by Olivia Harp
WHATEVER IT TAKES
By OLIVIA HARP
This is a work of fiction. All characters and events reside solely in the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual people, alive or dead, is purely coincidental. All characters are eighteen years of age or older.
© 2017, OLIVIA HARP. No portion of this work can be reproduced in any way without prior written consent from the author with the exception for a fair use excerpt for review and editorial purposes.
This title is for adults only. It contains explicit sex acts, adult themes, and material that some folks might find offensive. Please keep out of reach of children.
Table of Contents
WHATEVER IT TAKES
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Epilogue
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WHATEVER IT TAKES
Chapter 1
Remy
The big hall was packed with people. It looked like a banquet to anyone who wasn't paying attention, a long table was full of all kinds of delicious looking dishes: from fruit salad to meat loaf to chocolate brownies, but almost no one was eating.
The whole thing was almost twenty feet long, and it served more like a decoration piece than anything else.
Remy Morgan, didn't care, though. He prepared himself his third ham and cheese sandwich and brought it to his mouth. Not my fault the bread is so fucking small.
People either didn't see him or didn't care. That was good news, he was looking for something, some kind of proof, but hadn't had any luck yet.
"You realize we're the only ones grabbing food at the table?" Mark, his best friend, said.
Remy shrugged, "this shouldn't go to waste."
Up on the staircase, a violin and harp duo begun to play.
"Whole thing's too fucking fancy," Remy said, "are you sure we're in the right place?"
"Pretty sure, man. Their operation takes place in veues like this. I don't know if they're dealing here, or these are the clients, or—"
A sweet voice rose from the yelling and laughter and general chaos of the party, as if trying to find him among the dozens upon dozens of people. It rose above the racket like a melody, goosebumps exploded over his skin.
"What the fuck?"
He blurted the words out without even noticing.
"What's the matter?" Mark said, but Remy had to find her, once I see her it will be all right. I'll go back to business.
The crowd was full of young men and women, all dressed in the latest fashion styles. Mark and him never gave a crap about Versace or Gucci or whatever the fuck people put on to try to feel more important than they really were.
Most of the powerful people they knew, the heavy hitters, let their actions speak for themselves. Appearance mattered, of course, but it is what's inside what counts.
Remy kept on searching for her, following the voice among the racket around him. People danced, talked, and moved around taking glasses of wine from the waiters, as much as he tried, he couldn’t find her.
She giggled. A muted giggle that he was sure only he could hear, it made his heart race, and made every hair in his body bristle. Shivers ran from his neck down to his feet.
"God fucking dammit."
Mark put his hand on his shoulder, "man, are you paying attention?"
Remy was about to turn to him, forget about that voice, focus on what was at stake, no distractions on the job, but the crowd suddenly opened like a theater curtain parting, and finally showed him the real reason he was there for.
The most beautiful girl in the world. Her eyes brow and big, cute nose and eyebrows and lips and—
She had long, brown hair that fell well below her shoulders.
Oh my God.
She was like an angel, standing under soft, warm light, wearing a dark and gold dress. She sipped red wine and gazed to the floor as she covered her mouth, preventing her laughter from breaking out louder than she wanted to.
Her friend, a curly haired blonde, kept on talking and talking. Remy's muscles tightened for a second. He had to keep a low profile, not call attention to himself. He couldn't talk to her. Not here.
"Holy crap," Mark said, "who's that?"
Remy's heart thudded violently in his chest. Mark was a real Don Juan, able to get any girl he wanted. But this time, Remy didn't even want him to look at her.
"She's a fox," Mark continued. He balled his fists. He had to do something. He focused on the music. Sweet and soft and animated.
"She's mine," Remy said, his words deep and guttural, like a Viking ready to kill.
"Come on, man… you know I like curly hair."
Whoops.
"You're talking about the blonde?"
Mark grinned widely, this was good news. First, Remy wasn't looking at the girl he wanted, second, they could act together.
"We're here to work," Remy said.
"Well, we're working, it's not like we'll stop—"
"No, man. Let's focus on—"
Her laughter reached him again and he felt like his heart was exploding. As if his soul was connected to her, and she called him, softly, like a siren singing in the ocean, ready to turn his life around.
This wasn't good news. He was no longer a child. This was a test.
"You're right man," Mark replied, "besides, she's already taken."
Remy's stomach tightened. He turned to see a tall, sharply dressed, Italian-looking guy placing his arm around his woman's waist, his laughter booming over the music.
Remy didn't know what was going on inside of him. His protective instincts flared up… He wanted to kill that man. To show him how to treat a woman. You want to show him she’s yours.
