“Luke, please don’t.” She can barely get her words out; it’s as if all the breath has left her body. She’s scared, really scared, afraid that he’s going to finish the job that he started in the limo.
“I thought we’d already discussed this, Sofie. I thought we had an agreement?” Luke speaks softly but the irritation in his voice is clear. “Or was I unclear?”
“No, you were perfectly clear, Luke.” Sofie shifts her body slightly to break contact from him. The action isn’t lost on him.
“If that’s the case then, Dr. Braun. Why are you being so coy? I like a little game of cat and mouse as much as the next man; but, do I need to remind you what’s at stake for you if you choose to be…difficult?” Luke turns his attention back to his meal, carving the steak with practiced strokes.
“No, I remember the terms of the arrangement you proposed. Sleep with you or lose my job and any prospect for a future in the field, does that about sum it up?” Sofie challenges him, unable to keep the disgust out of her voice.
“That would be an accurate summary of the situation, yes.” Luke is unmoved. He’s unembarrassed about what he’s doing, blackmailing her into his bed.
“You’ve done this before.” The realization occurs to Sofie like a light-bulb above her head.
“Clever girl,” Luke says, managing to make it both appreciative and patronizing at the same time. “But it’s never been like this with anyone else, Sofie. You’re far more special to me than the others ever were.” He looks at Sofie’s untouched plate. “You’re not eating. Shall I order you something else?”
“No, thank you. I seem to have lost my appetite,” she says, forcing the words out through gritted teeth. You were stupid to come here, she tells herself. But, it wasn’t like I had a lot of options, she points out silently. “What if I say no? What then?”
“Come now, Sofie. You’re a smart girl. I thought we’d covered all this already.” Luke sighs as if he were repeating a request to a small child. “Isn’t it enough that you’ll lose everything you’ve worked so hard for? Everything that you so desperately need to keep your life on track? And I don’t imagine your mafia friends would be very happy if their little honey bee stopped making honey.” He looks knowingly at her, spearing another piece of steak and chewing it thoughtfully.
She hates how right he is, how close to the mark he is to the crux of her problems. Mom and Dad, if I didn’t hate you before for the mess you’ve landed me in, I sure as hell do now, she thinks.
“If you’ve been having me followed, then you know I am with Ashton. Why would you think that I would sleep with you when I’m…involved with someone else?” Sofie feels the headache starting to bloom across her head again. She wonders if it ever really leaves her anymore or if it just lies in wait until she least needs it.
“Tell me, what is it that you see in that redneck? Explain what it is that has you so enamored with a man that can probably barely tie his own shoelaces.” Luke barks out a laugh, pleased with his own joke. He’s finishes another glass of champagne; he’s managed to imbibe the entire bottle. Sofie’s glass remains untouched. Abruptly, he stands and goes over to the drinks table and pours himself a large measure of whisky.
“You don’t know anything about him.” Sofie feels fiercely protective of Ashton, without even realizing it she’s taken hold of the rock on her necklace, as if it could comfort her.
“Oh, I know more about him than you think.” Luke takes a swig of his drink, as he walks around the room, holding court. “I’m missing a few pieces of the puzzle, but it won’t be long before I have all of them. There’s something that doesn’t add up with him, something that isn’t quite right. It’s only a matter of time before I find out exactly what that is.”
“And then?” Sofie tries not to give anything away in her expression, but Luke’s words have frightened her. He seems to know a lot, too much, and if what he’s saying is true, then the pack’s secret won’t be safe for long.
“And then, once I know what he’s up to. I’ll destroy him,” Luke says triumphantly, as if he’s expecting a ripple of applause from the gallery.
“You have no right to treat people like little pieces on a chess board.” Sofie is standing before she knows it, shouting at the man that holds all the cards.
“Ah, there it is.” Luke smiles as he swaggers over to her, leaning over until his face is only inches from hers. “That’s your added incentive!”
