“Why unsurprisingly?”
“Because you’re a fucking genius, that’s why.”
Color flooded through her lovely face. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
“I would.” He shifted his hands so his thumbs could stroke along her high, angular cheekbones, tracing the soft skin. “I think I know why your father was so much of a prick to you, Gracie.”
Her forehead creased. “Oh?”
“He was jealous.”
“Jealous?” she repeated, blinking. “No. He was really good. How could he—”
“He took one look at your drawings and balled them up. Threw them away. There’s only one reason he would have done that. Plus…” He held her gaze, looking into her eyes. “I know nothing about art, remember? But the moment I stepped into that gallery, I knew you were something special. I knew you weren’t just good, you were brilliant.”
Her cheeks were pink with pleasure and her eyes were full of gold and fire, the colors of his soul. The colors of his heart. “Well, that’s as may be.” Her voice was a little thick. “But I still can’t hit a fly on a wall from a mile away with that stupid gun.”
He smiled. “It’s true. You’re good with a paintbrush, Gracie. But I’m a better shot.”
“That’s not the only thing you’re good at either.” She grinned, then wound her arms around his neck, arching her body into his. “I can think of several other things you can do very well.”
She wasn’t wrong. There were a number of other things he was good at.
He had over two hundred confirmed kills. Could slow his heartbeat to thirty beats per minute. Could stand motionless for hours in order to remain hidden. Could take an impossible shot and hit his target every time.
Yeah, he was the best in the business.
But most of all, he was the best at loving Grace Riley.
And that was the only thing that mattered.
EPILOGUE
Wolf Tate slid his Glock into the waistband of his jeans as he walked quickly down the street, leaving the screams and shouts still echoing from the gallery behind him. It was cold out, snow in the night air, his breathing fogging heavily in front of him.
A cop car whizzed past him, but he didn’t glance after it. He didn’t need to. Lucas had gotten Grace away and Oliveira was dead, and he’d played his part. It was all good.
At the end of the block, he rounded the corner to where a long black limo sat at the curb. Without hesitation he reached for the door handle and pulled it open before sliding into the warm, dark interior.
A man sat opposite him, his blue eyes as chilly as Lucas’s could be. “Oliviera?” the man demanded.
“Dead.” Wolf sat back on the cushy leather seats. “Just like you asked.”
“Good,” said Cesare de Santis. “And the rest of his men?”
“Dealt with.”
“What about your brother and the woman?”
“They’re out of your hair.” Wolf allowed himself a smile. “And don’t worry, the intel Lucas has on you is going to stay on his laptop, just like I promised you. I’ll make sure of that.”
De Santis did not look convinced. “You’ve promised me things in the past that you haven’t delivered on, Tate. I haven’t forgotten.”
Wolf decided he was sick of smiling. He leaned forward, nice and slow, because there were a number of other things he was sick of and this prick sitting in front of him was just one of them. But first, there was the little matter of payment.
“I did what you fucking asked me to do,” he said. “On a number of occasions. Now it’s time for you to pay me what I’m owed.”
De Santis gave an exaggerated sigh. “Ah yes. The money.”
Wolf laughed. “I don’t want money and you know it.”
The other man’s eyes got colder, because he knew what Wolf wanted. Oh yes, he did.
Wolf decided that perhaps he had another smile left in him after all, and this time it was feral, white, and sharp with teeth. “Money’s for assholes, de Santis,” Wolf said. “What I want is your daughter.”
Read on for an excerpt from the next book by
JACKIE ASHENDEN
THE UNDERCOVER BILLIONAIRE
Coming soon from St. Martin’s Paperbacks
She swallowed, resisting the urge to pull her hand away from his. Not wanting to give herself away more than she had already.
Oh come on. He already knows. You’ve never been very good at hiding how you feel.
She looked away, letting her hand rest in his and trying not to pay any attention to her racing heartbeat. “Okay,” she said, her voice sounding far more husky than she wanted it to. “Let’s have that coffee then and we can talk.”
But he didn’t let her hand go. Instead she felt one long finger catch her beneath the chin, turning her head back to meet his gaze. “Hey, what’s up?” he murmured. “You’re blushing.”
No kidding. She tightened her jaw and steeled herself to give him a steady, level look back, as if nothing was wrong, nothing at all. But that stare of his was mesmerizing. She’d always loved how he had one blue eye and one green. Heterochromia it was apparently called, or that’s what he’d told her when she’d asked about it once. Not that it mattered what it was called. She just found it beautiful, that crystalline blue matched with the leaf green, the colors vivid through his long dark lashes …
His mouth curved. “Liv? You can answer any time.”
