Because I love you. I'm in love with you, Devlin de Vincent, so it's a good thing you're cursed, isn't it?"
Dev: "Yeah. For once, it is."
Rosie: "How long was that under there?"
Dev: "Just two days."
Rosie: "Two days! You had that under my pillow for two days and didn't say anything?"
Dev: "I was waiting to the perfect moment."
Rosie: "Every moment is the perfect moment!"
His grin spread
Dev: "I'm making this the perfect moment right now if you let me speak."
Rosie: "Go ahead. Speak. I'm waiting."
He chuckled as he cupped her cheek with his other hand
Dev: "I never believed in love until I met you, Rosie. At least not for me, but you proved me wrong. I wasn't lying when I said you're a revolution for the soul, but what you don't know is you're so much more than that. You're a balm to my soul, and while I know I don't deserve you, I will spend every damn day of my life becoming worthy of you. Will you marry me, Rosie?'
Rosie: "No."
Dev: "No?"
Rosie: "You already are worthy of me. You already deserved me and that is why I will marry you."
Dev: "Thank God."
Check out the whole de Vincent trilogy below
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