Paulsen smirked. “And I recall you informing us that Diana Appleton was not someone to be trusted because she had so many reasons to dislike your granddaughter.”
“What?” Diana swung around and stared open mouthed at her boss. “You told them that? Even though you knew that I didn’t attack Gwen?”
“Well, I didn’t know that,” Pallister said defensively. “Not for sure anyway.”
“Ugh!” Diana thought about everything she had done for this firm and for this man and his despicable offspring. “You make me sick! You were trying to agree with the cops that I could be a danger? You weren’t even going to bother to defend me? That’s a horrible thing to do.”
“But now I believe you!” Pallister said desperately. “And now Gwen is going to drop the charges.”
“Good for her,” Diana retorted. “Hopefully once the Lucietto deal is over she can go ahead and take over all of my accounts too. I’m sure the Orvilles will just love her kid gloves approach to their problems. I’m sure Gwen will do a lovely job for your company. Perhaps she’ll wind up being your only employee as she gradually stabs everyone else in the back!”
“Wait.” Pallister frowned. He actually held up both hands as though he were going to try and stop her with the physical presence of his body. “You can’t leave.”
“The hell I can’t!” Diana pointed to her desk. “I’m going to Italy. And you’re paying for it. You actually already have. I’m taking Edward King with me. We are going to close the Lucietto deal because I owe it to the poor guy and to Mr. Amatuzzio to do that. But once that deal is done? You’re on your own.”
“You wouldn’t do that to me!” Pallister sounded absolutely desperate. He grabbed hold of Diana’s arm. “You would not just quit and walk away! You wouldn’t!”
“Try me.” Diana was so disgusted at this point that she didn’t even know what to say. “I’m going downstairs right now. And I’m leaving for the day. I’m going to walk through that parking garage and nothing is going to happen.”
“Ma’am, I don’t think we can let you do that.” Officer Paulsen was looking grave. It was almost laughable because he was puffing himself up as though he was suddenly the big bad defender of the freaking parking garage. “We can’t chance a meeting between you and Ms. Pallister.”
“I thought that Gwen was safely in the ambulance,” Diana reminded him with a frown. “That’s what you guys were all observing just a second ago right?”
“Well.” Paulsen looked at his tablet. Apparently he was getting real time messages from the team downstairs. “We’ve gotten some calls to the station and to 911 letting us know that Gwen has attacked an EMT and then run off back into the parking garage, supposedly in search of the beast. She’s bound and determined to catch it in order to make sure it doesn’t murder anyone else.”
“Murder?” Diana swept her things off the desk and deposited them unceremoniously into her bag. “You guys are all out of your minds. There’s nothing down there. The beast has probably gone back to its lair or something. I still think it wasn’t really vicious or intending harm until Gwen started shrieking and scared the crap out of it!”
Diana grumbled her way out of her office, down the hallway, and right past the receptionist desk. At that point she turned and pointed at the young woman behind the desk. “By the way. You are supposed to let someone know when they have a visitor! That’s your job. You don’t just let people wander by and pop into my office!”
The young woman looked wide eyed with concern and surprise as Diana sailed on by toward the thankfully open elevator doors. “Um, yes, ma’am?”
It was like that elevator was waiting for Diana. She rode it to the parking garage level and got out. She was not at all surprised to see Edward standing in the parking garage with one shoulder leaning against his car while another man stood beside him. The second man had that distinctive reddish brown hair that had made the wolf stick out to Diana. The Kings did not have that reddish brown hair. They were blond or dark haired. Light or dark gray in their wolf forms.
“I thought I might find you guys down here,” Diana told the two men.
Edward grinned broadly and held his arms out for a hug. Diana went willingly. She had no idea where anything stood with this man. She didn’t know what was going to happen or how they were going to make a future happen, but right now she realized that it didn’t actually matter. None of it did. He was here. She was here. And they were going to be together.
“I’m Gemini.” The other man held out his hand. “I don’t believe we were properly introduced on Halloween night.”
“No, we were not.” Diana took the offered hand. The man was very different. That was for certain. He raised the hairs on the back of her neck and made her aware on a primal level that he wasn’t quite human. But he was polite enough and he was wearing a warm smile. “Thank you for helping me with my problem.”
“It was my pleasure.” His grin was very wolfish. “Believe me. When someone is so willing to provide you with an over-the-top reaction like Gwen Pallister, you cannot help but poke around a bit until you get an even bigger one.”
“You’re speaking of the kind of reaction that requires a team of mental health professionals?” Diana joked. She opened her mouth to say something else, but all of a sudden there was a flash of red and a squawk.
A figure came hurtling out of the depths of the parking garage. She was screaming at the top of her lungs and saying something about beasts of the devil. Behind her were three uniformed EMTs and one police officer.
“Gwen! Gwen, you need to calm down.” The police officer seemed intent on de-escalating the situation. Gwen did not appear to want to cooperate with that plan. “Gwen. Gwen Pallister!”
Then Gwen spotted Diana and came to a roaring halt. “You!”
