Tiger Shark

by LP Lovell

  I turn around, ready to tell him to fuck off, but I don’t have a chance. His lips slam over mine, and my reflexes are too slow to see it coming. One hand goes to the back of my neck, holding me in place even as I try and push away from him. He tries to force his tongue in my mouth, but I clamp my jaw shut as I continue to shove at his chest. Then suddenly he pulls away, no, he’s dragged away.

  I narrow my eyes as I watch the scene in front of me. The guy is standing facing me, a few feet away, but his angry gaze is focused on the figure standing in front of him with his back to me. All I can see of the newcomer is dark hair and a very well tailored shirt. The tension between the two is palpable, and I’m pretty sure a punch is about to be thrown. A few words are exchanged, and the guy goes to step forward but stops when a large hand is placed on his chest. He glances at me one last time and then leaves. I wait, standing still amongst a sea of dancing people. My rescuer glances over his shoulder at me, and, of course, its Landon. My heartbeat picks up at the sight of him, and that stabbing pain rips through my chest. His eyes trail over my body once before his expression sets into the cold, steely mask that has never been reserved for me…until now. An uncomfortable feeling settles in my gut, a fissure of panic wrapping around my chest, constricting me. I suddenly feel very sober. I take a step towards him, more out of instinct than anything else, and then he turns and walks away, becoming swallowed up by the crowd. I search for him, but he’s gone, and all I’m left with is the haunting memory of the look on his face. Disgust. Regret.

  I walk out of the club without a word to Eva or Quinn and get straight in a taxi. I need to go home. I need to fix my life, not get wasted drunk and start grinding over random strangers. It just reminds me that no one will ever be him. It reminds me of how far I’ve fallen and how much I’ve lost because Georgia Roberts wouldn’t do that. I don’t even know who I am anymore, and Landon just looked at me like he doesn’t either.

  I’m meeting Giles this morning for our usual Monday morning breakfast.

  I take a seat and order a coffee.

  “I hear you’re in a spot of trouble.” He says, as serious as I’ve ever seen him.

  I sigh. “Says who?”

  “Landon called me.” Great, just fucking great. No doubt he’s told him that this ship is sinking fast, and he needs to jump the fuck off. The thing is, though; it’s true. I’m not even sinking so much as just adrift and lost, waiting to be dashed against the rocks.

  I nod. “Yes. I’ve left Banks and Redford. As your broker, I’m recommending you leave your stock with them. They’ll look after it well for you.” God, this is so much harder than I thought it would be.

  “Not like you would.” He counters.

  I look up and meet his gaze. He tilts his head to the side, focusing on me. “Giles, thank you. Thank you for everything. I consider myself so lucky to have had you as a client and even more fortunate to have had you as a friend, but I’m done. No one in this city will hire me. I can't help you any matter how much I might like to.”

  A slow smile pulls at his lips, and I frown in confusion. “Ah, Georgia. So serious.” He waves his hand through the air. “So you had a fight with Landon’s wife.” He bounces his eyebrows lavasciously, and I roll my eyes. “But this means little to me.”

  I shake my head. “Giles, you don’t understand. I have nowhere to manage your stock from, no firm.”

  He glances at the table, a conspirator smile pulling at his lips. “What if I had a firm?”

  “What?”

  He slaps his hands down on the table as a wide grin spreads across his face. “Let’s start our own firm!” He actually bounces up and down in his seat like an over excited kid.

  I pause for a moment and let his words sink in. “Like Angus and Landon?” I whisper.

  He nods. “Yes.”

  “I’m still not ready.”

  He shrugs. “But you are out of options, so you had best get ready.” God, he says it like it’s so easy.

  “My clients.” I say, shaking my head. “They’re contracted in for two years with Redford and Banks.”

  “Landon told me he’s broken their agreements. They are free to leave if they wish.” My eyes pop wide.

  “Landon did that?” Why would he do that? That’s millions in stocks and shares. Millions that his company has just lost.

