by Kate Stewart
“Okay.”
Amber lingered in my office doorway. “Thank you, Taylor.” She closed the door as I texted Cedric.
We go back in six weeks.
I’ll be there.
Somewhere between work and sleep, I zoned out in my office. The sun was setting outside my window, and a velvet haze filled the room with soft light.
I sat back in my chair and sighed. It had been almost three weeks since I’d seen Daniello. I’d slept in the penthouse on several occasions in hopes of being surprised, but it was all in vain. I needed a distraction. Amber was soaring. So was Scott Solutions, thanks to order and excellence.
Amber’s words hit me in the chest.
“Are you happy?”
No. That was the truth. I had all the money I would ever need, but I was entirely lacking in my second reality. I was attached to a man who consistently cut our ties, to a man I swore I wouldn’t bind myself to in both heart and mind. And flashing images of his perfect smile beneath deadly sexy brown eyes did little to ease the ache.
“I don’t need love, Daniello.”
“I know.”
Was I a liar? All that I felt seemed to be brimming to the surface as I thought of how he’d taken me from a place of denying everything related to my heart and hammered his way in, regardless of the space between us. I was falling.
“Where in the fuck are you?” I hung my head in defeat. Just as I’d decided to suck it up and dig back into my workload, Nina chose that moment to knock on my door. “Taylor?”
“Come in.”
She graced me with a soft smile as she sauntered into the room. She looked happy. “What are you doing?”
“I’m looking through Vogel’s proposal. Did you see his latest numbers?”
She nodded as she took the chair opposite of my desk. “I did.”
I closed the thick file. “I think it’s a no-brainer. You should do this deal.”
“Agreed. I’ll call him in the morning.”
Nina sat patiently and studied me.
I met her eyes. “Is there something else?”
“Nope.” She moved to leave her chair and then slid back in. “Got any wine?”
“Where’s Devin?”
Nina chuckled and shook her head. “While you’re making it clear, dear partner, that you’re in need of privacy, I’m doing the same by way of your company. Humor me.”
I smiled across my desk at her. “I have whiskey.”
“My favorite.”
“Mine too.” I pulled a bottle of Maker’s Mark from my desk and grabbed two glasses from a side cart I kept on hand for clients. I poured us two fingers each.
Nina sipped her blend and sat back, the instant effect of the burn putting her more at ease. I too felt the remedy in my long sip and sank a little in my seat.
“We work too much,” Nina said with a sigh.
“We’re good at it.” It was the truth. Scott Solutions had only grown, and we were two of the most watched businesswomen in Charleston. A sudden onslaught of guilt ripped through me as I thought of the repercussions that my personal life might bring, not only with Laz but also with Daniello. I was relieved the moment had presented itself.
“I’m actually glad you’re here. I need to tell you something.” I bit my lip as she looked me over apprehensively. I took a long pull of the whiskey before I spoke. “My past. It’s scandalous. More than that, it’s illegal. In the future, if we’re spotlighted for our success, some things may come out.”
An intrigued Nina sat up at full attention. “Like?”
“I grew up extremely poor. My parents were meth addicts, and my mother was deranged and very abusive.”
“Really?” Nina’s reply was a whisper as her eyes filled with pity.
I lifted my hand, palm out. “Don’t, seriously don’t do that or this story ends.”
She gripped her glass close to her chest and nodded.
“I was involved with a man before I left. We’d been together for years, and when he started selling meth, I helped him. The whole town was addicted.”
“Jesus, Taylor.”
“You can’t be that surprised. I gave you your first gun. Introduced you to Cedric. I told you I lived in the Wild West; I just didn’t explain the extent of it.”
Nina worried her lip with her fingers as I tossed back more courage.
“We planned on getting out of Dyer and taking Amber with us, but he got addicted himself and became something else, so I escaped by putting a bullet in his leg. And it’s a severe understatement that he hasn’t forgiven me.”
“Oh my God.” Nina sipped more of her whiskey.
“It gets a bit more interesting.”
“Fuck, I thought my life was complicated.” Nina chuckled ironically.
I stood and walked around my desk and took the high back leather chair next to hers.
“Nina, I fled to a man who paid my college tuition and gave me room and board in exchange for sex.”
“What?” Her eyes widened as she looked at me like I’d just shot her.
“He was a tycoon, one of the richest men in Tennessee. I was still in high school when we started sleeping together.”
“Jesus, Taylor!” Nina stood and paced the room, covered in shock. Her dark locks twisted in a no-nonsense chignon while she marked the carpet in three-inch heels.
I voiced the words aloud for the first time. “I was a paid whore in exchange for my education.”
Nina paused and then turned to look at me.
I faced her head on. “And I can’t say I’m sorry for it.”
Nina tossed the last of her drink back, gripped the bottle off my desk and poured. “Fuck it, Taylor, if the last year of my life has taught me anything, it’s that some people will do whatever it takes to survive.”
“And that’s all I’ve been doing, Nina. This success we’re experiencing isn’t a surprise to me. It was all carefully planned, calculated, expected. I had no other option.”
Nina cringed. “What do you mean?”
