Twisted Desire (The Twisted Series)

by Christa Simpson

  “The truth.”

  He sighs, and she knows she’s not going to like what he’s about to say. “Let me explain.”

  Hannah re-enters the room at the most inopportune time, interrupting his confession yet again.

  “Really, Hannah?” he shouts, in the heat of the moment.

  It clearly upsets her. “Screw you!” she shouts back, with a horrifying screech. Then she narrows her eyes at Aliah, forgetting why she’s returned, and leaves the room in a huff.

  Harley presses his eyes shut, a wince of pain wrinkling the corners of his eyes. “Shit.”

  “She’ll get over it.” Aliah tries to make it better, but Harley obviously feels like a piece of crap.

  “She doesn’t have anyone else, Aliah. I can’t push her away like that. She needs me. There’s no mother here to caress her hair, shower her with kindness and nurture her love for her dad. It’s all me.”

  It’s a drastic change of topic yet again, but Aliah senses his guilt and decides to leave it alone for now. “I know all about it. My mother’s around, but she’s pretty useless.”

  A glimmer of hope flickers in his somber eyes. “Maybe you can talk to her for me. Hannah definitely does not want to talk to me right now.”

  Aliah squints her eyes, trying to figure this man out. “Why do I feel like this has suddenly turned into a counselling session?” She wishes he would realize that this is supposed to be about us, not about them.

  A smile slants across Harley’s face. “It’ll be good for you both.”

  “Really? Because I doubt me telling her what an A-hole her father is will help your situation.”

  His smile slides off his face. “At least you’re guaranteed to have one thing in common.” He’s completely serious when he says it, which makes it that much more funny.

  Aliah can’t help but smile. She doesn’t want to smile! But she can’t even force it away. “I’ll do it.”

  “You’ll do it?” He seems shocked.

  “I said I’ll do it, so I will. Don’t make me change my mind. And don’t for one second think that this will make me brush all that other shit you’ve done under the rug. You’ve got some major ass-kissing to do if you think you’re going to get another piece of this ass, I tell you.”

  It’s too late when Aliah realizes that Hannah has snuck back inside unnoticed.

  “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.” Hannah makes a grab for her purse and slams the door again with a definitive snap.

  Aliah palms her forehead. Harley smirks, but inside he’s horrified. This is new to him too.

  “That’s my Hannah,” he says, shaking his head. “I’m sure the last thing she wants to hear is that her father is having sex.” He winces at the reminder of her untimely interruption.

  “Oh, please. I bet the boys are knocking down your door to get to her. Is she seeing anyone?”

  “Whoa. What do you mean?” he snaps.

  It makes Aliah smile again. “Dating, Harley. Like a boyfriend, maybe?” She says it like a tease.

  “No. Not my baby.” He really is that clueless.

  “Oh, boy. You need my help worse than you thought.”

  “I need help?”

  Aliah scrunches her nose up and nods. “Desperately.”

  “Help me then,” he growls. “Give me the help I need.”

  The way he pleads leaves her wondering if there is more to it than that. He leans in close to her, until his breath washes over her lips. It looks like he’s going to kiss her. A breath catches in her throat, as she quickly turns away.

  “Where do you think she’s gone? I’ll go talk to her now.”

  “Now?” It is clear he believes he’s done enough talking to get her back to sharing that ass with him.

  “Yes, now,” Aliah answers.

  Harley smirks, as he tugs her back against him. He’s grown in his pants and his abs are equally as hard against her back. “I was hoping to ask you what you thought of our relationship first.” He flexes his love muscle against her.

  “I’d hardly call it that.” She spews it out before she even realizes that he means the sex they’re having.

  “Then what would you call it?” he asks, smirking. He leans into her and presses his cheek to hers. Then he reaches around her hip and strokes between her legs.

  “A hit of good clean fun?” she starts, with a feminine gasp.

