I lifted my brow in question.
He laughed harder. “Don’t worry. I said nothing.” He came forward and pressed a kiss to my mouth. I tasted his wintergreen mint breath. “It’s good to see you.”
I felt winded. His kisses did that to me, as did talk about marriage. Mrs. Lipinsky would have to wait. The last man I’d been engaged to had been murdered. “It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours since we saw each other,” I said, smiling, a happy giddiness filling my insides. Cage had a way of doing that to me.
“That is way too fucking long. Why don’t you move in with me?” He asked.
It was an offer he’d issued before. I wasn’t ready. I liked living with Birdy, and I knew she’d be coming back soon. She was my sister. I needed time with her. I’d told Cage all of this. He understood.
“I miss your face. I miss the way my apartment feels when you’re in it—so full of life.” He pulled me to him.
“I miss you too,” I said. “But I can’t. Not yet.”
He smirked, rubbing his hand over his short hair. “I won’t stop asking.”
I leaned into him, kissing him. “Please don’t.” It was a weird feeling, being so happy.
He took my hand. I grabbed my clutch and followed him out. I locked the door. Inside his limo, I sat back while he made us a drink.
“Did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?” He handed me the drink.
“No, you didn’t.” I knew I looked nice. I’d splurged a little and bought a red dress. It was a wraparound that hugged my body. It had a low V in the front and back, and hit the middle of my thighs. I wore a pair of black Jimmy Choo ankle boots with it and pulled my hair up into a loose curly bun, clipping a small platinum butterfly within the curls. My makeup was dark, the way Birdy had shown me to do it, and I wore red lipstick. Yeah, I looked hot. I wondered if I’d got so glammed up for Griffin. I wanted to deny it, but that was probably part of the reason.
CHAPTER 8
Katie
At the club, our driver opened the door. Cage helped me out. We walked in through the VIP entrance, which was a recent addition.
We sat at Birdy’s table. It was the best in the place, easy access to the bar and in easy view of the stage. I was nervous. His show started in five minutes.
“What can I get you?” It was the girl who’d told me about Griffin leaving.
Bitch.
“I’ll have a vodka tonic.”
“And for you?” the waitress asked Cage.
“The same.”
She smiled. “I’ll be right back.”
“No catfight. That was the whole reason I came.” He laughed, taking my hand in his.
I took him in. He was gorgeous. His white shirt was unbuttoned so that I could see part of his chest. He wore gray dress pants, a black belt, and black shoes. His blond hair was a little longer than usual, but still cropped short. Even in the dark I could see his vivid blue eyes sparkle with mischief.
“Nope. I’m going to be on my best behavior.”
He laughed. “Not likely.”
The waitress brought our drinks.
I took a sip. “Thank you.”
“Course.”
Cage paid the woman and asked her to start a tab.
The waitress left. Griffin walked on stage. It was as though the whole world stopped for him and me. He wore his standard outfit: faded jeans, no shirt, and bare feet. He looked out into the crowd, then his eyes found mine and he smiled. My heart sped up, began beating wildly. How did he do that?
The rest of Crushed Velvet came on stage and the Attic came back to life with high pitched screams from the girls near the stage, Brian pounding his large set of drums, and the crowd talking feverishly.
“This is a brand new song. It’ll release December fifteenth. Be sure to download it and tell your friends.”
The crowd roared. The rest of the band began playing.
It was a slow song. Haunting. Filled with sorrow.
She died in the summer, when I was too young to remember
Growing up without her, it was just me and my father
He taught me how to win, how to hurt others with a grin
She used to give me love, he just likes to kick and shove
I’ve grown accustomed to no feelings, lightning on the ceiling
That’s how I live my life,
No emotion,
No devotion,
No commotion
It’s just easier that way, playing my days away
No thought of what I am, how I’m living, don’t give a damn
She left me in the fall, because I ruined it all
I forgot what it meant to love, to care for another above
All else
But it hurts, losing her to other jerks
Her eyes tear into me, cursing me
And I wish I could die, run away and hide
A coward living a lie with no consequences to keep me from flying
That’s how I live my life,
No emotion,
No devotion,
No commotion
It’s just easier that way, playing my days away
No thought of what I am, how I’m living, don’t give a damn…
CHAPTER 9
Katie
I listened to the words, the way his voice sang them, so full of painful meaning and amazingly sad. The song brought tears to my eyes. It reminded me again that I knew very little about Griffin Maxwell. Next to nothing, really, except he had a father he wasn’t fond of. That, and he was beyond rich. And sexy. And incredibly beautiful.
“Dandelion.” Cage said, rocking my hand in his. “You okay?””
“Hm.” I picked up my drink, gulping down a large amount.
Griffin sang the last notes of the song.
I wiped at the tears in the corners of my eyes, hoping I was discreet. “Fine. What about you?”
“Good. Worried about you and why you look like you’re about to cry.” His lips were right next to my ear. He whispered softly and warmth enveloped me.
I sniffled. “I’m not sure what’s wrong.”
One of his hands massaged my back. “If this is too hard, seeing him, we can go.”
