by Max Monroe
Glancing back to the shiny picture page in the front of the book, all barcodes and numbers and technical, very detailed, very hard to falsify information, I wondered yet again just how far Matt’s reach extended.
“All right, you’ve got ten minutes to get ready, little one.” He pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. “I’m going to make a quick call. Meet me in the kitchen when you’re ready.”
Holy hell. I had ten more minutes to get ready.
For my flight to Mexico.
Was this real life?
ALEX’S FOOTSTEPS WERE FREQUENT, SLAPPING against the marble tile of the opulent hotel hallway as she worked desperately to keep up. My legs were significantly longer than her trim ones, and it seemed as though she had to take three steps to my every one.
She didn’t ask me to slow down or question my hurry, she just worked that much harder to keep up.
She’d been doing this since the moment I’d told her she had ten minutes to prepare for our flight to Mexico, a flight that was, in fact, two flights in an effort to make our final destination less conspicuous. With speed and ease, she’d packed a thrown-together knapsack of jean shorts and flip-flops, and I’d dumped it out and replaced it with a bikini, a pair of sandals, and a dress and heels, just in case.
She’d looked on humorously, a small frown line marring the normally pristine space between her eyebrows, but she’d said nothing. And I knew she wanted to. The desire was plain in her expressive features. But she was even more excited by the possibilities of not asking.
The things I might surprise her with—the perhaps illegal things she couldn’t be directly held responsible for enjoying.
It was the same love affair I’d seen thousands of people have with Wonderland as they sank slowly into it—only better, because it was her.
The hallway was long, and the doors became more and more spaced out thanks to the increasing size of the rooms. When I finally stopped at the door marked 630, Alex ran right into my back.
“Oomph,” she groaned as our bodies made contact. “I guess we’re stopping.”
“Observant,” I teased, and she hitched up just one well-groomed brow.
“Where are we? Because if we came all this way just to have sex again, that seems like an entirely wasted effort.”
I chuckled, something I’d been doing a lot more lately with her around and smoothed my thumb over the aggravated wrinkle in her forehead. “While I very much appreciate your line of thinking, this trip isn’t about sex, and this isn’t our room.”
“Who’s is it, then?”
Rather than answer, I turned back to the door and rapped my knuckles sharply on the gleaming wood three times.
The sound of someone approaching on the inside was well-muted, the construction of SherOcean Beach Club some of the best work on the Yucatán. There were many reasons it ran its guests no less than five thousand a night, and this was just one of them.
There was only a brief hesitation before the door opened, and a beautiful dark-haired woman stepped into its frame, nothing more than a sheet wrapped around her body.
I didn’t know her name, but I knew she wasn’t Jack Knave’s wife. Satisfaction bloomed in my chest at the never-ending pile of information people provided without trying—to be used against them when and if necessary, of course.
Jack Knave was running against Charles King for the presidential nomination, and he was about to be my new best friend.
The phone call I’d taken this morning had been Hare, with information on Eric and all those meetings he’d been having with King. I’d had a suspicion already, but Hare’s confirmation made me feel like a man deranged. I would not be taken advantage of.
“Can I help you?” the woman asked, looking from me to Alex and back again fleetingly. My presence was much more threatening, and therefore, drew her attention disproportionately. I’d noticed that many people gave Alex this birth, thanks to her wholly innocent evocativeness, and I hoped to use it at some point.
“I need to speak with Jack.”
Her face reddening in discomfort, she glanced over her shoulder—though she tried desperately not to—and then back to me. “There’s no Jack here.”
I lowered my voice. “Listen, doll—”
“If he says Jack is here, he’s here. I can guarantee it. Let’s just cut to the chase, skip the messy stuff in the middle, and go get Jack so he can talk to him, okay?” Alex interrupted.
I was surprised at her forwardness, but perhaps most of all, I was surprised that it didn’t anger me. In fact, I found a warm glow starting in my chest and extending all the way to my fingers, it pleased me a great deal.
The mystery brunette considered, sawing her teeth into her lip. Decided, she turned from us and called loudly, “Jack! There’s someone important here to see you!”
Jack came out of the bedroom a moment later, fully clothed but pretty obviously rumpled from recent sleep and sex. He was much older than his female friend, salty hair occluding almost the entirety of his black, and wrinkles marred the corners of both his eyes and mouth.
I guided Alex into the hotel room with a hand at the smooth skin of her exposed back and shut the door behind us.
Jack’s face was openly irritated, a strong crease in the center of his brow harshening the already present effects of aging. He was used to calling the shots, deciding who he saw and when, and he was smart enough to dislike the look of me.
I, Matt Hadder, though publicly known as a man of parties and wealth, didn’t often bring tidings of good cheer. Especially not on a surprise visit such as this one.
“Can I help you?” he asked as he came to a stop a good five feet away from me. He was physically intimidated, and I loved the way that kind of power over people made me feel.
