by J. S. Cooper
She was still uncomfortable in this setting, then. I was debating going over to rescue her when I saw her moving away quickly and fixing her hair. I was glad that she had walked away; I wasn’t sure what I’d been thinking by going over to her. If she’d recognized me or seen my face, there was no way that I could be a part of the kidnapping as well. I turned to see whom she was staring at so intently. It was David. My stomach churned as he made his way through the room, his familiar charming smile plastered on his face. To everyone else, he looked like a carefree playboy, but I knew the calculated man he was beneath. I watched in slow motion as Bianca spilled her wine onto his shirt and then as they left the room. So the plan had worked. Bianca and David were now in contact. I wasn’t sure how to feel about the fact that everything was moving forward. I still felt hesitant about agreeing to the kidnapping plan with Larry and David, but I knew that this was the best opportunity I had to play every side. It was pretty sad that Bianca had no idea that she was being played. I was confident that Bianca would think that it was her plan that had been successful. Only she didn’t know that her plan had also been ours. I sighed, feeling strangely unhappy as I made my way into the meeting and took a seat at the front of the room. I was reluctantly sitting in for David as planned during his absence so that I could note down everything that occurred. He was dumb enough to think that I was sitting in the meeting for him; however, my reasons were much more nefarious. David thought that I only cared about what was going on with Bianca, but my plans were much bigger. My plans involved eventually taking the reins of Bradley, Inc. and showing him just who was the boss.
I stood there for a few minutes, wondering where David was going to take Bianca, and frowned to myself. I should have been happy that everything was going according to plan even better than I’d hoped. I might even be given the opportunity to speak to the shareholders before I took over. Little did David know that my greater plan was to usurp him and that I couldn’t care less what he said or did with Bianca. At least that was what I was trying to convince myself of.
* * *
“Jealousy is one of the worst emotions you can have, Jakob,” my mother had scolded me once after I’d broken a neighbor’s toy. “Why did you break it?”
“He wouldn’t let me play with it, Mother,” I’d cried out in despair. “You said that I should share my toys.”
“But it wasn’t yours to share, Jakob.”
“Daniel should have shared it with me.”
“He didn’t have to, though.”
“But I wanted it!” I cried. “It’s not fair, he has toy robots and I have none.”
“That didn’t give you the right to break it, though, did it?” she asked me softly.
“No,” I finally conceded. “But I wanted to play with it as well, Mother.”
“I know, son, but just because he said no didn’t mean you had to break it. You shouldn’t let your emotions affect your actions.”
“I know.” I looked at her with wide eyes. “I’m sorry, Mother.”
“I know you are, Jakob. Just try to remember to never let jealousy guide you into doing something you shouldn’t.” She kissed my head and looked away with a sad expression. “I once let jealousy guide me and I’ve regretted it ever since.”
“What did you do, Mother?”
“I once said something to someone out of jealousy, hoping to cause harm, and it all backfired on me. I lost everything in that instant.” A tear fell from her eye and she wiped it away quickly. “I pray every night that I could take it back.”
“What was it, Mother? What did you say?” I looked up into her face, my heart breaking, seeing her so upset. “Did it have to do with Father?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “It had to do with Father and a family called the Londons. You don’t know them, but . . .” Her voice trailed off.
“Did they hurt you, Mother?” I asked gently, wiping her eyes. “Did they make you cry?”
“I cried many tears because of the Londons.” She nodded. “Tears I wish I could forget.”
“I won’t break any more toys, Mother, and I won’t be jealous. Never again,” I promised her solemnly.
“That’s my good boy.” She hugged me tightly. “Now I want you to go and apologize to Daniel.” She handed me a twenty-dollar bill. “And I want you to give them this.”
“But that’s what we were going to use to go to the movies!”
“I’m afraid there will be no movies tonight, Jakob.” She kissed the top of my head and stood up. “That’s a consequence of your actions, so be a good boy and don’t cry.”
“Yes, Mother.” I tucked the twenty-dollar note into my pocket and walked to the door. “I’ll be a good boy.”
I tried to remember that day every time I felt jealous about someone. My mother had been right, of course; acting on jealousy never caused anything good to happen. Though I was finding it hard to remember that as David told Larry and me about his growing relationship with Bianca. It had been going on for a couple of weeks now, and the more he told us about her, the worse I felt. I internalized it by telling myself that I was upset that David was going to be the one to bring her down when it should have been me, but I knew that my jealousy was about more than that. I knew that I wanted to get to know Bianca London myself. I wanted to talk to the woman with the alluring green-brown eyes and quick smile. I wanted to know if she was more like the woman she seemed to be in the coffee shop or if she was more at home in her fancy frock from the shareholders’ meeting.
I knew that I had nothing to be jealous of and that David wasn’t developing any real sort of relationship with her. Though it still pleased me to know that she hadn’t slept with him.
“I’m not going to sleep with her because I don’t want Roma to be upset,” David had explained to Larry and me during one of our meetings, though I knew that was a lie. David wouldn’t care about cheating on Roma. Just as she hadn’t seemed to care to have cheated on him.
