“I’m sorry. I’m a little bit rattled. Thank you once again for catching me and making sure I’m well. Have a great day, sir.” I turn around to leave, rushing to put as much distance between us as possible.
Before I reach the car, the stranger speaks again.
“Enjoy your day, Cassandra.”
My body turns rigid as my brain connects that voice to the memory.
Baritone tone, mocking me and full of poisonous sweetness, snaking into my brain. It’s him. I dig my nails into the brick wall for support, filtering through the conversation.
“I hoped for a better introduction, but perhaps the timing wasn’t perfect. Until the next time, Red,” he grouses and gets into the limo conveniently waiting for him.
Shaken, I stagger to my waiting car. Ryan opens the door for me, and I slip inside, fighting nausea as a memory of our conversation sets in. He wanted me to remember him. My eyes fill up with tears as bile rises to my throat.
But it’s not all. I swear I saw him staring at me at the ball in Istanbul. He was there. We just didn’t have a chance to meet. General Abbas was controlling my every move. Or, perhaps even keeping me away from Lester. What if he’s Aaron Moudi’s anonymous accomplice? It would make sense Lester wanted Mark’s business to fail. He enjoys the power games, exerting his authority. Did Darren know? Was it why Abbas was looking after me?
“Is everything okay?” Ryan passes me water, and I gulp it down, thankful for the icy cold bite it brings to my brain.
“Take me to Mark Lawson’s apartment, please,” I instruct, refusing to tell them the truth. They work for my in-laws, and right now, I don’t trust them either.
Lester, although, can’t be underestimated. He’s dangerous. The question is, should I tell Mark about this meeting or keep it to myself?
21
Treacherous Silence
~Mark~
“What do you mean you couldn’t find him?” I challenge Higgins.
“The Nero Corp refuses us entry, and the secretary keeps telling us Lester Belington has some business obligations abroad. We don’t have enough to go by and get the police involved.”
I doubt the law is on my side. Since he has immunity as a diplomat, no one will touch him. He has enough power and connections to destroy anyone who would try.
“The bastard’s silent, and it means he’s up to something.” I turn to my business partner and dear friend from college, Lamar. He’s a computer geek with a weakness for a new tech and goth women. His fascination with them must be from the comics he’s collecting. “We need to check our venues and business partners since he mingles with many of them.”
It wouldn’t be beyond Lester’s warped capabilities to go after my partners. He loves to exert his power over me and tries to destroy everything I try to build. We’ve been playing this twisted game since I began growing my own empire.
“On it. If he’s doing something, we’ll know soon enough.” Lamar locks his gaze with mine, and I know he’s curious.
“What about the Cades? Have you talked with them? Perhaps they have better resources to reach him.”
“Last time Lester made a call was from their bank. I need to figure out if Lester has any business connections with the Cades and how deep these associations are rooted.” If there are millions involved, then my pull will be worthless. “I won’t be going to them for help without evidence.”
Knowing Lester, he made that call on purpose at the bank, to rub it in. He has resources available for him to figure out my connection to Darren and his sons. The question is if the Cades will choose me over Belington. Not if money is involved.
Cassandra and I are thrown in the middle of the gathering storm about to unleash those secrets on us. Cassandra is just a tool in their political and business games. She has no pull over their decisions.
“I need you and your team to do some research, Higgins. See if you can find the connection between the Cades and Belington. Look deep. That empire didn’t build from scratch. Look into their parents and grandparents, and see who they were before becoming tycoons.” I pause as the suspicion nags me.
“You think they were involved before?”
I nod. “My father knew him. Perhaps there’s more to the story than I know.”
“You told me Logan Cade once took over your inheritance to invest?”
“He did, why?”
“The Cades and Belington joined their businesses soon after, isn’t that right?”
I rub my chin, thinking he might be right.
“Where did he invest?”
“I don’t know.” But Logan gave me the capital to help open Fading Ink. He told me he was returning me a favor.
