"Hey," he yawned. "What time is it?"
"Half seven."
"Whaaat?"
He rolled back over and pulled a pillow up over his head.
"Yeah it's early but this is the city and we're adults now so we have to get up. You're coming to work with me today so get moving."
"Really?" he sat up and ran a hand through his matted hair. "Does that mean I get to meet the famous Trevor Wylde?"
My heart gave a flutter just hearing his name.
"I hope so!" I said a little too eagerly. "I mean maybe. Probably not. Come on, let's go."
~
Stephen's sense of wonder was ignited all over again as we entered Wylde Tower. The security guard, the one that was so eager to warn me about Trevor, sat at his station. He hadn't said a word to me since I had started, usually choosing to hide out of my way, but today he jumped off his seat excited to see me.
"Who's this fine young gentleman?"
He pointed to Stephen.
"This is my brother. He's helping me out in the office today."
"Is that right?"
The old man hooked his thumbs into his belt and swayed back on his heels as though he was doing a mediocre impression of a sheriff.
"Well then... You two have a nice day."
"Okay..."
I backed away slowly and pulled Stephen to the elevator.
"Who's that creep?"
"Just a dude I met on my first day."
"Why's he still watching us? He's literally looking at you as though you're food."
"I dunno. Men are weird. Come one. You'll love my office. There's big sofa you can sleep on."
"Why couldn't I just sleep at your apartment?"
"Because... I just don't want you all alone."
"It almost sounds as if you care about me," he laughed.
"Shut up."
I pushed open the door to my room and saw a steaming coffee next to a pile of papers with no sign of Karen anywhere. She was learning quickly.
"Woah!" This is where you work? You're like a real life American Psycho. I'm gonna call you Patrick Bateman from now on."
"Don't."
"Hey... Have you ever picked up a prostitute and killed her with a chainsaw?"
I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. This was gonna be a long day. Sipping on my coffee, I began rifling through the papers. It was the usual boring stuff; charts, graphs and printed off emails along with a bunch of business jargon I didn't even want to understand. Yet as I rifled through them, something caught my eye.
The post-it note was bright pink and stuck in between two sheets of paper. At first, the only thing that seemed odd was the handwriting with its long, girlish script that was almost like calligraphy. Then I saw what it said.
Stay away from him. Get any closer and you'll get burned.
I dropped the file on the desk with a thud. Stephen gasped.
"What's wrong? You look like you've just shit yourself."
"Urgh... Be quiet," I said.
I stormed out the room and down the long hallway, scanning over everyone's desk until I saw Karen by the water cooler. She was scribbling on her clipboard with a determined look on her face.
"Karen!"
"Oh, hello," she said as she looked up. "I'll just be along in a moment with your macchiato and the paperwork."
"What?"
I thought I was going crazy.
"But they're already on my desk."
She frowned and shook her head.
"No. They can't be. I haven't got to your room yet. It's next on my list. See?"
She pushed the clipboard in my face.
"Are you ok, dear? You look pale."
"I'm fine. Just tired, that's all."
The pink note was still in my hand, becoming damp with sweat as I walked away. What was going on? Returning to my office I found Stephen lying on the sofa with his nose almost touching the screen of his phone.
"I thought you didn't have a phone," I said as I sat at my desk.
"I do but it just doesn't have any money on it."
"Right well, first thing tomorrow I'm getting you a contract phone. Can't have you here in the city without any money to call anyone. When I realized you called from a pay phone yesterday I thought I'd quantum leaped back to nineteen ninety-five."
He wasn't listening.
"What are you doing anyway?" I asked.
"Research," he grunted in that typical teenage way.
"Research? What are you talking about?"
He didn't answer.
"Whatever."
I looked down to my coffee then pushed it away. It somehow seemed sinister. If Karen didn't make it then who did? And who wrote the note? And how did they get in here? The door was password protected. I opened my blinds with trembling hands and let sunlight filter into the room. It landed on Stephen's face and he tried to bat it away like a kitten, hissing as though he was a vampire and rolling over with his back toward me. Weird, freakin' kid.
Across the street, the office I had so much fun with yesterday was beginning to pack out. The boy with the shaggy hair and loose tie was by the window again. He turned and waved at me. I wiggled my fingers back at him. It was already the strangest day.
Pulling out my phone, I called Trevor. I was cut off on the third ring.
"Bastard!"
I hurled my phone on the desk. It bounced and clattered before falling to the floor. Stephen flinched and rolled back over.
"What the hell's wrong with you?"
He jumped up and gestured at the broken pieces of cell phone that were now littering the carpet.
"Nothing," I said. "Just... having a bad day."
~
“Thanks for bringing me out to lunch.”
“It’s nothing.”
