by J. L. Beck
“Send one more offer. If they are rude, send them a little gift to let them know we don’t appreciate our kindness being rebuffed. Maybe that will inspire them. I’m tempted to put a ridiculous price on Sal’s head and send it out to all the families. His isn’t the only family hard up for money.”
Kai considers and shakes his head. “I’d wait, boss. The season is almost over, and you know that once things lock down, any activity will be considered an act of war against the council.”
“Thanks for the society lesson,” I quip, still studying the images. “What else did her father say to Sal’s family? Anything about me?”
“Nope, not a mention. Not even the staff have discussed you. We’ve been monitoring the few we saw the night we breached the house and took her out. They seem too scared to discuss it or possibly to be the messenger her father kills when they deliver the bad news. He may be old, but he can lift a gun just fine.”
I’m happy there hasn't been mention of my name yet. I want my involvement secret until I choose to reveal myself and my actions. More than anything, I want to see the look on that old bastard’s face when he sees I’ve taken his only bargaining chip. He’s circling the drain, and he’s too damn stubborn to give up with some dignity. That’s fine by me. I don’t plan to offer him any.
“Make sure our offers to Sal’s family stay private for now. If any of them mentions it to outside parties, deal with it. We keep things under wraps until I decide it’s time to reveal Valentina as my wife to society.”
Kai swipes the screen, and the pictures disappear.
“Keep eyes on him. I want to know everything he does and everything he says.”
“Of course.”
Everyone else is quiet as I glance around the table. “Do you have anything else for me to handle right now?”
They all shake their heads, and I nod. Kai can handle what they need for any of his tasks. No one comes to me for anything these days anyway.
I turn to face Kai. “What are the odds the old man takes out Sal for us? As interesting as that dynamic could be, I don’t want to lose my chance to rip that slimy weasel apart piece by piece. I want him to know exactly what I took from him and exactly what he gave up for his twisted games.”
“I don’t think he would kill him unless he had definitive proof Sal did something to Valentina. Right now, he’s just spouting off about Sal taking her to marry off without doing things properly.”
It went to show how much he knew about his own business partner and daughter’s fiancé. Sal would never steal Val away to marry her. To rape her, absolutely, but never to marry her when he can do that legitimately and get all the money he thinks is coming to him.
“Well, monitor things and make sure. The old man might know a special place Sal likes to hide out. Follow him to see if he makes any moves, especially to places we’ve logged as possible hideouts.”
A hush goes around the room again, and I meet each of their eyes. “What? What the fuck are you all staring at?”
Alexei breaks the awkward silence. “Andrea wants to know if you’ve taken the princess to bed yet.”
Kai drops his head, shaking it over the table, but I can’t tell if he’s ashamed or he’s laughing. If anyone else asked me such a question, I might put a bullet in their head after I made them apologize to my feet. These men earned the right to question me, so for them, I simply flip them off and focus on Kai. “They obviously need more to do if they are worried about my sex life.”
I shoot a look at Alexei. “Also, don’t fucking call her princess.”
He gives me a clipped nod and then elbows his sister, who is grinning from ear to ear. I flip her off individually just to make sure my point is made.
“Keep all our current surveillance in place. Get some people into Sal’s current businesses so they can be monitored at all times. I want him, and I want him alive so I can change that. Understood?” My tone is sharper than usual, but no one seems disturbed by it.
I settle back into the chair and wave at the screen. “Bring up the images again. I want to get a look at him. We still need to find out why he was out of town that long. Business deals don’t take that much time, but other things do.” My brain is headed down a track so fast it takes a moment for me to catch up. “Medical procedures would take that long. Start checking hospital records. Bribe, steal, whatever you need to do to track down the information.”
It gives me a little thrill to think the old man is finally getting what he deserves. If he is sick, I hope it’s brutal and eats him from the inside out.
“Anything else?”
Kai shakes his head while everyone else sits and waits for me to leave. I push out of the chair and head out. These assholes. They’ve earned my respect, my friendship, and my disgruntlement. It happens regularly, but this time, I want to bang heads together because they were talking about Valentina.
While my brain ran off that well-worn track, something else occurred to me. If I don’t find Sal soon, will Valentina decide our contract is unfulfilled and try to leave? It’s not as if I’ll let her walk out the door. She is my wife, after all, but if she took the contract to the council and showed it unfulfilled, they could grant her asylum and help her dissolve our marriage.
White-hot rage pours through me at the idea. There isn’t a person alive who could take her from me. Some part of me wants them to try so I can set the example of what happens if anyone does.
The anger eats at me while I head to my office and slam the door behind me. Let them think I’m mad at them for now. My head is spinning because I need to find Sal. I won’t give her a reason to walk away.
22
Valentina
I’m in bed before Adrian comes in for the night. We saw each other at dinner for a moment, but then he had to go off and handle some business meetings. The season is about to end, and it hits me how much has changed since I attended the first party. It feels like so long ago that I was excited about going to my first society event. Now, it’s all so hollow. As if I would see that girl and tell her to stop being a moony idiot. Since then, I’ve learned my world is so much darker than I’d ever imagined. And somehow, the man who is supposed to be the darkest star has become my light.
