FIRST ORIGINAL EDITION, SEPTEMBER 2017
Copyright © 2017 by Deborah Bladon
All rights reserved. No parts of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without written consent from the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used factiously. Any resemblance to actual person’s, living or dead, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
ISBN-13: 978-1977772305
ISBN-10: 1977772307
eBook ISBN: 9781926440477
Book & cover design by Wolf & Eagle Media
Cover image by vishstudio
www.deborahbladon.com
Also by Deborah Bladon
THE OBSESSED SERIES
THE EXPOSED SERIES
THE PULSE SERIES
THE VAIN SERIES
THE RUIN SERIES
IMPULSE
SOLO
THE GONE SERIES
FUSE
THE TRACE SERIES
CHANCE
THE EMBER SERIES
THE RISE SERIES
HAZE
SHIVER
TORN
THE HEAT SERIES
MELT
THE TENSE DUET
SWEAT
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Epilogue
Preview of HUSH
Preview of WORTH
Thank you
Deborah’s Mailing List
About the Author
Chapter 1
Crew
There are certain luxuries afforded a man when he owns a club in Manhattan. He can drink the best scotch in the world and expense that shit. He can pick a different woman every night of the week, and he can sit on his ass and watch one of his best friends get hit on by some schmuck in a suit that's two sizes too big or he can do something about it.
I've had my fill of scotch tonight and the woman I was with last night is waiting for me back at her place. I can't leave my club, Veil East, yet. That's because, Adley York, one of my closest friends is about to go home with a professional baseball player with a reputation for hitting it out of the park.
It doesn't matter to me if another man is stellar in bed. I don't compare myself to anyone. I've never had a complaint in all the years I've been active on the Manhattan social scene. I have zero doubt that I've fucked more women than Trey Hale, but by the look of what's happening on the dance floor, he's about to take Adley home to screw her.
That is not happening on my watch.
I can't have her because there are women that you friend and women that you fuck. Adley falls squarely in the first category although my traitorous cock wants her in the second. It can't happen. If I take that petite blonde to bed, I'll lose her, and the hole that would leave in my life is something I don't have the fucking emotional maturity to deal with.
"Adley," I call out her name over the booming beat that vibrates off the walls. Why the hell did I have a state of the art sound system installed in this place? "Hey, Ad."
By the grace of God, she notices me pointing at her. She tosses me a wave and a wiggle of her ass before she grabs hold of the star pitcher's shoulders. I swear to fuck if she climbs up on that right now, I'll haul her off the floor over my shoulder.
I motion for her to come to where I'm standing. Shaking her head, she flips me the bird.
I slam my now empty tumbler on the bar and stalk toward her.
"I need to talk to you." I stand next to her. "It's important, Adley."
"It can wait, Crew." Her pretty face flushes. "I'm a little busy right now."
She's a little drunk right now. I see it in her eyes and her hips. She's aching for some and if anyone is going to give it to her, it'll be me.
No. I fucking can't. Those perfect tits and that curvy ass are off-limits.
"I'm going to drop you off at your apartment." I take a quick look around. The club is running smoothly tonight. We're at full capacity. I don't need to be here to benefit from this. "Grab your stuff and let's go."
"Why would l do that?" Her eyes rake my six-foot-three, two-hundred-pound frame. The fact that my black button down shirt, matching pants, and shoes are all designer labels doesn't impress Adley. It never has. "You're not as fun as Trey is."
Trey has nothing on me. I'm taller, richer, and a hell of a lot better looking than he is. I own a mirror. Black hair, green eyes and a smile that has never failed me to date are what I see every morning.
"You've had too much to drink, Ad."
"Maybe you haven't had enough." She pokes her finger into the center of my chest. "You work out."
Like a madman, every morning at five a.m. before the city wakes up. "We're leaving."
"What if I want to go with him?"
"Pick another night to make that happen." I direct that statement to Hale. "She's not going anywhere with you tonight."
"Who are you? Her husband?"
Adley laughs so hard she bends over revealing a perfect bird's eye view of the top of her round breasts. The decent thing to do is to look away, but I don't.
"I'm her friend. I own the club." I push a hand at him. "Crew Benton."
"You're Benton?" He steps closer and studies my face, his hand eagerly shaking mine. "Your reputation precedes you, man."
I have no idea what the fuck that means, so I steer him to a place I'll know he'll go. "Your drinks are on the house for the rest of the night. Tell Penny at the bar, Crew's got the tab."
"No shit?"
"No shit," I repeat back. "It's a limited time offer so..."
"Understood." He doesn't give Adley another look before he heads for the bar.