Sofie looks at him warily. His eyes are bloodshot, and his face is flushed. How did I not realize that he was getting so wasted? He holds onto the table for support. “What do you mean?” She leans away from him, away from his breath that makes her want to gag.
“I mean, my little bird, that you seem to be more concerned about your Neanderthal than you do about your own career, so we’ll add that into the mix, shall we? That will form part of our agreement. You seem to be willing to throw your world away for the sake of your precious dignity. But what of his world? Would you allow me to take everything away from him, when you know that you could do something to stop me?” he says, slurring his words; but, his brain is clearly firing on all cylinders.
Sofie feels like her stomach has just landed in her boots. He’s found the one thing that he can really bargain with, the one thing that she cares about more than anything else.
He doesn’t wait for her reply, he can see it written all over her face. “What did you plan to do? Stay in Beaumont? Stay with him?” He virtually spits the word out. “As you already know, you have debts to pay. You won’t find work here that supports those monthly collections that need to be made come rain or shine.” Luke takes hold of her face, drawing it towards his, gently at first and then more insistently.
He’s telling her things that she knows already, things that have been playing on her mind ever since she met Ashton. However, that was her business, not Luke’s. He’s so drunk, and his eyes are full of lust. She plays the only card that she think will get her out of this.
“If you’ve been having me followed, then you probably already know I was with him tonight.” Luke stops pulling her towards him, her face only inches from his, but he doesn’t let go of her.
“With him?” He spits the words out. “You fucked him? You fucked him, and then you came to me?” Luke starts to squeeze her face, pushing her cheeks together with one hand and holding the back of her head with the other so she can’t get away. “Answer me! Answer me!” He shouts at her, spittle flying from his mouth. He looks crazed, angry enough to do something stupid, something dangerous.
Sofie can’t talk, the pressure on her face is getting more and more painful as he squeezes it. She blinks her eyes against the ache and then nods, yes.
“Did you kiss him? Did you kiss him with that slut mouth?” Luke’s hands move down towards her neck, his hold tight, making it hard to breath.
“Luke. Stop. Hurting. Me.” She just manages to get the words out and a change comes over him, like a switch his flipped. He releases her, taking a step back, and she collapses on the floor, sucking in air, coughing, and spluttering.
“Sofie, Sofie my dear. I’m so sorry.” He helps her to her feet, suddenly all sweetness and nice, as if he were a completely different person. The manic look in his eyes has gone. He straightens his suit and slicks back his hair. He’s the perfect image of the professional head of a corporation, except for the smell of whisky that hangs around him. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, but you made me so mad, my little bird.” He coos at her as he strokes her face.
She shakes as he touches her, wondering what’s next.
“Excuse me, Mr. Calambor.” The door has opened, and one of Luke’s suited and booted cronies walks in. Sofie steps away from Luke’s caress, but not before the tables in the restaurant have had time to get a good look.
“What is it?” Luke’s voice is short but measured. He doesn’t even sound drunk anymore. Had it all been an act just to get me to show him my Achilles heel?
“Apologies for the inte
rruption, sir. I know you didn’t want to be interrupted; but, you have an urgent call.” The man doesn’t look at Luke as he speaks, as if he’s been told not to. Sofie wonders if there have been scenes like this he’s witnessed in the past.
“Take a message,” Luke says and waves him away.
“I think you’ll want to take this, sir.” The crony’s voice is heavy with meaning, and the way that Luke’s head snaps up in understanding tells Sofie that this isn’t an ordinary call.
“I’ll be out in a moment,” he says to his crony, as he turns back to Sofie. “I’m afraid that we’ll have to cut our dinner short. I hope you’ll forgive me.” Sofie doesn’t ask if he’s referring to the interruption or the fact that he nearly strangled her. “There was something else that you wanted to discuss though, if I’m not mistaken?” He looks at her knowingly, but she doesn’t say anything. She is still too shocked to make polite conversation after what he’s just done to her. “You were going to ask for an advance on your salary, I believe? Some…bill that need to be paid?”
