by Lauren Wood
Royce couldn’t let Caleb ruin the one thing that he had found that was better than all these five years. He couldn’t deny that the money and the power was something that he didn’t want to be without. He could only hope that he could talk his way out with Caleb, but he was aware that Caleb was not a man that would do things out of the goodness of his heart. He had always had a motive to his madness, even if it wasn’t completely clear to those that he dealt with on a daily basis.
“You don’t know how much I want to be honest with you. It hurts me to think that you would even consider walking away from all of this. My heart breaks knowing that I am putting you through something like this. If I were a better man, I would let you walk out those doors and never see me again. You are my superstar and the one woman that has never been in my life. I’m really not good for you, but that won’t stop me from trying to show you that I can change for the better.” He wanted to believe the words that were coming out of his mouth, but this kind of money had changed him and he wasn’t sure, if he wanted to go back to the man that he was.
“I have been courted by many men, but only you have made me think that men are not all pigs and only after one thing. I can’t say that I’m not pleased by the attention that you have given me. Your way of seduction is hard to resist and believe me it has nothing to do with the limousine and everything to do with the man.” I wanted him again, but I wasn’t going to do anything, until he shed some light on all of this. He was willing, but something was preventing him from opening his mouth and spilling the beans.”
“I’m going to leave you with this one thought. I believe that the world is a vampire set to drain the very life from our bones. When someone comes along with a lifeline, it’s hard to refuse. You know that you’re making a mistake and that it will come back to haunt you, but at the time it makes sense. I really don’t know where I would be, if I hadn’t done what I did five years ago. I’m not going to go into a lengthy discussion, because he probably has ears everywhere.” Despite his misgivings, he had given in to something that he knew was wrong. He saw the smug look on Caleb’s face and the way that he held out the pen in his hand. He knew by taking it that he had signed his life away and all for the chance to become something that he wasn’t.
She stepped out of the limousine taking that walk of fame and wondering if what he had to say would make her love him even more or hate him till the day that she died. She was shaking at the very notion that his words could stain the love that she felt for him. “I feel like I am a rat in a cage with nowhere to go. He dangles a piece of cheese in my face and he expects me to jump when I’m called. I don’t know if I can live like that, but I don’t know if I can live without him.”
Royce put his hand against her cheek finding her laying back against it with her eyes closed and a sigh of contentment coming from her lips. “Tonight might have made no sense, but trust me tomorrow is another day. I will ask you one favor and that is to give me a chance. I also need you to pack a bag and be ready to leave this life behind in the rearview mirror.” He saw the shock on your face and the very notion of leaving and not looking back was not a promising start to their relationship. “I don’t want to scare you, but that man cannot be trusted, as far as I can throw him. I have this feeling that having relations with him was the worst mistake of my life. Do you think that you can trust me enough to walk away? Do you think that you can come with me on an adventure that will always have you guessing?”
“I’m not sure that I can give you an answer right now. I will say that I’m not opposed to leaving and starting over somewhere fresh. There is really nothing here that is tying me down. I don’t think that Tony would be very surprised, if I were to disappear one day. He knows that I’m too good to be some bar jockey.” “There are times that I feel like giving up, but this is not one of those times. I will try to keep an open mind and hope that he’s not some kind of axe murderer on the lam from the authorities. There are very few things that can make me forget about who we are together, but there are also those things that are unforgivable.”
Royce wanted to sweep her up off her feet and carry her into her home. He would lay her down gently and peel away the innocence with her hands handcuffed to the headboard, while he used her, as his own personal playground of pleasure. He could tell that she was open and ready to experience all that there was to the kinky side of sex. Her lust was unbound in the limo and the way that they immersed into the pleasures of the flesh was not for the faint of heart.
He looked down at his phone and was stunned that this man would have the gall to make this kind of request. He couldn’t say no, but now he had to convince Nicole that she had to see this through to the end. “I told you that I would have some answers, but it would appear that the man himself wants to say his peace. Both of us will be here tomorrow morning and I do hope that you are ready for what he has to say. He wants me to stay out of it and let you make up your mind on your own. You may think that I like to play games, but I don’t even come close to what he’s capable of.” Royce didn’t even wanna say his name.
“I really don’t want to see him again. If it’s that important to you, then I will begrudgingly agree.” “This guy sounds like a piece of work and Royce is probably right about not trusting him. He obviously has some sort of agenda or maybe he just gets a sick thrill out of playing with people’s lives. I don’t know, but I guess I’m going to find out in short order. I’m kind of looking forward to hearing what all of this is about. I’m putting the pieces together, but they really don’t fit.” “I thought that I might not get much sleep tonight, but now I know that I’m not even going to get a wink. He had laid a lot on my shoulders. If he were anybody else, I would tell them to go to hell.”
