by Rose Haven
It felt good to be out of the house and away from Chase. Into the fresh air instead of the stifling house where emotions were tense, secrets ran rampant and her heart was becoming more and more involved. She knew it was a mistake to fall for Chase. Again. She knew she would get hurt but she couldn’t seem to say no to him. Luckily they would be going back home soon. She hoped. And home meant she could reschedule her date and forget about Chase Silver.
Her musings were interrupted by a familiar sound. The whir of a camera sounded again, this time louder and more noticeable. She kept her eyes closed and pretended to sniff the red tipped yellow rose before her so she could hear where the stealth photographer was shooting. There it was again, the click and the whir. It came from just behind her and to the left. Brooke stood slowly and turned keeping her eyes on the flowers instead of the wild brush beyond. She turned and turned and turned and stopped. Her eyes caught on a slight figure in a black hoodie, an expensive looking camera protruding from their face. The hooded figure looked around the camera and held the gaze for a moment but his eyes were covered by large aviator sunglasses perched on his face, at least she assumed it was a he. He took a few more pictures and casually walked away.
Brooke wasn’t so casual, she hauled ass through the rose garden and back around the greenhouse and down the long stretch of grass that lead to Silver House. She barreled into the kitchen past Galina and down the hall to where the men were and stopped in front of the large dark wooden door. She heard voices but they were muffled by the door so she did what any good assistant would do, she placed her ear right against the door.
“I don’t see why you boys have your panties in such a twist. Settle down with a nice young woman and you can retain control of the company. Don’t and you’ll lose everything.”
She heard the deep baritone of Jackson’s voice. “This is ridiculous dad. You can’t trust a relationship built on the fear of losing our life’s work.”
“Maybe,” Vance began. He looked at each of his sons thoughtfully. “But some of you can’t even see what’s right in front of you.” He sent Chase a pointed look.
“Don’t look at me Dad. I’m single and I plan to stay that way for a long while.”
Of course he does, she berated herself. She felt like an idiot. While she was having visions of happily ever after swirling in her head, he was seducing her for Silver Enterprises. He didn’t have to seduce you since you threw yourself at him, her inner voice taunted. The voice was right, she had pretty much thrown herself at him and Chase was only guilty of taking what she offered.
“You’re lying to yourself son. Brooke is the perfect woman. She’s beautiful, intelligent and capable. She’ll make sure your home and work life runs like a well-oiled machine.”
Brooke had heard enough. With all the anger that had built up in the last few minutes she ripped the doors open and stared at the two men responsible for the pain in her chest and the stinging behind her eyes. “I can’t believe you. Either of you!” She looked to Vance, disgust written on her face. “You think you can manipulate your sons to make up for your mistakes.” She turned her attention to Chase. “And you! I made it really easy for you didn’t I? Fell into your bed so quickly you must’ve felt like it was Christmas morning. I’m sure the fact that I was in love with you for the past five years just helped make sure you kept your precious Silver Enterprises. Thank goodness you cured me of those affections.”
Brooke turned to leave but stopped and turned, unwilling to let him see how close she was to tears. “You’ll have to find another love struck idiot Chase because I’m done. With you and with SE.” She shook her head at her own foolishness. “The reason I came in here was to tell you that some guy in a hoodie was taking pictures of me in the rose garden.” She turned and walked away. She had bags to pack.
Chapter Five
The sound of her footsteps walking away from him grew quieter and quieter and Chase was sure that sound was a metaphor or something for his relationship with Brooke. “Dammit!”
“Are you just going to stand her and curse a blue streak or are you going after her?” Vance’s eyes narrowed at his son, that shrewd look that intimidated competitors hung on his face like a work of art. “I didn’t take you for a coward, boy.”
“I am not a coward.” His father said nothing, just raised one eyebrow in challenge. “I’m not!”
His brothers tried and failed to stifle their laughter.
“Screw you guys.” He finished his drink and left the room in a hurry, thundering up the stairs as if he was being chased. He wasn’t about to let Brooke run away from him, from them and what they could have. Damn Vance and his meddling. But he knew he couldn’t blame Vance entirely. He did have feelings for Brooke, had for at least the last year, but he should have told her about Vance’s newest plan.
He threw open her door and took in the scene. Her long waves were tossed in a haphazard bun at the top of her head, eyes suspiciously glassy and a vacant expression on her face. His mind registered the clothes in her hand and the open suitcase on her bed. She was leaving. “Going somewhere?”
She didn’t spare him a glance as she worked. “I would think the answer to that is obvious.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, one foot over the other ankle in a relaxed pose that betrayed the mess going on inside of him. “I didn’t take you for a coward Brooke.”
“No you just took me for a fool and I played right into it.”
Chase was getting more upset by the second. She wouldn’t look at him and although her words cut deep, her voice was blank, cold as if she couldn’t muster up enough effort to even care. “I didn’t Brooke, really. I have never taken you for a fool.”
She sighed heavily and slammed her suitcase shut. “Look Chase its fine, really. You only took what I offered so don’t worry about it.” She shook her head, still upset she’d been a fool after she’d already resolved to forget Chase Silver.