“Is that why I haven’t seen her again?” I smirked. “Scared that I’ll let it slip to Roma that you’re seeing someone else?”
“Roma knows I’m going on dates with another lady.” David looked at me angrily. “There’s nothing you could tell her that she doesn’t know.”
“I see.”
“And for the record, she said you were inappropriate with her at the ball.” He made a face at me. “She won’t tell me what, but she said she didn’t like you and doesn’t want to see you again.”
“I see.” I nodded and licked my lips. Stupid bitch was probably scared that David would figure out what had happened between us if he saw us together. She’d been very quick to drop to her knees and suck me off. I wondered what David would say if he knew that little tidbit. Well, I wasn’t going to tell him. I’d only be doing it to rile him up, and I couldn’t afford to rile him up at this moment.
“So yeah, she has nothing to worry about with me and she knows that.” He looked at his phone. “In fact, she’s encouraging me to find out exactly what Bianca knows, though I don’t think it’s much.” He looked at Larry. “She keeps asking me to meet Mattias and she wants access to the company files. I don’t even know what to tell her anymore. I don’t want to keep telling her that Mattias has blown us off. I’m not sure how much longer she’s going to believe that lie.”
“I could pretend to be Mattias if you want.” I spoke up without thinking. I didn’t really want to get even more involved, but I did want to see her again.
“No.” Larry shook his head. “That’s not a good idea.” He frowned. “Has anyone seen Steve the last couple of days? I’ve been calling him and he hasn’t returned my calls.”
“No idea.” David shrugged and I shook my head.
Larry pursed his lips and sighed. “It’s not like him to just disappear.”
“He’s been acting funny for months.” David stood up. “I swear, he’s so awkward. I have no idea why Dad brought him into the company.”
“I agree.” I stood as well. “It doesn�
�t make any sense to me.”
“Your father knew what he was doing.” Larry frowned. “You should both treat Steve a lot better. He’s helped out this company a lot more than you’ll both ever know.”
And with that, we all split up. We were playing the waiting game. Larry and David were waiting to see what Bianca would do next and if she had access to any information that would put the company in trouble. And I was waiting for them to be scared enough to move on to the next step.
I was ready to take Bianca to the island.
I was ready to be alone with her. I told myself that it was to see if she had any information about my parents and her parents’ involvement. Maybe she’d know exactly what it was her parents had done to stop my father from being with my mother. Maybe she’d know what secrets my mother took to her grave. I wanted my revenge on her family, but I also wanted to know why. I denied the fact that I also wanted to be alone with her for another reason. I ignored the fact that her face popped into my mind at odd hours and that I had taken to reading all of her movie reviews. I didn’t want to think about that too hard. I couldn’t allow myself to think of her as anyone other than Bianca London, daughter of the people who had indirectly killed my mother.
* * *
“Put your hands up,” I growled in her ear, rubbing my manhood into her backside as I pushed her against the wall. I grabbed her arms and pulled them up and placed them against the wall. I could feel her body trembling under mine, and her fingers gripped the wall unsteadily.
“Oh, Jakob,” she gasped as I kissed her back and moved her hair to the side and over her shoulder. “Don’t stop.” She moaned loudly as I kissed her neck and bit down, tasting her sweet and warm skin.
“What do you want me to do next?” I kissed my way back to her ear as my hands slid down the sides of her dress slowly, stopping at her breasts. I grabbed them and squeezed gently at first and then a little harder, enjoying her little moans of pleasure.
“Take me, Jakob,” she cried out and turned around, her brown eyes alight with desire. “I want you to take me.” She put her arms around my neck and leaned in for a kiss.
“But anyone could walk in,” I said before pressing my lips down on hers and letting my tongue enter her mouth eagerly. I put my arms around her waist and pulled her into me and then stepped forward so that her back was pressed against the wall and her breasts were pressed hard against my chest. My hands reached down and pulled her dress up slightly and my fingers caressed her silky legs. She kissed me back passionately, her lips hard on mine as she sucked on my tongue. I could feel my cock hardening and I knew I had to have her. I knew that I was going to fuck Bianca in the bathroom and I didn’t care who walked in and saw us.
“I don’t care,” she said softly as she pulled away from me after about a minute of kissing.
“Good,” I said, and grabbed her hand and placed it on my hardness. “Neither do I.”
“Oh, Jakob,” she groaned, her eyes widening as she felt just how ready I was to take her. She squeezed my cock and quickly unzipped my pants. I groaned as she dropped to her knees and took me in her mouth. Her mouth felt warm and moist and tight, and she sucked on my cock with a deep intensity, taking me farther and farther into her mouth with every gulp. I gripped her shoulders and then pulled on her hair as she increased her pace and brought me close to orgasm.
“What?” I muttered as she sucked on my tip for a few seconds as I was close to orgasm and then stood up. “What are you doing?”
“I want you to fuck me now, Jakob,” she said, and I watched as she pulled her dress up so that it was around her waist. I stared at her shapely ass and rubbed my palms together before giving it a light slap.