Sofie recovers the power of speech. “How…how did you know that?” The only person that she’d had that conversation was with Finn, and she didn’t believe that he would have told anyone else. Finn wouldn’t betray her—that much she could guarantee.
“As I said, I protect my investments.” He gives her his arm to lead her out of the private dining room. “Of course an advance wouldn’t be a problem. I wouldn’t want anything…unpleasant to befall that beautiful face of yours. That would be a shame.” He leads her through the restaurant as the diners stare at them appreciatively.
Sofie realizes that, from the outside, they would look like an ordinary couple—well-dressed and attractive. No one would be able to guess the truth of what just took place in that room. She wants to shout at them that they have no idea what kind of a man he is, what he’s willing to do to get what he wants. But she doesn’t, she’s still too shaken for her brain to tell her body what it should do.
He leads her out into the lobby, in full view of the people at the bar and any passers-by. “I do hope that little problem you’ve been having with your account is solved soon.” The way he says it makes it clear he knows exactly what’s happened with her bank account. And after everything she’s heard from him, it’s not surprising that he’s reached a new low. He was the one that had hacked her account, made it impossible for her to get the cash she needed without his help.
She barely reacts, as he asks her to hold out her hand, so he lifts her arm, holding the flat of her palm out. Then, he starts counting out hundred dollar bills, one after the other, laying them out into her hand, all crisp and shiny and new. When he’s finished, he closes her hand around the cash. “Thank you for a wonderful evening, Sofie.” He says the words so sincerely anyone around them would be forgiven for thinking that he was a nice, normal man. The truth was that he was anything but. He kisses her demurely on the cheek. “Remember our agreement. Oh and you might want to straighten out your dress, wouldn’t want to give people the wrong impression,” he whispers cruelly in her ear before moving away from her, striding back towards the elevator, and then he’s gone.
As the elevator doors close behind him, Sofie wakes up from whatever dream she had been caught in. She looks at the stack of money in her hand and adjusts her dress, which has ridden up a little during the struggle between them. She takes in the distasteful expression of some of the people around her. At first she’s confused, but then she catches sight of Lindsey. Her expression of shock tells Sofie everything that she needs to know. Lindsey clearly thinks that Luke is paying her for services rendered, and it’s an idea that’s probably shared by everyone else in the place.
Of course, that had been his intention. He would have known that someone was watching them. He wanted to get between her and Ashton, and above all else, he wanted to make a point. He wanted to show her that he has power over her, that she’s his puppet to control. She turns back to where Lindsey had been standing, desperate to explain to her that what she had just seen wasn’t what it looked like. However, she’s already gone. Sofie is left standing in the lobby with the crisp notes in her hand, and it feels like the dirtiest money she’s ever held.
CHAPTER NINE
Sofie feels the eyes of the curious onlookers following her as she walks out of the hotel, trying to keep her head held high. She looks around outside, shivering despite the warmth of the night. But it’s as if Lindsey has disappeared, no doubt she’ll be on her way to Ashton to report on what she’d seen.
She hands her ticket to the valet who rushes off to get her car. She stands alone on the sidewalk, her arms around her chest as she hugs herself against the cold that’s not coming from the air; it’s coming from inside of her.
“What the hell was that?” Lindsey’s voice comes out of the darkness followed by the woman herself.
Sofie looks at her and sees the disappointment written all over her lovely features. “If I told you, then you wouldn’t believe me anyway.” She shrugs, defeated and exhausted. Too much has happened in the past day to take on anything else.
“Try me, all you have to do is tell me what the cash is for, and we can settle all this. Ashton will understand.” Lindsey looks earnestly at Sofie, desperately wanting to hear something that’s more plausible than what she’s afraid has happened.
“Why aren’t you already half way to tell Ashton what it is that you already suspect? The way you looked at me in there; I know what you think.” Sofie takes a deep breath, trying to keep the tears that she can already feel building at bay.
