“It’s really simple. I want you to say yes to me,” I said quietly, fisting my hands to keep from touching her. “I won’t be happy until you’re under me, Olivia, and once you’re there, I plan to make you come a thousand different ways. You don’t want games? Making me wait when you know we both want the same thing—that’s you playing games. That’s you trying to win. Say yes, and we both win.”
She stared up at me with those eyes that cut right through me. Her lips were parted again, like she wanted to say yes. To give as much as I wanted to take.
“Fine.” Her voice was barely a whisper.
I lifted an eyebrow. “Fine?”
She exhaled a shaky breath and broke eye contact. “I’m saying yes.” She swallowed and met my gaze again. “But I have terms.”
“Name them.”
“Good. Not sure if you noticed, but I don’t like being told what to do.”
I pursed my lips to suppress a smile. “There’s only one ruler in my bedroom, princess. You have a voice, but I call the shots.”
She crossed her arms, bringing my attention away from her beautiful face for only a second.
“That’s fine. I’m talking about outside of it. I’m not going to be at your beck and call. If you want me, you can tell me. But I’m under no obligation to come running every time you have a pressing need.”
Fair enough. “I want what you want.”
She swallowed. “You have to use protection, always.”
I smirked. “That’s a no-brainer.”
Relief flooded me, settling in my shoulders and feeding a fresh rush of desire through my veins. “You’ll have to excuse my forwardness, but since you’ve made me wait longer than I expected to, and since I’ve been hard for you for days, when might I have the pleasure of your company…Olivia?”
She stepped away, glancing around the room like she was suddenly interested in it. “I’m free tonight.”
“Perfect. I’ll have a car pick you up after work.”
“I can make my own way. Cameron’s going to get suspicious if you keep picking me up in private cars.”
I nodded. So Cameron didn’t know. Thank fuck. She completed her circle of the room and came toward me, leaving more space between us than I had.
“And we should think of tonight as a trial run. If this doesn’t feel right for whatever reason, I reserve the right to change my mind and forget you exist.”
If she only knew how much that challenged me… “Harsh, but I’m confident you’ll leave happy and wanting more.”
“Your confidence is reassuring, but you need to know I’m not cheap and I don’t want to be treated that way.”
I frowned. “You’re anything but cheap, Olivia. I would never call you that or treat you that way.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“Have you negotiated this arrangement to your satisfaction, then?” I had a feeling the terms meant less than the power she was trying to hold onto in changing them. I’d never hold her to anything. I just wanted to get inside her, if only for a night.
“I’m satisfied. For now.” She lifted her chin again.
God, she was adorable when she was trying to hold her ground. She didn’t like the games, but watching her play them was a huge fucking turn on.
“I’ll meet you at your place tonight. Text me the address. I’ll be there at nine.”
“Dinner?”
She shook her head, seriousness shadowing her eyes. “You don’t need to wine and dine me, Will. I know what this is about.”
OLIVIA
This is crazy. You’re crazy.
The voice in my head had been harassing me the whole way to Will’s. I’d taken the train and walked from the station to his building. Once inside the lobby, I changed into heels. I tossed my flats into my oversized purse and leaned back against the wall. I closed my eyes and drew in a deep, steeling breath. My nerves couldn’t get the best of me now.
I’d entertained this. I’d said yes to this.
“Liv?”
My eyes opened to a familiar face. Ian Savo was walking my way. He looked like he was going out, dressed in dark jeans and a black collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up, showcasing his muscular forearms.
A flurry of words lodged in my throat before I finally found my voice. “H-Hi.”
Something about the man had always left me a little tongue-tied whenever we’d run into each other before. Whatever their heritage, his parents had produced a straight-up beautiful man. He paused in front of me, all six-foot-plus of muscle and taut tawny skin, affording me a closer view. His combined features were lethal—dark-brown hair trimmed short to his scalp and light gray eyes.
“You here to see Will?”
My stomach dropped out, and the growing list of Ian’s best features came to a screeching halt.
Shit. How did he know?
“I didn’t know you and Will were friends,” I said.
“Friends and roommates, for now. Let me walk you up.”
“Sure.” I pushed off the wall and wobbled on my heels.
Ian caught my hand, steadying me. His grasp was easy and warm, and my heart did a funny extra beat.
He didn’t release me until we were in the elevator.
I watched the numbers illuminate with our climb. My anxiety seemed to climb right with it. Darren was going to kill me if he found out about this…and I didn’t even want to think about Cameron’s wrath.
I only had seconds left when I finally broke the silence. “I don’t know how to say this delicately, Ian. But I’d rather my brothers not know about me visiting Will like this.”
I chanced a look up. His expression was steady, like he knew exactly why I was here. But there was something else, something dark and hungry in the stormy gray of his eyes.
“Understood.”
The doors opened, and I followed Ian out, feeling no more steady on my feet than I had been. I should have stuck with flats.
“Here we are.” He unlocked the door to the apartment and let me cross the threshold first.
I took a few steps in, not seeing Will but catching his voice and snippets of conversation from another room.