I swirled my straw around my milkshake and watched the chocolate sauce rise to the top.
"It's what sisters are for," I said.
He gave me a weak smile as he sipped on his drink. I looked down at his plate and saw how he was picking at his fries like a timid bird.
"When was the last time you ate?"
"Hmmm."
He tapped the side of his jaw.
"Maybe yesterday morning. I don't eat much nowadays."
When he arrived he'd been hiding under a big jacket, now as he sat with his bare arms resting on the table I could see the way his bones jutted out awkwardly from his elbows. His neck was freakishly thin and lanky and his hair fell around his ears unwashed and greasy.
"Jesus, how long have I been gone? Like two weeks? And the whole family's fallen apart. Dad's turned into a nutcase and you've faded away."
He nibbled around the edge of his burger bun for a moment and closed his eyes. I was worried he was falling asleep then he opened them again and stared at his burger as though it was the first time he'd seen food.
"It really hit them hard, you know."
"What?"
"Losing their favorite."
Me. I was their favorite. It was always an unspoken rule that I got what I wanted while Stephen fell by the wayside. Yet he never complained.
"You don't mean that," I said as I pushed my fork into my salad.
I twirled a cherry tomato around a puddle of balsamic vinaigrette and imagined it was a shipwreck trapped in the murky depths of an oil spill.
"Of course I mean it," he spat as he spoke. "You were always the favorite. Now that you're gone they're stuck with some dumb, teenage skater in the house. I mean face it, Mom literally fucking hates me."
"She does not!"
I tried to protest but my words came out with an unconvincing quiver. I knew he was right. He was always the one being dragged home by the cops with his breath stinking of beer while I was winning all the trophies.
"I'm sorry, Stephen. I really am but... We're adults now. We may not feel like it but we are. It's time to maybe move past it. If it's any consolation you're my favorite. I'd pick you over them any day."
A little splash of color cam
e to his cheeks and his eyes lit up.
"Thanks..."
He took a big bite of his burger and chewed on it happily.
"By the way!" he said with his cheeks stuffed like a hamster. "You know I was doing research right?"
"Yeah. What about it?"
"Well... How much do you know about your boss?"
"You mean Trevor? Well, not that much. Why?"
I nibbled on my thumbnail as I waited for him to answer. Just thinking about him drove me crazy, just remembering last night made my panties damp. I clamped my thighs together and stared down at my lap.
"He's quite the man of mystery," Stephen mused. "Really, I mean you should read some of this stuff."
He flashed his phone in my face. I saw vague, vintage photos of old men in weird outfits.
"What is that?"
I flapped my hands to get him away from me.
"This is the little club your boss was born into," he smiled.
I was too busy looking at the piece of lettuce stuck between his front teeth to think about what he was saying.
"They're called the Hades Society," he explained. "And they go a long way back. Literally, they nearly go back all the way to the time of Hades."
"You're nuts."
I resumed eating my lunch.
"I'm serious!" he wailed. "Can't you see it? His mega fortune! The tower, the position within the city, not to mention his family history and all the slayings of the nineteen twenties!"
"You're insane. What have I told you about reading all those crazy conspiracy sites and any- Did you say slayings?"
"Ah, that piqued your interest."
Looking down at his phone I saw the photograph clearly now. Yes, he was on some nutty conspiracy website but still, the photograph seemed real. A group of men was gathered in a circle in the snow. Scepters were in their hands while their faces were covered. All of them were wearing robes, ones that were not too dissimilar to those that I found in the cupboard of Trevor’s room.
"What the hell?"
"I think you mean what the Hades?" Stephen chimed in.
I glared at him before rolling my eyes.
“Anyway, these guys. Who are they?"
"Well it doesn't say who all of them are but I can tell you about this one."
He tapped the phone to show me a tall, slender man in the center of the circle.
"This is Wylde Senior, chairman of the Hades Society and also your boss's father."
I didn't like what I was looking at. There was something so insidious about the photograph and if I hadn't seen the robes myself, hadn't been threatened to stay away, then I wouldn't have believed it myself.
"The Hades Society, is it like some weird Freemason shit?"
"Kinda. Hades, in Greek mythology, was the God of the Underworld but he was also the keeper of death and riches. There isn't a great deal of information but I can at least hazard a guess that death and riches go together, especially in the exclusive world of the billionaire.”
"And the slayings?"
"Here," he swiped his thumb along to an article then handed me the phone. "Here, in New York in the roaring twenties, seven girls were found, I shit you not, decapitated. There were rumors that they were offered to the Hades Society as sacrifices, but of course that's all they were, rumors."
The world around me quickly went hazy.
"Sorry. I'm not feeling too good."
"You ok?"
I stood up and slapped at my cheeks.
"I just need to get outside, get some air."
