by Lana Lachlan
Maybe he should have seen this coming. Maybe he had but conveniently ignored it. Annaliesa Cabot was a lost little girl who wanted the danger of a bad man’s discipline. Even if he wasn’t an ex-con with a limited future, it wouldn’t change the situation. He couldn’t take on an heiress like one of his working girls. And he sure as hell had no intention of taking on a girlfriend. Her pussy he enjoyed. More than enjoyed. The rest of her he couldn’t afford and until this point, he’d always thought of this as some weird, short term deviation from his normal life that he hadn’t expected to last this long. But she’d gotten herself all tied up in knots and it had to stop.
From across the small space separating them, Gage toughened his gaze. “You and I are oil and water, Anna. They don’t mix. And as for sharing? I don’t do commitment to one woman, at least not in the foreseeable future. I’m a man with a record who doesn’t have the time or the inclination for involvement.” He paused, debating whether to tell her everything… decided he might as well to get it over with. “I went to prison for armed robbery.”
Gage’s stomach clenched at her look of horror. She was right to be horrified. She didn’t know his past, didn’t know that him just saying the words ‘armed robbery’ brought back the suffocating memories of prison. Six years of having to knock back every inmate who wanted to try and take down a heavyweight in his prime. Six years to become bitter about the unfairness of life. Six years to blame himself for being a trusting fool.
But when her look of horror turned to self-loathing, he realized he’d put the girl in a dark place. If he didn’t tell her about that night, she’d never forgive herself for being with him. He could live with her thinking him a scumbag not worthy of her. She couldn’t.
“I got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, Anna.”
“Tell me,” she urged. “All of it.”
Gage stood up so he wouldn’t have to see her eyes when he told her. “It happened on my way home from the gym. I’d spent the day training and afterwards two of the gym hands, a pair of hotheaded twenty-year-olds, asked if I’d drop them off at a party on my way home so I agreed. Halfway there, they wanted to stop at a liquor store to get supplies so I waited outside while they went in. They came out loaded up with booze and cigarettes and we left. Two miles down the road the cops pulled us over. The kids had held up the store with a gun. All three of us were arrested.”
“But you didn’t know anything about it.”
Gage retook his seat. “No, I didn’t. The kids told the truth, but the cops didn’t believe them. Even my manager couldn’t convince them or the D.A. that his world title contender wouldn’t be so stupid to rob a store.” He gave a sour laugh. “A big guy like me with tats and an attitude. Yeah, it had to be me behind it.”
His bitterness brought her hand to his. She squeezed his fingers. “I’m so sorry, Gage. So that’s why you gave up boxing?”
“Pretty much.”
He looked at her small, smooth hand on his big calloused mitt. In her palace, she never had to lift a finger, never had to battle with her past or worry about her future.
“I want you, Gage.”
He wanted her too. He’d only just had her and he wanted her again. But wanting and doing are two different things.
Time for a dose of reality.
“Look at me, girl,” he said savagely, seeing her flinch… wanting her to flinch to make it easier for him to ram home his message. “I’m no knight in shining armor who’s going to carry you away for some happy-ever-after shit. I’m an inked-up bouncer who spends his nights standing on a sidewalk dealing with drunks and idiots spoiling for fights. The last thing I need is a girlfriend hanging around.”
It wasn’t easy to see her recoil at his honesty and with her green eyes tearing up, he couldn’t say he liked being so honest but there was no kind way of telling the girl something she didn’t want to hear. He expected her to head for the door, but she looked up at him with an expression that surprised him.
Fear. But not of him.
Gage’s protective instincts flared. “What’s going on, Anna?”
“I’m so scared,” she whispered. “I’ve never been scared of anything in my life, but I don’t know what to do anymore.” She started plucking at a loose thread on her skirt. “I’m supposed to marry Julian and be happy.”
Gage couldn’t see the problem. “If you don’t want him, don’t marry him.”
She pulled the thread taut. “You don’t understand. Grandmama and the Franklands expect me to marry him. If I don’t, then the Cabots and the Franklands won’t be a business dynasty. I do care for him and I know he’ll be a good husband, but I don’t want him in the way I should.”