The space was clean and new. A soft gray that reminded me of Ian’s eyes colored the walls against ornate white trim. The kitchen was state of the art and led into an open floor plan living room. An enormous picture window offered an expansive view of Manhattan across the river. Leather and dark-wood furniture filled the space, for function over style. Everything had modern finishes but lacked the warmth that made a house feel like a home.
“So this is home?”
“For now. He’s probably going to grab one of the luxury condos above the new gym when they’re finished and move in there eventually.”
I turned and caught him watching me again. “And what about you?”
His full lips curved into a crooked grin. “I’ll land on my feet. Probably won’t be anyplace half this nice, but I don’t sleep much anyway.”
For years, Ian had worked beside my brother through countless long nights at the station, life-threatening emergencies on the streets, and dangerous fires like the one that had nearly killed them both. But I wondered if those were the sleepless nights he was referring to now.
Before Darren had decided to settle down with Vanessa, Ian had been my brother’s wingman. I imagined they made a lethal pair against the women they sought. Something about the sex-on-a-stick way he stood before me made me wonder if he was on the hunt tonight.
Of course, I wasn’t one to judge.
Chapter Four
WILL
“Did you see the news tonight?”
Jia’s smoky voice carried through the phone, muffled by the sounds of traffic around her. She was young, but she was married to Wall Street. When she wasn’t hustling in the world of the almighty dollar, she was a stellar fuck and a friendly ally to have on my arm when Bill dragged me out to one of his business functions.
“No, why?” I walked around the roo
m, collecting things that had been strewn about. My day had run long, and I hadn’t had much time to get the place presentable for Olivia. God knew she’d find every flaw.
“They’re starting to cover the Youth Arts investigation. The SEC is involved now and looking into more deals at the firm that might have run through Reilly and Dermott. As Reilly’s business partner, Bill’s name is right there with all of it.”
I chucked my work boots into the closet with a loud thud. “Fuck.”
“What are you going to do, Will? You need to get a handle on this before the investors bail. He’ll lose everything.”
“It’s his business, not mine. Let him clean up his own messes.”
“I know you’re angry, but you need to be logical. Millions of dollars are at stake, not to mention the life he comes back to if all this goes sideways. You can’t stick your head in the sand and pretend like this isn’t happening.”
“Like hell I can’t,” I muttered, biting down on a slew of curses because I could hear my father’s voice in her words.
She sighed after a moment. “I’m just trying to help, Will. It’s hard for me to watch this too.”
The front door closed, and I heard Ian’s and Olivia’s voices. “I have to go, Jia. I’ll talk to you later.”
I ended the call and muttered a string of curses to myself. I scanned the room, deeming it all satisfactory until I saw myself in the mirror. I ran a nervous hand through my hair. One minute I ruled my world—the one I’d built on my own dreams and ambition. The next I was the son of a fraud who’d helped con millions out of an unsuspecting few. It was like a second skin, and I couldn’t fucking get away from it.
But I had to. At least for tonight. I shoved Jia’s news and my father’s failures from my mind and found Olivia in the kitchen. Ian was leaning against the counter staring at her like he wanted to eat her alive. Fucker.
“You staying?” I shot him a look only he’d understand.
He frowned. “No, I’m going to the pub down the street with some guys from work.”
“All right. I’ll see you later.”
“See you later, Liv.” He held Olivia’s gaze a second longer than he needed to before leaving.
When she shifted her focus back to me, concern filled her gaze. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said tightly. I moved to the built-in bar and knelt down to the wine fridge. “Wine?”
I pulled bottles out and returned them, searching for something to fit this mood. Except there wasn’t a bouquet that would take me out of this haze of hatred fast enough.
Her heels clicked beside me. Her tight-fitted black dress revealed the toned expanse of her leg just below her thigh. She reached high on the shelf and brought down a single malt scotch. “How about something stronger?”
I stood and leaned my hip on the counter. “You like that stuff?”
She smiled, uncorked the bottle, and poured two fingers of Lagavulin into two cut-glass lowballs. “Reminds me of my dad. I used to hate it, honestly, but over the years, I’ve taught myself to like it.”
I took a glass, threw back a healthy gulp, and swallowed with a wince. “Seems very unlike you.”
She refilled my glass and smirked. “Okay, I admit it. My roommates would always drink up the vodka and tequila. They wouldn’t touch this stuff, so I acquired the taste.”
I laughed, and for the first time in the history of me fucking women, I actually wished we had some time to kill over dinner. A little friendly conversation to quiet some of this noise in my head. Didn’t ease the physical ache that had been plaguing me for the past few days, but I was beginning to legitimately like Olivia Bridge.
She leaned on the counter, facing me, and held the glass between her delicate palms. I resented how I felt in this moment. She’d agreed to being with me, something I didn’t imagine was an easy decision for her. Now I was too wrapped up in Jia’s news about my father to fully embrace it.
I sighed and rubbed my forehead. “I’m sorry. I just got some shitty news, and it’s making me a little edgy.”
She sipped from her glass and licked her lips. “It’s okay. Do you want to talk about it?”
