by Piper Lawson
I’ll guard her with every shred of my being.
I let us both adjust, her to the stretch, me to the exquisite tightness.
I draw back, all the way to the tip, on an inhale. And on my exhale, I sink back in.
The curves of her body are addictive, demanding my attention. But I can’t look away from her eyes as my thrusts grow deeper.
“You’re a goddess.”
I’m on the edge, ready to explode.
“I’m a queen,” she corrects with a breathless smile.
We come at the same time.
I’ve never wanted it, never understood why it would matter for our bodies to agree even when our lips couldn’t.
With her, it’s everything.
After, she lets me hold her in the dark.
“You’re my queen,” I murmur as I brush the hair from her face.
But she’s already asleep.
14
Rae
“We can’t let it go for that amount.”
The manager at Blaze turns away from me and Leni, marking something off on his clipboard.
When I told Leni I’d made a call about buying the former club’s audio equipment after returning from Miami, she agreed to come for a meeting. I decided to tag along in case I could help and because I needed a few hours away from my own thoughts.
I chase the manager, Leni hot on my heels. “It’s a good offer for used gear, Tony. Wouldn’t you rather it go to another club?”
“I’m not the owner. But if I were him, he’d say fuck no. Why should someone else succeed at this game when Blaze got squeezed out?”
It’s petty, and I’m still turning that over as Leni sidles up.
“Listen, friend.” She flashes teeth, but I’m not sure it’s a smile. “This place is being demolished. It’s being taken apart around you.”
And it is—as we speak, tradespeople are passing through, taking measurements to convert this into whatever it will be.
“In a few months, it’ll be like this was never here. Your owner might not give a shit because he’s onto the next investment. But you do. If some of your crew need jobs?” She holds out a card. “You can send them my way. Sick days. Flexible shifts. I’ll treat them right.”
He takes the card from her, considering.
But I’m watching Leni. Dressed in shorts and a floral-printed tank top, she doesn’t look like the right-hand man to a billionaire. But the intensity on her face sets her apart.
“If you can add a few thousand to your offer and promise you’ll interview my staff,” Tony says slowly, “I’ll go to work on the owner.”
This time, Leni’s smile is genuine. “You do that.”
As we head out into the sunshine, rounding the back parking lot to Leni’s beat-up Jetta, I’m still turning over what happened.
She shifts into the driver’s side, and I get in opposite her.
“How did you end up working for Harrison?”
Leni laughs as we pull out of the parking lot and slip into the glut of traffic. “That is a long-ass story.”
“Will you tell me?”
My visit to Miami had started on a high before taking a rough turn. That man in the alley reminded me of things I’ve tried to leave behind.
But Harrison wouldn’t let me run from myself or the memories.
He wrapped strong arms around me and refused to budge.
From the moment I woke up in that bed alone, I knew I wanted him with me. I hadn’t planned on sex and sure as hell didn’t plan on skipping the condom.
The fact that we did was one more wall coming down between us.
What happened physically was beyond anything I’ve experienced, though I’m not about to tell him.
It’s always felt like two steps forward and one step back with us, but lately, it’s only forward. I keep waiting for him to pull away, but every vulnerability, every moment, he moves into it. Occupies it as naturally as if he’s always been in my life and my heart.
I’m consumed by him, when he’s with me and when he’s not.
Leni reaches for the radio and turns it on. “You know, while we’re in Venice Beach, there’s this thrift store I love.”
I don’t feel much like shopping, but there’s nowhere I need to be.
Jagged Lovely, the thrift store, is large enough to hold maybe ten people. The woman inside greets us with a warm wave before returning to stock merchandise.
Leni makes a beeline for the dresses, and I tag along.
“You must need something,” she prompts without looking up.
“I have my brother’s wedding to go to in a couple of weeks.”
“And you don’t have a dress?” She grins. “You sure aren’t like the usual ones.”
“The usual what? Women Harrison hangs out with?”
She doesn’t answer, but her hand flips through the hangers with reverence. She stops on a soft aqua cocktail dress with a white lace overlay. It’s vintage and beautiful.
“What about this?”
“Um. Yeah, it might be long on you—“
“I meant for you.”
I hold it up, surprised. It is beautiful. More delicate than something I’d normally choose.
“We have someone in house that does alterations,” the woman working calls over.
“Thanks.” I shove a hand through my hair. “I could try it on.”
“You do that.”
When I head toward the single changeroom stall in the back, I’m regretting the move. So much for Leni telling me about Harrison.
But as I strip out of my street clothes and start to tug the dress over my head, her voice drifts into the stall.
“There was this amazing thrift store back in college. I still have clothes from it today.” She laughs. “Not sure how it stayed in business when everyone in that town was flush. Me, on the other hand? I was there on a mashup of scholarships and student loans.”
My hands still after I tug the fabric down around my hips, facing away from the mirror. “That’s when you met Harrison.”
