HIS BRANDED BRIDE: Steel Devils MC

by Sophia Gray

  “Enzo?” Audrey’s voice was low and soft as she stood in the doorway. “You’re here early. Would you like some coffee?” I watched as she licked her lips, taking time and biting down on the delicious pink flesh. “I mean, I’ll go get some for you,” she added. “I know how you always take your coffee in the morning.”

  Watching her flit around nervously, I couldn’t help but grin. There was always something interesting about watching a woman behave around me after we’d slept together for the first time. More often than not, she’d be bending over backward trying to please me. But Audrey seemed just as neurotic as usual, maybe with a tad more blushing.

  “Great, Audrey,” I called out as I glanced down at my desk. “I have a big project for you when you come back.”

  Audrey’s cheeks pinked but she didn’t say anything. I watched as she darted away from my desk, breathless, walking quickly in her horrible orthopedic shoes.

  When she returned, Audrey pressed a steaming hot mug of coffee into my waiting hand. After handing it to me, she stood there, shyly crossing her legs at the knee and rocking back and forth. I noticed that aside from how her hair looked more well-brushed than usual, she didn’t look any different. I had to admire that—a lot of girls would show up in practically nothing but lingerie and makeup after sleeping with me. Audrey wouldn’t have thought of that, though, and that made her kind of special.

  “What’s the project?” Audrey cleared her throat and looked down at the floor. “Something big?”

  I nodded. “Something very important,” I told her seriously, taking her by the wrist and pulling her over to the small round table in the corner of my office. “I need you go through these emails from Hodges. They’re a few years old but pay really close attention. I want you to see if anything seems off.”

  Audrey cocked her head to the side, like a dog whose master just suggested a walk. “What do you mean off?”

  I sighed. “It’s a little hard to explain. Hodges screwed me years ago, with promises of investing in a consulting firm that was cheaper than most. I fell for it because I was desperate and greedy, and I wound up almost losing everything.”

  Audrey blinked at me. Her blue eyes seemed wide with fear and mistrust. “But why would he do that?”

  I ran a hand through my hair. It was still damp from the hurried gym shower. “Because he wants to ruin me,” I said simply. “And he’s out trying to do it again now. But we have to outsmart him. I have to find a way to demonstrate that he knew he was getting me into some bad business decisions. Have you ever heard of a pyramid scheme?”

  Audrey licked her lips, and a sharp pang of desire shot through my body. “Um, I think so. Like those Tupperware parties?”

  I laughed, throwing back my head. “Not exactly. More like the kind of thing where investors are promised rewards simply for buying into the program, not because of any actual revenue they were going to bring in.”

  Audrey nodded. “Oh.” I could tell that she didn’t exactly understand, but it was actually kind of cute.

  “So go through these,” I said as I put my hand on her shoulder and guided her towards the stacks of papers. “Keep an eye out for anything that looks unusual. I’m sorry I don’t have any more suggestions, but I think you’re smart enough to pick up on something weird.”

  Audrey nodded. She looked confused and aroused, and part of me was tempted to pull her towards me and kiss her roughly. “Okay,” she said softly. “I’ll go through these. Thanks, Enzo.”

  I watched as she sat down hard on the chair and began swinging her shapely legs back and forth. Today, she was clad in a baggy jumper with a turtleneck underneath and thick loose leggings over her orthopedic shoes. Despite the horrible outfit, I couldn’t look at her without feeling my cock twitch in my pants.

  I shrugged, feeling helpless. “Just look for anything that seems weird, or strange, or make a note if he repeats himself. Does that make sense?”

  Audrey nodded again. She still looked confused, but just as willing to help as ever. “I’ve got it. Thanks.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Audrey

  After Enzo left my place last night, I could barely focus on what had happened. I kept wanting to pinch myself—it all seemed like a dream, like a really incredible, unbelievable dream. He’d actually been here, inside, with me! We’d had sex! It had been amazing. I couldn’t think about what we’d done without feeling blood rush to my face and my nipples tingle with arousal. I never imagined that I’d be the kind of woman someone like Enzo would want, but if last night had proved anything, our chemistry was undeniable.

  When he’d gone, I put some water on to boil for tea and wrapped up in cozy sweatpants. Amazingly, Pepper was very well-behaved: she showed absolutely no sign of being upset with me. I’d have thought she would have spent all of her time growling at Enzo, but she’d stayed in the living room the whole time we were in bed.

  I blushed and bit my lip as I waited for the water to boil. My body felt different, older somehow, and I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. Enzo’s words kept playing out in my head. How he’d made me call him ‘sir’, how he’d looked at me with an intense, lusty fire in his gray eyes. I’d never seen that side of him before.

  When I’d first met Enzo, everything about him seemed so carefully controlled. Even though I’d caught him sleeping with Karen on the first day, it had seemed… well, different from how Enzo had acted with me. When we’d been together, it had seemed like we were alone in the universe. When he was fucking Karen over his desk, though, it almost seemed like he was showing off.

  I shuddered as the water began to boil, dropped in a bag of green tea, and took a deep breath. What was going to happen now? Was I going to lose my job? Was Enzo going to get bored with me and find another woman to sleep with?

