“Does it matter? Abigail and I managed to get past our differences after a while.”
“After ten years of marriage. That’s a long time to go back and forth between your wife and your stable of mistresses.”
“Do you think that’s what I had? A group of women just sitting off to the side, waiting to crawl into my bed?”
She pressed my hand tighter against her cunt. “If I’d been one of them, I would have been more than willing to wait.”
“Is that right?”
“I’m still here, aren’t I?”
She leaned back and kissed my jaw, her lips sliding slowly up to my ear. I slid a finger inside of her, and she groaned, moving her hips back against me until my hard cock slipped perfectly between her thighs, pressed high against her ass and that lovely cunt. I moved my hand as she pushed against my cock head, shoving me against her opening and sighing as I slid inside of her.
“So fucking good,” she said with a sigh, pressing her hips back against me. “If I were Abigail, I’d have put a padlock on your zipper.”
I nibbled at her shoulder before my lips came to rest against her ear. “She tried. That’s part of why I strayed so often.”
“Then the secret is to pretend this isn’t as good as it is?” she asked, a little breathless now.
“Maybe.”
“Impossible.”
I would have laughed, but I was concentrating too hard on each stroke, on the feel of her tight, little cunt wrapped around my length. I was too involved in the idea of this hot, beautiful girl writhing against my body, her swollen clit against my finger, her lips forming my name.
So fucking good!
***
I was late arriving at the office the next morning because I fell asleep in Rachel’s bed and I didn’t want to show up in the same suit I’d been wearing the night before. I had a spare at the office, but Cassidy would know, and a part of me didn’t want her to know. My personal life was my business, no one else’s.
She was in her office, tucked into a corner beside mine, thin, wire-framed glasses perched on her nose as she studied her computer screen. She glanced up when I walked past. She immediately grabbed a pad of paper and pencil as she stood to follow me.
“Morning,” I mumbled, dumping my briefcase on my desk.
“Good morning,” she said softly.
I snapped the briefcase open and searched through the contents for my laptop. I don’t know why I bothered to take it last night. The briefcase sat in my car while I was at Rachel’s, never opened, no work done. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d taken work home and actually looked at it. But it was a habit.
“We need to go over today’s schedule. I believe I have a couple of meetings this morning—”
“At ten and noon. The first is with the lawyers to discuss the new pizza franchise and the other is with a group of investors who want to discuss the car wash.”
I looked at Cassidy, a little surprised by her efficiency.
She gestured with her pad. “It’s all on your calendar.”
I knew that. I was just scattered because…I didn’t know why I was scattered. It was so strange staring at Cassidy. She was dressed quite professionally in a dark skirt and pink blouse. It was nothing like the jeans and t-shirts she’d favored when we knew each other before, but those curves were still there. I found myself thinking things I shouldn’t be thinking, especially after last night. I had to force myself to move my attention back to my briefcase, even as an image of her curled up on the old, creaky bed in my rented room all those years ago flashed through my mind.
“I’ve talked to human resources, and they’re okay with me coming down at five to deal with the paperwork, so I’ll be available to you during these meetings.”
I glanced up. “Great.”
“How should I…?”
Her eyebrows rose as she studied me, finishing her question with a look.
“You’ll come with me, furnish me with any information I might need—the research for both meetings should be on your desk or already loaded onto the computer. And you’ll hold my phone, answer any calls that come in, inform me of anything that can’t wait.”
“I can do that.”
There was a little catch to her voice as she spoke, but I was so distracted I didn’t stop to ask what it was about. My head was slowly shifting into work mode. I was about to ask her to give me a minute when Killian tapped on the open door.
“Do you have a minute? I wanted to go over the announcement for the pizza franchise.”
“Of course.” I gestured to Cassidy. “Have you met my new assistant?”
“We met last night.”
Cassidy was a little flushed. It took me a second, but then I recalled that she met Killian once all those years ago. Killian clearly didn’t remember, and he shouldn’t. He was barely two. It was…it was a mistake. I had Killian with me that afternoon, but I hadn’t expected Cassidy to come over. When she showed up, I couldn’t exactly ask her to leave. It was an awkward situation that underscored to me the fact that I had to make a choice.
It was that afternoon that made me see that it was time to stop playing with Cassidy’s affections and go back to Abigail.
I cleared my throat, old guilt settling on my shoulders.
“If you could give us a minute,” I said to Cassidy.
She nodded immediately, barely meeting my eye before she walked away.
“She seems nice enough.”
I shrugged, tugging out the laptop and setting the briefcase on the floor. I settled in my chair and bit back a sigh. A sudden exhaustion settled on my shoulders.
“Are we good with the pizza franchise?”
“Great.”
Killian dropped a folder on my desk that had proofs of the print ads we’d be sending out this afternoon. I glanced through them even though I’d seen them at the various stages of development and knew pretty much what to expect. It was simply an announcement—a change of management thing—that most consumers wouldn’t even take note of.