“Yep. He was the Richie Rich type. Add in that accent… whew. You can bet all the Park Avenue princesses wanted a piece of him.”
I grin as I reach for the zipper.
“He indulged them. But no one caught his attention long enough to stick. He was smart, serious about his studies as a matter of pride even though he didn’t have to be. That’s how we got to be friends. I had this crappy basement apartment in town, so I practically lived at the library. He spent his share of time there too—I think because people didn’t bother him.”
I snort, enjoying the idea of a twenty-year-old Harrison King having to hide out to avoid unwanted attention.
“We were teamed up for a project for business school. Once he realized I was legit and I got over the idea that he was just like the others, we got to be friends. After graduation, I started working in PR in New York. It was my dream job, and I was going to pay off the massive student loans. But the man in charge of the agency—the same one who hired me six months before on the strength of my portfolio—fired me and took my ideas. I had no money and no options.”
My chest tightens at the thought. “You called Harrison.”
“No, he called me. He’d been keeping tabs and somehow heard what happened. He offered me a job running his first club. At first, I was too proud to take it. But when he assured me it wasn’t just running a club, that he wanted to build an empire and he needed someone he trusted to help, I said yes.”
“You’re saying Harrison doesn’t care where you come from.”
“No. I’m saying he does.”
I turn toward the mirror, and my breath sticks in my throat.
“Well?” Leni demands. “Is it on?”
She yanks on the curtain without waiting for me to respond.
“Damn, Rae,” she whistles, inspecting me from head to toe. “I’m two for two today.”
“It’s a little loose here…” I pinch the back.
“You heard the w
oman. You can get it taken in. Problem solved.”
After I change out of the dress and make arrangements for purchasing and alterations, Leni says, “I assume you’re taking the boss to this wedding?”
“We haven’t talked about it.”
Miami was a big step for us, and I want to bask in the enjoyment of that before taking another crazy leap.
“Which is Raegan for ‘I haven’t given him a chance,’” she calls as we head back outside.
“Are you pissed or something?” I demand as I follow her up the sidewalk.
“I’m protective,” she tosses. “I won’t let anything bad happen on my watch.”
I pull up a few feet from where the car is parked. “You’re worried I’m going to hurt Harrison?”
Her sigh makes me feel as if I’ve missed something entirely.
She turns, leaning a tanned arm on the roof of the Jetta. She surveys me as if she’s a teacher trying to decide if I’m worth the effort of educating.
“Before you left Ibiza, he did something big for you. I shouldn’t even talk about it.”
“Well, now you have to tell me.”
Her expression says she doesn’t have to tell me shit. But I stare her down, and finally she relents.
“Christian made him an offer that would let him get La Mer. But he’d have to give you up to do it.”
Shock rises up, twisting my stomach.
Harrison had a chance at winning the club he’s always dreamed of, and he gave it up for me.
“He said no,” Leni says, interrupting my thoughts.
The wind whips at my hair, and I brush it out of my face with unsteady fingers.
It doesn’t make sense. None of it does.
I shake my head. “What kind of deal would even require—”
“It doesn’t matter. There’s nothing else to say,” she says, her voice rising, “except that he said no.”
Harrison
“Bank. Wasteland. Knot. But with a K,” I add, disgusted.
Leni laughs from across the office in the future club. “That’s all marketing sent over for names?”
“The others are worse.”
“If it doesn’t sound like a place people want to go, no one will come.”
It’s been a week and a half since Miami, and we’re making progress on the venue. The floors are coming together, and the walls are nearly complete.
With Rae and Leni’s help, we’ve gotten most of the equipment sorted from the other club.
Of course, there’s still the major problem of having this place rezoned.
My phone rings with a familiar number, and I hit Accept. “Leni’s here too,” I say by way of an answer.
“We should talk privately,” comes my finance lead’s voice over the speakerphone.
“You can say whatever you have to in front of her.” But I rise and cross to the door, shutting it to keep out any ears from the other side.
He still hesitates. “Mischa’s escalating. Buying more aggressively, a new club in Tokyo and one in Milan. Our intel doesn’t show any major upgrades or changes to his venues, so we don’t know where he’s getting the capital—”
“From scaling his drug operations.”
The words hang in the air.
If he has enough free cash to finance that, it’s a bad sign for my planned acquisition of La Mer. My investigators are working around the clock on finding the evidence Christian wants, but I need it fast.
“How much can we afford to offer Geroux for La Mer?”
He names a number.
“I need more.” I can’t have Mischa blinding Christian with money, possibly making the old man succumb to greed when I need him to remember his honor.
He pauses, seeming to consider. “I could see about refinancing a couple of lease agreements. Find another five million. But’s a short-term option at best.”
“Do it. And stop Mischa from buying anything else in the interim.”
“Stop him?” he echoes.
“Red tape,” I reply, thinking of my own situation. “Miles deep. I want him focused on his problems, not on La Mer.”