  A wry smile pulls at his lips. “Eh, love will make a man do crazy things. Poor Angus is probably pulling his hair out.” I can’t think about Landon right now. I can’t think about what such a crazy gesture even means.

  Giles slides the binder across the table and opens it in front of me. “Now I’ve already drawn up the figures, and we’re looking at office space on Thursday.” This is crazy, completely insane, and yet his excitement is infectious. Didn’t I always say I wanted to be the CEO?

  Three months later

  Roberts and Co. Finance and Investment has been up and running for just two weeks, but business is booming. Eva came to me as soon as we were ready to open our doors and pretty much demanded she be my assistant. It turned out she’d already handed in her notice, and she is the best assistant I’ve ever had, so I didn’t really have much choice. I have Eva and four other brokers working for me. Giles is thrilled that his new venture is successful, and I’m the CEO. I made it. This was and still is my dream and for the first time in my life, I’m content.

  There’s a knock on my office door, and Eva pops her head in.

  “Mr Brown here for you G.” I roll my eyes. I don’t know how many times I have to tell her to call me Ms Roberts in front of clients.

  “Okay, send him in.” I shuffle some papers on my desk, standing up and tidying them away into the filing cabinet. I hear the handle on the door click and glance in the direction of the doorway, a smile plastered on my face, though these days I find my smiles are genuine. These are my clients, and I like talking to them. I make them money, and that speaks for itself. I don’t have to prove anything to them or earn their respect. The name Georgia Roberts is fast becoming a name that people instantly respect and clients from some of the biggest companies in the city are flooding to our doors. Of course Giles tells me that he always had faith, and honestly I’m grateful to him for seeing something that I clearly couldn’t.

  When ‘Mr. Brown’ walks in; my breath seizes in my lungs, and I can feel all the blood drain from my face before a flush creeps over my cheeks and my heart leaps into a sprint.

  “Landon.” I whisper. I’m going to kill Eva.

  I stand there in the middle of my office, gaping like an idiot. It’s not like I never thought I’d see him again, we live and work in the same city, but I just…I thought I’d be a little more prepared.

  Over the course of your life, you meet thousands of people, some are inconsequential while others leave a lasting mark. Landon scarred me to my very core. He was the guy I was willing to risk it all for, even if I didn’t know why at the time. If I had to go back, I’d probably do it all again, not through choice, nothing was ever a choice with him. If I’m honest with myself, I fell for him. What I felt for him scared me and rather than place my faith in it, in him, I ran. I’ve always relied solely on myself, and my feelings for him weren’t enough to override a lifetime of self-preservation. But now here he is, in my office. And it’s all flooding back in like a tidal wave. I remember everything. Every single thing that led us to this exact point.

  He closes the door behind him and stands with his back pressed against it. Damn, I’d forgotten just how good he looks, especially in a suit. I’ve never met a man as beautiful as him, and I don’t think I ever will. He smooths a hand down the front of his black three-piece suit, complete with crisp white shirt and a royal blue tie. A small frown line mars his forehead, and his full lips are pressed together in a firm line as those dark eyes pin me to the spot. That familiar pressure settles on my chest, making it hard to breathe. My body reacts to him as it always has.

  “Georgia.” His deep voice caresses my name, and it’s as if n
o time has passed at all, as though it were only yesterday that I was sprawled on that desk never wanting to let him go.

  His eyes flick around my office, and a small smile kicks up the corners of his lips. “Nice office.”

  “Uh, thanks.” I say. I have no idea why he’s here. I haven’t seen him since that night at the club, and we haven’t spoken since that day in his office, and I feel bad. I have ever since I left with no word. He’s crossed my mind a lot in the past months, but I don’t look backwards because what’s the point? You can only ever keep putting one foot in front of the other until you get where you want to go. Landon…Landon was collateral damage, and so was the piece of me that I left behind when I walked out of his office door.

  I take a step back and lean against the desk, gripping the edges of it. “You let my clients go.” I say because it’s been bothering me ever since I found out. Why would he do that? From a business standpoint it makes absolutely no sense.