  Part of me wished now that I’d spent more time in college trying to make female friends. Growing up, it hadn’t exactly felt fair—all girls in school cared about was whether or not you were wearing the latest trends. Everyone, at least everyone who cared about me, told me that everything would change in college. I’d pinned all my hopes on that mantra. Hell, I’d even scribbled it in dry-erase marker on the mirror in my family’s tiny, grubby bathroom.

  But it hadn’t felt true, at least not at first. In retrospect, I’d been expecting too much to happen overnight. In college, I wasn’t instantly popular or beautiful or more well-liked. If anything, at first, I felt more invisible than ever. My crush on Peter had given me something to obsess over, but I kept waiting in vain for the pack of girlfriends that would never come.

  “Your roommate is probably going to be your new best friend,” Mom had warned me as I was packing the small trunk full of my belongings. “Don’t tell her too much about our family.” Mom had crossed her arms over her chest, almost afraid.

  I remembered laughing in response. “Yeah, right, Mom, she’s not gonna wanna be friends with me.”

  Sadly, I’d been more correct than my mother. My roommate was a girl named Melissa and very unhappy with me. She’d been blonde and tan and gorgeous, with a wardrobe full of Lilly Pulitzer and monogrammed everything, and definitely wasn’t on scholarship. I’d tried being nice to her, then leaving her alone. But every new thing I did seemed to disgust her more than the last.

  Suddenly, Pepper barked and growled, startling me out of my reverie. She padded over to me and whined, butting at my thigh with her big, blocky head.

  “I know, girl,” I said, leaning down to rub her ears. As I moved, a gust of warm air came out of my collar, and Enzo’s scent mingled with mine once again. My cheeks flushed, and my skin seemed to tingle, like he was right back in the room with me.

  Pepper whined, leaning against me and sliding down to the floor on her belly.

  “I wish I had other girlfriends,” I mused out loud as I rubbed her soft head. “I wish I had someone to talk about Enzo with.” I swallowed hard. “I have no idea what I’m doing here, Pep. What if he hates me? What if he never wants to
see me again?” Tears came to my eyes, and I brushed them away with one hand. “If he liked me, don’t you think he would have stayed? Isn’t that what men are supposed to do if they like you a lot? They only leave if they don’t want to sleep with you, right?”

  Pepper made an uneasy sound in her throat and closed her eyes. I got the feeling she was sick of hearing so much about Enzo, but I couldn’t stop talking about him. He was magical to me—even the mere mention of his name sent my heart fluttering around in my chest like a bird on steroids.

  “I’m sorry, girl, I know you’re sick of hearing that name,” I murmured as I took a sip of my green tea. It was spicy and piquant, and comforting. I loved the taste of green tea, even though I’d once hated it. Carl had given me a big box for Christmas last year, and now the taste was something familiar and homey, almost like spending time with him. “I can’t stop thinking about him though,” I muttered as I lowered myself into a rickety kitchen chair with my steaming mug of tea. “He’s incredible.”

  Pepper whined and burrowed her face underneath her front paws. She rolled around on her back, sticking her legs up in the air and gazing at my face.

  “I bet someone wants a belly rub,” I said affectionately as I reached over and rubbed my hand through her short, greasy fur. “And maybe a bath this weekend! You stink, Pep.”

  Pepper barked once more.

  “I know, I know, you’re not crazy about baths.” I leaned down and nuzzled her. “And I’m not crazy about talking about Enzo all the time, but here we are.”

  Pepper growled and got to her feet, sauntering off towards the living room.

  I stared into my mug of tea, wondering just how lost I was.

  In the morning, I didn’t exactly feel better about my situation. I tugged on the first thing that my hand hit in the dresser. Some girls may have changed the way they looked after sleeping with someone like Enzo, but I didn’t want him to think that I was becoming obsessed with him.

  Except you are becoming obsessed with him, a little voice said in the back of my head. You’re totally obsessed with him, and you know there’s no going back from this point on.

  Rolling my eyes, I tugged on my bright pink parka and snow boots. It had snowed again overnight, and the sidewalks were an icy, slushy mess. I shivered inside my coat, wrapping my arms around myself as I walked to the “L” station. I hated winters in Chicago, and part of me wondered why I hadn’t looked for a job in Florida after graduating from college. But I knew the real reason without having to even question myself: because I couldn’t have left my parents.

  I hadn’t exactly expected Enzo to ask about my folks. He’d seemed so shocked when I admitted to sending them money. Wasn’t that actually kind of normal? Well, maybe not for people like Enzo. But growing up, I’d always vowed to repay the people who had raised me.

  Even though my parents hadn’t exactly kept me out of poverty, I never wanted them to worry about food the way we had when I was growing up. After all, I was their daughter, and children took care of their parents in old age. It was something that I would have felt horrible giving up.

  # # #

  Now, I was perched in Enzo’s office, going through scads of old emails. He’d handed me a stack of printouts as large as my head, and my head had begun to swim when he’d told me what to do. What do you mean, look for anything weird? This all looks weird! I don’t even know this guy! But after staring at the paperwork for ten minutes, I knew that I couldn’t just keep doing that. Eventually, I’d have to start reading and try to figure some of this shit out on my own.