“Me?” Diana nearly couldn’t hold onto her straight face. “What are you talking about? I was upstairs with the police and your grandfather. We could all see you running around down here like a lunatic. You need to go with the EMTs, Gwen. They’ll help you.”
“She needs medication,” Edward muttered.
Gwen put her hands on her hips. She was dressed in a bright red dress that barely cleared her thighs. It was streaked with grease and mud and who knew what else from her travels through the parking garage on her—well, it was actually a kind of hunt. Her feet were now bare. Diana figured that the woman had lost her heels at some point during the day. Diana didn’t actually remember seeing Gwen upstairs in the office today. Perhaps she had never actually made it there. It was certainly possible.
Edward nodded to the EMTs. Diana wasn’t sure if he was signaling them to approach slowly or if he was just acknowledging them. Either way Edward gestured to Gemini and then to Diana. “My friend and I just came down here to pick up Diana after work because we were a little concerned that you had gone off the rails and might try to hurt Gwen. That’s the only reason we’re here. I’m sorry if this upsets you.”
“Upsets me?” Gwen snarled the words. “This is all you! I don’t know how, but it is! Maybe you’re werewolves or something!”
Diana felt a jolt of something approaching alarm, but both Edward and Gemini seemed to take it all in stride. Edward snorted and gave a shake of his head. “Lady, you’re out of your mind! Werewolves? Seriously? Are you listening to yourself?”
Then the EMTs pounced and Diana watched in awe as Gwen fought like a cornered cat until they managed to wrap her in a big bear hug and drag out of the garage. It was over. Or at least that part was over. But then so was Diana’s affiliation with Pallister and Associates, so maybe it was all for the best.
Chapter Thirty-One
“Oh my God, did you see those EMTs tackle her? It was almost like they were trying to corner some kind of animal!” Diana could not stop laughing as she entered Edward’s apartment. She practically fell through the entryway. Fortunately for her, Edward was there to catch her and make certain that she didn’t faceplant into his tile floor.
&nb
sp; He stood her back up and carefully put his arms around her body in order to keep her steady. “Careful there, sweetheart. You don’t want to wind up a casualty of this entire insane situation.”
“I can’t thank you enough.” Diana’s heart was full to bursting over everything that had happened. “I would have been trying to untangle that legal bullshit for months. You made it simple.”
“No. Gemini did.” Edward gave a rueful shake of his head. “I actually think he enjoyed himself just a little bit too much. I’m not sure it was good for him to get such a kick out of torturing a human.”
For a moment Diana could see where Edward was going with that line of thought. “You don’t think he’ll just start bugging random humans, do you?”
“No.” Edward closed his front door and then headed for the living room. “I don’t think that’s probably going to happen. I’d be a little more worried if there were more people like Gwen hanging around in plain sight, but she’s kind of unique.”
“Not as unique as I might wish.” Diana thought about what was coming. She hadn’t even asked if he was willing to go with her. He hadn’t even said he wanted to go to Italy. What if he didn’t? What if she was getting herself into this and she was going to wind up alone?
“What’s on your mind?” There was something so gentle and so absolutely soothing about his voice that for a moment she wanted nothing more than to throw herself into his arms. She wanted to stay there for the rest of her life.
Diana took a deep breath. She could do this. “Italy?”
“You’re thinking about Italy?”
“Yes.” She swallowed. He wasn’t going to reject her. “I’m going to Italy. I’m thinking about starting a business there. I don’t really know how I’m going to do it or what I’m going to do, but I’m going and I want you to go with me.”
“You do?”
Was that shock? Was he actually surprised by her request? For some reason she had not expected that reaction. She’d thought that he would be glad and maybe he would just immediately agree. Then a slow smile spread across his face and Diana realized that he had moved past shock into something else.
“I would love nothing more than to go to Italy with you.” He held out his hands and she took them. “I think if I’m shocked it’s because I never expected you to be so willing to deal with the family drama.”
“Yours?”
“Yes.”
Diana thought about that. “I had family drama too. Thank goodness I never had siblings because it would have probably been both better and worse. But I’m certainly not going to hold that against you.”
“I’m glad.”
His face was so close to hers. She could not breathe. She was too nervous and excited. She wanted so badly for this to go further. She wanted to make love to Edward. She wanted to be with him in the way that she had never been brave enough to try when they had been younger.
“Did you want...”—Diana suddenly realized how awkward this question was going to sound—“to be with me when we were younger? In school. Before. Were you interested in me like that?” She almost hated to hear the answer. What if he said no?
But he didn’t say no. Instead Edward gently put one arm underneath her legs and the other around her torso and lifted her right into his arms. He cradled her next to his chest and whispered a light kiss over her cheek and ear. “Yes.” He said the word very softly. “I wanted very much to be with you. I was so nervous that you wouldn’t want to be with me. I was afraid to even attempt it. You know? I was afraid you might reject me.”
“I would never have rejected you.” She had never meant anything more.
His lips gently touched hers. The kiss was slow at first, tentative. And then gradually the contact grew firmer and firmer. He made love to her with his mouth. His tongue slipped between her lips and rubbed against hers. The taste of him was intoxicating. Spicy and maybe a little bit wild.
