Takeover: The Complete Series

by Lana Grayson

  “Get up there before my father kills you,” he said. “Now.”

  It was an expensive few minutes bought in the company of a man who had no idea the power he wielded, but I would have paid double for the chance. My billions were worth nothing if I was killed before I spent it. I endured the gossiped whispers and tucked between skirts to reach the stage.

  Reed met me at the stairs, surveying the gala as though he expected open gunfire. And maybe he did. I leaned close as the charity’s benefactors slithered before a photographer.

  “What the hell are you doing?” He whispered.

  Hell if I knew, but I was going for it. “Can you see the ropes through the dress?”

  “The what?”

  I took that as a no and decided it was safe to take the picture. I slid beside Roman Wescott with a charming grin. The photographer worked quickly as the waltzes played and the crowds dispersed for the auction. Three flashes and we were done.

  “Distract your father.” I ordered Reed. My heart ached. “And Nicholas.”

  “Sarah, what’s going on?”

  I didn’t answer. Roman thanked the photographer with a cordial formality. He didn’t linger, but that was fine. I hurried to his side before he returned to his associates at the bar.

  “Mr. Wescott!”

  He turned. His eyes hardened like chipping stone.

  “Ms. Atwood.”

  “Yes!” I held my hand out, reflexively, and offered as firm a handshake as Dad insisted a woman should have. “Yes, I’m Sarah Atwood.”

  “A pleasure.”

  It sounded more like a dismissal, but I wasn’t done. I hadn’t even started.

  “I was hoping I could speak with you.”

  “I apologize, but I don’t conduct business at social events.”

  “My father taught me the same,” I said. He had Nicholas’s presence, but he seemed far older. “This will only take a moment. You had an agreement with my brothers.”

  “Ms. Atwood, I’m not entirely sure we should discuss this matter here.”

  It was true. I cast a glance over my shoulder. I didn’t see Darius, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t see me.

  “I understand. But Mr. Wescott, I want you to know that I am as serious about Atwood Industries and my family’s commitments as my brothers were.”

  “Ms. Atwood, the Josmik Trust was not intended—”

  “I realize it was not meant for my name, not intentionally. But, I assure you, I am uniquely qualified to assume the very same responsibilities my brothers’ anticipated in forming this arrangement.”

  “I’m sure you are.” He raised a hand to silence me. “But this is neither the time nor place nor gathering to discuss such business.”

  “I understand, but—”

  “You are eager, Ms. Atwood. These past few months have been difficult on all parties.” He handed me his card. “We will set a meeting where we may talk without such discretion.”

  It wouldn’t work. My stomach twisted. “My time is…limited. This might be our only moment to speak.”

  “And I know what that moment would entail, which is why it will not be discussed here. The business you propose would transfer control of the Bennett Corporation to you. Your family wished to unseat Darius Bennett. It was the reason I agreed to the Josmik Trust.”

  “Then you see why it’s so important. You understand the temperaments of the Bennett Board of Directors.”

  “I do, and that’s why it’s foolish for you to meet with me.” He smiled as he spoke of my impending murder. “But I am curious now. Monday, Ms. Atwood. I’ll leave the day open. If you can keep the appointment…” If I survived until then. “…At least I’ll know my shares will be secure with someone cunning enough to earn them.”

  He offered me a nod and returned to his associates. I memorized the address on the card and discarded it before I was caught with the evidence.

  Monday.

  It didn’t give me long to plan an escape, especially as Darius intended to inject me with the final fertility drug on Tuesday.

  I was out of time. Darius and the board expected a pregnancy.

  And when they didn’t get it?

  I either surrendered my future to Darius, or he’d steal it from me. Both outcomes would end in blood, sweat, and terror.

  But I would be the one victorious.

  And I’d win, even if I had to use a Bennett as my sacrifice.

  11

  Sarah

  Reed’s lips trailed a gentle, soft path along my neck.

  Timid shivers rocked me, centering low, just where he knew to tease, circle, and tempt.