“Because I wanted to hear what you have to say first!” Lindsey is angry, throwing her hands up in despair. “Tell me, Sofie. Tell me why that creep gave you a whole chunk of cash after being in that room alone all evening? Just tell me the truth.”
“The truth!” Sofie laughs hoarsely, not even able to fake it. “Isn’t that rich! Why don’t you ask Ashton if he’s ready for some truth? If he’s ready to really share something with me.”
“Sofie, I can’t help you if you don’t let me. I’ve made a promise. I have to tell Ashton what I saw, but give me something else to tell him. Give me a reason. Why did Luke give you that money?” Lindsey looks down at the wad of dollar bills still clutched in Sofie’s hand.
“Because I need it, and I asked him for it. That’s why he gave it to me.” Sofie grits her teeth, trying to keep herself afloat, trying to stop herself from telling a truth that she can never walk away from. Ashton only knows half of her back story. He doesn’t know the scary part, the part that will make him think differently of her. She never wanted him to see her as this fragile person who needs protection and needs looking after. Besides, the Collector and everything around it was her problem to deal with, not his. He had enough on his plate; he didn’t need any more drama from her.
“Why won’t you tell me? What is it that you’re trying to hide?” Lindsey looks like she wants to shake some sense into her, but Sofie remains silent. She’s made her decision. “Fine, you won’t tell me why you need the money. Will you tell me what happened in that room?” Lindsey crosses her arms, waiting studying Sofie’s face for a sign she can use.
Sofie remains silent. Luke’s words echo in her ears. Would you allow me to take everything away from him, when you know that you could do something to stop me? She knows that she can’t tell Lindsey. If Ashton were to find out that Luke was using him to threaten her, she doesn’t know what he would do.
Besides, when it came to her or the safety of the pack, the pack that he was sworn to protect and treasure above all else, she figures she knows what side he would come down on. There was no need to ask him to choose, she’d already made the choice for him. She’d made it as soon as the words were out of Luke’s mouth.
He was right; he’d found her Achilles heel, the one thing that she couldn’t live with. If Ashton thinks that she’s slept with Luke, then it makes things easier. He won’t want her anymore; he’ll probably hate her and leave her alon
e. Then, she can do what needs to be done to keep the werewolf secret safe.
Lindsey gives it one last shot, trying her hardest to give Sofie the benefit of the doubt, an opportunity to explain. “Sofie, please. You know what this looks like. Give me something to tell him, something that isn’t…this.” The plea in Lindsey’s eyes is clear.
“You can tell him that I’m sorry.” She doesn’t add that what she’s sorry for is being the reason that Luke has taken such an interest in Ashton and the rest of his pack. That she’s the reason their secret is perilously close to coming out.
Lindsey searches Sofie’s face, knowing that something isn’t right. “Whatever you think that you’re doing, it’s not how this is supposed to go.” Lindsey shakes her head, clearly disappointed.
A few hours earlier and Sofie would have asked what she meant, asked how things were supposed to go. But the day has been too long, and she’s already made her decision. Knowing any more about any of it now would only complicate things further.
“You should go,” Sofie says, as the valet brings her car around. Lindsey turns, slowly to go, but not before she hears Sofie’s whispered words that sound like a goodbye. “Thanks for believing in me.”
By the time Lindsey has turned around to stop her, Sofie has already sped off down the road.
***
Once in the car, Sofie totally loses the ability to keep it all together. The tears that have been bubbling under the surface for so long finally spill out. She’s wracked by sobs as she thinks about what Ashton will think of her, how much he’ll hate her, and how much she’ll have hurt him.
Sofie cries as she thinks about Luke, the way he had treated her like the only thing that mattered about her was the way she made him feel. He doesn’t care that I have a life that he is slowly destroying. It’s like I’m not even a real person to him, just a means to an end. What was it that he had called me? His little bird. His damaged bird. He gets off on the troubles of my life. I wonder if in his little delusion, he is the hero saving me from a life of pain and hardship. He’s sick, well and truly sick.
Thunder (Alpha Love - a Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance Book 3) Page 11