"That was a cock-block, a totally intentional cock-block." She frowns. "You ruined my night. Now, what am I supposed to do?"
I eye her up. Small black dress, hair so messed up that she looks like she just fucked in the back of a beat-up pickup truck and a mouth that was made for sin. "Come to my place, Adley. I want you to come home with me."
"What for?" She scrunches her button nose. "I already told you that I'm never going to sit through another episode of that show you like. You know I'm scared of dragons."
She did say that. She didn't mean it though. I know that just like I know virtually everything about her except what she looks and sounds like when she has an orgasm.
"Today's your lucky day." I glance over at Hale. He's still got his eyes locked tight on Adley's ass. "We're all caught
up. The new season doesn’t start for another six months."
"Then we don't need to talk about it now." She links her fingers together in front of her. "Besides, I don't want to leave yet. I'm having too much fun."
That's the reason I want her out of here. This is the first time I've been at the club when she's been here. She knows she never has to pay for a drink and she takes full advantage of that since we opened a year ago. I always glance at the amount of her tab when I take care of the comps at the end of each month.
Ad is on a very short-list of people I'll give free alcohol to. She's on an even shorter list of people I'll do virtually anything for including risking my own life to save theirs.
"I need your help." It's the first thing I can think of to say.
"Are you doing another one of those thousand-piece puzzles?" She steals a glance at Hale, along with a subtle wave of her fingers. "I tried to help you last time you took that on, but we both know how that ended."
The puzzle was an idea my friend Liam, a therapist, pressed on me last winter. He said it would help alleviate stress. He was dead wrong. Every single piece of that hard-as-fuck mind twister ended up being thrown against the wall of my apartment. Adley bore witness to that and she's never let me forget that a box of jagged-edge little pieces of cardboard got the better of me. She brings it up every chance she can.
I like that the memory is etched in the forefront of her mind. I know it's because she cares. She's the one who told me I needed to do something about my stress. She was right. That's where the early wake-up call to hit the gym fits into my life.
"I want to talk to you," I say because I can't tell her what I really want is to forget that we mutually agreed, soon after we met, to keep things platonic. "It's been a long day, Ad. I could use a friend."
"There are hundreds of people in this club." She surveys the packed dance floor. "You must have at least a dozen friends here. Why don't you have a drink with one of them? I'm not in the mood to hang out."
"Why would I want to hang out with any of them?" Her fuck-me look is melting my brain cells one-by-one. I sound like a desperate sixteen-year-old kid who is trying to keep his crush away from his arch enemy. I shoot Hale a look. "You're the most interesting person I know. I want to run something by you."
"Something?" She repeats the word back with a curve of her lip. "Is about makeup? Do I get free samples?"
Of course she does. My day job is Chief Operating Officer at Matiz Cosmetics. I run the company in tandem with my closest friend Nolan Black. As fate would have it, Nolan married Ad's best friend, Ellie. That's how we met. "We're launching a new mascara line. I need your input. What are your thoughts on navy blue?"
"That would look killer on me." She bats her naturally long eyelashes. They frame the bluest eyes I've ever seen. They're dotted with faint specks of violet. I'm not even sure she realizes how unique her eyes are. "I told you six months ago that colored mascara was the way to go."
She did tell me that. I don't generally consult with veterinary assistants when it comes to future products for Matiz, but Ad is our target market and she's brutally honest. Those two things, among others, make her invaluable to me.
"I've got the samples for three different shades in my office." I smile inwardly. If I take her to the Matiz tower, I'll get my head in a different space. I need that right now. I've been fighting this undeniable attraction to her for months and at this moment I'm losing the fucking battle. "We can head over there now."
She considers it before she glances one last time at Hale. "I gave him my number before you showed up. I hope to hell he uses it and calls me. He's so hot."
I want to go over and squeeze his phone in my palm until it's in pieces, but I won't. I can't control this. I have no claim on her. I wish my cock would see it that way.
"I feel lightheaded. Maybe I did have too much to drink." She grabs my forearm. "I'm starving. I could use a burger. Can we stop and get food? It's my treat."
I stare down at her.
Christ, woman. Please stop being everything I need.
I don't say that or anything else. Instead, I nod as I scoop her hand into mine. I can do this. I can keep it together for the rest of the night. I've done it for months. What's another hour or two?
Chapter 2
Crew
"A pierced nipple."
Jesus.
Those are three words I never thought I'd hear coming from Adley's lips, yet there they are.
I stand frozen behind her, a chocolate milkshake in my hand. She's talking on the phone to someone who I hope to hell isn't Trey Hale.
When her phone rang, I was already up and on my feet heading to the counter in this fast food place to pick up her forgotten shake. She ordered for us both and paid as promised. The first time I tried to talk her out of buying me dinner, she scoffed and explained that she always keeps it even between her and her friends.