“Is that what you think? That you were just a convenience, a warm body?”
The distraught look on his face tugged at her heart but she wouldn’t let it matter. Couldn’t let it matter. “What else should I believe? You never gave me the time of day since I started working for you and the week you decide to pay me a little attention happens to be the same week your father tells you to find a woman to settle down with or lose your company? Excuse me if I find the timing a tad suspicious.”
“You work for me! How could I have hit on you as your boss?”
“I am still your employee. Aren’t I?”
Damn that ice queen act was pissing him off. He wanted his sweet, warm Brooke back who welcomed him into her heart and her body. “Why are you being this way Brooke?”
“I have to Chase because I need to protect myself.”
He stepped closer until her scent wrapped around him and pulled him closer. “From me?” His heart ached when her shoulders slumped.
“Yes Chase. From you. I’ve been in love with you for years and I’d finally decided to move on. Then you go and make me fall for you all over again and I find out it wasn’t real. So yes, I need to protect myself, my heart. From you Chase.”
“So that’s it? I’ve already been tried and convicted?”
She shrugged dismissively. It would be great to believe that the past week was real, that his feelings were real. But they weren’t and she’d always question it. Brooke sat her suitcase by the door and turned back to Chase, her nipples pressed against his chest and she cursed her instant reaction to his nearness. “I’ll never forget the time we had together,” she gifted him a sad smile, her fingers curling into his hair. “It was wonderful, the best week I’ve ever had. But I’m in love with you and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. So this has to be goodbye.” She tightened her grip on the hair at the nape of his neck and pulled him down for a kiss that was sad, passionate, intense and like every other kiss between then, it quickly turned to something more.
Chase’s hands rubbed their way down her back an
d wrapped around her ass, pulling her closer to him. He groaned when she sucked his tongue and nipped his bottom lip. “Don’t do this Brooke. Please.”
She pulled out of his grasp. “I have to Chase. I-I’m sorry.”
He pulled her back to him, his forehead pressed close to hers. “Okay fine, here it is. The reason I never…pursued anything with you is because I like you. Too much. I would rather have you in my life as my assistant than fuck things up with you and lose you forever.” He looked on in horror as a single tear streamed down her face and disappeared at the shy smile that spread across her face. “Don’t cry baby. Please,” he urged.
“I just, I don’t’ know. I mean.” She laughed nervously at her failed attempt to formulate a sentence. “Okay let’s try this again. I never thought I’d hear you say words like that to me.” The toothy grin that split his face somehow brightened hers as well and more nervous laughter followed. “Chase I really don’t want you to break my heart.”
He pulled her closer, his hands never leaving the warmth of her ass. “Never. I couldn’t, wouldn’t ever do anything that would make this gorgeous face crumple with tears or sadness. I love you. A little more each day.” He captured her mouth in a kiss that quickly went from sweet and nice to hot and flammable within seconds.
Before Brooke could respond to that heart melting declaration she was naked on the bed and Chase was poised at her entrance ready to love her body. “Now Chase,” she urged and cried out as he slid deep into her. She couldn’t say anything, could only feel when he grabbed one leg and hooked it over his waist so he could go deeper and deeper. He pulled almost all the way out and pounded into her over and over until she was panting and scratching his back and the bed sheets. He kept up the feverish pace until she squeezed him tight and her orgasm washed over her and locked him in a tight grip that brought forth his own orgasm.
They laid together, bodies still attached and breaths coming in too quickly. Brooke rubbed his back and his lips caressed her neck, her shoulders and then her mouth. “You taste so good.” He whispered and licked her neck again, smiling at the shivers that ran up and down her body. “So damn good.” She clenched around him and he groaned. “Okay you feel good too baby.”
She giggled. “I love you Chase.”
He looked at her and saw her love for him shining in her eyes, her smile. He felt it in the way she made love, the way she took care of him every day and gave him a hard time when he was being an ass.
Yes his father was wrong to hold Silver Enterprises hostage but he was right about Brooke. She was damned perfect. “I love you too, Brooke. Always.” He rolled over so she was on top and she looked gorgeous with her head thrown back in ecstasy, golden hair cascading down her back, breasts thrust out inches from his mouth. “So fucking beautiful.”
She smiled down at him, still circling her hips against him. “And so ready for a shower.” She separated their bodies with a wince and walked to the en suite bathroom. She looked over her shoulder and caught him staring at her ass. “Join me?”
He didn’t have to be asked twice.
Chapter Six
“Dad I appreciate the sentiment of what you were trying to do,” his brothers groaned across the dinner table from he and Brooke. “But you can’t hold the company hostage until we do what you want. Your meddling almost messed up things between Brooke and I.” He held up her hand and kissed the inside of her palm, smiling into her eyes.
Vance raised his glass filled with amber liquid in their direction. “But it all worked out, didn’t it?”
“It did,” Brooke smiled. “But only because I’ve had feelings for your son for a long time. If I was a new woman I could never trust his feelings for me were genuine or if I was just a means to an end. I hope you think about that with these two,” she tilted her wine glass toward Ethan and Jackson.
