Masked Indulgence: A Billionaire Holiday Romance (Nightclub Sins Book 2)

by Michelle Love

  Blue laughed. “That was the worst doctor dirty talk I’ve ever heard … but yes, I need to do that immediately …”

  Gaius Eames tapped on his father’s office door, not waiting for a reply before he opened it. “Hey, Pa.”

  Stuart looked up over from his computer, annoyed. “Gaius, why bother to knock if you’re just going to come in anyway?”

  Gaius was unrepentant, shrugging as he flopped into the chair opposite his father. “I just get into town and that’s the greeting I get? What would I have caught you doing? One of your secretaries?”

  “That’s enough, Gaius.” Stuart glared at his eldest son.

  Gaius grinned widely, knowing his barb had hit home. “Jeez, Pa, take a chill pill. I was kidding. How is the lovely Magda?”

  Stuart’s face softened. “She’s wonderful, and looking forward to seeing you at Thanksgiving —you are coming, I take it?”

  Gaius nodded. “Although Mom’s not happy, yes, I’ll be there.”

  Stuart sighed. “At this point, I really don’t care what Hilary thinks anymore, Gaius. She burned her bridges long ago.”

  “I don’t want to fight, Pa.” Gaius held his hands up. “So, Thanksgiving. Will I meet the daughters? I’ve done my research, two blondes, one brunette —have they got the same father? I’m just asking,” he added as his father looked annoyed, “no judgement.”

  “As far as I know, yes. Artemis and Juno take after Magda, and Romy after her father, I understand. Anyway, you’ll meet all of them then. Have you spoken …”

  “To the Italian?” Gaius finished his father’s sentence. “No, but then that’s nothing new.”

  Stuart sighed. “Blue is your brother, Gaius, and it’s about time you both grew up.”

  Gaius stayed silent. He would never, ever bond with Blue Allende, and not just because he was his bastard half-brother. The jealous that squirmed in his gut when he thought about Blue’s success, his devastating good looks, his decency … goddamn.

  “I hear he’s working with one of the Sasse girls.”

  Stuart nodded. “Romy. She’s in her last year of residency. Blue says she’s the best he’s ever seen.”

  Gaius chuckled darkly. “Is he fucking her?”

  Stuart’s blue eyes went gray, and Gaius knew he’d gone too far this time. “Don’t ever talk about one of Magda’s daughters like that again. Ever.”

  “Forgive me.” Gaius tried to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. “Look, I just got into town —can I use the condo? I’m assuming you’ve moved in with Magda already?”

  “Close enough. I spend every night there. Here,” Stuart reached into his desk drawer and threw Gaius a set of keys. “You know the rules.”

  “Pa, you realize I’m forty-two, right?”

  “And Charlie Sheen is fifty-something. No whores, no drugs. Not in my condo.”

  Gaius sighed and got up. “Fine. Well, I guess I’ll see you at Thanksgiving.”

  Stuart relented a little. The man had a soft spot that made Gaius respect him even less. “Look, have dinner with me, just me, on Tuesday.”

  Gaius masked a smirk. “It’s a date.”

  At his father’s condo, Gaius unpacked, then grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and stretched out on the couch, flicking through the television channels disinterestedly. It was gnawing at his gut the way his father talked about Blue, the pride, the love in his voice. Gaius had been seventeen when his father had revealed his affair with Blue’s mother. He hadn’t blame his father for straying—he knew his own mother Hilary hadn’t been faithful at any point during his parents’ marriage, but he’d resented the fact that there was a child.

  Blue, twelve at the time that his father brought him into their family, was quiet, kind, intense, and everything Gaius wanted to be. Even as a child, Blue’s big green eyes, full of intelligence and compassion, garnered him quick acceptance into their family circle, something Gaius had struggled with. However much Blue had tried to befriend his new brother, Gaius, ridden by jealousy, had been uninterested.

  Gaius gave a humorless laugh. Now Blue already had an ‘in’ with his father’s new wife and her daughters too. Fuck him. Gaius grabbed his iPad and typed in a name in the search engine.

  Doctor Romy Sasse. Her photograph came up immediately on the alumni page at Stamford’s website, and Gaius studied it. Long, dark hair falling in waves past her shoulders, Romy was a doe-eyed beauty with her olive skin, that faint blush of pink in her cheeks, and the curve of her breasts in her white coat was promising.

