by Lacey Silks
“I’m assuming this one’s for me.”
I nodded.
Say something, you fool!
“So, you fuck often?”
Not that.
I shut my eyes and scrunched my nose, pinching it with my fingers, getting ready to accept the hot liquid on my face. I could be such an asshole sometimes.
But Zoey only lowered her head.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. Really.”
“I should go.”
Her voice was low. What had happened to the feisty woman I knew? The one who challenged the asshole inside me with a comeback? The one who slapped me last night?
“You’re not going anywhere.” I grasped her by her wrist as she got ready to stand up, but she pulled free of my grip.
“Like hell I’m not.”
There she is.
I felt my mouth curve up and so did hers. Was that how this thing worked with Zoey? She would mimic my moods and my tone and stand against anything I said?
“Fine. If you want to be killed today, leave,” I said.
Yup, I had her attention now.
“You know what we did last night is a death sentence, don’t you?”
Her brows narrowed as she tried to put the puzzle together. Maybe I shouldn’t have given her such a high tranquilizer dose.
“I thought you said we didn’t do anything?”
“We didn’t fuck, okay. I wouldn’t take advantage of you while you were out. But you left the hotel without checking out. That’s a no-no in Infinity’s book.”
“Oh, my God. They’re going to kill me.”
“Don’t worry. I took care of it.”
She looked at me in that funny and adorable way again, partly confused. Having her there was better than owning a puppy. And yeah, the sedative had been way too strong for her. I hoped the confusion wouldn’t last long because we really needed to have a serious chat.
“How do you know so much about them? How often do you use the services?”
“Is that what you think of me? That I was there to use your services? That I’m a sick fuck who requested a woman who would agree to play out a rape fantasy?”
She didn’t say anything for a moment and took a sip of her coffee.
“It’s not the worst request I’ve had. Besides, what else am I supposed to think? What I know about you so far are three things: you come from the Wagner family, and that says a lot on its own; you kissed my mother — gross — and you left me half-naked in a storage room without calling.”
I cringed, imagining her with other Infinity members. She counted out those three things she supposedly knew about me on her fingers. She was right, too. And if that was in fact all she knew, then I would make it a mission to teach her until she ran out of fingers to count on. I rounded the corner of the counter toward her and leaned my elbows onto the top. God, did she ever smell good.
“Would it help if I told you I had no choice? I was born into my family. I owed my brother a favor, so when Scar asked me to kiss your mother, I did. And I’ve never left anyone with as many regrets as the day when I left you, Zoey. Never.”
Her cheek was soft underneath my palm. I pulled my finger along the seam of her lower lip and she closed her eyes. She had to believe me. I had to make her understand who I was. I wasn’t sure why her approval meant so much to me, but it did. I’d climb the highest mountains and swim across the ocean to have her on my side. I was so close to her, almost in her face. It would only take a few more inches for my mouth to cover hers and repeat that kiss from last night. Just thinking about it made me hard. What was it about her mouth that got me so mesmerized and horny yet petrified all at the same time?
“What if I told you I’d fucked you in my dreams every night since that day at the hospital?”
Her eyes flew open.
“What if I told you that if you let me, I will finish what we started in that storage room, and you will not regret it?”
She shifted in her seat and swallowed the next gulp of coffee before speaking. Zoey squared her shoulders. A few seconds ago, it had felt like I had her; but once again, she slipped away. I had yet to find that balance between the girl I loved to provoke just to hear a wicked comeback and the one who lowered her guard and succumbed.
“That’s mighty high of you. Thanks, but I think that ship has sailed.”
“Not by the way your nipples are bunching up, Zoey. Do I need to check how wet you are? Because I bet you’re dripping for me the same way you were in that storage room.”