  Enzo was sitting behind his giant desk, scrolling through something on his computer. Occasionally, I’d glance up and find that his attention was completely on his screen. I could study him without him even being aware. As I stared at him, I was only slightly aware of my own reaction: increased heartbeat, dry mouth, nervous pangs in my chest every time he moved.

  Enzo was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen, but now when I looked at him, I was reminded of the artful ways in which he’d seduced me the previous night. I couldn’t look at his luscious mouth without thinking about how it had felt on my body, or look at his sculpted jaw and think about the strong way that we’d kissed.

  Before I knew it, I was blushing from head to toe.

  “Audrey?” Enzo’s voice was strained. “Are you finding anything?”

  My blush deepened, and I dropped my gaze immediately to the paper in my lap. I was ready to lie when I actually did notice something weird—the same expression that I’d seen in the last three emails.

  “Actually, yeah,” I replied, biting my lip. “Um, he keeps using a certain phrase. Or rather, he keeps referring to what he’s calling a shoe store. But I don’t think it’s an actual store, or maybe it’s code for something?” I gave him a puzzled look. “Did you guys ever buy a store together? Or did he talk about shoes a lot?”

  Enzo frowned. “No.” He shook his head and stood up. “No, I can’t think of a shoe store.”

  I glanced down at the papers. “See, this email mentions it three times,” I said, shoving the piece of paper under Enzo’s nose. “Isn’t that unusual?”

  Enzo took the paper from me and circled something with a red pen. “Thanks, Audrey,” he said in the same strained voice that he’d used before. “This means a lot. Thanks for your help.”

  “Oh, I’m not done with the papers,” I said quickly. There was still a stack over two feet high on the table.

  Enzo nodded. “Why don’t you look for other mentions of the shoe store?” He rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger, and a flash of lust gripped me. “I think that’s definitely unusual.”

  I nodded. “Got it. Will do, Enzo. Thank you.”

  Enzo grinned, and my heart slammed against my ribs. “Thank you,” he purred in a silky voice. “I appreciate your help, Audrey.”

  With that, he sauntered out of his office, and I was left alone, with my own desire and uncontrollable emotions.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Enzo

  I could barely look at Audrey without feeling completely mad. She was sitting there, staring down at the papers in her lap, twirling a strand of thick brown hair in her fingers. She looked desirable, she looked sexy, and now I wanted her more badly than I ever had before.

  This is fucking insane, I thought as I ran a hand through my hair. You’ve never gone batty like this over a chick! What the hell is her deal? But even trying to rationalize it didn’t make me feel any better. Audrey wasn’t like any other girl I’d ever slept with. I knew it, she knew it, and I didn’t think there was anything I could do to change that.

  On top of that, the shoe store thing was really bothering me. At the end of the day, Audrey delivered a stack of papers to my desk. Everything was neatly outlined and marked in red pen.

  “These are all the times he used that phrase,” she said, licking her lips and leaning down over me to show with her finger. As she leaned close, her scent of strawberries and talc washed over me, and I had to close my eyes and dig my fingers into my thigh so I wouldn’t grab her and throw her over the desk. Audrey had no idea how desirable she was, how very attractive I found her. It was dangerous, having her this close. But I knew that I didn’t have any other choice. I was addicted to her now, and I had nothing to do but ride out the addiction until I was free from it.

  I’d never felt the way I felt about Audrey. It scared me. The only other time I was ever close was when I was growing up. My friend, Tony, had come from a rich family. My family had been poor as dirt and from the wrong side of the tracks. I never thought that I’d amount to be anything in life, and that was probably one of the reasons Tony befriended me in high school. We were fourteen years old, in the same algebra class, and one day he leaned over and slipped me a joint…

  “This’ll relax you, Lennox,” Tony said with a smirk. We snuck out of class and shared the joint under the canopy overhang by the teachers’ parking lot. It was the first time I ever remembered enjoying myself at scho
ol.

  Tony was suaver than me, more confident. He’d already had two girlfriends, and he’d fingered one of them by the time we became friends. Teachers hated him. He was good-looking, cocky, and completely arrogant—basically, their worst nightmare come to life. When the two of us were together, we ran around town with Tony’s older brothers, causing hell for any girl who dared cross the street.

  We’d been friends for almost a year when I met Cindy. She was beautiful. Seventeen years old, amazing tits, perfect tanned skin, and blonde hair. She hung around Tony’s house all the time—I thought she had a crush on one of his older brothers. Whenever I saw her, I thought my heart was going to explode and leap out of my chest.

  My parents were so poor that I was ashamed of where we lived, so Tony never came over to my place. Instead, I spent most of the summer living with him. We’d stay up all night playing video games and gorging ourselves on the snacks and candy that his mother would lovingly provide. We’d sleep in until noon, then go wake up by taking a swim in Tony’s backyard pool. I remember being deliriously happy in that summer. I envied Tony so much, but I was starting to enjoy my life as his friend.