  We didn’t need the handcuffs, but I told him I thought it’d be…fun.

  The lie sickened me, but it was my only chance to save myself. If I didn’t take the opportunity now, I doubted I’d have another in the future.

  “You okay?” Reed’s lips warmed my neck, my blood, my shame. I nodded. He didn’t believe me. “You’re distracted.”

  And it was hard to stay that way. I rested against Reed as his hands caressed my every exposed curve, vulnerable secret, and flushing heat.

  “I’m okay.”

  He frowned, the dimple lost in concentration. His hand brushed my cheek.

  “What happened after the gala?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Sarah.”

  Reed didn’t punish me with his strength like Max or dominate me with a possessive stare like Nicholas. When he held me, he cared.

  Legitimately.

  But underestimating him was more dangerous than giving Max a weapon or Nicholas my forsaken promise of surrender.

  The blankets tangled under us, kicked as he dropped me on the bed, smacked me with a pillow, and seized me in his arms. He promised his suite was a safe place—clothing optional.

  That made it so much harder.

  To protect myself, I had to cut off the head of the snake ruling the family. But Darius didn’t bleed crimson. His heart pumped money, wealth, success. Stealing the Bennett Corporation from Darius would torture him more than a blade to the side or bullet in the chest.

  Or pool cue to the ribs.

  Fist to the temple.

  Violent assault over his desk.

  I trembled in memory as Reed wedged between my legs.

  He saw it and made no effort to take what I had willingly given before. His voice softened.

  “Did my father hurt you?” He traced the bruise under my breast. “Aside from…the ropes?”

  “No.”

  The answer surprised us both.

  “That’s not like Dad.”

  “I know.”

  “Expensive risk.”

  I grinned. “For a good cause.”

  I didn’t say if it was the charity or upsetting Darius. Reed guessed.

  “You think he’s up to something?” He asked.

  I didn’t have to lie. “When isn’t he?”

  Reed’s hand caressed my bare body, avoiding the tiny spot below my navel where the fertility injections had struck for the past ten days.

  “You deserve better than this,” he said.

  Maybe. Probably. I was getting there. “I’m okay.”

  “Can I help?”

  God, was I tempted. “Trust me. I have a plan that doesn’t involve a passport.”

  “Wasn’t talking about leaving.”

  He spread my legs, gazing over my soft, slickening folds.

  “Let me take the fear away,” he whispered. “Just for a little while.”

  His kiss centered on the part of me most desperate for his unique brand of kindness. The first lick flattened me against the bed. The next twist of his tongue earned my quiet murmur. The third, the knowing exploration of everything deep inside me, demanded my every attention.

  Reed was as much a Bennett as Nicholas or Max. His dominance just manifested in different ways.

  He didn’t force.

  He didn’t hurt.

  But I was just as helpless against his a
ggression. He devoured me whole and sunk his tongue in to taste. Each pulsing tease of his lips curled over my sensitive clit. What had been abused by ropes healed within his caresses. My hips raised, pressing against his mouth.

  He liked that. I liked that.

  The handcuffs jiggled over my wrists as I arched in a quick and demanding excitement.

  With great reluctance, Reed had admitted the restraints got him off. I wished I could be the one to help him explore that dark part of him, or that I could somehow reassure him. But the cuffs were the only chance I had to escape.

  I twisted my hips, and the whimper came naturally.

  The murmur was a dread I suppressed for the past three months. At least the flinch was honest, if not meant for someone far more frightening than Reed.

  “Sarah?” Reed looked up as I jammed my wrists against the metal. “You okay?”

  I nodded, too quickly. The handcuffs clattered. Reed didn’t wait for me to ask. He just knew.

  Or thought he did.

  “Sorry,” he said. “Sorry. Hold on.”

  Reed unclasped the metal and tugged the cuffs off. I gave him a relieved shrug.

  “This is why you have a safe word.” He knocked his forehead against mine. “I thought I could…I was curious…”

  I hated lying to him. “I’m okay now.”