“When you grow up with absolutely nothing, it can instill fear in you once you’ve actually got something.”
She nodded.
“I was bred to be an addict and a tycoon. It’s evident which part of me won. And I’m proud of that, but I can’t say that I’ve kicked my real addiction.”
Nina brought the whiskey bottle to my glass and poured. “Explain.”
“At first I thought it was about kink, rough sex, control, and power, but now I know.”
“Stop being so vague. There is no way you are leaving this fucking office without telling me.” Nina sipped more whiskey and then looked at me pointedly. I spent the next few minutes divulging as little as possible about Daniello with uttering his name. Nina sat back and listened without judgment.
“I’ll sell you back my shares before this thing explodes. And make no mistake, it will explode, Nina. But I want you to know, I had no idea any of this was going to happen with Amber when I agreed to partner with you. And the man, well, that’s on me. I was going to wait to resign closer to Amber’s court date, but I think it’s best if I do it now.”
“You will do no such thing.”
“I’m putting you in danger. Laz is unpredictable, and I have no idea which way he’s going to come at me. He’s had thirteen years to get creative. You’ve been through enough.”
“We’ll up the security,” she said with finality. “Everywhere.”
“Your loyalty is appreciated, Nina, but it’s too much. It could get you killed, bankrupted, or both.”
“I don’t give a shit who comes out of the woods to bury you. I’ll be there to hit them with their own fucking shovel.”
I laughed and let a single grateful tear roll down my face. “Thank you.”
“No, Taylor, thank you. If it weren’t for you stepping up when I needed someone most . . .” She expelled a long breath. “Does Cedric know?”
“He’s all over it. I have two guards now. Amber does as well.”
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Nina winked at me. “You probably don’t need any.”
“At this point, I’m a little bit less practiced at guns and sharper at paperwork. I need the protection.”
Nina shook her head. “I admire you, Taylor, for how far you’ve come. I’ll never utter a word to anyone outside of this room. Your secrets are safe. Now grab your purse and let’s go blow off some steam.”
“I was a paid whore for my education.”
I jerked in my seat as Taylor confessed to her partner.
Rocco faced me with alarm. The private plane touched down in an uneasy bounce so that his question came out in an uneven rush. “What?”
I waved him off as I homed in on Taylor’s words. “He’s dark enough on his own.”
I bit my lips to hide my grin as I pressed the buds in my ears so I wouldn’t miss a word. It was wrong. They were her confessions to tell, but I didn’t give a fuck. I couldn’t afford to. Every day we were together we were on borrowed time, even though I was trying my hardest to change that.
Rocco attempted to interrupt me again, and I glared in his direction, unwilling to stop the recording. I was far too intrigued. I had bugged her office the day I made my proposition. And after that, her condo. I had visual and audio at the penthouse, and she had basically gathered that because I told her I watched her. But I left nothing to chance. A woman with her resources could discover a lot. Still, I was untraceable, and I had to make sure she remained faithful to our arrangement. She hadn’t uttered my name to her partner.
She was loyal.
Rocco and I grabbed our bags from the overhead compartment as I heard Taylor unveil more secrets to Nina. She was careful with her words and said little about me. But it was enough to let me know my place with her.
“It is your whore,” Rocco concluded as he watched my face with contempt. He ignored the warning in my eyes and made his way to where our SUV was parked. I checked my phone and saw she was at the penthouse, most likely asleep. She’d been there many times in wait for me.
And that meant something. More than it should. More than was allowable, even by my own standards. But I knew back in Tennessee I was far too engaged with her.
At home in Barga, I’d watched her undress in the penthouse and touch herself with my name on her lips. She knew of my eyes on her. She knew I would see her. I heard her every plea as she beckoned me with her touch.
It was need that drove me to her.
Lust.
And I could handle lust in all forms.
Intrigue kept me there.
And now . . .
“Imbecile,” I muttered to myself as I slid my key into the door and opened it to find her sleeping. I knew the real danger lay in the way my heart beat in my chest—sharp, painful, needy.
She was right. I could ruin her.
No matter how careful I was, it wouldn’t be enough to save her if things went wrong in the States and word got back home. I could leave and forget my foolish plans for stolen moments with her. I could give her any number of reasons to end our time together and be a better man for it.
But I wasn’t a better man. I couldn’t be. And that decision was made long before I met her.
I removed my shoes as I watched her. Her silky red hair lay against the pillow, and her eyes fluttered within a dream.
She had given her body to a man for money and gave it freely to me without regard to the price she would pay. Like me, she made no apologies for the actions that led her to the woman she had grown into. She was no whore; she was untouchable. A self-made picture of perseverance that drew breath and exhaled fire. A phoenix.
My phoenix.
I tried to wipe the foolish sentiment from my thoughts as I sat next to her on the bed. She slept soundly. I studied the rise and fall of her chest before my gaze drifted to her face. She winced, and then all her features slid back into place. Whatever dream she was in was no doubt a battle. The woman was in a constant state of unrest.
I slept in pitch black.
And that was the part of my soul that refused to apologize for the man I had grown into. No matter what act I committed, guilt eluded me. And I’d spent that decade of my life testing my limits. To others, I seemed ruthless. To my clients, invaluable.