  He nods and unfastens his jacket. “Giles is a friend.” He tilts his head slightly, and his eyes flick to my lips very briefly. “You’re a friend.”

  Oh god, I’m suffocating in guilt. “You didn’t have to do that. I left you without even a goodbye.”

  He tilts his head back on a sigh. “I always knew you would run, Georgia. I just hoped it wouldn’t be over that. I asked you to trust me and you couldn’t.” He shrugs. “I could have come after you if I’d wanted to.” But he didn’t, even when I saw him in that club. He didn’t say a word to me. I was sure he hated me at that point.

  I nod. “So, why are you here now?”

  “Because I want to.”

  I frown. “What?”

  He takes two slow steps towards me until he’s only a foot away. I can smell the scent of his aftershave, and it smells so safe, so familiar.

  “I’m here because now I want to come after you.”

  My eyebrows shoot up. “What? Why?”

  “This is the reason why.” He says, pulling an envelope from his inside jacket pocket and handing it to me. I keep my eyes fixed on him as I take it and remove a handful of papers. The first page is an agreement between Landon Banks and Isla Banks. Divorce papers. When I turn to the last page, there are two signatures, his and hers, the date beneath her signature is yesterday. He’s divorced.

  “So you finally did it.” I say, putting the paper back in the envelope and sliding it back across the desk to him.

  He nods as he picks it up. “Yes, and she won’t be pressing charges against you anymore.”

  I tilt my head to the side. “What did you do?” That woman was determined to press charges, declining any settlements I’ve offered her, even for ridiculous sums of money. She wanted to see me pay for fucking her husband.

  “I gave her what she wanted.”

  My eyes go wide, and I find myself leaning forward, swaying away from the desk. “Landon! You gave her half of everything?” Surely not, he must be worth millions, tens of millions.

  “Not everything.” He says pointedly, looking me in the eye. My heart thuds painfully at those two words. He reaches out, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear and cupping my face, a soft smile on his lips. The second his skin touches mine it’s as though the last three months never happened. I had forgotten what his touch felt like, the element of invincibility he can instill with a mere look, a simple touch because he’s Landon Banks. “Not this.” He breathes against my lips before pressing them to mine. We’ve always had a spark between us, but this is more like an explosion of sensation as my body remembers him, the feel of his lips, the stroke of his tongue.

  His hands cup my face, and I wrap my fingers around his wrists, holding him close. He pulls away, leaving me breathless as he touches his forehead to mine. “So, Georgia Roberts, CEO…tell me, can a boss fuck another boss?”

  “Is that you asking me on a date?” I smile.

  He flashes me a cocky smirk. “A date? No. We both know you’re already mine, kitten. I just want everyone else to know it too.”

  Two years later

  “God, this shit never gets any more interesting.” Landon whines, letting his head fall back so he’s staring at the ceiling. I jab him in the ribs with my elbow, and he grunts, sitting back up.

  “Ow. So violent.”

  “Listen. You might learn something.” I hiss. A couple of people near us throw annoyed glances our way but of course, Landon doesn’t give a shit.

  The woman on the podium continues with her presentation on market trends and fashionable investment. I listen. Landon plays on his phone.

  When the presentation is done, I stand up and leave with Landon in tow. He snakes an arm around my waist, and I slap him away which I swear only makes him worse. There’s a bar outside the amphitheatre where people talk in small groups. This is an ideal place to suss competition, and it’s like a Who’s Who of the business world. This event is invitation only, and I couldn’t believe that I got an invite in only my second year of business, but the truth is, my firm turns over more money than some that have been doing it for ten times as long.

  “Georgia.” Someone says, clearing their throat behind me. I turn around and come face to face with Martin Collins. Well, sometimes fate smiles, and I smile back because fuck, this is too perfect.

  An awkward expression crosses his face as he looks up at Landon before quickly dropping his gaze again. “Banks.” He says curtly. It reminds me of when a dog approaches an alpha, refusing to look it in the eye for fear of causing offence. Landon doesn’t even acknowledge him.