She sat there with her mouth open and all I could think about were those perfect lips sliding up and down my cock. This would be the most difficult job yet. She didn’t know it, but I was all talk. There was no way I could take her now. Not until we set some ground rules. Not until she was safe and comfortable with me. But how could I go on without at least touching her? Even then, I doubted I could stop myself at only touching her. Not when we were alone and not when she was so vulnerable, gorgeous, and smelling so fresh.
“Things have changed. You can’t undo what’s been done. You left me, not the other way around. Besides, all I have to do is remind myself how you kissed my mother to hate you. My body may betray me because of nature and procreation and all that crap my sister believes in, but I’m not stupid. I don’t give myself to men who don’t want me.”
I wondered whether being wanted by a man was the reason Zoey had joined Infinity, but I doubted it. She wasn’t like that. Zoey Blakely could rule a pride of wild lions with her ferocity. And she was wrong. I wanted her more than I had any other woman in my life, and I would have her. Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but now that she was back in my life, I wouldn’t let her go. Ever since the day she let me touch her, lick her and fuck her with my tongue, Zoey had been mine. She despised me because I kissed her mother. It didn’t matter that Scar, my brother, paid me to do so at Zoey’s sister’s request. Not like her mother was a bad-looking woman; in fact, she was beautiful, and if Zoey turned out to look like that one day, the man standing next to her would be one lucky bastard.
“You’d rather I fucked you or pretended to rape you because it’s your job, and you’re fulfilling Infinity’s request? Because I can do that, Zoey. One phone call and you will have to obey.”
“Fuck you!”
I caught her hand mid-air as it flew toward my face. The slap would have stung. I should have let her. Why was I still teasing her and pointing out the disgusting way in which we reunited? Why was I being such an asshole? We had a major obstacle to work through. Or maybe I was the obstacle. Maybe I was still the millionaire’s son who couldn’t get his shit together because Daddy had always bailed him out and threw hundred-dollar bills around like they were pennies.
She shot off her chair and walked toward the window. Her backside was just as enticing as her front and did nothing to stop all the nasty thoughts I had about doing her from that angle.
“Do whatever you want,” she whispered. “If you know anything about Infinity, you know that I belong to them. My body belongs to them for the rest of my life.” She turned on her heel to face me. Her cheeks were red and eyes glassy. “You think I wanted to be in that room last night? I had no choice. I don’t fuck because I want to, and I can’t sleep with anyone outside of the assigned men. So you better get any ideas you have out of your pretty little head because us being in the same room is dangerous for both of us.”
Was she really implying she had thought about us? If so, then there was more hope than I originally thought.
“Why are you a member, anyway? It’s not like you need to find women who are willing to do anything for you. You’re Ace Wagner. Since when do you need to pay for sex?” Her crossed arms covered her breasts, and I bet it was to hide what she was feeling. “I mean, look at you.”
She bit her lip. I loved and hated when she did that. It drove my dick crazy. I loved that part. But I hated that I couldn’t do anything about it. I ignored her implication of why I was at that hotel last
night, saying, “Why would you ever join them, Zoey? I know you don’t need the money...”
“You don’t know shit.”
“I know enough. Is it for... sex?”
She sighed and slid her back against the window, all the way down to the wall. She lowered her head to her knees. Oh, this wasn’t good. I could see her crumbling right in front of me and I was making it worse every time I spoke. She curled her body around her knees and after a moment she looked up, saying, “It’s not for the damn sex. You really think I enjoy an old man’s cock in my mouth until I gag and choke? Or a group of them fucking every hole in my body at the same time? I wish it was a simple night of sex, but there’s nothing simple about working for Infinity.”
I could feel my blood boil over. The mental image of what she’d said imprinted in my mind and for the umpteenth time since I saw her, I vowed not to let another asshole touch her ever again.
“Okay, okay. I get it. Look, I’m sorry. I know you’re smart and you wouldn’t be there unless you had to. What happened?”
“I’m so tired of it all. And there’s no way out. I did this and I can’t take it back. I wouldn’t take it back.”
She lowered her head to her knees again and pulled in a sniffle.