“So what do you want?”
“To live my own life,” she said, snapping the thread and finding another to pluck at. “And not have to live up to people’s expectations.”
Gage couldn’t see a problem with that either. “Is that it? You want to be free? You can fix that.”
Sadness clouded her eyes. “It’s not that easy. Anyway, it wouldn’t matter because only you know me. Truly know me.”
Gage knew only too well. He rewound through the times when he’d had to spank her. She wasn’t a complicated woman or even particularly kinky. She just needed a man to roughen up her ass when she got sassy. Not so difficult, even for a jackass. “As I’ve told you, talk to him.”
“He’d never understand. Julian likes his routine.”
Curious, Gage pressed her to explain. “Such as.”
She blushed. “We only ever do it in bed with the lights dimmed. We start with lots of foreplay and when… you know, he’s very gentle and caring. He would never hurt me.”
A decent enough lover by all accounts. But not enough for a submissive, especially a repressed one who couldn’t tell her man the truth.
“Girl, only you can sort this out with the guy. But one thing you have to do is tell him what’s happened. About being roofied at the club, about me, about Sutton.”
Her face lost all color. “Oh God, no! It would ruin his reputation if it got out.”
The girl might not love him in the way she should, but she’d protect him to the end. “You have no choice, Anna. Sutton might still threaten to go to the media but if he demands money or tries to follow through with the sex, that’s enough for you and Frankland to call in the police.”
It would be a damned sight easier to give Sutton that right hook, but it wouldn’t make Anna’s problem go away.
Gage stood up, looking down at the lost little girl on his sofa. He’d miss having her around. Maybe too much for his own good and yeah, maybe she’d gotten to places inside him where no one had been in a long time. It couldn’t be. Not now. Not ever.
“It’s over for good this time, Anna,” he told her, taking her hand to bring her to her feet. “I have no room in my life for princesses.”
When her eyes held argument, he used the same tone as he did with Bullock. “I fucking mean it, Ms. Cabot. It’s finished. Go home and don’t come back.”
When he walked her to the door, she didn’t speak but he knew her thoughts. She’d go ahead and marry the jackass and live in her palace and pretend to be happy. In a few years, the pretending would run out but even then, she wouldn’t tell her husband the truth. Instead, she’d leave him.
Chapter 6
Anna walked the length of the bridal studio, turning at the end to rearrange her twelve-foot lace train before the return. Her mother’s wedding dress had only needed to be taken in a fraction above the corseted waist and shortened by half an inch. Anna loved the scooped neck, lacy sleeves and tiny fabric flowers on the bodice. She felt like a princess. Gage had spanked her for being a princess. Heaven knows what he would think if he saw her now.
“It’s a beautiful gown, Anna.”
Half-heartedly, Anna focused on her dress. “Thank you, Cristal.”
The dressmaker arrived to help her onto the fitting platform. “I’ll do my final check, Anna.”
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br /> “Thank you.”
Anna waited while the dressmaker worked her way around the gown, checking buttons and pearls and silk flowers. Her wedding was in four days and it still didn’t seem real, mostly because she’d hardly seen her fiancé. For the past two weeks, he’d been in and out of the country, except for the wedding rehearsal, after which Julian had promptly left for Europe again. She should feel abandoned but strangely she couldn’t care less. Julian would be home tomorrow night. Soon enough to see the man she would spend the rest of her life with.
“I really had my doubts about you wearing this, Annaliesa,” Grandmother Beatrice said, tapping her chin while she studied the corset. “But it really looks very nice on you. Your parents made a beautiful couple on their wedding day. They were so happy.”
Anna knew they had been happy. They’d never fought and had doted on their only child. She missed them both, especially her mother. Mama had been so loving and kind even though she’d spent so much time away organizing fundraisers and charity events. Soon her own life would slip into the same routine and already, she’d been invited to sit on two charity committees, one of which had been her mother’s favorite cause. In a matter of weeks, her life would be no different than her mother’s.