The walls of the restaurant seemed to warp and tilt on their side. The sides of my vision appeared to fade. The last thing I remembered was seeing the table legs slant horizontal across my eyes. I was lying on the floor, a waiter standing over me and shouting for help. Then darkness.
Chapter Eleven
When I opened my eyes I was back in my bed. The familiar smell of my vanilla scented candle was beside me. I breathed it in and felt safe. There was movement nearby, the sound of someone shuffling then the weight of their body on the edge of my bed. A thick scent hung in the air, something earthen and decadent. It was Trevor's cologne. I reached out a hand and connected my fingers with the smooth jawline on his face.
"How did I get here?"
"You were taken unwell," he said. "And your brother brought you home in a cab. He's a sweet guy, isn't he? And you didn't tell me he was living with you. What a cute arrangement."
I could hear the mockery in his voice.
"And what are you doing here?"
My voice seemed hostile but I didn't want it to be.
"I mean... thank you for coming to see me."
As I focused on his muscular shoulders and rubbed a hand down his back, I thought of what Stephen had told me. It couldn't have been true. He was a practical joker, must have made the whole thing up. Yeah, that was it. He was just playing a prank on me. And to think I had been so freaked out that I fainted. I cringed at the thought.
"I'm so embarrassed," I said. "I can't believe I just passed out."
Trevor chuckled.
"As long as you're ok. I bet you looked like Sleeping Beauty as you lay there unconscious. Now I've called a doctor and they'll be here any moment."
"Thank you," my voice was raspy. "But where's Stephen now?"
Trevor was silent for a few seconds.
"I sent him out with some cash. I thought he'd like to see the sights of the city and get himself a new phone, obviously."
"You're so sweet."
I rested up on my elbows as he leaned down to hug me. You're so stupid, Tammy. You literally fainted because of a made up story.
"I can't believe you came to see me," I beamed. "You're the best medicine I could have wanted."
He kissed me tenderly, his hand stroking my back to calm me. Peeling back the bed sheets, he climbed in and pressed himself up close to me.
"I was so worried about you when I heard you were ill."
He squeezed me tight.
"Don't worry me like that again."
He kissed me hard and my body soon responded. I rolled on top of him and ripped his belt from his body. Then he was inside me, thrusting, groaning. His hands were on his head, pulling at his own hair. I felt possessed as though I couldn't get enough. I bounced hard on him, felt the way he filled me up. In the moment I felt completely under his spell, wanted nothing more than to satisfy him. I rocked back and forth, grinding my hips into his until he climaxed with his whole body seizing into a climactic tremor.
Falling to his side, my hair stuck to my body with sweat, I clung onto him.
"You're a strange man, Mr. Wylde," I whispered.
"And what do you mean by that?" he panted.
"You've driven me insane. I can't stop thinking about you. You disappear and then you reappear and you're full of secrets. If I had any sense I'd never see you again."
He laughed and rolled over to face me.
"There's a reason I like you so much," he smiled. "In fact, I think this would be a perfect time to give you something."
I gave him a skeptical look but before I could ask him about what he was talking about, he was leaping off the bed and heading out into the hall. He returned with a gold box in his hands.
"What's this?"
He placed it down on the bed gingerly.
"I've been waiting to give you this and… I thought you were a good match for it."
I was puzzled.
"Go on, open it?"
Pulling back the silky ribbons, I let them fall to the side before lifting the lid on the box. I could see a square of black velvet. I was expecting some lingerie or maybe another dress but when I pulled the fabric from the box and saw how it draped over my arms I knew what it was immediately.
"It's a robe," I gasped.
"Try it on," he smirked.
"I don't know what to say."
Everything Stephen had told me came alive in my head once again. The Hades Society, could it be real?
"You don't
have to say anything," Trevor said. "Just put it on. They're waiting for you."
Too Tempting
An Alpha Billionaire Romance Series
Book Three
Brooke Kinsley
© 2016 All Rights Reserved
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses per law
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams."-dr. seuss
Contents
Description
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
About The Author
Description
When I think things can’t get any weirder, Trevor drives me to an exclusive sex party in a mansion where only the richest and most glamorous meet. Finding myself in my element, I soon discover I have an audience, people who adore me and worship my naked body.
But things become even stranger when a chance encounter in the attic with a young, mysterious boy uncovers another secret, one that sheds a light on the enigmatic Hades Society. Will everything be explained?
And who is the glamorous and mature Delores? A woman with a rocking body and her sights set between my legs, I find her irresistible and Trevor likes nothing more than to watch us. But the fun can’t last forever, or can it?
Too Curious Complete Series (Books 1-5) Box Set Romance Series: (An Alpha Billionaire Romance Series) Page 10