  Yeah, Gaius thought, if Blue isn’t fucking her, he’s a fool. Gaius read everything he could on the young woman, but there was a surprising dearth of information. Weren’t doctors always publishing research? Why were her name and profile not on the website of the Rainier Hope Hospital, but only on the alumni page of Stamford? Did she not want people to know where she was?

  Intrigued, Gaius took out his phone and dialed. “Yeah, Greg? It’s Gaius Eames. Yes, good, thanks. Listen, I have a job for you, if you’re interested. Yeah, I want you to find out everything you can on a Dr. Romy Sasse. She’s a resident at Rainier Hope Hospital. Find out what she’s hiding … or who she’s hiding from.”

  Chapter 5

  At the same moment that Gaius set out to find out more about Romy, his half-brother was doing the same thing—albeit in a more physical way. He trailed his lips up the length of her spine, feeling her shiver. Her skin was so soft that it drove him crazy. “Turn over, baby.”

  Romy rolled onto her back, hitching a leg over his body. Her lips crushed against his as he buried his rock-hard cock deep into her, and he heard her moan of pleasure. He couldn’t get enough of this woman; she was so soft, her skin silky, the color of milky coffee. The way she looked up at him with those dark chocolate eyes …

  He found his rhythm, moving in and out of her, feeling her sweet cunt contract around his cock, loving the way her breasts and belly undulated with the movement. He’d never been one for skinny girls and Romy had the kind of curvaceous body men salivated over. He’d wanted her the moment he saw her, and he hadn’t felt that way in a long time.

  Blue was aware that his physical attributes meant people thought he was a man whore, and he himself had done nothing to dissuade that image but the truth was … he was careful with his heart. So many women wanted him to look good on their arm, or wanted his cachet as a superstar surgeon to show off. Very few wanted Blue for who he really was underneath the movie-star looks, a funny, unabashed geek, who just wanted to find someone to laugh with.

  And very quickly after she’d arrived in Seattle, Romy had shown herself to be just that woman. That they would soon be related by marriage and be siblings, well, they’d have to deal with that later.

  For now, all he wanted to do was make love to her. He stroked the hair back from her face as they moved together, marveling at the beautiful flush in her face as she came, trembling and sighing his name. They smiled at each other as they caught their breath.

  “I’ve never had sex this good,” Roy said, stretching her limbs and then curling into him.

  For a long moment, Blue stared at her. “I wish we could go public,” he said regretfully. “I want to tell the world about this brilliant, beautiful woman who somehow wants me.”

  Romy laughed. “First, thank you for complimenting my intellect first; you get extra points for that. Second, you know you could have any woman you wanted, Blue Allende. Don’t be modest. You know it’s the truth.”

  “It’s the accent,” he said playfully before letting loose with a string of Italian. “Ho incontrato la ragazza più gloriosa e voglio portarla in tutte le mie parti preferite d’Italia e farle vedere da dove vengo.”

  “Holy crap, that’s unfairly hot!” Romy exclaimed, kissing him hungrily.

  “Ah, a weakness,” he teased, tickling her ribs and enjoying her writhing against him.

  “Mmm, yeah. Now … what did you say? There was something about a ho and glorious ravioli?”

  Blue gr
inned. “I just said I met the most glorious girl, and I want to take her to all my favorite parts of Italy and show her where I came from.”

  “Wow. Where did you come from?” she wondered. “I mean, I know Stuart had an affair with your mom …” she trailed off, apparently realizing that wasn’t the hottest of pillow talk conversations.

  “He did,” Blue nodded, long ago having come to terms with that aspect of his DNA. “Technically he was—and regretfully still is—married to Hilary.” Just mentioning her name made his gut tense for reasons no one knew but him. “But the marriage has been over for years. Mom was a widow; her husband was killed in a car wreck three years after they married, and she was in mourning for years. Stuart went to Rome for a conference, met my mother, and it was, according to her, like a thunderbolt.”