Oh, right. He’d asked her a question and now she was simply staring at him like a lunatic.
A question he already knows the answer to, come on.
A wave of sudden annoyance caught at her, partly driven by her own helpless reaction to him, because yes, of course he knew. He must. He wasn’t stupid, no matter that he always talked his own intelligence down, and neither was she.
“You know why I’m blushing already.” The words were out before she could stop herself.
His eyes widened, which made a small part of her suddenly very satisfied that she could surprise him. Because really, she was getting a little tired of being the only one who was flustered. She didn’t like how out of control it made her feel, and come to think of it, she was starting to feel a bit peeved that she didn’t rock his world in quite the same way as he rocked hers.
She stared back at him, making no move to pull away. There was no point now, not if he knew how he affected her anyway.
“Yeah,” he said slowly, searching her face. “I guess I do.”
“So why ask me then?”
He didn’t let go of her hand and that finger under her chin stayed exactly where it was. Her heartbeat was banging like a damn drum in her head, and she wanted to pull away with just about every part of her.
But something small and defiant and stubborn held her still.
“Maybe I wanted to check something.” The finger beneath her chin moved, trailing very lightly down her neck. Goosebumps erupted all over her skin and it was all she could do not to gasp or take a quick step back.
“Check what?” Shivers of excitement were chasing all over her skin and her voice sounded husky. And it annoyed her. What was he doing? What was he looking for? An admission that she was attracted to him? If so, why?
His finger paused in the hollow of her throat and she knew he could feel her pulse. And that it was fast. Too fast.
His gaze held hers, intense all of a sudden. “It’s been six months since I’ve been with anyone, Liv.”
Wait, what? Was that an … invitation?
No, it couldn’t be. He didn’t feel that way about her. He was her friend and he’d never done anything to make her think he felt anything more for her. She didn’t want to go there, she just didn’t.
Swallowing, she said, “I thought you wanted to talk about your father?”
“Yeah, well, maybe I changed my mind.” His finger moved lightly on her skin in a gentle stroking motion, while his gaze dropped down to her white nightgown. “Maybe I want to do something else.”
Something else …
Olivia jerked away from him before she was even conscious of doing so, taking a couple of steps back to put some distance between them. She was breathless, her heart raging behind her ribs, her pulse rocketing and her skin strangely hot and tight. “I don’t … know what you’re talking about.” Her voice sounded all thick and unsteady.
Wolf stared at her for a long second. “You know what I’m talking about, Liv. I think we both know what I’m talking about.”
“Yes, and I thought I was your friend.” She couldn’t get her breathing under control or her heartbeat. “Was that why you brought me here? To … to…”
“To what? Fuck you?”
She’d long gotten used to Wolf’s filthy mouth, but hearing that word in conjunction with herself made a hot, electric thrill shoot straight down her spine.
He couldn’t mean it, though. He just couldn’t. The whole thing was too weird. The kidnap, the hustling into the hotel and then the strange questions he’d asked her. Not to mention the look on his face when she’d stupidly thought the champagne and the candles had meant something else.
She couldn’t afford to believe he could mean it.
“No,” she said flatly, hating the way the word came out so shakily. “You don’t want that. It doesn’t make any sense. You said this wasn’t a date.”
The intensity of his gaze felt like it was burning right through her. “It’s not. I never fuck on a first date.”
Again that hot thrill, and this time moving lower, between her thighs. Her brain was going places she didn’t want to go, sending images she didn’t want to see rioting through her mind. Wolf naked. Wolf touching her. Wolf fucking on the first date. Wolf fucking her …
“No,” she said again, shaking her head violently. “No.”
There was a tense, heavy silence.
Then he was moving toward her, fast and fluid, and she only had time to stumble back a few steps, before he was right there in front of her. He grabbed her hand and before she could stop him, he’d brought her palm flat to his chest, right over his left pec, pressing it down onto his skin. “You want me, Liv. I know you do. I can see it in your eyes.”
She froze, what little breath she had left rushing out of her.
He’s right. You do.
But not like this. Something wasn’t right. She could feel it.
He made no move to do anything else, merely held her hand against him, that intense uneven gaze holding hers.
The heat of his body was blistering. Hard, hard muscle. Tanned skin slightly roughened with hair. The steady, slow beat of his heart.
She’d been so good, so careful. She’d never imagined touching him or anything else, because she wasn’t a masochist. It was bad enough being hopelessly in love with him let alone to fantasize about anything else.
But now she was touching him and it was.…
No. No, she couldn’t do this. It was too close to what she desperately wanted and it was becoming obvious to her that she was simply a convenient body. He didn’t want her. If in fact it was actually sex he wanted in the first place.