“If you’re using short-term financing,” Leni comments after I hang up, “making this new club a success is more important than ever.”
And we’re still waiting on a bloody hearing.
“It sucks that you have to play fair and Mischa doesn’t…” She makes a face. “If it were Mischa waiting on an approval, Zachary would be hanging by his toes in a basement somewhere.”
“On the contrary. Much can be achieved through reasonableness. What success requires is knowing when each is called for.”
She watches as I place a call to the man who’s causing my headaches—my stateside ones, at least.
“Zachary. Harrison King.”
“To what do I owe the pleasure?” His tone is guarded.
“I have box seats to… a Lakers game,” I decide on impulse.
But Leni waves her hands, shaking her head, and I frown.
“Ah, opening night. In—”
She mouths a word.
“—October. I understand you enjoy sports.”
The quick investigation done by one of my staff says so.
“I couldn’t accept them. I avoid all possibility of impropriety.”
“I see. And the courtside seats to the Masters tennis tournament in Palm Desert this spring. Those are public sector seats?”
Leni throws up her hands. Evidently, she’s not impressed with my idea of reasonableness.
“Family friend,” he says at last, his voice perceptibly cooler after my veiled threat. “Now, I don’t know what you’re implying, but if you’ll excuse me—”
“I’m implying that we understand one another.”
Some people can be bought. Others are persuaded by shows of strength, and by threats.
Neither will work with Whelan. Or at least, he’s unwilling to be seen as being bought.
I’m not surprised given my research also suggested he comes from a moneyed family, but it’s irritating nonetheless.
So, I change approaches.
“We’re both men with significant influence.”
My influence is far greater than his, but this is a negotiation, not a pissing contest. The reality is, he can make my life difficult. Which I don’t want.
“You have a city to run and decisions to make as to its future. I respect a man who can’t be distracted from his core mandate. I respect that more than you know. I’m committed to this investment, Zachary. The sooner we can get this queued up, the sooner we can make a toast to our respective futures and continue with our important work.”
He’s silent a long time. “I’ll have our scheduler get it on the books. She’ll follow up in the next day or two.”
I hang up, grimly triumphant as a delivery arrives. Leni watches, obviously curious, as I open the garment bag and laugh.
“Jeans. Is this a joke?” she asks.
I grab the note from around the hanger.
Don’t say I never bought you anything. Rae.
“No. It appears she’s quite serious.” My lips twitch.
We’ve been spending more time together. Since she and Leni went to negotiate the deal on our equipment with Blaze, she’s stayed over at my condo twice, though she contended it was only because I let her have her preferred side of the bed.
The past few days, she’s been traveling, busting her ass to make up more ground on the Wild Fest fan vote list. She’s a powerhouse, and I dare anyone to try to keep her from something when she’s made up her mind.
I’ve been aching without her.
So, when she proposed our plans for this evening, it felt like a step forward.
“We’re going to a concert tonight,” I tell Leni as I shuffle through the papers on the desk, tossing the list of potential names in the recycling bin where it belongs. “Tyler Adams’s final show in Denver.”
Leni sighs. “Well, fuck. You are in love with her.”
I can’
t stop the way my chest tightens at the word. “Because I’m taking a beautiful woman to a concert?”
“No, because you’re planning to wear those to do it.” Her smile fades. “Your final year of college, before your parents died, you were ready to walk away from the family business.”
“I was going to take my trust fund, move to some island, start a small tourist business to keep me busy, and never come back.”
It sounds foolish now. Not only because that life wouldn’t have sustained me, but because I was a naïve child who had no idea what the future held.
When my parents died, it hit me. The guilt. The emptiness. My responsibilities.
Now, I’m at the helm of a massive company. One that will expand until I crush the man who took this business and made it the kind of personal he can never take back.
“I’m still glad to see you doing something like this,” Leni goes on, nodding toward me. “Even if those clothes will melt off your skin.”
I shift out of my seat and cross to the door, lifting the garment bag off the hook on the back. “I’m not the devil, just a man who likes suits,” I gripe.
But Leni’s right. This matters even more than I figured. To Raegan and me, but also because the world will see us.
After our date on the beach with tacos, my PR firm emailed a number of photographs paparazzi took of the two of us.
I told them to buy the images. I didn’t want anything scaring Reagan off when I was trying to convince her to spend time with me.
Now, I feel my pocket for the outline beneath. The box burns a hole in my clothing.
Soon enough, everyone will know what she means to me.
“Leni.” I pause halfway out the door. “Have security lined up for Raegan. Starting tomorrow.”
15
Rae
Rae: Sorry, traffic’s a bitch. Be there in 15. Save me some whisky.
I’m late to meet Harrison at LAX to fly to Denver for Tyler’s concert.
Harrison’s going to be pissed. I get that it’s a private plane and he won’t be leaving without me, but still. He’s used to things running a certain way, and he was the one who insisted on providing the transportation when I asked him about tonight.