  Blue rolled over onto his back and gathered Romy back into him, enjoyed her pressed tight against his chest. “I was conceived on that first meeting, accidentally, of course, and my mom even gave Stuart an out, said she would raise me alone. Stuart was a stand-up guy. He and my mother … their chemistry was plain to see even when I was a kid, so when my mom died, Stuart didn’t hesitate to bring me to the States.”

  “That makes me very happy to hear,” Romy nodded. “Not the affair, obviously, but it doesn’t seem like he’ll break my mom’s heart.”

  “No,” Blue assured her. “He will not, Romy. He made mistakes, yes, but he is a genuinely good man.”

  Romy’s face clouded. “What is your stepmother like?”

  “Hilary?” Blue gave a humorless laugh, feeling that wrench again. “Hilary Eames is an unremittingly vile piece of crap. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but it’s the truth. She treated—and continues to treat—my dad as an ATM machine, but gives the world the impression she’s a God-fearing charitable Christian woman. Ugh. That woman has never believed in anything in her life.”

  “She’s that bad?”

  Blue nodded. “Thankfully, Dad saw the light and filed for divorce, but it hasn’t stopped her from trying to control him. And Dad’s so desperate for the divorce to be final, he gives in on everything. She’s bleeding him dry. I haven’t met your mom yet, Romy, but I would warn her …” he looked at her intensely, willing her to feel the depth of his warning, “don’t let Hilary in, even an inch. She’s like a cancer, and I haven’t even told you the half of it.”

  Romy propped herself up on her elbow and studied him. “She won’t get a chance, I promise. No one messes with my mom—they have to get past me and my sisters and we can throw down, I tell you.”

  Blue smiled fondly at her. “I bet you can. I really look forward to meeting Magda. She’s made my dad happy, and I owe her everything for that.”

  “Thanksgiving.”

  There was a tiny pause before he nodded at the invitation. “Thanksgiving. Yes.” He bent his head to kiss her. “Now, Romy, be a good girl and lie back for me … I’m going to kiss every inch of your spectacular body.”

  Soon, he was hooking her legs over his shoulder and burying his face in her sex. She tasted so good to him, the crimson blush of her swollen cunt so beautiful as his tongue teased and tormented her hardening clit until she was bucking, and coming. He gave her no time to recover before he plunged his cock deep into her and fucked her mercilessly until she was crying with ecstasy, arching her back and pleading with him to never, never stop.

  Artemis Sasse drove into the city to do some early Christmas shopping. Her partner, Glen, had called her to say he would be late home and Artemis was enjoying the time alone. She and Glen had not been getting along too well lately, and she knew in her heart that it was over. Still, the thought depressed her. She and Glen had been together since high school, nearly twenty years, and the thought that they would not be in each other’s lives much longer was a deep sadness within her. It turned out that it was true, the whole thing about people outgrowing one another. He’d grown one way and she’d grown the other. There was no longer any chance of them meeting in the middle, though they’d tried for a long time.

  At thirty-six, Arti had worked her way up in the otherwise male-dominated faculty and was now a tenured professor at the university. There was something missing though, something that wasn’t satisfying her in her life, but she couldn’t figure out what. She loved her family—she was close to both her sisters and her mother—she had great friends, and ye t…

  Something had been bugging at her for a few weeks now, and she couldn’t quite reconcile it with her stoic and practical nature. It was Romy, she realized. She felt her middle sister was heading towards trouble and she couldn’t figure out why she felt like that. Certainly, Romy was fitting in well at the hospital, or so she said, and she was happy in her small apartment, but Artemis couldn’t help feeling scared for her sister.

  Why, though? she asked herself again as she browsed around the department store. Why do I feel like that?

  Maybe it was Dacre, Romy’s ex. He was still out there, still angry with Romy for leaving him. The way he had beaten her the last time still haunted Artemis. The hospital in New York had called her and she had flown with her mother and Juno to see Romy. Walking into that room, seeing her sister almost unrecognizable, her face bloodied and bruised, eyes swollen, her leg smashed … Romy, thankfully, had pressed charges, but Dacre, thanks to his wealthy parents, had hired the best lawyers money could buy and the Sasse women couldn’t compete. Dacre had been fined and gave an outward expression of regret, but Romy and her family knew he was enraged by the court case and by the subsequent divorce.