It’s these thoughts chasing through my head as he closes the door behind him. I watch as he crossed the room, removing his jacket and slipping off his shoes. It’s a graceful dance he’s done every night, and it’s never any less mesmerizing.
His shirt comes next, his wide shoulders flexing as he strips it off and tosses it on an armchair near his closet. When he gets to his belt, the book I held in my lap is already forgotten, and I can’t keep my eyes off him. I don’t know if he realizes I watch him so closely or not. I really don’t care if he does. I like to look at him, and he doesn’t bother hiding his own interest when he watches me dress or undress.
“I can feel your eyes drilling holes into my back, Angel,” he says as he takes off his watch and places it gently on the dresser. Guess he answered that question.
When he turns to face me, he’s only wearing tight black boxer briefs. His abs are outlined all the way up to his solid pecs, and I can’t take my eyes from him.
“You’re staring,” he says, but there’s an affectionate lilt to his tone that makes me offer a sheepish smile.
“I could say I’m sorry, but I don’t think I am.”
He dives toward the bed and slides in alongside me. In seconds, I’m dragged into his arms. “Where did that smart mouth come from? I’ll have to put it to use if you’ve got nothing better to do than give me attitude.”
“You watch me too.” I feel the need to point out. To defend myself.
“So I do,” he says, dropping his mouth to the upper curve of my breasts to bite gently.
I arch into him, loving the way he feels against me. He’s been giving me time, allowing me to come to terms with what I’ve been through, but right now, sex doesn’t seem like a hardship. I’ve learned he knows how to make it good for
me, and I know he won’t hurt me any more than necessary.
Maybe I should offer myself to him and just get it over with. It’s been such a big deal in my head, but I want to shrink it down and make it meaningless. If it means nothing, then maybe it can’t hurt me.
He shifts on the bed to lie on his side and pull me closer. We stare into each other’s eyes, and I want to stay here. Just live this tender moment for the rest of my life. If only he’ll keep looking at me like that.
“Anything you want to say since you were so focused on my undressing?” he teases.
I shake my head, heat washing into my neck, no doubt staining my chest and face pink above the cream silk of my nightgown. “No. I just enjoy watching you sometimes, is all.”
A part of me can’t believe I admitted that to him out loud. As if men need more ego stroking than they get on a daily basis. But it’s equally important to me for him to know that I think he’s beautiful. “You’re lovely when you’re not on display for anyone.”
“Yet you were watching me like I was. How do you know I wasn’t performing for you?”
I smile and snuggle closer. “You might have been. If so, I feel special that you would expend so much energy to please me.”
He rears back in an inch as if my answer surprises him. “There you go again, disarming me with bold honesty. I like when you do that. It makes me hard.”
The straightforward way he tells me about his erection sends heat through my already throbbing body. My heartbeat is in my ears already, but now, I’m warm through and through.
His compliments make me feel a little more confident. Despite the blush burning my ears, I enjoy the fact he finds me sexy. If Sal ever did, he never said it, only offered plenty to say about my frigidity. Not that I cared too much about his opinion. Adrian’s, however, I do care about. I want him to look at me and see me as a woman.
I place my hand on his chest and gently push him to lie on his back. He watches me with a sexy little grin on his face. The man doesn’t smile much, but when he does, damn, I want to make him keep doing it.
“What are you up to, Angel?” He’s amused, and that’s fine since any minute now, I’m going to need his help to complete my plan.
Once he’s completely flat and shifts in the bedding to flatten his hips, I scoot closer, gently easing one leg over his, and then another so I’m kneeling between his thighs. I can’t help but stare at the outline of him, already hard in his underwear.
He’s watching me, the amusement gone, replaced by pure fire. “Angel,” he prompts. “Don’t tease me.”
Lifting, I put one leg on either side of his wide solid hips. Somehow, I always forget how huge he is until we get more intimate.
The length of him brushes at my panties, and I settle my hips back, so I press there.
He hisses out a breath and captures the meatiest part of my thighs in his hands. “You want to play games tonight? Or do you want something else?”
I get the gist of sex, but I’m terrified to reach into his underwear, draw him out, and sink onto him. Nor do I have any clue how he would react if I did. “I’m not sure what I should do now,” I admit.
He kneads the muscles of my legs gently. “Did you have a plan here? Or were you just winging it?”
I know my face is burning bright pink. “Winging it. I saw you come in and thought…why don’t we get this whole sex thing over with.”
His face bunches up in a heavy scowl. “Over with? What makes you think sex with me is going to be a one-and-done affair? Especially when I’ve given you ample evidence to the contrary?”
Okay. True. He’s made it clear he wants me in every single way he can get me. I still find myself drifting off to fantasy land when he listed all the things he wanted to do to me while I came.
“I didn’t mean it like that. I’m…nervous.” It takes a lot for me to tell him this simple truth, even if he can probably see it for himself.
“Why?”