“Perhaps in Belington’s opposition and that’s why he’s now poking your relationship with Cassandra,” Higgins offers.
“Can you find out what Logan was working on before he died? Check his business partners, venues, if there was any declined or denied contracts. I want to know who they are. Give me everything.”
Higgins is a miracle worker. He has connections, legal and illegal resources he can utilize. But if Logan did invest in a competition, that means he pissed off the dragon . . . and if so, the car crash wasn’t an accident . . .
“Higgins, look into Logan’s death too. Check reports, maybe hire the independent expert to reevaluate the evidence. See what his opinion on what happened that night is.”
Higgins stops typing his notes on his phone. His eyebrows crease as he thinks about it and then nods. “Let me start on it. I’ll report every two days.”
Like a ghost, he departs my condo, leaving me with a few guys as a security measure. I start to pace. If he killed Logan, it would make sense Lester’s sudden interest in Cassandra and me. Perhaps all of this is just a power play to get Darren’s attention in pursuit to further his reach.
Lamar turns to me, raising his eyebrow at me.
“You think they hide the truth about Logan’s death?” he whistles, popping a salted nut into his mouth, swiveling in the chair.
“Who knows. I need to see if this was just a convenient disaster.” If Darren was involved with Lester, then Logan was too. The question is how illegal their business dealings were.
“It will be hard to prove to your woman that her family’s rotten.”
He’s right. She loves them despite their flaws. Besides, even if Darren would want to get rid of Cassandra, my bird has power over his decisions. She’s family. And that kind of bond can’t be easily dismissed.
The doorbell rings, pulling me from my thoughts.
“Sir, it’s Mrs. Cade at the door,” one of the guys informs me, regaining his sentry position.
I buzz her in, watching the monitor. I study her blood-red lips that don’t stretch into a smile and large sunglasses glued to her face. Something’s off about her. Perhaps she’s worried about her safety or the well-being of her children. Dammit! My chest burns with acute protectiveness. I need to change that. When the elevator opens, I grab her arm, pulling her into the apartment and caging her against the wall.
“Mark,” she breathes out my name as I remove her sunglasses.
“Hi.” Desire rushes through my veins, thick and demanding. Her pupils dilate, responding to me, and our lips collide. I drink her sweet moans, turning into a desperate ache.
“Missed me?” I grin at her flushed face when we come up for air.
I stroke the outline of her smudged lips, parting for more before capturing that sweet mouth again, enveloping us in our intimate bubble where those problems don’t exist.
I need her wild underneath me, moaning, screaming my name as I fuck her into oblivion.
“Okay, you two, I’ll depart your nest. Let me leave before you attack one another like two hungry animals.”
Our heads snap to Lamar, and I direct my smirk full of warning toward my idiot of a friend.
“Lamar, meet Cassandra.”
He directs a most charming smile her way, stretching his hands to introduce himself. “S
o nice to meet you in person. Glad you know how to manage his stubborn ass because I keep failing.”
Cassandra chuckles, amused, and cranes her neck to look at me over her shoulder. “He’s such a sweet man, Lamar. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Cassandra teases me with a playful twinkle in her eyes and lip caught between her teeth. Oh, my bird, you’re in trouble.
“I’m sure he is to you. My brother, here, is a pain in the ass. We’re his poor slaves.” He makes a sad face, and I hit him on the shoulder.
“Okay, get out and leave my girl alone. She loves my ass and my stubbornness.”
We shake hands, and he kisses Cassandra’s knuckles, beaming at her. Before Lamar leaves, he winks at me, patting my shoulder in approval. He likes her too.
“This is the first time I get to meet your friend, and you act like I’m about to become your meal.” She arches an eyebrow and her full mouth tugs into a grin.
“Because you will be.” I nuzzle her neck with the short stubble I’ve groomed for her. A shiver runs down my spine as she lets out a silent moan, raking my back.
“Have you found him?”
I shake my head, hating those dark shadows flickering in her eyes, stealing the light.