  Artemis shook herself. Romy is an adult and doesn’t need you worrying about her. Get a grip. Artemis asked herself whether she was distracting herself from her failing relationship by focusing so much attention on her sister. She pushed everything to the back of her mind and went to her favorite coffee shop.

  A gingerbread latte and a pastry later and she felt the tension leave her body. She was flicking through a book she’d purchased for Juno for Christmas when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up to see a very tall, handsome man, she smiled delightedly. “Dan? Dan Helmond?”

  Her old friend grinned back at her. “The very one. Hey, kiddo.”

  Artemis stood and hugged him. Dan had been a couple of years old than she and Glen at school. Now he was a big bear of a man, his dark hair shot through with silver, his beard full. Plaid shirt and camo pants and ear piercings, and Dan looked more like a Hell’s Angel than the architect he was. He’d always been a kind, gentle man though, and all the Sasse sisters had had a crush on him at one point or another.

  “Can I get you a coffee?” Artemis asked hopefully.

  “Nah, I just ordered. Can I get you a top up … ugh, woman, what is that monstrosity?” He peered into her half-empty mug and Artemis grinned.

  “It’s a gingerbread latte, you philistine, and no, thanks. One sugary hit is enough for me.”

  Dan excused himself to pay for his own coffee—Americano, no sugar, no cream—and sat down with her. His brown eyes twinkled merrily at her. “Well, now, girl. You’re looking good. How’s life?”

  “It’s good, thanks. I’m tenured at my college, family’s good. My mom’s getting married soon.”

  Dan looked surprised. “Wow, really? Someone’s tamed Magda Sasse?” He always deliberately pronounced their surname ‘Sassy’ rather than ‘Sass,’ Artemis remembered.

  “I wouldn’t say tamed, exactly; you know Mom. She’s still a head-in-the-clouds nutso, but wonderful with it.” Artemis sipped her coffee. “She’s marrying Stuart Eames.”

  With satisfaction, she saw the amazement on Dan’s face. “No freakin’ way.”

  “Yes, way.”

  Dan let out a long breath. “Wow. Wow.”

  “One of his sons is in property … Gaius Eames. You know him?”

  Dan shook his head. “Heard of him, and that star doctor brother of his, but I don’t know either. How about you? Still with Glen?”

  Barely. “Yes, we’re still, um, still … together.”<
br />
  “You don’t seem so sure.”

  Artemis shrugged, not wanting to talk about Glen with Dan and ruin the atmosphere. “How about you?”

  “Wife passed a few years back, cancer.” Dan stirred his coffee, clearly lost in those memories for a long moment, such that Arti reached over and touched his hand.

  “I’m sorry, Dan.”

  He nodded and looked up, briefly covering her hand with his and then going on as if he hadn’t missed a beat. “I have a seventeen-year-old daughter, Octavia. She’s heading off to Harvard next year.”

  “That’s exciting.”

  Dan beamed and Artemis felt her stomach flutter. That smile … “She’s my angel.” Dan went on, digging out his wallet and showing her a photograph of a pretty teenager with long dark hair and big soulful brown eyes like her father.

  “She’s gorgeous. She could be Romy’s twin.”

  “She could. How is your sister doing? Last I heard, she was in New York.”

  Artemis felt her chest tighten. “She’s back now, working as a resident at Rainier Hope. Surgical superstar in the making, so they say.”

  “I’m not surprised. And Juno?”

  “About to work for a charitable foundation in New Orleans.”

  “Man, the Sasse sisters done good.”

  Artemis smiled. “We’re doing okay.”

  Dan glanced at his watch. “Listen, Missy, I hate to cut and run but I have a meeting in town —don’t suppose you’d like to make this a regular thing? Meeting up for coffee? Tavia’s always telling me to slow down, take some time to chill, and I’d like to see you again.”

  “I’d love to … here.” She pulled a business card out of her pocket, a little worse for wear. “It has my cell phone number on it. Call anytime. It was really great to see you.”

  Dan bent down and kissed her cheek. “Soon, yeah?”

  “Soon.”

  Artemis felt absurdly cheered as she walked back to her car. A new friend, she thought to herself, a new friend that’s an old friend. She pushed away any thoughts of anything beyond friendship, although she kept rerunning Dan calling her ‘Missy’—she’d forgotten that was his name for her back in high school.