Anna lifted her skirt for the dressmaker to check the crinoline slip. “I wish Mama could have seen me in her dress.”
As usual Beatrice didn’t listen. “Now tonight, Annaliesa, I thought we might have another look at the cake. I’d like your opinion on adding fresh rosebuds around the bottom tier.”
Opinion? Hardly. “I can’t tonight, Grandmama. It’s the bachelorette party.”
Beatrice frowned, clearly miffed and about to lay on one of her killer guilt trips. “I suppose it could wait until tomorrow morning although I already have a full day organizing your wedding.”
Cristal piped in, “It will have to be the afternoon, Mrs. Cabot. Anna will be too hungover in the morning.”
Anna knew Beatrice didn’t approve of Cristal. Her clothes, her makeup, her hair, her manners. Her very existence seemed enough to earn Grandmama’s disapproval.
Beatrice’s pale blue eyes hit Cristal like ice daggers. “Really, Cristal. Young ladies don’t get drunk and they most certainty do not have hangovers. In my day, an aperitif before dinner and a glass of wine during was quite enough alcohol.”
Anna laughed. “That was a hundred years ago, Grandmama. Where are we going anyway, Cristal?”
“The Fortune Club.”
Anna’s laugh froze on her face. “I-I thought it was somewhere else. You know I don’t like that place.”
“Sorry, sweetie, the girls insisted on the Fortune because it’s got the best live music and a heap of new cocktails on the menu.”
Her dress still in her hands and feeling giddy, Anna stepped off the platform, worried she would lose her balance. Gage would be there and she’d be reminded all over again that she wanted him over her own fiancé. Too cruel. For two weeks she’d held herself together, not allowing herself to think about the brute other than to tell herself she’d had a lucky escape.
“Can’t we go somewhere else?” she pleaded. “That place around the corner looks nice.”
Cristal smiled and shook her head. “I’ve already booked a booth. You’ll love it, you’ll see.”
Anna didn’t want to see. The big ugly sexy bouncer would be more than enough to look at but there was nothing to be done about it now.
Grandmama circled Anna, plucking at the flowers as though testing their stability. “Everything seems to be in order. I don’t see why you can’t have your party at the Cabot mansion with caterers.”
“I never thought of that, Mrs. Cabot,” Cristal said with a mischievous wink at Anna.
Beatrice pursed her lips. “As maid of honor, you should have spoken to me first.”
Anna also knew Grandmama didn’t want Cristal as maid of honor but hadn’t dared to say so. Even Grandmama had the sense to know Anna would launch into full Bridezilla if she didn’t have her way on this.
When Beatrice turned away to speak to the dressmaker, Cristal leaned into Anna’s ear. “The old bat’s not serious, is she?”
Anna blew a resigned breath. “Absolutely. But don’t worry, there’s no way I’m having her anywhere near my bachelorette party. What time are we going to the Fortune?”
“Daddy’s limo will start collecting everyone at eight o’clock and it’ll take about an hour, so around nine.”
Anna could only hope that Gage didn’t start until later than nine when she was safely inside. Seeing him would be pure torment days out from her wedding.
Suddenly needing to be rid of her dress and anything that reminded her of her so-called big day, she frantically began unbuttoning the front.
“For goodness’ sake, Annaliesa,” her grandmother chided. “Let the dressmaker do it or you’ll rip something.”
Anna literally bit her tongue while she waited for the dressmaker to free her of the corset and train and skirt. The seeds of her rebellion had been planted the moment Grandmama had taken over the wedding preparations and after lying dormant for weeks, they finally awakened in Anna. She took a few seconds to savor the unfamiliar sensation before scrambling into her clothes and heading for the door, turning to make her announcement.
“I’m going to the Metzo for the rest of the afternoon.”
Beatrice’s shrill voice shot across the room. “Don’t be ridiculous, Annaliesa. With so much to do, wasting time at the gallery is out of the question. You don’t seem interested in the preparations at all.”
A giggle from Cristal.