“I want to go to bed and it’s not even five o’clock,” Edward murmured. He lightly nipped her lower lip. Then he kissed her once again until she could hardly think straight. “You’re the only thing I can think of. You know that? You’re the only one that I want. Now and forever. I mean that, Diana.”
“I don’t want anyone else either. I can’t even imagine it.” She touched his cheek. She felt tiny in his arms. She felt as though he made her into the woman she had always dreamed of being. It was a sensation of primal awareness and she never wanted it to go away.
Edward carried her toward his bedroom. The hallway was filled with light. The apartment was a wonderful space and it reflected the good taste and neat habits of the man who lived there. Diana could not wait to join her life with his and discover just how the two of them would blend together. In her heart she knew it would not be perfect, but eventually it would be seamless.
He pushed the door of his bedroom open with the toe of his boot, and it revealed a very simple space with furniture that had clean lines and was masculine without being too heavy. Edward carefully put Diana down on the bed. She was still wearing her work clothes. It was tempting to throw them off and hurry toward the finale, but she wanted it to last. She wanted this first time to be the best that Edward King had ever had.
He gazed at her with such heat that his dark eyes were smoldering like twin coals. He reached up and unbuttoned the first few buttons of his shirt. Then he tugged it over his head. Tossing it aside, Edward made a gesture toward Diana.
“My turn?” she asked.
Diana sounded breathless and it wasn’t because she was trying to be extra sexy. Her mouth was dry and she was so excited that her hands were shaking when she unbuttoned her blouse. It fell open and revealed her black bra. The bra closure was right there in front. She might have reached for it herself except that Edward never let her.
Before Diana could unfasten it herself Edward had reached out and lightly unfastened the bra. Then he let his fingers graze the sensitive skin on the tops of her breasts. It was a teasing touch she almost could not bear to remain still for. She squirmed a bit to get out of the blouse and the bra. Then she lay back on the mattress and gazed up at Edward with every bit of her anticipation on display.
His smile held a hint of the devil as he squatted down in front of the bed and reached for her feet. He slipped her shoes off her feet and let them drop to the floor. One by one he held her feet in his hands and lifted them to his lips. She giggled and almost warned him that they probably smelled like her work shoes. He didn’t seem to mind. And when his clever fingers worked their way up her legs toward the backs of her knees she couldn’t think straight anymore anyway. He kissed a path to the hem of her knee-length skirt. Her outfit was plain and simple. Work clothes. Somehow when Edward was involved it felt as though she were wearing the sexiest clothing on the planet.
Edward stood back up and unfastened his pants. She could not see his shoes, but she heard him toe out of his boots and kick them aside. Then he pushed his pants down his legs and she got her first full look at Edward King without a stitch of clothing on. The man was so gorgeous that she could hardly wrap her mind around the idea that he belonged to her. Just to her.
Edward lay down on the bed beside her. He settled himself gently against her and lightly picked at the zipper holding the side of her skirt closed. His hand rested lightly on her hip. Nothing had ever been such a turn on and he wasn’t touching her intimately yet. It was more the anticipation of that touch that was driving her crazy. She needed him. She needed to be with him and she needed it right now.
Diana helped to scoot her skirt and panties down her legs. She wiggled until they were gone. She wanted them gone. Then the two of them were naked and when he started to kiss her, Diana felt the exquisite sensation of his skin sliding close against hers. The friction was absolutely amazing. It felt so good that she could not stop the moans coming from her throat.
“Edward!” Diana whispered. “You feel so good.”
“No.” He rolled his body on top of hers and settled be
tween her naked thighs. “You’re the one who feels good.”
She could have argued because she was making love to the most handsome man in the world on a bed that made her feel as though she were on a cloud. But instead of arguing about anything she wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him down for a long, lingering kiss that left her feeling drugged with the wonder of it all.
His body was nudging hers in the most intimate way. Excitement wound its way through her system. Her toes curled and her nails dug into his shoulders. Diana gasped as he slid inside her. The two of them were joined now in the way that they had both dreamed of for so long. It was like having the moon handed to her on a platter. She gasped with the pure pleasure of it all and her eyes wanted to close as she rose gradually to the stars.
“No,” Edward whispered. “Look at me, Diana. I want to see your face when you come. I want you to see mine.”
The deeply intimate act of making love while staring at the love in his eyes made her feel so incredibly close to him. She moved her hands from his shoulders to his cheeks. Stroking his lips and the blade of his nose, she memorized him in every way that she could as he surged into her again and again and finally spilled his seed deep inside her body.
The heat and intensity left her gasping. She opened her mouth but no sound came out. Instead she gasped and shook as her own climax took her hard and fast and left her almost senseless with the desire to never ever let this moment end.
Diana didn’t know how long the two of them stayed that way. It felt like an eternity and yet it was only a moment. And when he began to bathe her face in loving kisses she finally closed her eyes and smiled in bliss.
“How are you, sweetheart?” Edward whispered.
She wasn’t even sure what he meant. How was she feeling? A little giggle slipped out from between her lips. “I feel like I could fly. That’s how I feel.”
Billion Dollar Wolves: Boxset Bks 1-5 Page 47