  “Good.”

  It wasn’t fair. I couldn’t have trusted anyone more than Reed while I was cuffed and immobile. Like all Bennetts, he got off on domination, but unlike the others, he deserved the submission.

  I met his gaze with a coy bite to my lip. His eyebrow rose.

  “What are you thinking?” He grinned.

  “That you don’t need handcuffs to get what you’re after.”

  “And what is that?”

  Good question, even I wasn’t sure. “Obedience?”

  He shrugged.

  “My offered body?”

  “Not a bad start.”

  I glanced down, savoring the view of his cock, pulsing hard and impatient for attention.

  “Pleasure?”

  “Well, who doesn’t want that?”

  I pushed him to the pillows, but Reed didn’t budge. He didn’t respond to a pout either, but a playful stroke of his cock did the trick.

  “You focus so much on me.” I caressed him, loving his honest shudder. “Let me treat you for once.”

  “Really, I don’t need it.” His voice deepened. “Sarah, I’m ready to go.”

  “It’s not about being ready. It’s about being pleasured.”

  “No. It’s about filling you up with seed. Nick’s orders.”

  “Well, this is a…roundabout way of getting there.”

  Reed might have refused, but the instant my lips lowered to the heated head of his cock, his fist wrapped solidly in my hair. I took him in my mouth, but Reed yanked my curls, refusing to let me sink fully around his shaft.

  A test?

  His grin turned wicked.

  No. A trial.

  Reed wasn’t an oppressive, sadistic lover like Max, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t curious about the power he wielded, the delights he demanded, or the control he commanded over my body.

  I licked the thickness of his shaft, tasting his salty strength. His growl encouraged me. I tickled my tongue along the underside of his length—down, down, down—until his fist gripped my hair too hard. My teasing returned to the head. He liked that too.

  Then again, Reed was always the most agreeable Bennett.

  And the easiest to manipulate.

  Christ, did I hate doing it.

  Every gentle lick and timid swipe of my lips became an apology. I sucked, using my hand to pump more of his length. It worked. Reed abandoned his hold of my hair to lean back, his arms crossed behind his head.

  At least he’d be happy for a moment.

  At least he’d be savored. At least he’d know I never meant to trap him in the middle of it.

  “Sarah.” His voice rasped. “You gotta stop that now.”

  Every muscle tensing his perfect body glistened with a lover’s sweat. Reed wasn’t a patient man. It was amazing he let me torture him as long as I did, especially as he normally buried inside me just to hear my cry. He was greedy. He was demanding.

  And he was my Reed.

  I didn’t stop. My hand curled over his shaft and tugged harder, tasting his heat and the delicious warning of his excitement. I flicked my tongue, mimicking every tease he ever gave me. He grunted a profanity.

  “Sarah, I gotta fuck you.”

  No way. I couldn’t. I wasn’t about to reward myself with his warmth, touch, or the delicious fill of his cock inside me. This was for him. About him.

  He hissed my name, but his grip knotted in my hair too late. I sunk low against his shaft and tried to swallow every bit of his jetting seed.

  It was the first time I ever did that. I grinned. Reed didn’t.

  “Shit.” Reed fell against the pillows in a shudder of relief and misguided anger. “Fuck. We weren’t supposed to do that.”

  I didn’t pull away from his cock, and Reed didn’t push me off. He rubbed his face and enjoyed the lasting tremors of my tongue. I flicked a figure eight as he groaned.

  He didn’t see me reach for the handcuffs.

  “Christ, Sarah.” He pulled me up to his side. “Give me like…ten minutes. I’ll fuck you then.”

  “It’s okay, Reed.”

  “No, it’s not. I promised Nick.”

  I slid my hand with the cuffs under the pillow. “Nick won’t care.”

  “He wants you pregnant. Swallowing my load doesn’t do that.” His hesitation was cute. “At least…I don’t think so. I hope not, or I got a couple girls to call.”

  “You guys refuse to believe me. I’m very, very infertile. So just…enjoy it.”

