“You’re not my father. I don’t take orders from you.” She saw Jackson’s left eye twitch and she knew she was pissing him off. She didn’t care.
“Sit!” He didn’t raise his voice, but he used that tone that everyone in New York knew meant. “Don’t fuck with me.”
She sat.
Alex and Damien both stood on either side of their father. She felt all three stares boring into her. Jackson took a seat in the chair next to the sofa she sat on. The “boys” stayed where they were.
“Paige, I know what you’re doing here and you need to let it go and go back to Jersey...tonight.”
“No.”
She couldn’t be sure but she thought she saw mild amusement in Damien’s eyes. She doubted that he’d ever heard anyone blatantly defy his father...and live to tell about it. “If you know what I’m doing here then you know I can’t just go home. You know how much my brother meant to me.”
Jackson nodded. “I do and I’ve had nothing but sympathy for you and your mother. But what you’re trying to do here is going to get you killed. The Kramer’s are dangerous people. Not ones to toy with.”
“I’m aware of that.”
“You might be aware in the sense that you’ve read up on them online...but that stuff there only scratches the surface of what they’re capable of.”
“Like your bio Jackson?”
He was doing his best to be patient with her. Paige could see it in his eyes. “Yes Paige, exactly like that. Just as you have no idea what I am capable of, neither do you have any idea what they are. The difference is that I care about you and I cared about Greg, they don’t.”
She snorted and stood up. “I don’t want your professions of how much you care. If you cared so much you would be doing something. They killed him! They put a needle in his arm and ended his life and left him to look like a fucking junkie! They’re not going to get away with it.”
Jackson stood up as well. The boys were still just watching her.
“Okay Paige, I’ll make you a deal. You go home to Jersey and stay there. I will find out if the Kramer’s are behind Greg’s death and if they are...I’ll deal with them accordingly. You need to understand that you cannot do this. They will not hesitate to kill you and then you will be as dead as your brother.”
“No! I won’t go home until the people responsible for his death have paid for it.”
“Paige...” Jackson reached for her.
That was all it took to snap the piece of twine that was holding her together. She started wailing on his chest with her fists, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to break free.
“You don’t talk about Greg being dead! This is your fault! He was obsessed with bringing you down. This is your fault for being a low life drug dealer!”
Jackson let her finish and then he grabbed both of her wrists and held onto her until she calmed down. “Let go of me!” He let her go and she said, “Admit it to my face Jackson. Admit to me that Greg was right all of those years ago and that business of yours is just a bull-shit cover for your drug business!” Jackson didn’t say a word and she said, “I knew you wouldn’t do it. I knew you didn’t have the balls. I loved you like a father! I had respect for you! It was respect you didn’t deserve. You lied to my mother and my brother and me! You let my mother call my brother a liar when he told her the truth! You make me sick. I don’t doubt for a second that you’re involved in Greg’s death as deeply as the Kramer’s are. You knew he was here, didn’t you? You knew he was undercover? You had to know, you were at the funeral.”
“Yes Paige, I knew that he was here. I knew he was undercover and I did my best to look out for him.”
“You didn’t do a very damn good job did you?”
His eye twitched again. “No, I suppose I didn’t.”
“I guess the great and powerful Jackson Paine does fail after all.” The silence in the room then was deafening until she broke it by saying, “Did you have anything to do with it, Jackson? Were you involved in his death?”
Jackson looked her straight in the eyes and said, “No Paige. I cared about Greg, just as I care about you. Please go home where you’ll be safe. I don’t want to lose you too.”
“You lost both of us a long time ago. I’m not going home Jackson. Not until this is over!”
Paige eyed the man she once loved but now despised. He stretched out his long muscular arm and his hand massaged the back of his neck. His hair was dark and cut short and he looked just as handsome as he did when she was a kid. He finally raised his head, his blue eyes connecting with hers.
“Okay, but you can’t stay here in this apartment. It’s a direct link to Greg.”
“Fine, I’ll find another place...”
“You can stay with Damien. He’ll watch out for you.”
“Excuse me?”
Those were the first two words that Paige heard him speak.
“You heard me.” Jackson growled, not even looking at his son.
“I’m supposed to babysit the princess? Why can’t Alex watch her?”
“I don’t need a babysitter and none of you have the right to pawn me off on anyone!”
Alex, for the first time looked amused. Jackson did not.
“Enough!” He said raising his voice. He looked at Alex and said, “You will do some digging and see if you can find out who killed Greg. Damien...you will take Paige home with you and you will not let her out of your sight. Paige...you will listen to what Damien tells you or I will take you home myself. Now get your things.”
Chapter 11
Paige was so pissed at Jackson for ordering her around that she was shaking. “I have a job to go to,” she said, glaring at him and his asshole, tough guy sons too.
“I’ll pick her up at the club.”
“That’s fine, but I want you at the club making sure she’s okay.”
“Stop fucking talking about me like I’m not here!” Paige felt like her head would explode. Who did these fuckers think they were?
Jackson looked at her and smiled. “I apologize Paige. I just want to make sure that you’re okay.”