I shook my head and stared to the floor. “Would you want to talk about your father going to prison?”
When she answered with silence, I lifted my gaze to hers. Her cool blue eyes were soft and kind, offering solace without words. Without another word, I took her hand and led her to the living room. We settled beside each other on the couch, and her eyes took on that apologetic look again. I pinched the bridge of my nose and exhaled slowly. I didn’t want to talk about Bill’s troubles, but I couldn’t get the shit out of my head either.
She reached out and touched my hand. “I can promise you my life isn’t any more perfect than yours. The way we were raised, you know as well as I do, it comes at a price.”
She could say that again.
“I sure as hell know it,” I muttered. “I can’t say cleaning up his mess is worth any price, though.”
She laced our fingers, like silk and heat coming together. The simple contact warmed my chest faster than the liquor. I wanted to drag her against me then and kiss the lips I’d imagined for days. I wanted to strip her down and bury myself so deep in her I couldn’t remember my own anguish. Slowly, desire replaced my ebbing anger.
She spoke softly. “I love my dad, but when he wants things for me that I don’t want for myself—it’s a hard pill to swallow from a man who’s been a shadow half my life. It took my brothers a long time to break away from the expectations. Sometimes I wonder if I ever will.”
“I have a lot of respect for your brothers. Doing what they’ve done isn’t easy.”
“Thanks to people like you.”
“It’s not just the money, you know. I’m trying to carve out my own dream here. Last thing I want to do is end up like my dad, wrapped up in dollars and cents. But that’s what he wants, of course. Doesn’t give a damn about what gets me up in the morning.”
“You’re passionate about what you do.”
I tightened my grasp, enjoying our contact a little more with each passing second. “After my parents split, I lived with my mom for a few years in Paris. When I came back here for private school and stayed with my dad, I was always looking for details that would remind me of home. I got preoccupied with it.”
“So you were a thirteen-year-old with an eye for architectural detail?”
I grinned. “Pretty much. And now I walk into a property, the building could be totally gutted, and all I can see is possibility. I’m compulsive until it’s realized its potential.”
She dragged her fingertips over my wrist, like she was painting along the vein lines. “I get it. Sometimes I feel that way with an empty room. It’s like a blank canvas. Probably doesn’t hurt that I watched my mom redecorate about a thousand times. Every time she was upset at my dad or something, she’d go on a mission, changing everything around.”
I chuckled. “I’m afraid to ask what you think about what I’ve done with the place.”
She looked around, her eyes seeming to light and pause on little details. “I haven’t gotten the full tour, but the interior architecture is impressive. I think I’m recognizing your style. But it’s definitely a bachelor pad on the surface right now.”
I stared at her in silence a moment, draining the liquid from my glass. I savored the smoky peat on my tongue, but I longed to taste her. Why was I being so careful with her? Why the hell hadn’t I just fucked her against the wall the second Ian left? I should tug her under me right now and take her without another word. But I wanted her words…
“Why did you say yes? With all the shit going on with my dad, I can’t imagine why you’d risk being associated with me.” I held my stare, silently imploring her to give me more.
“I said yes. Does it really matter why?”
“We’re going to be intimate. What’s the harm in being honest, too?”
She glanced up at me with thoughtful
eyes. “I’m attracted to you.”
I fought the smile tugging at my lips. “I’m flattered, but I hope there’s more.”
She leaned her head against the couch with a soft sigh. “A lot of what you said about me the other night was true. The way you said it made it sound ugly and shallow, but I’m still trying to figure it all out, what matters and what doesn’t. I can let my parents or my brothers or the society that raised me determine what matters, or I can go with my instincts. Maybe I’m being reckless and impulsive, but…”
“But what?”
“I feel things differently when I’m with you,” she said softly. “You piss me off, Will. The other night, my God. You’re lucky you weren’t wearing your dinner.”
I laughed, and she smiled.
“When you painted my life that way, you insulted me, but you also made me question my world. I’ve been doing more of that since I moved here, but nothing has ever been quite that jarring. And you…want me. You’re not the first person who has, but somehow, the way you express it makes me feel desirable on a primal level that I’ve never experienced before.”
“So in other words, I’m a crude bastard, but you kind of love it.”
She shrugged. “Like I said, I reserve the right to change my mind.”
“I won’t let you.”
She traced the rim of her glass and bit her lip gently. “I’ve said too much.”
“Yes, but that’s okay. I’m glad you did. I asked for your honesty, and you gave it to me.”
Her dark eyelashes fluttered up, framing her hooded gaze. “Except now I feel vulnerable, like I need a piece of you, too.”
“Come here.” I gently tugged her toward me.
The second her glass hit the table, I circled my arm around her torso and brought her up against me. Her hand fell lightly on my chest, and I could see the rapid flicker of her pulse at her neck.
I trailed my fingertip along her jaw, slowing over the silky ridges of her lips. Where she’d seemed sharp before, she was soft, melting against me, leaning infinitesimally closer. Her breathing was uneven, and her legs shifted.
Over the Edge: The Bridge Series: Book Three Page 4