It was yet another slap-to-the-side-of-the-head reminder that we're just friends and always will be.
"I need to go, Syd." Her voice softens as she says her roommate, Sydney's, nickname. "I'm going to hang with Crew for a few hours so do what you've got to do with Banner. I'll text before I get there."
I move forward when she places her phone back on the table. "I have one chocolate shake for the beauty queen with mustard on her chin."
She swipes the back of her hand over her chin. "Did I get it?"
I lower myself back into the chair I was in earlier. It's made of cheap plastic, the table is uneven and the food is close to the worst I've ever had, but the company makes it worth it. I slide the straw from its paper wrapper before I stab it through the center of the lid that covers the shake. "You can use a napkin, Ad. That's why they supply them."
Her tongue lashes the back of her hand. "I'm not wasting any of this. I love the burgers here."
I don't concur, but I didn't have anything to eat since lunch, so I held my breath and chowed down on the cheeseburger and fries she bought me. I push the milkshake across the table until it's in front of her. "You're not feeling lightheaded anymore, are you?"
She shakes her head. "I'm fine. Did you hear what I was talking to Sydney about?"
I try not to stare at the hard points of her nipples under her dress. It's cold in here. There's a bite in the summer air outside tonight too after a day of rain and wind. Since Adley didn't bother with anything to cover her dress, I grabbed my suit jacket from behind the bar at the club and wrapped it around her shoulders before we left. She slid it off after her first messy bite of the burger so now I have the added accessory of a ketchup stain on the lapel.
"How's Sydney?" I reply, nudging my way past her question. I don't want to admit that I heard her talking about piercings.
"Good," she says around a small bite of a now soggy fry. "She has a new boyfriend."
I don't give two shits if she has twelve boyfriends. Sydney Tate is Adley's latest roommate. She's cute, ambitious and eager. I've met her twice and both times she was wearing nothing but lingerie. The first time might have been accidental as she was expecting another guy when she swung open the door of their apartment. The second time was definitely calculated. The bra and panties she had on were sheer white. I saw everything. Not surprisingly, my cock slept through the whole damn thing.
I'm not into banging women who are that much younger than me. I'm just shy of thirty. Sydney's barely twenty-one. I won't hop on that train again. I like my women experienced, confident and not prone to misunderstanding that a good fuck is just that. It's a great time and not a promise of forever.
"Can I hang out at your place until he leaves?" She takes a sip of the chocolate shake through the straw, her eyes closing as she swallows.
I watch the motion of her neck. Christ, she's so fucking beautiful.
"You can stay all night if you want." I mean it. I have an extra bedroom. She's crashed there before. It's the reason why I stock the attached bathroom with the Matiz shower products she prefers. There's also a pa
ir of sweats and a few white T-shirts in her size in the closet for her to sleep in.
She has a key to my place although she's never used it.
I have access to a key to her apartment because I own the building. It's a side project. Some men collect fine wine. I collect Manhattan real estate.
"I'll go home in a couple of hours." She dabs her mouth with a paper napkin. "Will you show me the mascara samples now? Then we can go to your place and work on that puzzle."
"That was tossed in the trash months ago," I say as I stand and reach for the back of her chair.
"You thought it went into the trash because I told you I'd take care of it." She wraps my suit jacket back around her body. "I hid it under the bed in the guest room."
"Why the fuck did you do that?" I catch her by the elbow as she stands.
"Simple." Her eyes lock on mine. "When you want something, you never give up. I knew one day you'd decide to take on the puzzle again and you'd beat it. Tonight might be the night."
"You have too much faith in me." I adjust the collar of my jacket, gently tugging her hair from beneath it, so the blonde waves tumble over the fabric. "Maybe I can't have everything I want in life, Ad."
The smile leaves her face. "I believe in you more than I believe in anyone else. You told me not to give up until I have everything I want. You need to follow your own advice."
I never want her to stop looking at me the way she is now. I won't lose what we have. Besides, this city is full of women ready and willing to get into bed with me. I can fuck Adley out of my system. Sooner or later that approach has to work.
If it doesn't, I'm screwed.
Chapter 3
Adley
I study the framed picture of Crew and his brother that's hanging on the wall near the kitchen in his apartment. I've walked past this spot countless times and yet, I've never noticed this particular image until tonight. It's no wonder. I'm always a tiny bit in awe when I come here. Crew's apartment is the quintessential bachelor pad, right down to the unobstructed view of New York City from the wall of windows that border this space and the dark furnishings that complement the expensive artwork.
Troublemaker Page 1