She jerked her hand away from the furnace of his naked chest.
Only for him to take one step even closer, his other hand sliding into her hair, his big palm cradling the back of her head, his fingers pressing gently against her skull. Then before she could react, he lowered his head and that wide, beautiful mouth was on hers.
Shock held her utterly still.
Wolf Tate was kissing her. Wolf Tate was kissing her.
If she hadn’t been able to breathe before, now it was as if all the air in the entire world had been sucked away and there was no relief to be found anywhere.
His lips were.…soft. She hadn’t expected that. He was so hard everywhere else, and yet there was nothing unyielding about the mouth brushing gently over hers. Nothing forceful. His breath was warm and somehow she couldn’t stop shivering as he brushed his lips over hers again, a butterfly kiss.
He made a sound, rough and approving, inhaling as if her scent was something he liked. Then his tongue touched her bottom lip, gently coaxing.
Wildfire was kindling in her veins, a rush of intense heat sweeping over her, scorching her.
She felt dizzy. This was her first kiss. With the only man she’d ever wanted it to be with. The only man she’d ever wanted to touch, ever wanted to have touch her.
It’s not real and you know it.
Doubt was a small, hard kernel of ice sitting in her gut, impervious to the flames. There was too much that was strange about this whole situation, too much she didn’t know and she couldn’t kick the feeling that Wolf wasn’t telling her the whole story.
Which meant she couldn’t give herself over to this kiss. She couldn’t let him do anything more. Another woman might have thrown caution to the winds and take what she wanted, even if this was all she’d ever have, but Olivia wasn’t that woman.
Her whole life was about caution. About watching and waiting, and thinking things through carefully. And as much as she wanted Wolf Tate, she’d already told herself she would never have him, not the way she wanted him. It was something she’d come to terms long ago. Because he didn’t want her. Not really. He wasn’t in love with her the way she was in love with him and if she let herself have this, only to find out that it wasn’t real …
Well. She’d never recover.
ALSO BY JACKIE ASHENDEN
The Tate Brothers
The Dangerous Billionaire
The Nine Circles series
Mine To Take
Make You Mine
You Are Mine
Kidnapped by the Billionaire
In Bed with the Billionaire
The Billionaire’s Club e-book series
The Billion Dollar Bachelor
The Billion Dollar Bad Boy
The Billionaire Biker
Available by St. Martin’s Press
Praise for Jackie Ashenden and her sizzling novels
“With a distinct voice and fresh, complex characters, Mine To Take is a sexy, emotional read that gripped me from page one. I can’t wait to see what Ashenden brings us next.”
—Laurelin Paige, New York Times bestselling author
“A scintillating, heart-pounding love story. A dark, sinfully sexy hero with a tortured past. I loved it!”
—Opal Carew, New York Times bestselling author
“The sex is dirty-sweet, with a dark lick of dominance and the tantalizing potential of redemption, and an explosive ending provides the perfect closure to Gabe and Honor’s story while setting up the next installment.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Mine To Take
“Intriguingly dark and intensely compelling … explosive.”
—RT Book Reviews on Mine To Take (Top Pick!)
“Powerfully suspenseful and, above all, sensual and meaningful … not to be missed.”
—RT Book Reviews on Make You Mine (Top Pick!)
“Ms. Ashenden is an incredible storyteller.”
—Harlequin Junkies
“Sexy and fun.”
—RT Book Reviews
“Truly a roller coaster of a ride … well worth it.”
—Harlequin Junkies
“Steamy.”
—Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jackie Ashenden lives in Auckland, New Zealand with her husband, the inimitable Dr. Jax, and their two kids and two cats. When she’s not torturing alpha males and their stroppy heroines, she can be found drinking chocolate martinis, reading anything she can lay her hands on, posting random crap on her blog, or being forced to go mountain biking with her husband.
Jackie writes dark, sexy contemporary romance for St. Martin’s Press, including the New York Billionaires Club series of novellas. You can find Jackie at www.jackieashenden.com, follow her on Twitter @JackieAshenden, or sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Epilogue
Excerpt: The Undercover Billionaire
Also by Jackie Ashenden
Praise for Jackie Ashenden and her sizzling novels
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE WICKED BILLIONAIRE
Copyright © 2017 Jackie Ashenden.
Excerpt from The Undercover Billionaire Copyright © 2018 by Jackie Ashenden.
All rights reserved.
For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
www.stmartins.com
eISBN: 978-1-250-12282-7
Our eBooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, ext. 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].
The Wicked Billionaire--A Billionaire SEAL Romance Page 31
