by Penelope Sky
“Wait until you see it in the morning.” I undressed and tossed my clothes on the hardwood floor. I’d been wearing the same thing for hours, and I was eager to shower and appreciate a bottle of scotch.
She came back inside and shut the doors behind her. “I can tell it’s beautiful without seeing anything. The air is nice…reminds me of home.”
I was sure she was homesick all the time, but I never felt bad for her. She didn’t have freedom, but she still had the opportunity to see the world on my dime. I scooped the ice cubes into the glass and poured some scotch.
London eyed my action judgmentally. “Crewe, you’ve been drinking all day.”
“I’m aware.”
“Just from friendly advice, step it down a notch.”
“Noted.” I downed half of the glass before I returned it to the counter. “I’m gonna get in the shower. When I get out, I expect to see you naked on the bed with your ass in the air. Got it?” I didn’t want to talk for the rest of the night. I just wanted to fuck her from behind and stare at that beautiful little asshole then go to sleep.
A fire always leapt in her eyes when I told her what to do, but she invariably controlled her mouth. “Yes, sir.”
I knew it was so hard for her to answer that way, and knowing she struggled made me hard. I loved conquering an unconquerable woman. It gave me the kind of power I craved, the kind of undeniable control I needed constantly. I turned to walk into the shower.
“Can I ask something?”
I turned around even though I shouldn’t have. I stared her down and silently gave her permission to speak her mind.
“Is everything okay with Ariel?”
Ariel was focused on business and business alone. That was why I liked her so much, trusted her instincts as well as my own. “We worked it out.”
She slowly nodded, obviously wanting more detail than that. “What’s her problem with me? Maybe there’s something I can do to annoy her less.”
There was nothing London could do to annoy her less. London would have to stop being beautiful, stop stealing my focus, and stop being the ornery spitfire that she was. All the women I encountered were poised and refined, always behaving with class that was borderline boring. London would have to change everything about herself. “No.”
I woke up the next morning with London on her side of the bed. We fucked every night before we slept, but we never cuddled. She always stuck to her side of the bed, and I stuck to mine.
Which was how I preferred it.
I showered then got dressed just when she woke up.
She sat up and stretched her arms over her head, the sheets falling and revealing her perfect rack. Her hair was a mess from the way she rolled around, and the sleep was heavy in her eyes. Her gaze immediately went to the window, which was covered by the curtain.
I read her thoughts and pulled on the string so she could see the view. The Tuscan hillside immediately became apparent, the green grass and the distant vineyards easy to see.
She stared with wide eyes, taking in her first sight of the beautiful country.
I opened the door and found my breakfast tray on the ground where I instructed my crew to leave it. Two coffees and two breakfast plates were prepared for me and my guest. I carried it to the table and sat down.
London’s eyes followed me. “Can I join you?”
I nodded and sipped my coffee.
She pulled on one of my shirts that was left on the ground then sat across from me. Her brown hair was wavy but still soft. Her green eyes were a lot more vibrant now that she had a full night of sleep. She cupped her mug with both hands before she smelled the steam.
I watched every move. “What are you doing?”
“What?”
“Are you smelling the coffee?”
She took a drink before she set it down. “So? I like the smell of coffee.”
She looked so cute when she did it, but I refused to tell her that.
“People smell wine before they drink it.”
True. I wasn’t a big wine drinker, so I’d never personally done it.
“What’s on the agenda today?”
I cut into my egg whites and greens. “I’m meeting with my suppliers this afternoon. Need a few things.”
“Am I joining you?”
I never mixed business with pleasure. “No.”
“So what am I going to do? Stay here all afternoon?”
“Yep.”
Her face contorted into one of annoyance. “I’m in a beautiful place. I’d like to see more of it.”
“Meeting my suppliers isn’t going to facilitate that.”
“It’s better than being stuck in here. You know I’m not going to walk around when Dunbar is hanging around.”
I drank my coffee. “I know he’s a bit ominous, but he would never seriously hurt you—unless you deserved it.”
“His standards for punishment are much lower than yours.” She drank her coffee then stared bleakly at her breakfast. “Seriously, this looks like shit.”
“It’s good for you.”
“There’s no fat.”
“Fat isn’t good for you.”
“Actually, that’s incorrect. We need good fat to help us burn bad fat. We all need protein, carbs, and fat. Without one, you’d be missing a corner of the pyramid, and it would come toppling down.”
Sometimes I forgot she was training to be a doctor before I stole her. “What kind of doctor were you training to be?”
“I was in medical school before you took me, not residency. So I hadn’t made a decision yet.”
I didn’t have any idea what she was talking about, but I didn’t let her know that. “And what would you like your decision to be?”
She pushed her eggs around without taking a bite. “Emergency room medicine.”
“Why?” My universe focused on diplomacy, royalty, and business. I never took an interest in any other discipline, whether it was law or medicine. I lived in my own little world, and I liked it that way.
She shrugged. “Personal reasons.” She pushed the food around again. “Man, I miss Finley.”
I ignored the last thing she said. “What personal reasons?”