  Reed exhaled. I wished my stress melted as easily as his. “Well, I did. Thanks, I guess.”

  His reflexes dulled from the release. I launched, slamming one cuff around the brass metal of his bedpost and the other around his exposed wrist. He laughed as I did it, the dimple almost encouraging me.

  “Sarah, babe, I’m not into this.” He winked. “You aren’t either.”

  “Just…listen to me.”

  He clattered the cuff against the railing. “Easier ways than this.”

  I shifted from the bed, gathering my lost dress on the floor. He watched me, eyebrow arched.

  “Reed, promise you won’t get mad?”

  “Oh, shit.”

  “Reed—”

  “What the fuck are you doing?”

  I swallowed. “I have to go.”

  “Go?”

  “But I’ll be right back.”

  “What?”

  “It’ll be really quick. I promise.”

  He jerked forward, but the handcuffs caught on the bedpost. I didn’t recognize his scowl. “You’re leaving?”

  “I promise I’ll come back.”

  “Why the fuck would you come back?”

  “Okay, look,” I said. “I’m meeting with Roman Wescott.”

  Reed grunted. “That asshole?”

  “Yes. He’s the only one we need to amend the trust to award it early.”

  “Are you insane?”

  “I’ll be in and out. Darius won’t know I’ve gone to meet with him.” Neither would Nicholas. The dress slipped over my head. I couldn’t find my panties, but that wasn’t unusual. “I have to do this. If I can get him to help me—”

  “Now you’re asking for help?” It was a good thing I cuffed him to the bed. “I offered to get you out of here. You told me no. You couldn’t leave Nicholas. It was impossible.”

  “And it was. Then.”

  “What changed?”

  “Everything.”

  Reed tested the cuffs. “I’m a good listener, sweetheart. I can’t do much else now. Enlighten me.”

  “You did offer to help me once,” I said. “Letting me do this is helping me.”

  �
��No,” he said. “It’s helping yourself.”

  “Right now? It’s the same thing.”

  “Nick won’t see it that way.”

  Like I didn’t already know that. Like I hadn’t already endured that betrayal and ignored every rational warning in my mind. Like I didn’t realize Nicholas couldn’t rescue me on his own, not with the board determined to burn my fields by slashing through me.

  He warned me to stay away from the one investor in Josmik Holdings that could end Darius’s rule.

  Did he assume I’d jeopardize the trust? Or did he keep me away because he feared how much power, stock, and hatred I would possess when it was done?

  His reasons didn’t matter. He wouldn’t stop me.

  I had to live long enough to watch Darius lose everything. This was how I was meant to do it.

  “Nick will have to understand,” I said.

  Reed nodded. “You think he trusts you?”

  “I don’t think any of us trust the others.”

  “You know you could always trust me.” He softened his voice. “Come on, Sarah. Unlock me so we can talk with my boxers on.”

  I didn’t free him, but I tossed him the boxers and the TV’s remote control. His jaw tightened. Without his smile, the scars on his face and cheek and ear were suddenly visible.

  I rifled through his discarded pants. “I’m sorry, Reed. Where are the keys to your car?”

  “Porsche?”

  “Sure.”

  “Under the visor.”

  I nodded. “I’ll be back before you know it. And I’ll fill her up with a full tank. I promise.”

  “Don’t bother. He’ll find you anyway.”

  “Darius won’t know I’m gone.”

  “Not talking about my father.” Reed’s voice darkened. “I’m talking about Nick.”

  I didn’t want to imagine it. “He’ll understand.”

  “I doubt it. I’d rather run from the man who thought he lost you than from the man who thinks you stole everything. If you go and talk to Wescott, he’ll know you’re seizing the company.”

  “I am seizing the company. What difference does it make if it’s today or if it’s on my birthday?”

  “A couple months is a big difference,” Reed said. “Enough time for Nick to save the day.”

  “Well, I can’t wait.”

  “You have to.”

  “Reed, they’re going to kill me if I don’t conceive.”