“Oh, I’m going to fuck you all right.” I pushed her forward so that she was bending over and slipped my hands in between her legs. “Ooh, someone is ready for me already,” I growled as my fingers rubbed her slick wetness. She buckled slightly as my fingers concentrated on her clit, and I grinned to myself as she started moaning.
“Please just enter me Jakob,” she begged me, and I withdrew my fingers and slapped her ass lightly before plunging my cock deep inside of her. “Oh, yes,” she screamed out in ecstasy as I made my way in and out of her quickly. I held onto her hips as I fucked her wildly and with abandon. My cock was harder that it had ever been and Bianca’s pussy felt even more marvelous than I had imagined it.
“Don’t stop, Jakob,” she screamed as I plunged into her. I could tell that we were both close to orgasm, and I reached around and down the top of her dress so that I could pinch her nipple as I fucked her hard. I groaned as she cried out again in pleasure, the sound of her voice turning me on even more.
“Tell me that you want it, Bianca,” I growled as I entered her again. “Tell me that you want it bad,” I said again, but silence greeted me. “Bianca,” I said, and then everything went black. I groaned as I opened my eyes and realized that I was in my bedroom alone. I tried to close my eyes and think about Bianca in that purple dress at the masquerade ball. It hadn’t been her and we hadn’t had sex in the bathroom, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to try and relive the memory of my dream. I groaned to myself as I realized that my time on the island with Bianca might be very interesting indeed.
five
We know you’ve been watching her. The letter felt ominous, and I felt my heart racing for a few seconds as I stared at it. Surprisingly, though, it didn’t frighten me. I was more curious, and a part of me wondered if Larry wasn’t already starting to play his own games. I wondered who had sent the letter. Who could know or care that I was watching Bianca London? I knew that it wasn’t David—he wasn’t that subtle. If he had known, he would have freaked out. He certainly wouldn’t have sent a letter.
The second letter told me to go back to the coffee shop. There was no reason why and I didn’t know if it was a setup. But I didn’t really care. I wanted to see her again. She’d been in the back of my mind since she’d started dating David. I hadn’t seen her again and David gave very few updates. It was almost as if he were falling for her—or at the very least he was finding her a challenge. Bianca London wasn’t like most girls. She hadn’t fallen for his handsome face and she hadn’t thrown her body at him just to get the answers she wanted. She was focused completely on meeting Mattias. I almost felt sorry for her in a way. Such a losing goal all around. She was attempting to meet someone who didn’t exist, and the whole Bradley family was onto her.
It was like David trying to take on Goliath with his hands and feet broken. She had no chance. She had nothing. No money. No property. No nothing. Her father hadn’t had much to leave her, and that infuriated me. Would it have hurt my dad or David to give Nicholas London something as he’d departed the company? He and my dad had once been as thick as thieves. It seemed unfair that Bianca had been left with nothing after her father’s death.
The next letter arrived a few months after Bianca and David had broken up. I wasn’t really sure what had gone down, but I knew that he was mad that he’d never gotten to sleep with her. It made me respect her more. She had principles and that was important. It was a pity that she’d had the parents she did. It would make it harder to bring her down knowing that she wasn’t some sort of social-climbing gold digger. Though for all I knew she could have been a good actress. She was still trying to get information about Bradley, Inc., and it seemed that she wasn’t letting her investigation go.
I decided to follow the directions of the second letter and go observe her at the coffee shop because Larry had called a meeting. I was pretty confident that I knew what was going to come up—they were going to ask me to take her to the island. They were worried she’d find something out before the upcoming Bradley merger and they didn’t want any scandals coming out before the paperwork was signed. Larry was smart enough to see that David was running the company into the ground.
It was really a win-win for me. I’d get to spend time with Bianca and figure out what she knew about her parents’ inter
ference in my mother’s life. Maybe her father had left a journal that would explain what had happened. I needed to put myself in a position where she could trust me and open up to me. Then, of course, I’d take over Bradley Incorporated. Once the merger went through I’d be able to focus on bringing David to his knees.
Seeing her at the coffee shop was a shock to my system. Maybe it was because I’d been thinking about her so much, but the reality of seeing her there, her face looking tense and full of worry, affected me in a way I didn’t think that it would.
“Can I have this seat?” I asked her softly as I stood behind the empty chair at her table. I wanted her to look up with her sweet smile and say, “Yes, of course.” However, there was to be no sweet smile today.
“Uhh, sure,” she said, typing away, her eyes never leaving her computer screen. I took a seat and stared at her as her eyes moved back and forth over the screen. She appeared to be deep in thought and I wondered if she’d found something about my family.
“Can I have some space on the table?” I needed her to make eye contact with me, but she just pulled her laptop toward her. My stomach churned as she continued typing. “I don’t mean to disturb you,” I said, but still she didn’t answer. I stared at her for a few seconds, wondering what she would say if she knew who I was or if I called her by name. I almost felt like tapping her on the shoulder and saying, “I know who Mattias Bradley is and you don’t,” but of course I didn’t. That would be childish and foolhardy. And then she looked up, her eyes meeting mine for a few seconds, and I couldn’t help but smile at her ink-stained lips as she brushed her hair back slightly.