“Because I don’t need to be interested, Grandmama. You’ve completely taken over my wedding,” Anna snapped, the seeds now in full flower. Flinging open the door, she waved at Cristal. “See you tonight. Pick me up last.”
“Annaliesa!”
“Bye, Gran.”
Anna smiled to herself as she stalked down the street in search of a cab. Her grandmother would be more furious at being called gran than at Anna leaving. The Cabot matriarch thought it common. Serve the old bat right.
He didn’t see her at first. She was almost through the Fortune Club’s entrance, surrounded by her bachelorette friends when his eyes landed on hers. Those calm gray eyes had seen her naked, seen every nook and cranny, seen her body in the throes of ecstasy. Tonight the gray eyes were impenetrable as they briefly swept her red cocktail dress before moving on to the group behind hers. What had she expected… hoped for? That he’d smile despite sending her away for good? He couldn’t smile or everyone would realize she knew him and he wouldn’t want to embarrass her, after all. She could hardly complain at him being considerate, nor could she complain about how he treated her. Gage hadn’t taken anything from her that she hadn’t given freely.
Anna felt her arm nudged by her cousin Jodie. “My God, I wouldn’t mind meeting that guy in a dark alley one night. Rough as hell but sooo sexy.”
Gage wore his sexiness as easily as his tattoos and scars. “Come on, Jodie. Everyone’s waiting.”
Grabbing Jodie’s hand, Anna tugged her inside to join the others. Cristal led everyone to their booth at the back of the club and they all sat down. A reporter recognized Anna so took photographs for his website’s society page while the girls posed, arms entwined and laughing.
Cristal wanted everyone to have five cocktails as a minimum, starting with margaritas and ending with screaming orgasms but Anna had already decided on a limit of two drinks. She felt safe with her friends, but the memories of last time were too close to the surface to take chances. While they waited for their drinks, the girls gave Anna her gifts, squealing with delight at the lacy thongs, silk stockings and the emergency kit for brides. Cristal gave her an instruction book for virgins which made everyone squabble over who was the nearest to a virgin.
The margaritas arrived and Anna relaxed into the booth, trying to feel like a bride-to-be celebrating with her friends. A girl’s wedding was supposed to be the ha
ppiest day of her life, but Anna felt nothing. Not happy, not sad, not dreading her mapped out future. Just nothing.
“You okay, Anna?”
Cristal knew there was something wrong. Anyone who looked hard enough would know, although in Anna’s experience, most people assumed an heiress wouldn’t have anything to worry about other than matching her handbags to her shoes.
“Just tired with all the wedding preparations, that’s all.”
Her friend knew her too well. She squeezed Anna’s hand. “No it isn’t, Anna. Beatrice has those covered. For the past few weeks you’ve been different. What’s going on?”
When a girl feels nothing, it’s easier to lie. “I’m fine. Now what cocktail is next on your list?”
Cristal sighed and waved to a passing waiter. “Okay, I’ll leave it for now. Banana daiquiris all around please, waiter.”
By the end of the daiquiris, the girls were all on their feet, dancing to the music. Anna danced and sang along until everyone got too hot and had to sit down again. Another round of cocktails, this time pina coladas.
By midnight and four cocktails later, they were all intoxicated, including Anna.
“Are you going to keep working at the gallery, Anna?”
Anna turned to Jodie who now looked slightly out of focus. “Absolutely.”
She said it with a resolve that surprised herself. Julian wanted to start their family as soon as possible and had already talked about the need for a good nanny. Anna intended to be a hands-on mom, but she had also come to the conclusion that she wanted her job as well. After the honeymoon, she would discuss this with Julian and while he wouldn’t like her decisions about nannies and jobs, he’d have no choice but to accept them.
“Hello, Anna.”
Anna, still lost in thought, looked up to the owner of the voice, her heart sinking at the man standing in front of her. His smile was as oily as ever, his eyes as cold. “It’s good to see you all having fun. I’m Blake Sutton, a friend of Julian’s.”
Cristal, sucking on the olive from her martini, hiccupped. “I-I’ve never seen you with Julian or Anna before. Where’d you meet?”