And Taylor appealed to every part of me.
Even the man who would burn down a village to prove a point.
I was that man, and I wanted this woman. But I had years of scattered ashes in my wake. And though she’d risen from hers, I washed daily in mine.
“Daniello.” Somewhere in my dream, I felt his arms grow tight around me.
“Sleep.”
His scent filled the air around me. I inhaled deep and let out a slow breath. My eyes threatened to water, and I knew it then.
It wasn’t just his darkness, the intrigue that surrounded him. It was Daniello.
I gripped his arm and pulled it further around me, and he reacted by closing all of the available space between us and kept me tight in his grip.
“Did you think of me?”
I choked down my budding emotion. “Often.”
He turned me over to face him as the morning sun streamed through the windows, showcasing his perfection. His dark hair was still neatly manicured and encased his sharply etched jaw. Brown eyes doused with uncertainty glittered over my face. He was gloriously naked, the evidence apparent against the outside of my thigh. He moved to hover above me, his needy cock at my entrance, his lips inches away. “Tell me to leave.”
“I can’t.”
He closed his eyes briefly. “Tell me to go. You know this will only end bad.”
“Then let it end badly.” His mouth was on mine before I finished the sentence. He invaded my body, hungry and demanding, pulling out only to get my lips to beg and then throwing his hips so I felt every steel inch of him. I screamed out his name as we lost ourselves, completely immersed in satisfying our need.
We feasted and fed until we were both full.
Daniello lay in a sweaty heap as I moved to take a shower when he gripped my wrist. “My cum is still spilling out of you. Be still, Phoenix.”
I raised a brow. “You want to cuddle, tough guy? I don’t cuddle.”
The lines in his face went hard. “Fucking do it!”
“What!?” I ripped my wrist away from him and stood my ground.
“Goddamn woman,” he barked as he yanked me down to lay with him. I laughed at his outburst as he nailed me with angry eyes. We lay there quietly as a silent war raged on inside him. He looked up at the industrial ceiling in confusion as I nudged him with my elbow.
“What is wrong with you?”
Daniello turned to me as soon as the words came to him. “I have come to vacation with you!”
Another bout of laughter had him growling as he took residence on top of me and peered down at me, aggravated.
I lifted a brow. “Do villains get a vacation?”
He smirked. “Villains take whatever they want.”
“And where would you take me?”
“Here,” he said as he motioned toward the bed and then nodded toward the newly delivered sofa. “And that couch.”
I pushed out a sarcastic laugh. “I’ll be spoiled for other men.”
He gripped my throat in warning. “No other men on vacation.”
“Noted. And as tempting as it sounds and as flattered as I am that you cleared your schedule for me for ‘vacation,’ I have a business to run.”
But I didn’t. Nina and I had worked out the details. I was on leave for at least a week to “mentally recoup,” as Nina had coined it, and then after I could rework a few proposals from home. Light duty until the mess blew over. And for the moment I was free. And I knew it.
Daniello didn’t know of my sudden freedom, but his eyes told me differently. His shoulders fell forward as he pressed me down into the mattress in silent aggravation and then released me.
“Then go, Taylor.”
I moved to take a shower and figure out how in the
hell I would spend the next six weeks of my life. I paused my feet to look back and saw him watching me. “You have made a different decision?”
“I’m not good at this. I don’t know what to do.”
Daniello’s brows furrowed. “There is nothing to do.”
“I’m boring. I’m not any fun.”
Daniello reared his head back in a laugh before he came toward me and pulled me into his hold. We stood naked with slowly building smiles. “You know, Daniello, this means you thought of me.”
Daniello looked down at me with soft eyes. “All the day.”
I rolled my eyes with a soft laugh as I gripped his hand and led him to the shower while he questioned my back with a clueless “What?”
“Amber.” My breathing was erratic, and I did my best to temper my moan as Daniello planted a tongue-filled kiss on my thigh. I pushed his head away as I set my purse on the counter. We’d just gotten back from dinner, and apparently, Daniello felt it was time for dessert. He followed the slit up my black dress and invaded as I tried to hide the overwhelming feel of him.
“Taylor, what’s going on? You weren’t at work today, and you didn’t come home last night.”
“I’m taking lea . . . leave.” I fisted Daniello’s hair in an attempt to pull him away. He knelt at my feet with explorative lips and eager fingers. “Just until this thing with Laz blows o . . . over!”
“What’s wrong with you?”
“I’m probably going to be absent for a few days.” Daniello shook his head and bit the soft flesh at the top of my thigh. “ . . . a week? A week!”
He seemed satisfied with my timeline and confirmed as much as he pressed his thumb to my clit.
I could hear Amber’s accusatory tone. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with a sexy, dark haired god with a thick accent, would it?”
Daniello’s unmistakable smile confirmed he heard every word. I gawked down at him and attempted to push him away. “I’ll call you tomorrow. And call . . . call me if you need me!” I hung up just as Daniello moved my panties to the side and darted his tongue out for a long leisurely lick up my slit. I gripped his ink black hair in frustration.