“You better worry about yourself because if I find out you had anything to do with Greg’s death, I will kill you myself!”
Jackson laughed. If she’d had a gun in her hands she would have shot him right there. “I’m proud of you, Paige. You’ve turned into such a beautiful young lady.”
“Fuck you!”
She looked at Damien and Alex. Alex’s eyes had lost their mild amusement and he was staring at her with that cold dead stare again. Damien looked pissed but she still couldn’t stop the way her heart sped up when she looked at him. She felt like an animal that could actually smell the pheromones coming off of him. As pissed as she was she couldn’t stop herself from thinking about how much she’d love to rip his clothes off and fuck him right then and there. Something about the way he looked at her told her that no matter how pissed he was, he felt the same way. All of that only served to piss her off that much more.
“Fuck you both too. Take your tough guy, asshole attitudes and go try and intimidate someone else. It’s not working here.”
“This is what I’m stuck with?” Damien said. He looked at his brother and said, “You better find something out soon. It looks like I’ll be living with a feral cat.”
“Get the fuck out!”
“Let’s go,” Jackson told them. Damien didn’t take his eyes off her face until Jackson finally stepped in between them and said, “Damien will be there tonight. Don’t do anything stupid.”
******
The nightclub was packed and Paige had been on her feet for three hours solid. She was helping out at the bar and giving breaks to the staff. The bar itself was packed because the girls were dancing tonight and the local perverts had to sit belly up so they could watch them. The girls were wearing skin tight white leather booty shorts and white bikini tops that only covered their nipples and nothing else. They had on thigh high white leather boots
and both of them had long blonde hair that fell down past their butts. They used their hair a lot in their routine and more than once she saw Caine walk by and grab one by the hair or slap her ass. Paige found herself hoping that he chose to take one of them in the back room tonight and left her alone. She wasn’t in the mood to pretend that she wanted him tonight.
She worked non-stop for another two hours, thinking she was going to get lucky since the night was almost over. That was about the time that she felt Caine come up behind her. He wrapped his beefy arms around her waist and whispered, “I want you,” in her ear.
“It’s really busy Caine. They need me out here.”
“They can handle it.”
“But...”
“No buts! Come with me. I’m the boss, remember?”
Fuck! Paige put down the bottle she’d been pouring out of and followed him into the back. As soon as they were in the room, Caine’s hands were all over her. There was nothing slow or gentle about him tonight.
“Hey there tiger, slow down! I’m not going anywhere.”
“Damn right you’re not. Get naked.”
“Jeez, maybe we could have a drink and get to know each other a little bit.”
“I know you well enough. Get naked.”
Paige forced a laugh. What she really wanted to do was throw up. His demanding attitude with her about her body was making her feel sick. She’d created a monster.
“Hey Caine, can I ask you something?”
“What’s that?” he was rubbing her tits through her blouse. It was hard to concentrate.
She took a small step back and said, “I heard some guys talking today about a guy named Paul...something or other. One guy said he disappeared and the other guy said something about him being dead...”
“What about it?”
“They were talking about where this Paul guy got his drugs and your name came up...”
“Who the fuck were these guys?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t hear them say any names...”
“What did they look like?”
“White guys, one was tall and thin with a lot of tattoos and the other was shorter and stockier. They looked about twenty five or so.”
“Are they still here?”
“No, they left.”
“If you see them again, you let me know, while they’re here.”
“Okay...do you sell drugs, Caine?”
“I don’t think you want to get too nosy here, Paige. Now, take your fucking clothes off before I tear them off.”
“I’m just not really feeling it tonight...”
“Then you can just lay there. Now, last time...take your fucking clothes off...right now!”
Paige was pissed. She wanted to refuse and run out of the room...but that wasn’t an option. She’d made this bed and now she had to literally lie in it. She started taking off her shirt. Before she got it over her head, Caine unhooked her bra and started fondling her tits. By the time she tossed her shirt aside, his mouth was covering one of her nipples. Her body began responding again, the same way it did last time. Caine pulled his head up and started stripping off his own clothes. She wished that he were as ugly on the outside as he was inside. She hated feeling her body respond as soon as she saw him. He was way too hot to be such a low life.
“Get the rest of them off,” he told her.
This time Paige did as she was told. She would just let him do her and get it over with. Caine reached down and picked her up off her feet.
“What are you doing?”
He didn’t answer her. He carried her into where the bed was and laid her down on it. He climbed up between her legs and took his cock in his hand.
“Caine...condom, please.”
He looked annoyed but he reached over and got one. He ripped it open with his teeth and skillfully rolled it on with one hand. He rubbed himself against her folds then and she felt him twitch in excitement and he lowered himself down until her breasts were crushed against her chest and began to enter her. He kissed her hard while his cock slid into her slowly. His tongue explored every dark, wet crevice of her mouth and rubbed against her tongue. Paige didn’t want to kiss him back, but he wasn’t going to relent until she did. She finally gave in and let her tongue dance with his as he thrust the rest of his length inside of her and filled her up. She closed her eyes and let him do his thing. She tried to pretend that it was someone else, but she was so repulsed by the fact that she was being fucked by a killer that she couldn’t even dream up a fantasy.