Shit!
“Please don’t cry.” I shot off my chair and ran toward her, crouching at her side, lightly squeezing her shoulder and stroking her still-wet hair, releasing that scent of hers that drove me insane. My touch seemed to have awakened her tear ducts because the moment my hand was on her, she broke down.
“Zoey, please stop. I can’t stand it when women cry.”
But of course that only caused a river to flow out of her eyes. The sobs wouldn’t stop. So I did the only thing there was left to do, and I took her in my arms, wrapped her into my body, and held her, rocking her gently. She curled into me and I kissed the top of her head over and over again. How did we end up here? Zoey working for the club I was trying to destroy, and me being more confused than ever about what I should do next, because I knew that bringing Infinity down most likely meant losing Zoey forever – not to mention risking her life. And while I didn’t want to take that chance, I was afraid that I too had no choice in the matter.
Chapter 5
Zoey
“A secret for a secret,” he whispered.
I was tucked into his body. He stroked my head, kissing it every so often, and all those doubts and evil thoughts I’d had about Ace over the years, the hate I’d felt for him leaving me, the disgust I had for myself, were washed away. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a trustful mans’ arms around me¸ and it felt so good, I couldn’t stop crying. It felt as if I had a new security blanket around me. Yet in the bottom of my gut, I couldn’t help but feel that Ace could be as dangerous as the thugs I’d served at Infinity. Running into him at the hotel could have been the best fate I could have imagined – or a mistake that would cost me my life.
“What secret?” I finally pulled away.
Ace lifted me into his arms and carried me to the couch. I had no strength to object and had to admit that I didn’t want to peel away from those hard yet unbelievably comfortable muscles.
“You’re right. I’m not the good guy you’d like me to be. I’ve held a gun to a man’s head, I’ve bullied business owners to pay a safety fee, and thrown the first punch. I followed the kind of lifestyle no mother would have been proud of. I loved being the asshole and the dick I’d always been called. But it’s changed now. An innocent man died because I was too selfish, and in doing so, he changed my life. We were at a stakeout for a bank money transfer. He was just a homeless man sitting against a wall. He asked for water and I refused, simply because if I changed my position I could become exposed. He was so dehydrated, and all I cared about was keeping my own sorry ass safe.” He shook his head. I could feel the pain roll off his body and cover my skin.
“It’s okay, Ace. Keep going.”
“It was two in the morning. I set my bottle by the curb and looked through my binoculars. That’s when the bullets flew, and one was meant for me – except it hit the homeless man who was crawling toward me on all fours, reaching for that bottle. I remembered screaming, then holding him in my arms against that very wall where he had been sitting moments earlier.” He looked up into my eyes, my throat closing up at the influx of emotions there. “He said it was okay. That he was going home now and he was at peace. He passed away in my arms.”
“That’s not your fault, Ace.”
“Yeah, it is. If I had given him that water, he would have remained behind the wall. I just did it because I was a hard ass. All to earn a bit of money. What I’m trying to tell you is that yes, I admit it, I was the bad guy. But it’s changed now. I want to make things right. It will take a while before the universe forgives me, but I’m willing to wait. That’s why when I got the call for a chance to make a dent in atoning for my mistakes, I took it. Zoey, I’m working undercover for a private investigations company to bring Infinity down.”
I jumped up and off him.
Holy shit!
What was he thinking? How could he? Didn’t he know how dangerous they were? I heard rumors that Infinity had been in existence for almost one hundred years. You couldn’t just walk in and stop the kind of business they led.
“Are you crazy? Do you know what those men are capable of?”
“Yes, I’m fully aware.”
“Again, are you crazy? Oh, my God!” And all those important rules I’d been taught while working for Infinity rushed back into my brain. What have I done? Ace could be in deeper trouble than I originally thought.
“I didn’t call in. You did. That was a mistake. I’m the one who always needs to call in after an appointment. They’ll go after you.”