But he was a gentleman, and she deserved better. She deserved someone with much less baggage, someone who wasn't the son of one of the most prominent criminal families in Chicago.
She deserved a normal, happy life.
He wanted to feel better about it. Tried to force himself to accept the fact that anyone would be better for her than him.
But the more he tried, the harder it got.
He couldn't take his eyes off of her.
You're not jealous.
He couldn't be. He'd never felt like this before. There are far too many women in the world to waste your time fighting for one.
"You look pale," Mark said.
He felt sick.
"I'm fine."
For the first time in his life, he wasn't on top of the situation.
"We need to focus on the job," he said, turning away, trying to forget about her.
They needed to find who was in charge here, and if they were a threat to his family.
Chapter 2
Julie
The evening was going great. All the important people were there: the gallery owners
, the artists and their posses, the managers… if things kept going like this, her clients would get farther than she dreamed.
The opening had been a complete success, they donated two paintings to the Children of Chicago Foundation, which was big enough news for the reporters to come and cover the event. They kept asking about Laureley Dubois work and why she thought her pieces were getting more and more expensive.
"So, I tell him," Nina said, her conversation as lively as ever, "if you think I'm gonna get in bed with you just because you bought me a drink, you're in for a surprise. His face was like what the fuck?"
She laughed so loudly, it was contagious, but Julie had to restrain herself. Her parents were around here somewhere, and they were way too conservative. Old school Italian-Americans, they still thought laughing out loud was too "un-ladylike."
"You told him that? What did he do?"
"You shoulda seen his face! Oh, my God, Julie, he choked on his beer, nodded and just left."
Julie laughed, covering her mouth, "you're an ass."
"He was good looking and all, but come on! They have to work harder for this."
She pointed at her butt. Julie laughed again.
"Where have all the gentlemen gone?"
"Really, Nina. You're looking for a gentleman now?"
"Hey, that's cheap, I'm not looking for anyone. I'm just… available. Free. Not all of us are freaking ice-queens you know?"
"Ice queen?" Julia was almost offended by her comment. Almost.
"You need to drop the facade, girl, you need to get a boyfriend and—"
"Evening, darlings."
She didn't even need to turn around to see who it was, his overconfident-in-a-bad-way tone of voice gave him away before she had to.
He put his arm around her and a shiver ran down her spine. The man was annoying, yes, but this was going too far.
She stepped away from him, but he held his hand firmly, trapping her.
"Trey," Nina said, her eyes meeting Julie's, seeing what was going on.
This is the worst place for this to happen. The ass hat knows it, that's why he took advantage.
She wasn't going to make a scene, it would cost her her image, and in the arts world, how people sees you counts for a lot more than she cared to admit.
"Nina and Jules,” Trey said, “I’ve been looking for you two all evening…" his grip tightened on her waist, "glad to see you came here alone."
Before Nina could reply, Julie put her hand on Trey's chest and pushed softly.
"We're not alone, Trey, we came here together."
"Yeah, but no dates? You should've come here with a man."
Nina rolled her eyes. Julie pushed a bit harder on his chest, she stepped back with a smile, making sure no one saw she was trying to escape his grip.
She pushed hard. He would either let go of her, or bring her closer to him. It was a risk, but she had to take it.
His arm held on tight. He wasn't budging. What a freaking dumbass.
"We didn't find a man worth bringing," Julie said, and his eyes flash with anger. Crap, I need to get away as fast as possible.
She coughed.
It came naturally, without thinking.
She coughed in his face and he immediately let her go.
She took another step back and finally got away from him, standing beside Nina.
"What about me?" He said.
Careful, you don't want to hurt this man's pride. He's an enemy not worth having.
"Didn't you hear?" Nina said, visibly annoyed, "she didn't find a man worth bringing, do you think that doesn't include you?"
Julie turned to Nina, a part of her wanted to go hide somewhere, who knows what this man would do… another part of her wanted to smile.
Who the hell does he think he is?
Trey stared at Nina, his eyes burning with fury.
"Be careful, Nina, don't talk to me like that."
Nina pressed her lips so tight they turned white, but didn't say anything back.
He turned to Julie, "I was talking to you," he asked, taking a step forward, "you're too good for me now?"
He was a ticking bomb, ready to make a scene and ruin the party up just to feel like a man. This was business, she couldn't risk his anger.
"I—"
"There you are, girls!" Said someone just beside her, placing his hand on her lower back and letting go instantly, what?
A tall guy stood by her side and smiled.
Dark hair, square jaw, and deep green eyes. He was movie star handsome. Goosebumps flared all over her body.
She'd never seen him, who was he?
He looked incredibly fit, tall, wide back and thick hard arms.