“Did he tell you what he wants?” She searches my gaze.
“Not yet. But we won’t stop looking. My men will find him,” I reassure her.
She pushes away from me and walks to the window, peering down. “Paparazzi are still here.”
“Yeah, I know. Lester’s keeping tabs on us, controlling the media hounds. Take a look.” I pick the newspaper from the stand and pass it to her.
She casts her gaze on the latest headline.
“Investors are concerned about their future at the Aleksander Investment Bank.” Her picture from yesterday on the front page and speculations about her marriage are the main topic. These articles are pure propaganda, but it could affect business if not contained.
“Darren will have a stroke when he sees this.” She exhales, putting it away.
“Perhaps he needs a wake-up call,” I retort, but she chews her lip, not even listening. My protectiveness awakens with a vengeance.
Darren is powerful enough to stop Lester. End his reign. But he won’t. Money to him is more important. I know where his loyalties lie and it’s not with me. We’ll have to fight Lester on our own. Find a way to get back what he stole. Strange that bastard hasn’t made any demands or called me yet. It makes me anxious. What the hell is he planning?
“You need to get out of these clothes.” I stalk her toward our bedroom, eyeing her unusual choice of wear. Tailored suit pants and the double-breasted blouse makes her look like a lawyer. She usually wears dresses to work and jeans at home. Where was she?
“Strip, Cassandra,” I demand beyond determined to be inside of her.
“I don’t know if it’s such a good idea, Mark. They breached your security system once; they can do it again.” She watches me grip the edge of my T-shirt and pull it off my body. She bites her lip, watching my muscles flex at her heated perusal.
I like that a lot.
“We changed the system and secured the network. We’re safe. We have a dozen security men watching over us,” I assure her, stepping closer.
Done waiting, I grab her silk blouse and rip it apart. The sound of buttons falling on the marble floor and her surprised shrieks spilling from her lips, makes my dick twitch. I jerk her to me by the sheer material, and she falls into my chest, branding the trail where we come into contact.
“Much better, isn’t it?” She melts in my arms, riveted by the intimacy our bodies make. My cock pulses between us with a need to reunite us in a tangle of naked bodies.
“Yes,” she chokes out.
Dammit, I want her bound and at my mercy again.
My eyes zero in on her sensual neckline, an erotic view of the falling and rising swells of her breasts. But then I notice dark shadows in her gaze as she stares at her purse on the floor.
“I’m afraid he’ll hurt us,” she rasps and I suck in air as fear grips me, her trepidation plowing into me like a razor.
It twists my insides until every possible scenario clouds my vision, and I’m left standing in the middle of my nightmares.
~Cassandra~
The moment his posture changes from one full of heat to cold detachment, I know something’s wrong. The icy shiver travels down my neck to my exposed spine as I watch him. His irises dilate like two abyss pools and his muscles become stiff from tension. I know with absolute clarity he’s transported into his nightmares.
“I’m here with you, Mark,” I whisper. “You’re at home, safe.” My hand envelops his frame, and I lead him into his bedroom, the sanctuary where we should be safe. “He can’t touch you here. Come back to me.” I kiss his lips, hoping that my words are true.
After meeting Lester in person and seeing how he can impact Mark’s well-being, I know I can’t tell him about it. Mark’s battling his own demons, and I need him rational and focused.
Perhaps Lester wanted to make Mark and me more paranoid. That’s why he met me outside the café. I can’t let him do this to us. I need leverage to stop him. If I could just figure out how the Cades and Lester are connected, it would make it easier to discern his plan. I just don’t know where to start.
A bouquet of wildflowers on the nightstand catches my gaze, and I come closer. “To the most beautiful woman who completes me, fills me with love. Yours, Mark.” Something warm burns inside my chest as I undress, leaving lacy underwear for him to peel it later.
Padding barefoot to the kitchen fridge, I grab a glass of cold water for him. When I come back, Mark grasps my hand and kisses the vein on my wrist as if in apology, gulping the water like he came back from the desert.