I glanced over. Had I hurt his feelings? “No, it’s fine.”
“You had feelings for him. You told me so. And things didn’t end well, in spite of the flowers he sent.”
I leaned into him. He was such a good guy. “Thanks, Cage. But I’m fine, really.”
“The fact that you keep saying you’re fine leads me to believe the opposite it true.” He leaned his forehead against mine. “Talk to me.”
I knew from the last two weeks that when he said that, he meant it. But I couldn’t. I didn’t understand my tumultuous emotions enough to share them.
“I will. But right now I need to go find Brian. He and I need to have a conversation. Birdy’s trial starts tomorrow. We haven’t found Chloe and I’m freaking out.” I polished off my drink before standing.
“I know. Me too, but we’re prepared. As much as my team and I can be.”
I wanted to respond that I knew he worked hard on the case. There was no doubt that if there was a stone regarding Birdy’s case, Cage would not only flip it over but polish it too, just to make sure he didn’t miss anything. Griffin interrupted with his fucking sexy voice.
“Thanks for letting me sing to you,” he said.
I glanced over. It looked like he stared right at me. My heart clenched with pain. “I’ll be back,” I said to Cage. “Will you order me another?” I plastered on a smile, leaned over and kissed him.
“Of course.”
I felt his eyes on me as I walked away. Guilt tried to push its way in, but I told it to fuck off. I didn’t have time for that. I pulled the anger and determination back to the forefront of my mind. Those were the emotions I needed. Birdy didn’t deserve to be in jail. I had to get her out.
I pushed my way through the crowd toward the back rooms next to the stage. A large ma
n sporting a shiny bald head, a black suit, and a black tie stood in front of it, blocking it with his enormous body. There were at least a dozen girls using different methods to get past him. As I got closer I smiled. His lips remained firmly set in a tight line.
Damn, this wasn’t going to be easy.
“Hi… sir. I need to speak with Brian right away.”
The motherfucker didn’t even acknowledge me.
“Dude, I’m not like these others girls. I don’t want to give him my panties. I need to speak with him about something important. It’s a matter of life and death.”
“Bitch thinks she’s better than us,” a red head with way too much makeup and not enough clothing said.
The guy cracked a smile. “Life or death, huh?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Well maybe if you’d offered me your panties I would’ve considered it.” Then he straightened up, rolled his shoulders back and looked away.
“You can have my panties,” a girl in the back shouted and threw them at him.
They were white and landed in his face. He took them and breathed in. “Come on,” he waved her up.
I turned to see who’d thrown them. It was Chloe. Her eyes found mine. Something passed between us. My insides responded with a shudder.
“Thank you,” she said, rubbing a hand down the front of his pants.
Once she was through there was immediate pandemonium. All the girls started throwing their panties at him and feeling him up. He seemed to be getting off on the attention. I wasn’t sure what the girls were doing to him, but by the way his head fell back and his eyes closed I guessed he was enjoying it.
I took the opportunity to sneak past him, feeling quite proud of myself.
The hallway was dark. Thick black drapes covered the walls. I wondered if that was how it always had been or if this was because of Warren Records. I decided I didn’t care enough to bother thinking about it. Other than it seemed to muffle the club music blaring from the overhead speakers.
Following the curtains I came to a room. It had a dozen bottles of alcohol, bottles of water, drinking glasses, and various foods but there wasn’t a single person in there. I went out, checking each direction. Then I heard noises. Talking. I pulled back a curtain and realized there were doors behind the curtains. So they were being used to hide the doors? I opened the first one. One of the band members was inside. I recognized him as the bassist. He was kissing a girl, his hands up her shirt. He stopped.
“Want to join us? There’s enough of me to go around.”
I shook my head and closed the door.
Felt against the thick drape for another door. Opened it. The lights were off. But I heard a male voice moan the name Steve.
Not Brian, I thought, quickly closing the door. I continued on until I realized I was heading back to the entrance. I went the opposite direction, feeling the walls for doors.
Finally I found another door. Before I opened it, I hesitated. Obviously the guys used these rooms to get off after a show. I didn’t want to interrupt someone but I also wasn’t going to give up on finding Brian.
So I steeled myself and pushed the door open. The lights were on. Griffin had Chloe bent over a chair. Her skirt was pushed up around her waist, her head was down, and she was moaning. Griffin’s pants were around his ankles. His eyes were closed. They were so into it I thought I could get the door closed before they noticed me.
But Chloe looked up and smiled. “Oh Griffin. Fuck me. Fuck me hard. Awww, you feel so good.”
That seemed to encourage Griffin because he started moving faster. Then his eyes opened and locked on mine.
“Fuck,” I swore and closed the door.
I’d decided to give up. I couldn’t take another door like that one even though that was the worst. It was bad enough knowing he’d fucked someone else, but watching it happen made me sick. Tears blurred my vision but I kept going, feeling my way out.
“Hey, watch it.”
I’d run into someone.
“Sorry,” I said. “I can’t see very well.”
He turned, shining a bright light at me. It was Brian. “Don’t you have a flashlight on your phone? It works wonders for situations like this,” he said with playful sarcasm.