  His fingers are circling on her and he knows just the right spot. She tries to act unaffected by him, but he really knows what he’s doing. His lips brush across the nape of her neck. The hair on his face is rough against her skin. It has her other body parts humming.

  When he doesn’t agree with her, she feels the need to give another explanation, now that her skin is covered in tiny bumps of arousal. She rests her head against his shoulder and comes up with her best excuse.

  “Something to kill the time while my massage therapist is on holidays?” She poses it like a question, and while it is mostly true, the heat in Harley’s eyes gives away his disbelief.

  He slants his head while he thinks about it, but doesn’t lighten the pressure on her clit. “I can handle that.”

  “Good. So, you won’t be asking me on anymore dates then?”

  “It wasn’t a date. Remember?” He presses into her back with his erection, then he lightens the pressure.

  “Whatever you say,” Aliah says, smiling. She pries herself from his tempting arms, trying to ignore the cry of her body from the loss. “I’m going to go now. Is there somewhere I should look for Hannah first?”

  He gives up, realizing that she isn’t going to stay for a quickie. Though seeing him hard up like that really has her reeling.

  “Head up the road westerly. I doubt she’s made it very far.”

  “Why’s that?” Aliah’s blood still hums sweetly through her veins.

  He dangles the car keys from his finger. He’s right. Without those, she likely hasn’t made it very far at all.

  Aliah heads out to her own car and opens all the windows. She never expects to find herself in the position of a role model, but she feels some responsibility to help the poor girl. Her father is clueless, and Hannah is so close to the girl she once was that it scares her.

  Aliah slides her car into gear and eases out of the driveway. Sure enough, maybe five houses up the road, she finds Hannah walking next to the curb. When Aliah pulls up next to her and stops, she doesn’t say anything, but Hannah does.

  “Great. You again.” Hannah doesn’t look real impressed to see her.

  Aliah knows the feeling. “Just get in the damn car.”

  “My dad’s taught me not to accept rides from strangers.”

  This girl truly is a sassy bitch. As sassy as Aliah, even. Maybe even more so. Aliah can’t deny she recognizes it. Hannah really needs someone to talk to.

  “Look. I know where you’re coming from. I only want to talk. I’ll buy you a coffee. You don’t even have to say anything, if you don’t want to.”

  Hannah looks like she thinking about it. Then she glances over her shoulder, like she’s considering making a run for her house. “Fine.” Her voice sounds exasperated, but Aliah knows she’s made some progress.

  One step at a time.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Harley never thought that Aliah would volunteer to have the talk with his daughter, after only having just met her. Aliah continues to surprise him every day.

  He can’t believe she’s going to be the one to talk to Hannah about sex, when they’ve only had sex together a handful of times themselves. That has to change. He wants to sex her five ways to Sunday. Anything to make it so that he is the only one sexing her up from now on.

  He’s thinking this, while Aliah is chatting over coffee with his daughter. Had he really believed that he’d be fine with sitting here, not having a clue about what they are discussing? He paces his living room, trying to steer his thoughts away, but how does he even know that Aliah’s telling her the right things? Harley had met Aliah at a
bar, after all. He’d screwed her not much more than a week after that.

  That’s certainly not the kind of behavior he’d condone from his teenaged daughter. I would hope she knows this. Harley slaps his hand against his forehead. What has he done? He isn’t one to sulk, but this girl has really gotten to him. He hardly even knows her, and now she’s out with his daughter.

  What the hell was I thinking?

  He must have officially lost his mind. That would be the only explanation for his actions around this girl. Truth: Aliah is crazy. But no one is as crazy as he, right now.

  Crazy in love?

  He did not just think that. He does not love anyone, except for his daughter and himself. He is not capable of loving another person. But if there is a love for him to have, then this is it.

  This is it.

  Aliah’s last name should be spelled trouble with a capital T, and yet it feels like she is the missing link in his life. He’s now fed her so many lies he can’t even keep them straight. Maybe he should tell her his name isn’t actually Harley.

  Shit!