“I talked to Jack yesterday. He says that the gun deal went down as planned.”
“Good. I’ll let everyone else know.”
Killian started to turn, but stopped when I asked, “Did you know Stacy’s getting married?”
Killian shrugged. “Ian might have said something.”
“Why didn’t she call me?”
He crossed his arms over his chest and regarded me for a long moment. Killian was the oldest, the one all the other kids went to whenever they had a problem. But he was already in high school by the time Stacy came to live with us. At ten, she was a handful, but something about Killian just walking into a room calmed her without fail. If anyone knew what was going on in her head, it was likely Killian.
“She was there, in the house, when Mom got sick, but you didn’t say anything to her. She and Kevin felt like you left them out of everything, that you took away Mom’s last good days. She’s pissed.”
“That was her excuse for leaving for college so quickly after graduation. But that was almost five years ago. Is she never going to forgive me?”
Killian shrugged. “I know it was Mom’s idea. Sean and Ian know it, too. But the others? Kyle and Kevin and Stacy? They’re still pretty pissed. They think you kept the truth from them because you didn’t think they could handle it.”
“That’s not true. She simply didn’t want them to watch her suffer longer than they had to.”
“You’ve got to talk to them about it.”
Once again, I thought that I should probably make a trip to New York one of my priorities, but then my phone buzzed, and it was time to get to work.
Chapter 6
Cassidy
Brian handed me his cell phone, and I felt dirty. I felt like he’d just handed me the keys to his car and asked me to steal it. Like I’d just stolen the numbers to his bank account.
If only he knew…
I took a seat, guilt swallowing me whole when I realized th
at no one could see what I was doing from my place against the wall. They were focused on one another around the conference table. Only the other assistants were anywhere near me, and they were all busy texting on their phones or ready on their iPads.
I pulled up his contacts list and my heart sank as I realized there were dozens of names here, not just his kids’ names, but business contacts and friends from the old neighborhood. I was a little surprised to recognize some of the names. Jack McGuire, obviously was one. I met Jack once, long ago, when he showed up at Brian’s rented room while I was there. We shared a bottle of good Irish whiskey together, the three of us, and he told me stories about when Brian was young. It was a good evening until Jack let it slip that Brian was married. Not just married, but married with a son and another on the way. Imagine my surprise when I learned that my lover of three months was married.
I was not a happy girl.
I recognized a few other names, too, guys he told me he grew up with. I was a little surprised to see he was still friends with those guys. Or maybe I was just surprised that he’d introduced me to people who really were his friends.
I’d gone over our relationship again and again over the years, and I became less and less sure that he’d been honest with me at any point, so this evidence that there was some honesty in our relationship was almost shocking.
I made a copy of his address book and sent it to my phone. Then I sent it in a text to the men controlling my every movement. A second later, they responded with a terse message:
More will be required.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I’d done everything they’d requested of me, yet they continued to ask for more. What did they want me to do? Was I supposed to commit some sort of crime? Was I supposed to hurt Brian? I wouldn’t do that. At least…I wasn’t sure what I was capable of. All I knew was that I wanted this nightmare to end.
We need names of those closest to him.
But I’d given them the names of his children. Who could be closer to him than his kids?
We need names of his associates.
I’d just uploaded every name in his address book on his phone. Where was I supposed to get more?
I didn’t know what to do.
“You seemed distracted during the meeting. Did you not understand what was happening?” Brian asked me a while later, as we made our way to the elevator and headed for the next meeting.
“I’m sorry. I guess I’m still learning the ropes.”
He touched my arm to lead me onto the elevator, and I wanted to pull away. I didn’t want his hands on me, not now, not after everything that had happened. Never mind the fact that I’d dreamt of having his hands on me again for years after I left Boston. He chose Abigail. He chose his life here. He wasn’t mine now, if he’d ever been.
“We’ll have lunch after this next meeting, and I can answer any questions you have.”
“Thank you.”
He was being generous. I should have been grateful, but I wanted nothing more but to get out of there. I wanted to go back to Austin and never leave again.
But I couldn’t. I was stuck until they had what they wanted.
I glanced at Brian, and I realized one thing about myself that was a little surprising. I’d do anything for my daughter. Anything.
Chapter 7
Brian
I found myself staring at Cassidy. It was just so…odd. I never thought I’d see her again.
She’d been here a week now, yet I couldn’t wrap my mind around the situation. She was a hard worker. She had my office in good order in less than a day. And she was handy during meetings—except that first one—always ahead of the game with research materials I might need or other information she could easily pass to me via paperwork or a quick message on the iPad she’d taught me how to use. I was actually stepping deeper into the twenty-first century. That was amazing enough on its own.