Ethan shook his head. “Don’t worry about me because it isn’t happening.”
Brooke noticed Vance’s smile dim at Ethan’s words but she had a feeling Jackson would be the next of the billionaire brothers to fall. He winked at Galina and she blushed before leaving the dining room. “Okay fine, I’ll back off. A little.”
“That’s good news dad because I’ve found the woman I want to marry and make plenty of babies with,” he paused just to make his dad squirm. “But your meddling has created some issues so I’m not going to rush my relationship with Brooke just to keep my job. A job I’m damned good at by the way.”
The moment between them was tense. Vance stared at Chase with a blank look on his face and Chase stared back, his look giving away nothing. “Fair enough son.” He lifted his glass and toasted Chase and the woman he would marry. Soon, hopefully. “I’m glad to see you so happy. That’s all I wanted for you. Plus a few grandbabies for me.”
Chase nodded in understanding. He knew his dad’s intentions were good but his execution left a lot to be desired. “Thanks.”
Ethan finished off his whiskey and slammed his glass down much harder than was necessary. “All this love talk is great. Congratulations Chase and Brooke.” He looked around at each person at the table. They were his family. “But what are we going to do about the person stalking our family?”
THE END
Regency Romance
A Prize to Be WON
Defiant Lords Series
Rose Haven
Regency Romance: A Prize to Be WON
Chapter One
Lady Rebecca Thompson could not believe her ears. She’d just been told by one of her reliable sources that her brother, Lord Peter Thompson, the Earl of Leicester, had lost a major part of their estate in a wager. She was furious beyond words. Peter had gone a bit too far this time. How could he wager their estate like that! It was not like he was the sole owner of the property; her father had expressly mentioned in his will that she was entitled to half the estate. He probably knew that his son was too much like him and that he could not trust him with the entire estate.
Rebecca already bore the brunt of being the daughter of a man who with the reputation of being a womanizer and a gambler. She knew all too well that the daughter of such a man was considered a social pariah. None of the ladies of the ton wanted their sons to shower their attention on her, let alone marry her. All her dreams of marrying well into polite society came crashing down last season. She did not intend to attend this year’s season due to all those bitter memories.
As if this black spot on their reputation was not enough, Peter was now hell bent on sullying their family name further through his foolish actions. It was well known that beautiful women were his weakness, but of late, he’d started gambling too. He was totally like their father in his actions and words but, unfortunately, he hadn’t inherited the old man’s good luck. While their father had amassed an enviable fortune in gambling, Peter was the exact opposite. He’d lost a good amount of that fortune in wagers and now he’d apparently even lost the estate.
Rebecca had to confront him over this issue. How could he wager something that did not entirely belong to him? She knew that Peter would be completely drunk by the time he returned, but she wanted to talk to him anyway. No one could stop her from unleashing her fury on her fatheaded brother.
Alex, the butler, interrupted her thoughts to let her know that Lord Peter was waiting for her in the study. Rebecca felt a twinge of self-righteousness. So, he want to talk about his foolishness, after all. When she entered the study and looked at her brother’s face, she realized that he was sober. For the first time in her life, she felt real dread. The look on Peter’s face told her that something very ominous had happened.
“Rebecca, please come in and have a seat.”
“What am I hearing Peter?” she asked, trying to sound as stern as possible. “Have you lost the estate in a wager?”
“So, you’ve already heard about it?” He looked a little flustered but relieved all the same. “I was thinking of an appropriate way to disclose this information to you.”
“Have you lost you
r mind? How could you? Don’t you know that half of the estate belongs to me? I already have to bear the consequences of father’s actions and now you leave me no option but to die a spinster! Do you feel no responsibility towards me?”
“I know I have been a complete moron and I am really sorry for it. But you must understand that I cannot change what has happened, we’ve lost the estate Rebecca. We’ve lost it!” Tears rolled down his cheeks. Rebecca could see guilt mixed with extreme helplessness in his eyes. She had never seen her brother so broken and frail before, not even when their mother died.
“But….but how is that possible? Doesn’t half of it belong to me? And lawfully, you can wager only what is yours, right? So that means that half of it is still safe. No one can take that away from us; I didn’t give you the permission to wager my part too,” Rebecca tried to reason. Although she was not much aware of the legalities of the system, she knew that Peter could not wager her part of the estate without her permission.
“I am the owner of the entire estate Rebecca,” Peter said in a small voice. Rebecca looked at him, stunned.
“What are you saying? Don’t you remember father’s will? He mentioned that…..”
“You…..you remember a few months back I asked you to sign some papers?” Rebecca nodded silently. Oh Jesus! Please don’t let her worst fears come true! She didn’t like where the conversation was heading.
“I told you that I needed some funds to start a new venture and asked for your signature to sell off some joint property. Well, in those papers, I had hidden a paper wherein it was mentioned that you relinquished your right to the estate in my favor.”
Once again, Rebecca found it hard to believe her ears. Her own brother had done this to her, deceived her in the worst possible way!