There was a light drizzle and Royce had taken off his coat and draped it over her head. It was over both of their heads and getting wet did not concern Royce. He had more things to worry about than having to take a shower or comb his hair back to make it look like he was more presentable. There was not a hair out of place and that came from a hairdresser that really did know what they were doing. It was a small expense and one that he could afford for now.
“I can’t get over how beautiful you are in the moonlight. I wouldn’t blame you in the very least to run screaming into the night. I think that it has come, as a surprise to me that you have made me feel this deeply for you. I kind of hate you for that, but I also know that I could never be mad at you for long. I’ve never been one to lose control, but seeing you face to face is a lot more unnerving than I expected. I thought that everything would fall into place. I might have stood a chance had Cal…that man not come back into my life.”
“I thought that I died alone a long time ago, but then you recharged my heart and made it beat again. You opened up my eyes and made me see that life didn’t have to be this mundane existence. I may have walked away from a lot of money, but I think that I made the right decision for myself. I didn’t need the constant hassle or that feeling of something laying heavily on my chest. I regret to tell you that I have that feeling right now. I hope that tomorrow morning you can take that away.” “It doesn’t have to be this way, but he insists on making it more difficult than it has to be. I don’t know much about this man that I’m going to meet tomorrow morning, but I’m really not looking forward to it. If he is capable of smashing out the window of the limousine and placing the gun inside with the express purpose of scaring us out of our wits, then I don’t really want anything do with him. I’m only doing this for him and I don’t think that I could say that about anybody else.”
“I know that you said that you won’t be able to get some sleep, but you are really going to need your rest. The bombshell that is going to drop into your lap is something that will shock you. I do want you to remember to take anything that he says with a grain of salt. He likes to embellish and to make you think something that isn’t true. I got caught in his trap and I hope to god that you don’t find yourself in that same position. I actually h
ope to god that nobody else is subjected to his whims. I have this feeling that I’m not the only one that has crossed paths with him.” He wrapped his hands around her waist feeling her hot body and wanting nothing more than to have a moment in the rain.
This moment was more PG rated, when he wanted more of an x rated version. He could only imagine what her skin would look like with droplets of water cascading down her body. He wanted to trace each of those drops with his tongue to ignite the fire that had been extinguished.
“I’ll try, but I’m not sure if I can promise anything. You should also go home and get some rest. I would ask you in, but that would be a guarantee of neither one of us getting any sleep. I’m not sure that would be a bad thing, but I get this feeling I’m going to have to be ready.” “I see the worry on his face and I just hope that he’s making more of this than it has to be. It’s going to be interesting to hear the truth.
Chapter 3
Nicole did get about 2 hours of sleep, but it was the caffeine that she was drinking out on a balcony that was making the most difference. There was a chill in the air, but she couldn’t feel it. She was staring out at the horizon and the way the sun was coming up to announce another day. She was anxious to hear the knock on her door, but she was also hesitant to open it.
The rest of the night had gone very slowly. She’d never had a night go by that way. She had looked at the clock to see that only a minute had passed each time. She tried to occupy her mind with a book or even late night television, but it was to no avail. “I feel jittery and it has nothing to do with the caffeine running through my veins. I feel like I’m about to open up that door and reveal that was Royce has told me was nothing but lies. I know that what he feels to me is real, but everything else is this face that he puts on for the rest of the world. I’ve seen small moments that he lets me in, but then he closes that door, as quickly as he cracks it open. I tried to stick my foot into the opening and to wedge my way into his heart. I think for the most part I have accomplished that.”
The world that she loved was the one that was with Royce. She believed that communication was the key to any good relationship. Friendship can turn into love, as long as there was trust and honesty amongst those that cared for each other.
The doorbell rang and she went to open it to find both men standing there. Royce didn’t look at all comfortable in his own skin. He seemed to be taking things in stride, but there was something about the way that this man put his arm around his shoulder that made him cringe at the very thought of having him this close to him again.
“I have to tell you that what I have learned about you, Nicole is a bit of a surprise. You were amongst the elite and then you left it all behind for a simpler way of living. This place really doesn’t do you justice and the condominium that you had in the city was a lot more your style. I understand that you have to make compromises in order to find that happiness that was out of reach. I think that you’ll find that you and Royce have a lot more in common than you thought you did.” Caleb took off his jacket and was wearing a very pristine white suit that made him look like an angel, but he may as well have been wearing horns on the top of his head.
“I have some coffee boiling in a pot and being a good host, I think that it would be a good idea that I offer you some. I’ll go get another couple of cups and I will join the both of you in the living room. I will say right from the very beginning that I don’t like the way that you make Royce feel.” “I thought it best that I tell this man how I feel. It doesn’t look like it has affected him and apparently he doesn’t really care about what I have to say. His smile should be putting me at ease, but it is only raising my radar and making me vividly aware that he’s in my home. Royce tried to set my mind at ease last night, but he was doing it in the wrong way. I really should have taken it slow; so that I would see that everything was going to work out the way that it was supposed to.”