The walls closed in on me again as the realization of my mistake and its consequences set in. Didn’t he say he’d taken care of it? How? It didn’t matter. It was supposed to be me who called, not anyone else. They’d check up on me. I knew they would. And they’d find me. They always did. Worse yet, they’d retaliate against my sister, Julia.
“Don’t worry, Zoey. I told them you did such a good job at fucking me and made the money I spent so worthwhile that I didn’t want to wake you. So I called in for you.”
He didn’t.
While I should have been mad at the way he was referring to me and fucking, I wasn’t. It was my job. Actually, him saying how well I fucked him did something funny in my stomach. It shouldn’t have at this moment, but it did. I shook the feeling off. He’d taken a risk calling in. As a member, he should have known it was against the rules. I stood there with my mouth open. No one had ever risked their life to protect me from Infinity before. Heck, they wouldn’t even bend a finger. As the whore employee, for the most part, I was treated worse than the scum at the bottom of a still river overflowing with algae, next to a sewage treatment plant. But he’d covered for me. I never thought anyone would.
“I took a chance. I know. They usually get suspicious at any change in the pattern, but once should be okay.”
“Should? What about next time?”
“There won’t be next time, Zoey.”
“You can’t. I mean, I can’t just quit.”
I felt my body drop back to the couch and remembered the cut on my arm. The one from which Ace had removed my tracker. I smoothed my finger over the healing wound.
“I shouldn’t have let you do that. They’ll kill me, and then they’ll go after Jules.”
“What does your sister have to do with Infinity?”
Shit! I’d said too much. I shouldn’t have.
I couldn’t tell him. Yet I had agreed to exchange a secret. Ace had told me his. Could I really trust him? Could I tell him how I had swapped places with my sister, and she didn’t even know it? If it was true that he was really working to destroy Infinity, was he the answer I’d been praying for?
“Your tracker’s already been hacked, and Infinity thinks you’re back at your hou
se. We’re controlling where they think you are, which means you can be wherever you want to now, without them knowing.”
I gasped. A flutter of hope danced in my chest.
“Come on, Tinker. I’ve got you on this. I promise I won’t let anyone hurt you. Tell me why you joined. How did they get to you?”
For the first time in two years, I felt the urge to tell someone the truth. Why him? There had never been a man in my life that I could trust. Even my own father was a cheating bastard. Thank God, Mom left him.
Mom.
How would she feel if she knew I’d run into Ace? He was definitely not on her favorites list. But if I were to bet, I’d say he was the reason she finally settled down with one man and agreed to marry Sid. And the kicker was that they were still together – which for a woman like my mom, who’d found a new set of freedom wings after leaving my father, was a big deal.
I felt my shoulders drop and head lower. If I didn’t tell him now, I never would.
“Julia’s a recovering sex addict.”
Yup, there was that shock on his face. My sister, the doctor, had fallen victim to an addiction she’d fought for years. How could I not have helped her?
“Go on.”
“We left Washington because we thought it would help. Her best friend got her a job in New York — you know, new place, new people and responsibilities — and we hoped she could just put the addiction aside. She even attended meetings. We thought it would stop. But as soon as we came to New York, she joined Infinity as an easy way to get what she needed.”
But it turned out that Infinity still wasn’t enough for Julia. Getting high on an orgasm once or twice a week wouldn’t satisfy her.
“She sought out a man online. He raped her and left her for the dead. She was beaten from head to toe. There were finger bruises around her throat. He almost killed her in that alley, and worse, by being with a non-member, she broke the club’s rules.”
Her membership with Infinity hadn’t been long at that point, maybe a couple of months but it didn’t matter. We weren’t supposed to be with non-members during the life contract, and it didn’t matter if it was consensual or not. She had almost died that day. I would have done anything to see her eyes open again. That day I saw her at the hospital, all bruised up and broken on the inside and out, I knew I had to help her realizing there was only one way to do it.