She kept her eyes down. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Then why did you bring it up?”
“I didn’t.” She looked up, her mood souring. “You’re the one asking all these questions.”
“And you’ve been answering them until now.”
“I just don’t want to, okay? It’s not like you tell me everything.”
“You’re my slave. I don’t have to tell you anything.”
“I’m not a slave,” she hissed. “Don’t call me that.”
“I can call you whatever I want. Now answer me.”
It looked like her eyes were about to explode with rage. “Why do you care? You’ve never taken an interest in my personal life. Why are you so curious?”
Good question. “Just answer the damn question.”
She knew she couldn’t push me any further. If she did, her brother’s life would be on the line. Coercion was the best way to keep her in line, even if I was just bluffing. “My parents were killed by a drunk driver when I was eight. They were pinned to a tree and died on impact. It wouldn’t have mattered if the ambulance had gotten there sooner or if a better doctor were on staff that night. But maybe I could make a difference to someone someday.”
My fingers were still wrapped around the handle to my mug, but I didn’t take a drink. My food remained untouched, and I stopped breathing. Inexplicable pain washed over me when I heard her confession. I pictured her as an eight-year-old getting the news that her parents had been killed by someone who drank too much. Joseph was just a few years older than her, so he didn’t understand what was going on either. Unsuspecting pain throbbed in my chest, and I actually pitied the woman sitting across from me.
I lost my parents. So did she.
I didn’t know what to say. I had the urge to h
ug her, to say something to console her for her loss. But I sat rigid and still, unable to think of an appropriate action. I didn’t want her to assume I cared, so I did everything I could to make it seem like I didn’t give a damn at all.
She looked away when nothing was forthcoming.
She showed me sympathy when I told her about my parents. It wouldn’t be inappropriate if I expressed the same understanding. It didn’t mean I cared about her as a person. It just meant I wasn’t a complete asshole. “I’m sorry, Lovely.”
When she looked up, she couldn’t hide her surprise. Maybe she expected me to be rude like I usually was.
“Looks like we have more in common than I realized.”
“Yeah…seems like it.” She ran her hand through her hair, pulling it from her face and fluffing it up in the back. She finally took a bite of her food and didn’t hide the cringe that emerged across her face. “Seriously, how do you eat this crap?”
“I have a waistline to maintain. Don’t act like you don’t enjoy it.”
She rolled her eyes and took another bite. She was probably hungry from not eating much the day before and fasting the entire night. She could either eat now or not eat until I returned from my meeting. “You aren’t that hot.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
I didn’t buy that at all. “Sure seems like you think I’m hot.”
“You aren’t bad to look at it. But hot? No.”
I could see the lie in her eyes. “Whatever you say, Lovely. I make you come every time we fuck, so I must be doing something right.”
She took another bite and dodged the statement altogether.
“I think you’re gorgeous.” I wasn’t ashamed to say that. When we first met, I didn’t care for her. But the longer she talked back to me, the more attitude she showed, the more my attraction grew. I loved that fire in her eyes. I loved that sassiness she showed when anyone was crossed. I adored her fearlessness.
Her guard slowly dropped once my confession had been made. Daggers weren’t in her eyes, and she actually seemed to like me—for an instant. “Okay…I do think you’re hot.”
I grinned from ear-to-ear at my victory. “You didn’t need to tell me that because I already knew. But thanks anyway.” I grabbed the newspaper that was sitting on the tray and opened it.
“I want to ask you something.”
“Yes?”
“Everywhere you go, you have a million people with you.”
“More like a dozen, but what’s your point?”
“Are you ever alone? Like, truly alone?”
I couldn’t remember the last time I went anywhere without a guard flanking me. Once my parents were killed, I was under special custody with Finley and other guards. I grew into a man with an army surrounding me at all times. The only privacy I had was when I met women for dates and good sex. “I guess not.”
“Does that bother you?”
Yes. No. I went back and forth. “It’s a small price to pay for protection.”
“I don’t think I could live like that…”
“You’re a solitary person?”
“No. But I value my independence. Sometimes I need to be alone to clear my mind. If I had people around me all the time, I’d go crazy.”
“You’ve been doing pretty well for the past three months.” When she wasn’t under my supervision, my guards were watching her. She didn’t have much alone time even in my bedroom.
Her eyes gleamed with irritation. “It’s a daily struggle…”
I glanced at the clock on the wall and knew I needed to get going. I took another bite of my breakfast and set my paper side even though I didn’t get the chance to read it. “I’ll see you when I get back.”
“No, I’m coming with you.” She stood up, like that would make a difference.
“No.” I grabbed my jacket off the hanger in the closet and threw it on, completing my three-piece suit.
“I don’t want to stay here with your men. I told you they make me uncomfortable.”
“Too bad.”
She walked up to me with her hands on her hips, making up for her lack of height with her attitude. “Are you planning on keeping me forever?”