  To take his mind from his own issues, he focuses on hers. Why are people following her, and why the hell do they have guns? He thinks about it for a long time, rolling all of the possibilities through his brain. He still can’t get over how sexy Aliah looked maneuvering his bike through those city streets. She was hunched down like she was on a mission and he’d crowded over her like her protector.

  She is so hot.

  Aliah would make one dangerously sexy sidekick. He doubts Jillian would share the same enthusiasm, but they could make a good team together. Not that Aliah would ever do such mediocre work. She has a friggin’ law degree.

  What the hell was he thinking, calling her lowly?

  Sometimes he wonders if he has any access to the other half of his brain. Harley shakes his head, trying to refocus on the facts. The people following her were male. There were at least two of them. They appeared rather mediocre, being far from stealthy. He’d noticed them rather easily the other night, and he was drunk. Clearly they weren’t trained very well. Either that or they were just plain stupid.

  Most likely, they were hired muscle, so to speak. It was difficult to call them muscle, when one of them looked like a lazy slab of flab and the other long and lean and gangly. The two of them reminded him of the Jack Sprat rhyme. They make the perfect pair. But who would hire such a clan of morons?

  Every question he poses has him running back to the same name. The very person he’s been avoiding these past few days. He’s actually quite surprised that she hasn’t been harassing him for more information. He circles the name on the pad of paper sitting on his desk and pulls out his phone.

  His call goes straight to voicemail. “Ms. Hawkins. David H. Gates here. I have some information for you.” He hangs up abruptly.

  That ought to get a response.

  In a matter of minutes his phone is dinging. He swipes his finger across the screen of his cell phone and checks the text message.

  Meet me at the river, across from Riley’s. I’ll be there in ten. – Brandee Hawkins

  He slips his phone back into his pocket. He could be walking into a trap. But the river is a rather public location, and it’s not far from the business district. In all likelihood, she’s going to come unarmed. She’s only looking for information. He’ll give her some.

  Harley rolls up to the river on his motorcycle, passing Aliah’s car in the parking lot. He sees that Brandee Hawkins is already fidgeting by the water, and he wonders if she’s even noticed Aliah’s car parked nearby. Brandee looks awfully anxious, and scowls toward him when he stops his bike at the curb. He kicks out the stand and leans the heavy bike against it.

  When he approaches his client, his boots sink into the soft grass with each step. “Ms. Hawkins,” he greets her.

  “Let’s skip the pleasantries and get down to business, shall we?”

  Her ignorance doesn’t surprise him. “Right.”

  “The information. Do you have it, or what?”

  “About that.” He sighs, preparing himself for a battle. “I’ve done the digging. I’ve talked to the suspect. I’ve seen the inside of her office.”

  Brandee gives him a pointed glare and makes a sexual inference. “I’ve never heard it called that before.”

  He smiles, but it turns into a disgusted snarl against his best efforts to keep his lips curled upwards. “I mean literally, Ms. Hawkins. Please try to keep your mind out of the gutter for the next five seconds.”

  “I didn’t think I was paying you to fuck the girl.”

  “About that.” Harley hands her an envelope full of cash.

  She peeks inside the flap at the money and smiles. “At least you got her off of Mitchell’s back for a change.”

  He clears his throat to regain her attention. “As I was saying. I’ve done the research. I have the facts. I’m ready to give you the results of my investigation.”

  “Please do,” she insists, waving a hand at him.

  “She’s innocent.”

  “Unbelievable! She’s clearly worked her wiles on you too.”

  “I’ve found nothing to support your theory that she wants Cavanagh romantically. Their relationship appears to be purely platonic.”

  “Appears to be?” she screeches, like a maniac. “I could have told you what appears to be. What actually is, is another thing. You just don’t want to admit that your girlfriend is fucking my man. You are one messed up fellow.”

  “I’m sorry you feel that way.” Their conversation is going nowhere fast.

  “You’re a sucker, is what you are.”