And his smile. Oh my God. She could lose herself in that smile.
It had just been a brief moment and she already felt like she'd been staring at him for hours. The man turned to Trey and spoke in his deep, masculine voice.
"Sorry we took so long."
He wore black fitted pants and a blazer over his shirt, he's not an artist, the way he acts is too… natural.
He wasn't a manager either. He wasn't trying to prove anything to anyone, or worse, wasn't trying to fit in, he just behaved like a normal person would.
He was friendly and in full control of the situation, standing two feet away from her, facing Trey, his eyes fixed on him.
Another guy stepped beside Nina. His hair was black, his skin tanned. He wore a light blue dress shirt and a purple tie; dark, fitted pants completed the outfit. He looked like a big shot lawyer.
They appeared out of nowhere, who are these guys? She was sure she didn't know them.
"Are you going to introduce me to your friend?" The green-eyed guy said to her easily, as if they were friends from a long time ago.
She didn't say anything at first, what's going on?
"I'm Remy," he said, extending his hand to Trey, "I've never seen you before."
Trey was dumbfounded. He's not buying it.
"You…" He said stepping back, but common courtesy forced him to shake Remy's hand.
"Yeah, we came here together, what's your name again?"
Trey looked behind him and met her eyes. He was shocked.
"Didn't you say—"
"You're late," Julie said to the guy, following along. She would get rid of Trey first, then she would deal with these two guys.
"We had to come here alone."
"Yeah," he said, turning to the girls, "sorry we're late, you know how long Mark takes to get ready. He thinks he's a princess or something."
"Shut up, dumbass," his friend said, and both laughed. It had been a while since she met people who actually talked like people.
Most men she met were so utterly transparent about their intentions they acted weird.
All of them wanted to date the daughter of the great Charles Crawford. It wasn't her they were interested in. It was the power her family had.
"I'm John Philips the—"
"He's Trey," Julie interrupted, she didn't want him saying his full name followed by the third, it was embarrassing even for her.
"Well, nice meeting you, Trey," the stranger said and turned his back to him, facing her.
"Want to go get a glass of wine?"
She eyed Nina, who just shrugged rose her eyebrows, as if saying I don't know either! so it was all on her.
"Sure, Remy, I thought you weren't coming."
He held his arm up for her and she took it.
"Ma'am," he said, and she giggled as they walked toward the edge of the room, away from the crowd.
Trey just stood there stupefied. This was a good way of getting rid of him, his insistence on dating her was now borderline psychopathic, and it wasn't a secret he was only doing it to better himself in her father's ranks.
She didn't want a thug as a boyfriend, much less a dumb, macho one.
Once they were away from Trey, she let go of Remy. Nina and Mark followed them, shouldering their way through the crowd.
/> "Where are we going?" Julie asked.
Remy eyed her for a brief moment, stepping away from an older woman who talked loudly and wore a small, tight dress.
Remy's hand brushed with Julie’s and the whole world stopped for a second.
"I don't know," he said, "I just wanted to steal you from that guy."
She felt butterflies in her stomach, this guy was—
"Smooth," Nina said with a laugh, just behind them, the turned to Mark, "are you like him?"
"Not so cheesy, no," he replied, grabbing a glass of wine from a waiter, and getting Nina one, Remy did the same.
Julie smiled. She hardly knew these guys. Yeah, they were handsome, but she had more important things to think about.
They clanged their glasses and sipped their wine.
"So," she said, "who are you guys?"
Chapter 3
Remy
Shit.
Remy eyed Mark. He'd been so eager to take her away from that motherfucker back there that he forgot about laying low.
And you told them your real name, you idiot.
"I'm Mark," his friend said, "and this is—"
"Remy Morgan."
He wasn't going to lie on the first day they met. That always ended up badly.
Telling the truth will end up badly, too.
"And you guys are like, what, agents?" The blonde girl said, "looking for talent?"
Mark was about to nod but Remy spoke first.
"We're crashing this party, actually."
Both girls just blinked, their faces still wondering whether he was joking or not.
Mark shrugged, "that we are!" He said, and gulped his drink.
Remy turned to the brunette girl beside him and smiled.
"We're tired of clubs."
The curly haired girl laughed so loud everyone turned towards them, but Remy's attention was focused on the girl he just took away from that vulture back there.
"What's your name?" He asked her.
Her eyes, big and brown stared deep into his soul, the moment he touched her for the first time, just a minute or two ago, were enough for him to want to own her. Calm down you fuck, calm down.
But it was too late. When he accidentally grazed her hand he knew it. The girl was meant to be his.
Whatever it takes.
The words came to his mind without him even wanting to. It would have scared him, but he feared nothing.