It was just…every time I looked at her, my hands itched to touch her. I had to remind myself that more than twenty years had passed since our last touch and she was no longer mine to touch. I’d chosen Abigail all those years ago.
“I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you.”
“But you knew you were married when we met.”
“I did. But I didn’t expect to feel this way about you.”
I could still see her face crumble, still feel her tears on my shoulder. She let me hold her, but not for long. She pulled away and ran from my little rented room. I watched, my heart screaming for me to go after her. But I didn’t. I knew where I belonged. And I knew Cassidy deserved more than what I could give her.
How could one man love two such very different women? Abigail was down-to-earth, a loving, devoted wife and mother. Cassidy was passionate, innocent yet so worldly that I never knew what might come out of her mouth next. So different, but both so beautiful, so loving, so the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. But I had to make a choice. I had to stop pretending I was the kind of man who could play that sort of game. Letting Cassidy go was the hardest thing I’d ever done, but I did it. She was gone from my life, and I had a wonderful twenty-five years with Abigail. And now she was back and my head—my heart—was so confused I couldn’t think straight.
“I can’t believe you hired her,” Jack told me one night over tumblers of whiskey.
“What was I supposed to do? She needed a job and I needed an assistant.”
“But your ex-lover? The girl you couldn’t get out of your head for the longest time, even after you went back to Abigail?” Jack regarded me over his tumbler. “That’s a mistake, man. She’s under your skin.”
“She was under my skin, but that was years ago.”
Jack shook his head, a slow smile creeping over his face. “That’s what you tell yourself. But the truth is, once a woman gets under your skin, there’s no getting her out again.”
“Yeah? How would you know? You’ve been married three times.”
Jack flipped his hand as though shooing a fly away. “Marriage isn’t love, Brian. You were in love with Cassidy—and Abigail. And that doesn’t just go away.”
“You’ve never been in love.”
“I was. Once. But that was a long time ago. And let me tell you, if she showed up at that door,” he said, gesturing to the door of his office, “I would send her away before I said hello. I don’t need that kind of distraction. No one does, but especially not in this business.”
“I’m not in the business anymore,” I told him, standing.
“Don’t fool yourself, man. As long as you’re partners with me, as long as you and your boys provide security for me and my guys, you’re in this business.”
I dismissed his words when I left his office, but they kept coming back to me at the oddest moments. Like now, as I watched Cassidy take notes in shorthand, her delicate hand wrapped around that pen like it was a precious jewel or something.
“I’ll go type this up,” she said, as she finished, laying her pad in her lap and raising those beautiful blue eyes to my face. “Is there anything I can do for you tonight?”
What a loaded question!
I just shook my head and watched her, as she gracefully stood and walked toward the door. She had just laid her hand on the knob when the door burst open.
“Your secretary wasn’t at her desk…”
Rachel paused just inside the doorway, her eyes moving slowly over Cassidy as she caught herself, the words dying mid-sentence on her lips. I hadn’t been expecting Rachel. It was an awkward moment, uncomfortable. Cassidy glanced back at me, and that made Rachel look at me. There was something of a smile twisting Rachel’s lips, but Cassidy simply looked like she’d rather be anywhere but here.
“Rachel, love…”
I walked toward her, my hands outstretched. She came to me like an obedient pet, curling up against me in a most suggestive way. Her hand actually brushed against the front of my pants as she pressed her tight body up against mine, offering a kiss that was more t
han just a greeting. I might have blushed if I were still capable of that sort of humility.
Cassidy cleared her throat. “I’ll just—”
“You must be the new assistant,” Rachel said, stepping toward her with one hand outstretched, the other wrapped around my tie, tugging me forward with her. “Brian mentioned he’d finally found a new girl to replace the last one. She was such a prude. I hope you aren’t offended by a little PDA.”
Cassidy’s eyebrows rose. “PDA?”
“Public displays of affection. Turns out the last girl was quite offended when she overheard Brian and I….well, you know,” Rachel said, glancing back at me with that flirty smile she often pulled out when she wanted to get her way about something. “You know how it is with a new romance. You can’t keep your hands off of each other.” To punctuate her words, she turned into me and ran her lips down over my throat.
Where did I lose control?
“I’ll try not to be offended,” Cassidy said, just before she stepped through the door and pulled it closed behind her.
“What the hell was that?” I asked, pushing Rachel back so that I could see her face. “This is my place of business. You know that, right?”
“Of course. I just…” She shrugged. “So, maybe I’m a little jealous.”
“Of what?”
“Of the fact that you once slept with her.” She glanced at the door, as though Cassidy were still standing there. “She’s pretty. I didn’t expect her to be so pretty.”
“You’re jealous?”
Rachel shrugged, her long, dark hair falling into her face. “Maybe a little.”
COLE (Dragon Security Book 1) Page 35