I didn’t have a clue what I was going to do with her. The impulse to keep her instead of handing her over to Bones was inexplicable. I didn’t know exactly what changed my mind. Now that I’d changed my plans, I didn’t know how to proceed with her. I could fuck her all I wanted, but eventually, I would grow tired of her and move on with my life. But I couldn’t just let her go. I couldn’t let the world know I turned soft. “Maybe.”
“Then you can’t treat me like a dog. Put me to good use. You know I’m smart. I can handle my own even when I’m outnumbered. I’ve got an ass that won’t quit. You can get more use out of me by including me than leaving me here alone.”
“I think most women would love to stay behind and drink wine and eat chocolate all day.” If she played her cards right, she could be well taken care of for the rest of her life. All she had to do was not piss me off.
“I don’t want to sit on my ass all day and get fat. I need more than that.”
“You aren’t of any use to me.”
“I like scotch. Maybe I can help you with your business.”
“This meeting has nothing to do with my distillery.” It was about the underworld. It was about revenge for all the people who had the audacity to fuck with me.
“Crewe, come on.”
I didn’t know what her angle was. “You think if you learn about all my criminal activities, you’ll be able to turn me in one day? I could tell you every little thing about me, let you go, and the police still wouldn’t do a damn thing about it.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“Because I own the police.” I owned most of the world. Now I just needed to own my enemies.
Her eyes shifted back and forth as she looked at me. “Turning you in isn’t on my itinerary anyway.”
“Really?” I asked sarcastically. “After everything I’ve done to you?”
“I’m not saying kidnapping me is okay. But I think you’ve got a soul underneath this façade. If you didn’t have a heart, you would have handed me over to Bones.”
I couldn’t let her think I ever gave a damn about her. I couldn’t let her believe I showed an ounce of compassion. If I did, all the rules would go out the window. She would try to backstab me in the middle of the night because she knew I would never retaliate. She could push me in directions I never wanted to go. “I didn’t give you away because I wanted to make Joseph suffer even more. I wanted him to know his little sister is being fucked every night—by his greatest enemy. My heart died a long time ago, Lovely. All you see now is flesh and bones.”
“Your car is ready, sir,” Dunbar said in the entryway.
I adjusted my cuff links. “Thank you.”
“How many men would you like to accompany you?”
I adjusted my sleeves then buttoned the front of my suit. “None.” London’s words didn’t get to me. The Barsetti brothers were harmless when unprovoked. They probably wouldn’t even be armed.
Dunbar raised an eyebrow but didn’t question me, knowing that was suicide. “You know where to reach me.”
I nodded then walked to the door.
“Hold up.” London’s voice sounded from behind me. “I’m coming too.”
I wanted to snap her neck. I turned around and gave her a merciless glare, annoyed she defied me right in front of my men.
She read my look without an ounce of fear. “I’m not staying cooped up like a chicken.”
“You think these guys are gonna save you or something?” I didn’t understand why she wanted to accompany me so much. When we were in Scotland, she didn’t try to follow me around everywhere. She stayed in her bedroom in the castle until I finished my day and returned to her.
“No.” She stepped closer to me and lowered her voice so only I could hear her. “
I don’t want to be stuck with Dunbar and Ariel…who hate me with every fiber of their being. The only person I feel remotely safe around is you.”
The hair on the back of my neck prickled in a way it never had before. Her confession soothed my ego, stoked my confidence. I should be annoyed that she thought of me as protection rather than fear, but I wasn’t. Perhaps it was the fact that she was wearing skin-tight jeans and a black top that made her tits look incredible, but something about her was getting to me. “You shouldn’t feel safe with me.”
“But at least I know what I’m getting with you. There’s no surprises. No sudden turns. If I follow the rules, everything will stay the same. You won’t hurt me or Joseph. Dunbar is unpredictable. He wants to hurt me just for the sake of it. And Ariel…if I were in trouble, she wouldn’t do anything to stop it. She would just look the other way.”
Her characterization of my two employees was dead-on, but they were far too loyal to betray me. If London annoyed them, they might push her to the side or ignore her. But they would never take it further than that.
London stood on her tiptoes then pressed her lips to mine. It might have been her last plan to persuade me, to kiss me and soften my calloused heart. Her soft lips moved with mine, and she gave me some of her tongue, giving me a playful lick that made the rest of my skin tingle. Her arm moved around my neck, and she kissed me in front of my men, making me hard in my slacks.
My arm circled her petite waist, and her sinister plan worked. I didn’t hold my ground because I no longer cared. When those perky tits were pressed against me and her tongue tangled with mine, I became a different man. Her kiss was different from the kind I shared with most women. Perhaps she was just a good kisser, or maybe it was because she was so unattainable. Whenever I fought her, she fought harder. She had a smartass comment to make in retaliation to everything I said. But I finally earned her cooperation. That made her more valuable than all my other women combined.
Because I was a sick bastard.
She finished the kiss then breathed gently into my mouth, the smell of her hair complimenting her naturally addictive fragrance.
Now that I was hard, I didn’t want her to leave my side. My men saw that little performance, and I didn’t want to leave my toy behind and give them the wrong idea. I wanted to pull over on the drive, have her suck my dick, and then continue on with my life. “Let’s go.”