Her hands were shaking with the coffee cups and some of it was spilling over onto her hand. The burning feel of that liquid touching her skin made her want to scream, but she didn’t wanna give that man inside her living room that kind of satisfaction. She walked gingerly and then Royce appeared with his hands touching hers to settle her nerves. He didn’t say anything and all that Nicole needed was to feel that he was close at hand.
They sat down on the same couch across from the man that had his leg crossed over the other. He had his hands in his lap and his dark hair was now pulled back into a ponytail. He had the scruff of a 5:00 shadow on his face and his blue eyes seemed to see through to her very soul. It sent a chill down your spine and she actually thought that somebody was walking on her grave. This guy had no emotion and whatever he was doing; he was doing it for the sheer joy of making somebody feel uncomfortable.
“I would like to tell you that I get no joy from this, but that’s not exactly true. The only thing that I find in life that gives me any kind of enjoyment is doing this. I hope that he hasn’t been a bad boy and told you of the deal that we made five years ago.” Caleb saw that they were looking at each other and it was obvious that something had been said, but not enough to fully reveal the extent of their relationship. “I’m going to tell you a story and it’s going to sound like a fable or some kind of fantasy, but believe me everything that I’m going to tell you is the god honest truth.”
Nicole saw that he was ready to begin and decided to interject one last thought. “You probably think that you are hard to read, but I don’t think that it’s all that difficult. You’re bored and you need to make others miserable to feed some craving that is a little hard to digest. You should be ashamed of your actions, but that’s not how it is. You want others to fear you and be intimidated, but that is the one thing that you’re not going to find with me.” I’m trying to show more courage than I don’t want him to think that I can be walked over. He obviously knows the power that he wields, but what he doesn’t realize is that I’ve never been what most people would call a pushover. Being in that business for years taught me that people lie all the time and you just need to read between the lines to see the truth.”
“I like that you can show this kind of conviction and not mean a word of it. Anyway, Royce and I have a contract that gives him everything he wants for five years. You think that he was always like this, but what he’s living is a lie. I gave him five years and in return he gave me his soul.” Caleb let that word linger in the air and enjoyed the awkward silence that followed. “I call myself the devil and I don’t think that any word is more fitting to describe me. He has less than 12 hours and then all of his money vanishes. He will be left the same that he was with one subtle difference. He can never have that money again and if he were to try, I will snatch it out of his grip, as fast as he is able to make it.” Caleb enjoyed the look on Nicole’s face and now he was ready to hear any kind of argument to the contrary.
“You like to throw that term around and we both know that it’s not true. You could easily give him back his life, but you don’t want to. You take these contracts too seriously when they are really not worth the ink that is printed on the paper. It’s definitely not legal and would not hold up in the court of law. There is no such thing, as money growing on trees. You know that there’s no rest for the wicked.” I can see that he’s not swayed by my words. He thinks that it matters to me that Royce has money. I’m not going to deny that I like the finer things, but I also lived by having mouths to feed in my family. I sacrificed a lot for the chance to get away from all that, but I never really knew how good I had it.”
“There is a way, but I don’t think that you’re willing to entertain that idea. Let me throw another proposal out there for the both of you, as a couple. I will give you five more years of influence and power in the palm of your hands. You would have all the money that you could ever want and you can take it and turn it into millions more like Royce has done. I have to say that I was very impressed by his ingenuity and there are very few that I have worked with in the past that h
ave even come close to amassing his kind of fortune. The only thing I ask is that at the end of those five years that you stay together in poverty and wallow in self pity.” Caleb was having the time of his life knowing that he was laying down the ultimatum and hoping that they would be stupid enough to grab onto that lifeline one more time.
“You are despicable and somebody should do something about you before it’s too late. You can’t possibly believe that anything that you do is right. I’ve sat here for too long and it’s time that I finally say what’s on my mind. I was foolish to get into bed with you metaphorically speaking. I thought that money was everything, but it doesn’t even compare to the love of a good woman. You can take your proposal and stuff it where the sun doesn’t shine. I think it’s time that we sever ties.” Royce was showing that he had backbone and was not going to stand idly by and let Nicole walk down the same path that he did.
“I would be very careful about what you say next, Royce or should I say Randal. The name that you have carried with you is also mine and a product of my imagination. I made you who you are and it’s about time that I take it back and give it to another. You do know the reason why I have made it part of the deal that you stay out of the public eye. I can’t have you destroying the myth and legend of Royce Hamilton. I really don’t like your attitude and you are starting to grate on my last nerve. Be careful, or I might decide that your name is not the only thing that I take from you. The only thing that you have left in this world that means anything to you is the girl and the very life that you breathe. Trust me; I have no problem taking either one of those out of your hands.” I thought that I made it abundantly clear that this discussion with Nicole was going to be one on one.” By interfering, he felt like Randal was getting dangerously close to walking off a very short pier.