“We haven’t done this yet. I’m ready, but I’m not sure at the same time. I want you so much I burn with need, but sometimes, you scare me.”
His scowl deepens. “Scare you, how?”
I sigh and slump. “Not like that. Just…I don’t know what to do with all of you most of the time.”
Another tiny grin lights up his face. “All of me?”
When I don’t answer, he lifts his hips, bucking me upward, and twists us over so he now lies in the cradle of my thighs. “All of me?”
“You’re a big guy. Solid. Beautiful. I feel like you deserve a woman who can get her full use out of you.”
He laughs, throws his head back and laughs so hard I feel it in my toes. When he stops, tears shimmer at the corner of his eyes, but his smile is gone. “I don’t want any other woman but you. If you make me tell you again, I’m going to have to come up with another punishment. This one would be less enjoyable than the last.”
I nod once to let him know I understand. Is this it? Will we have sex now? I scan his face, waiting for a sign I should be ready; that any moment he’s going to fuck me, and I can finally stop worrying about it.
“Tell me what you need, Angel. Didn’t I say you should come to me with your needs? Say it out loud, and I’ll give you anything.”
I feel ashamed, but it doesn’t stop me. “I ache when I look at you.”
His voice drops to a deeper register, which resonates through me. “Where? Show me.”
I grip one of his hands and ease it between our bodies until his fingers lay over my panties at the level of my clit.
“I’m proud of you. I know it’s not easy, but you will always tell me when you want me, and I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”
“What if you’re in a meeting? Or out of town?”
He dips his head and nips my chin with his teeth. “If I’m out of town, love, you’ll be with me. If I’m in a meeting, well, I’ll just have to guide you through what I want to do to you via email or text.”
It’s time to point out the obvious. “I don’t have a phone.”
He doesn’t respond to that because he’s too busy dragging his face down my front, bunching the silk up and away until his lips can touch my bare skin.
“You taste so delicious. Let me feel you come on my tongue.”
I don’t bother smothering the moan his words inspire. He drags my panties down my legs in one rough jerk. Then he’s nudging my thighs apart with his huge shoulders and lowering his face to my pussy.
“Do you want it fast, slow, soft, easy? Tell me what you’re in the mood for.”
I don’t tell him I’m in the mood to feel more than just his mouth. I’ll settle for this if it’s what he wants. “Fast and hard.”
“My favorite,” he murmurs against my wet skin. He doesn’t bother with niceties, going straight to my clit and sucking it hard.
I delve my fingers into his hair to give me an anchor, so I can watch his hips hump into the bed when I pull the strands hard enough to give him a little edge of pain.
God. How did this happen? I’m addicted to this man and everything he brings out in me.
“Harder,” I say.
He only lathes at me harder, sucking, licking, nibbling harder until I’m writhing on the sheets and shoving his face against my body. Not once does he stop or complain. He doesn’t lift his lips from my skin until I’ve stopped shuddering from the strength of my orgasm.
I feel like he’s turned me inside out. My arms fall away from his hair, and he crawls up my body, then turns to lie beside me and drag me into his arms.
Curled against his shoulder, I run my hand down his abs, intent on giving him back some of the pleasure he gave me. When I reach his shaft, he stops me and brings my fingers to his lips. “This was for you. I don’t need anything in return. Yet.”
The tag on seems ominous, but it still starts a new desperate throb under my skin. When will I have enough of him? And how can I rectify everything I’ve lost with everything I’ve gained?
23
Adrian
She’s reading in bed again. Her knees are drawn up, and a book rests in the cradle her thighs make. I watch her for a minute while she’s completely oblivious. My wife is so beautiful. Looking at her creates an ache in my chest.
After I’ve looked my fill, I cross the room and lay a garment bag across the bed. She peers over at me, her eyes bouncing back and forth between me and the bag. “What’s that?”
“A dress.”
She gives me her best try at a stern look, and it’s so fucking adorable. “I have a whole closet of dresses you’ve bought me. I don’t need another.”
“This one is special.”
When she closes the book, she slips her index finger between the pages as if this conversation won’t take long enough for her to properly mark her spot. “Oh?”
I unzip the bag and spread it open to remove the dress. It’s black velvet and cut exactly to her measurements. It will fit her like a second skin, and I am already hard thinking about her wearing it.
“Wow, it’s beautiful,” she breathes. “What’s it for?”
“The end of the season party. It’s time to take you out and present you as my wife.”
My statement throws her. I watch emotions chase across her expressive face as she tries to figure out how she feels. A part of me expects a fight, but after a few seconds, she nods and gives me a soft, “Okay.” Then she opens her book again.
My fingers tingle as a surge of adrenaline batters me from the inside. “Does this mean you finally trust me to keep you safe?”
She glances up from the pages. “It’s not that I didn’t trust you specifically. It’s hard for me to trust anyone at all. No matter how much I want to.”
“Do you think you can do this for me? Come to the party and stand on my arm, look pretty, and smile.”
She makes a face when I say the word smile, but then she nods. “It will be hard, but if you’re with me, then it might not be so bad. What if my father is there?”