“You’re back,” I utter and suck in a breath, as he, instead of answering, clasps his teeth on my nipple through the lacy bra and sucks until the pain turns into pleasure.
Mark plays with the tip in his mouth cold from the water, eliciting electric sparks down my belly straight to my aching pussy.
“Look at me, Mark. Let me see your eyes,” I throatily demand, and I swear my clit gains a pulse, throbbing in tune with his wicked mouth.
He is going to drive me nuts this way.
“Mark, eyes . . . on me.” My tone sounds firm to my ears.
He complies, popping my sensitive bud out. Then I coil my fingers in his hair and pull until those glowing caramel eyes full of shadows fasten on me. As if begging not to deny him this. I swear I can see his childhood horrors, looking back at me like monsters, eating the light from his tattered soul.
“Love me.” I soften my voice so he will force his demons to retreat. “Don’t let that monster have me.”
He jerks as if I hit him with my words. Curling his hands around my upper legs, he lifts me up till I straddle him. “Don’t tempt me,” he growls.
“But I want this.” I arch my back, offering myself to him, knowing we both need to burn the void.
His nostrils flare, his hands flexing on my hips as he holds back a vicious power from devouring me whole.
“Aren’t you afraid, little bird?” His tone sounds dark, his eyes full of riveting passion. But his past has full charge of my man, and the only way I can claim him back is to give him full possession of my body.
“Perhaps you’re the one who’s afraid to show me his true nature.”
He freezes and blinks at me.
“You don’t know what you’re asking for.” His rasping words sound like a plea to my ears.
So, I climb off him. Swaying my hips, I walk to the dresser, taunting him to take me. My gaze catches the reflection of him in a vanity mirror. My fingers hook the edge of my panties, and I slowly peel them off, allowing him to get a full view of my flesh. He sucks in a breath, and rising to full height from the bed, he saunters toward me.
Mark’s animalistic groan sounds like a warning behind me. He seizes my hips, pushing me forward u
ntil I have to spread my hands to find balance. His palm slaps my exposed flesh, and the sound echoing around us releases some of that dark tension between us.
“Careful what you ask for. The sting of pain might not be what you want from me.” He gently sinks his teeth into my shoulder blades as the next blow lands on my thigh. I arch my spine until my naked ass brushes his hardness.
Oh, yes, it is.
“I’m not afraid, Mark, stop trying to scare me away. I just want you more.”
He pauses only for a moment. Closing his eyes, he kisses my shoulder tenderly.
“Brace yourself,” he throatily demands. “Arms on the dresser, spread your legs,” he orders, and I oblige, needing the bite of pain like he needs a sense of control to be returned to him.
His palm cracks across the swell of my ass again, then my thighs while he possessively palms my breast and squeezes, adding to the sensation. My insides coil with need he’s rousing like a storm.
Receiving and giving pain joins us in this maddening rhythm of punishment and reward. Cries of surprise turn to moans and then to pleas for more. Tears stream down my cheeks as emotional release blasts through me.
“Are you okay?” His soft, throaty voice pulls me back.
A peaceful smile tugs at my lips as I see his face lost the edge. “I am.”
He winds his hands around the back of my knees and lifts me off my feet, bringing me to the center of the bed.
“I need you.”
His gaze snaps to me, surprised, curious, and greedy as he lowers me on the cold sheets.
“I need you too,” he admits, hovering above me. “I don’t think I can breathe without you. Just now I’m starting to realize how bleak my life was before you.”
My eyes water, heart pulsing with emotions I want to pour into him.
When he stands, he slowly undoes his jeans, exposing his neatly trimmed hair trailing down to his gorgeous cock bouncing between the legs, dripping with the pre-cum. My mouth waters. His tattooed, sculpted chest flexes and I want to see it glisten with a fine sheen of sweat when he moves inside of me.
Tangled IN LIES (Book#3, IN YOU) Page 22