I laughed, quickly wiping at my eyes. Relieved to see him. “I don’t, but I’ll definitely download one.”
“You shou—Hey. Katie, right? You’re Birdy’s friend.”
I nodded. “Yep, that’s me. And that’s why I’m back here. I wanted to talk to you about the night of Reid’s murder.”
“Okay, sure.” I followed him back to the room with the alcohol and snacks. “Have a seat.” He poured himself and drink. “Can I make you one?”
“Vodka tonic,” I said.
He mixed it and handed it over.
“Thank you.”
“Sure.” He sat across from me. “So what’s on your mind? I know the trial starts tomorrow.”
CHAPTER 10
Katie
“Did you want me to come up?” Cage asked, twirling a piece of my hair in his finger.
“Not tonight. I just need to get some sleep.”
“Okay.” He caressed my cheek, pulling me to him and kissing me soundly. I felt it all the way to my toes and I almost changed my mind. Almost. We’d been together every night. It would be difficult not seeing him, but I needed to collect my thoughts—for tomorrow, and in general.
Griffin, my mind shouted.
It pissed me off that he still held a piece of my heart. I didn’t like it. Cage was wonderful. He deserved a woman totally committed to him.
“I’ll send the limo by to pick you up and take you to the courthouse in the morning.” He helped me out.
“Thank you.” I leaned in and kissed him one more time. He grabbed hold of my hips and squeezed.
My thighs lit on fire and my pussy got wet. I moaned.
He took that to mean I wasn’t ready to let him go because he pulled me back into the limo and closed the door.
“Give us a few,” Cage said to the driver, closing the partition.
As soon as it was shut he sat back, pulling me with him, sliding my dress up, and exposing my underwear. They were red and lacy with a black bow on the front.
“Sexy,” he said and pushed aside the V of my collar so he had access to my breasts.
I cupped his face in my hands. He paused, his eyes searching mine. I leaned down and kissed him hard. He responded, opening my mouth with his tongue. His fingers pushed aside my panties and he slid a finger into my pussy. I moaned, moving my hips onto his finger. He used his thumb to rub my clit while I moved on his finger.
He knew how to bring me to the brink of orgasm. When I was nearly there he stopped, pulled his finger out, and licked it. His eyes kept hold of mine.
“You taste sweet,” he said, undoing his pants.
I freed his cock and readjusted so that I could ride him. He moved my undies aside and I sheathed him.
“Awww, fuck. Yeah. You feel amazing, Dandelion.”
I took him all in, then began to move. His eyes held mine captive, just as his body did. I was okay with that. I undid his shirt so that I could feel the hard muscles of his chest and abs. My emotions were all over the place, but my body knew exactly where it wanted to be. It was clear that Cage was a person I could make a life with. If he wanted that.
Cage pulled me toward him and took my nipple in his mouth through my red lace bra. I threw my head back, rocking on him harder. His thumb found my clit and he massaged it. My orgasm came quickly. His followed soon after.
We didn’t speak as he helped me adjust my dress and get out of the limo.
“See you tomorrow,” he said with a smile.
“Yep, see you.”
CHAPTER 11
Katie
I climbed the steps on wobbly legs. My thighs always trembled after sex with Cage. A sign of good sex, Birdy would say.
I smiled at the thought of her. I missed her, needed her. Somehow
I had to help her get out of that awful place. Brian hadn’t given me any new information. He gave me the same breakdown of events Birdy had. There was no reason to doubt him. I think Birdy thought Brian killed him because she couldn’t think of anyone else. The truth was it couldn’t been me who killed Reid as easily as Brian.
I took the keys from my clutch and dropped them. “Damn.” I picked them up and unlocked the door, flipped on the light —and stopped. Something felt off. The house was even cleaner than it’d been when I left.
“Hello?” I said, closing and locking the door.
Chloe came around the corner from the hallway. “Hello.”
My heart jumped into my throat. The first thing I noticed was that she’d changed. No longer in her slutty club gear, she was dressed in loose fitting jeans, tennis shoes, and a jacket that zipped in front and had the thumb holes in the sleeves.
“How did you get in?” I asked, fighting back unimaginable fear.
She came toward me. My back pressed against the door.
“Did you have a nice time in the limo?” she asked. “Fucking your best friend’s lawyer. That seems unethical.”
“It isn’t,” I said, my fingers fumbling with the lock.
She locked the chain that was above. “You aren’t going anywhere.”
I swallowed, wondering if I could somehow reach my phone. It was in my clutch.
“Probably not unethical. But fucking your sister’s lawyer? That might be considered unethical.”
How did she know? “W-What are you talking about?”
Her body pressed against mine. It might’ve seemed sexual if she didn’t have such a maniacal look in her eyes. “Don’t play coy with me.” She pushed some of my hair off my face. “I know she’s your half-sister, just like I know who your parents are. Harold Don Jayne and Daisy Lynn Gale. I know how many partners you’ve been with. Three. All of them men.”
How the fuck did she know all of that?
Boxed Set: Traitorous Heart Volumes 1-6 (The Traitorous Heart Series) Page 22