  “That’s enough,” Harley snaps, and it has Brandee blinking erratically, as if he has struck her with his hand. “I’m done with this. You have your money. The investigation is closed.”

  “Oh, I don’t think so. You haven’t delivered a shred of evidence.” She hands him the wad of cash, but he doesn’t take it. “Take it back,” she screeches, like it’s an order.

  Harley lifts a hand. “Keep your money. And just leave the girl alone. She hasn’t done anything wrong here.”

  Brandee spins away and stomps toward her car. “This investigation is not over,” she shouts, kicking his bike as she passes. “If you won’t help me get some answers, then I’ll have to find someone else who will.”

  Harley sees red, at the sight of her foot touching his chrome muffler. As she squeals away, he stomps toward his machine with adrenaline coursing through his veins. After a quick glance at his bike, he turns and watches her peel into traffic. When she’s out of sight, he instantly notices his daughter emerging from the café next to Riley’s. She’s alone.

  Ms. Hawkins is lucky. Harley’s temper is not his most attractive quality, and she manages to bring it on full force. He takes two deep breaths and steps closer to his motorcycle, fully preparing himself to chase down that chick to break her neck.

  After checking for damage, he buffs the exhaust pipe with his shirt until there’s not a mark to be seen. Satisfied that he doesn’t have to murder Brandee Hawkins anymore, he swiftly moves across the parking lot to cut off his daughter. It’s not until he’s two cars away that Hannah notices him. She freezes in place, but she looks surprisingly happy. He hasn’t seen that smile in quite a while.

  He’s kind of missed it and it doesn’t last long. As he walks closer, the smile falls off her face.

  “What are you doing?” he asks. But his voice sounds more concerned than overbearing.

  The smile returns to his daughter’s face when she dangles out a single key in front of his eyes.

  He doesn’t get it at first until he recognizes the BMW key fob. “No,” he says.

  “But, dad!”

  “How did you get her key? Haven’t I taught you that you shouldn’t steal?”

  “I didn’t steal it.” She sounds angered by his insinuation. “I was heading over to Karen’s house and Aliah offered me her car. As if I could say no to that.”


  “She offered you her mint new car to visit a friend?”

  “Yes. I’m not kidding you, dad. Isn’t she great?”

  “Yeah. Great.”

  “So I can take it?” She pulls out her trademark pouty lip.

  “What are you going to do with her car when you’re done there? Do you even know where Aliah lives?”

  “No. But she said I could just drive it to our house, as long as I’m home by ten. It’s a work night,” she informs him, and it sounds like it’s come straight out of Aliah’s mouth.

  He gazes at her, considering his options.

  “Please, dad?” she begs. Hannah appears to be really happy about this.

  “Fine.” He sighs, giving in to his only daughter. “I’ll see you at ten.”

  “Yes!” She wraps her arms around her father’s neck and dangles from him like an air freshener. “Love you, dad. I promise to get your girlfriend’s car home in one piece.”

  He gives his daughter a squeeze. “Go on. Be safe,” he insists, as she lets herself in the flashy yellow car.

  As he heads for the main street, he hears his daughter’s squeal. He shakes his head as he crosses the road to pay a visit to his girlfriend.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Thirty minutes earlier.

  The Thorncliffe Café is packed with people and Aliah and Hannah don’t look the slightest bit out of place. They could have passed for a couple of girlfriends. Aliah grabs them each a coffee and takes a seat across from her.

  “I’m glad you decided to join me.”

  “Don’t get too excited,” Hannah blurts, rolling her eyes.

  “Can you quit with the attitude? I get it. You don’t like me.”

  “I really doubt that you get it, but whatever.”

  Aliah manages to keep her cool. “Trust me when I say that I get it. I grew up without a mother too.”

  “What did yours die from?”

  “Oh, she’s alive and well. Sometimes I wish she were dead. At least then I’d have an good excuse for why she’s not around. She never wanted a daughter. She treats my four brothers like gold. I’m an outcast in her eyes.”