  “Collins. How are you?” I say, trying to play nice. He drags a hand through his overly Brill-creamed hair, tugging at the tie around his neck. He looks dishevelled and messy. Come to think of it I don’t know how he convinces anyone to give him their money. He and Landon are like night and day, and I know who I’d give my money to.

  “Good. I uh, I just wanted to congratulate you on the new firm.” The new firm that stole three of his clients in the last month alone. He holds out his hand to me and Landon presses against my side. Oh, Jesus. People know we’re together, but when it comes to business, I don’t like people to know. Obvious relationships are unprofessional.

  I place a restraining hand around Landon’s wrist, keeping it behind my back so Collins can’t see while I shake his hand. “Well, thank you.” I smile. He nods before disappearing.

  “He looks at you like he wants to fuck you.” Landon grumbles, his chest vibrating against my arm.

  I turn my gaze to him, and my eyes hone in on his lips. As we all know, I have problems following my own rules when it comes to him. “So do you.”

  He cocks a brow. “Ah, but you’re mine.” I just roll my eyes. We moved in with each other a couple of months ago when we bought an apartment just outside Mayfair. Behind the closed doors of our home, he owns me body and soul, and he knows it, but out here… out here I’m the bitch that no one wants to pet. Honestly, I think he likes it. The more of a bitch I am, the harder he fucks me when I get home.

  “Let's go.” He eyes me in that way of his and I know it’s a command, not a request. I oblige, allowing him to keep his hand in the small of my back as he guides me to the lift.

  As soon as the doors closes, he presses me against the wall and grabs my jaw roughly, forcing my head to the side. My breath hitches when he kisses up my neck before nipping at my earlobe. “Your arse looks incredible in that skirt.” He growls against my ear. I press my hands against his stomach, feeling his muscles tense and flex through his shirt. I shiver as his breath washes over my neck and my skin breaks out in goose bumps. “I’m going to fuck it later.” He promises. He releases his grip on my jaw and presses his lips against mine, swiping his tongue over my bottom lip. I rub my palm over his crotch, feeling his hard dick twitch against my hand.

  “All yours.” I breathe against his mouth, squeezing my thighs together at the thought.

  The lift pings and we pull apart as the doors slide open. I drag a hand through my hair as I exit, fi
ghting a smile as I watch Landon adjust himself, falling into step beside me. His lips are smeared with my lipstick, and a few businessmen in the lobby flash him looks of manly respect.

  When we step outside the hotel, the heat hits me instantly making me want to strip out of everything I’m wearing. Dubai is beautiful, but it’s hot as hell. The town car sits at the curb, the driver holding the back door open for us. The air conditioning inside feels like a comparative paradise.

  When Landon suggested coming to Dubai for a week I was dubious, of course, he timed it with the conference, and I couldn’t really say no. Now he’s taking me to a penthouse that he recently bought here after he sold his previous apartment. He didn’t say it, but I guess Isla had been there with him. Not that I would have cared. Property is property. Who’s been in it isn’t really a factor.

  The car rolls through the pristine streets of Dubai until we pull up outside a building on the edge of the city, by the ocean. The skyscraper seems to stretch into the sky like a blade, the silver windows reflecting the desert sun like a magnifying glass.

  I open the door and step out, once again assaulted by the heat. Landon rounds the back of the car and takes my hand, leading me inside. “Good afternoon, Mr Banks.” The doorman says with a heavy Arabic accent.

  “Jeff, how are you?”

  “Good, Mr Banks, I’m good. Thank you.” We step into the lift, and I eye Landon.

  “His name’s Jeff?” I ask incredulously.

  He chuckles. “Well, he tells me I won't be able to pronounce it, so…Jeff.”

  The lift doors open straight into the penthouse. And it’s spectacular. The entire thing is open plan with the glass walls that Landon likes so much showcasing a view that stretches to the horizon. Dubai is a city of glass with the sun illuminating everything like a beacon.