She felt him pull back slowly and then thrust back in deep. He gave her a few more slow thrusts before snaking his arm underneath her and pulling her hips up off the bed. He held her there while he moved in and out of her. At this angle, his cock rubbed against her clit each time he entered her. Paige felt herself getting excited in spite of what she wanted. She reached up and grasped his shoulders. The more he pounded into her at that angle, the more excited she became. She dug her fingers into his flesh and she heard him moan. He reached down with his free hand and grabbed a handful of her hair. He used it to pull her head to the side and then he lowered his mouth down to her neck. He started kissing her there and nipping at the sensitive flesh, sending goose bumps racing down her arms and her spine. Paige could feel the orgasm building inside of her. He lifted her higher with his arm and moved his mouth down to find one of her nipples. He licked and sucked on it, scraping along the side of it with his teeth every so often, causing her to whimper. He let go of her hips and used the other hand to pinch and pull and twist her other nipple. Paige was breathing hard. She was so close. Caine was thrusting in and out of her and she was bringing her hips up now to meet his. His thrusts became harder and he pressed deep and held himself inside of her with each thrust before pulling back out. He was grunting and she could feel him swelling and pulsing inside of her. Paige pulled her hips all the way up off the bed as she reached her climax. It took Caine about two seconds after her walls clenched down on him and released a gush of warm fluid...before he came too.
He gripped onto her tightly and worked himself slowly in and out of her until he at last collapsed down on top of her. He lay there recovering while she was crushed underneath his weight. Just about the time she absolutely had to protest so she could take a full breath, he rolled off of her. When she felt him fall out of her she rolled to her other side and let her feet fall off the bed.
“In a hurry?” she heard him say behind her.
“I thought you were.”
He reached out and put his big hand on the small of her back. “You’re one incredibly sexy woman Paige. You had me so worked up, I couldn’t wait.”
Paige didn’t say anything to that. She reached for her clothes and started dressing. She felt Caine’s weight shift behind her and move off the bed. He started grabbing his clothes off the floor as well and once he had them gathered up; he took them into the bathroom and closed the door. Paige finished dressing and using the mirror on the dresser, she worked her fingers through her hair so that she wouldn’t go back out into the bar with it all matted and tangled in the back. When she finished with that, Caine was back and fully dressed. Paige then disappeared into the bathroom to clean up. A few moments later she came out and started to head for the door when she felt his arm circle her waist. He used his hand to move her hair out of the way and he kissed her on the side of the neck. She tried not to stiffen up, or flinch, but it was hard. She waited to see what he would do next, but he finally just let her go. He followed her back out into the bar and the first thing she saw was Damien’s beautiful face.
He was sitting at the bar and Kelsey was standing behind it. Kelsey saw Caine and Paige before he did. She gave her brother a look that said she didn’t approve of his backroom trysts and then turned her attentions back to Damien. He had already spotted Paige and those blue eyes were on her face. His eyes roamed her features and neck and her defenses tried to push her gaze to the floor, but once again, she was captivated by his masculine allure.
Awareness passed between them like a silent confession, igniting her blood. She sucked in the air around her and rolled her bottom lip between her teeth. The man could bed any woman on earth with just one look...
“Are you ready?”
“Yeah, let me just grab my bag.”
“Wait...you’re here to pick her up?” Kelsey said cocking a perfectly manicured eyebrow.
“What’s up with that?” Caine asked.
Damien picked up his drink, drained his glass and looked at Caine first and then Kelsey and said, “Mind your own fucking business. Come on Paige, let’s go.”
Paige’s face was hot as she followed Damien out the door. When they got to the car she said, “Way too go being so discreet.”
“Nobody said that I had to be discreet. Get in.”
He slid into his side of the little red sports car. Paige was still standing outside. Damien started the car and lowered the passenger side window.
“Get the fuck in!”
Paige was sick of men telling her what to do. She just had sex with a murderer because he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. They were all pissing her off. She pulled open the door and got in, slamming the door behind her.
“Don’t talk to me that way.”
Damien just looked at her and smirked. He put the car in drive but before they were out of the parking lot she said, “We need to go by the apartment...I need my things.”
Chapter 12
Damien couldn’t believe that his father had “assigned” him the task of babysitting this impetuous, angry girl. It was an insult when there were so many other things Damien could be doing. He lived about five minutes away from the club. Instead of being at home where he wanted to be right now, he was driving out to Queens so that she can pick up her stuff. He had a feeling she left it there on purpose so that she could make him drive out there to get it. He glanced over at her out of the corner of his eye. She was looking out the window, so all he could see was hair. Long, thick, dark gorgeous hair that he couldn’t get out of his head. That just pissed him off that much more. If she was just some random chick, he’d have her in his bed already. The burning need pushed against his chest each time he saw her and the tension coiled in his stomach. He could actually feel the blood racing through his veins, flooding his head with delicious visions of his hands all over her sexy, curvy body. Desire burned hot in his belly and quickly spread south.
House of Paine - (A Romantic Suspense - Book 1) Page 6