I smiled. “No, I’m here to help you. You’ve got a problem.”
His eyebrows shot together.
“Luckily for you, I’m going to fix it.”
“Excuse me?” Hands to his hips, he was affronted. Almost enraged that I, a man who didn’t know him, would presume to know things about him. It was a naïve weakness, one I’d have to coach him out of extensively if I succeeded in getting him to the highest seat in the western world.
“Trust me, Jack. You and I are going to be friends, and I’m going to be the reason your problems go away.”
“I don’t have any problems,” he blustered, turning to the mystery woman to, no doubt, signal her to call security.
One huge, quick step forward, and I clamped a tight hand onto the nerve in his neck. His eyes rounded with alarm.
“You do,” I corrected, quiet menace running from my voice and into his consciousness like an electric current. “Let’s talk,” I ordered. “Outside on the terrace.”
He nodded, most likely convinced by my suggestion of physical harm.
Alex’s eyes gleamed with a heady mix of arousal and uncertainty when I looked back at her. She wasn’t sure what to make of me, but against every shrewd bone in her body, she liked it.
God, she’s enthralling. “Come on, little one.”
Open with her expressiveness, the widening of her eyes and parting of her lips relayed how unexpected she found it that I wanted her to come, but she made no issue of it.
Obediently, she fell into step behind Jack and me as we moved toward the terrace. Jack tried to look back to console his mistress—or beg for help—but my grip on his nerve made even a simple turn of his neck impossible. It wouldn’t have mattered if he’d been able to catch her eyes, though. I’d stopped at the resort’s security desk on my way in and had a chat with my old friend, Jose. Any call from this room would go there, to him, and come to a very abrupt, unsatisfying end.
Birds chirped, and the lull of the nearby lapping ocean blended with the scrape of the iron furniture as I pulled a chair aside and assisted Jack in taking his place in it.
Before sitting myself, I grabbed a chair for Alex, swinging it around and offering her the seat with a sweep of my hand. She blushed.
Like mildly torturing a man and forcing him into a conversation he absolutely didn’t want to have was a perfectly normal version of date night.
Against all internal reason, I found myself smiling and sweeping the backs of my knuckles along the perfect line of her jaw.
“Comfortable?” I asked her, getting lost briefly in the heady swirl of her eyes. The color was even richer here, almost as though the perfectly blue waters of the Mexican coast were their natural habitat.
She nodded and crossed one tanned leg over the other.
“Now, Jack—” I started, only to be cut off.
“I know who you are.”
I nearly rolled my eyes. “Of course you know who I am.”
His eyes jumped from me to Alex and back again like a speeding pinball. “I can use knowledge of—”
This time I did roll my eyes, a tiny snort of laughter adding to the gesture for good measure. “Jack, listen. You don’t know even half the things about me that I know about you, okay? You know it, I know it, even my Alex knows it.” I turned to Alex. “Isn’t that right, little one?”
She nodded, a little smirk curving her bow lips. “Definitely.”
Jack sat silently, part testing me, part hoping for a miracle. I imagined he could see the bright arrogance of unquestioned authority—a staple of his career thus far—getting smaller and smaller in the distance as we pulled away from it.
“I know you’re married and that the young woman inside, while beautiful, is not your wife. I know you made several bad investments—with donation money, by the way—a couple years ago that you’ve been chasing ever since. I know you like to dabble in kinky sex occasionally, and that you’ll pay women to participate. I know you think you’ve got this nomination all tied up, but you don’t. Not without my help anyway.”
Ruddy, swollen cheeks were the only physical indication he gave that I had him over a particularly uncomfortable barrel.
“And what exactly do you plan to do with all of this information?”
I shrugged and leaned back in my chair, turning to look at Alex with a smirk. “What do you think? Can you answer Jack’s question?”
Her eyes held mine intently, searching for the meaning of all this, but she gave up too quickly. I was almost certain that if she stared at me like that long enough, I’d tell her all of my secrets.
Confidently, she turned back to Jack and leaned toward me, placing one hand on top of mine. I turned mine palm up to clasp it. “He plans to fix it.”
I smiled. She’s smart, this one.
Jack ran an aggravated hand through his hair. “Fix it? Yeah, right. For the price of my children, maybe a few fingers in a torture session, am I right?”
I laughed. “First of all, a word of advice, don’t ever mention your children to someone you perceive as your enemy. That’s truly foolish.” His pallor dimmed. “And I’d never bother cutting off your fingers.”
My smile was cold. “I’d go straight for the heart.”
Jack’s swallow was thick, catching in the middle of his throat and bobbing before finally sliding down.
In my peripheral vision, I noticed Alex’s eyes widening slightly. Other than that, she showed no signs of shock or discomfort.
“I can make all of your problems disappear, and I can guarantee you the nomination.”
His jaw worked tirelessly, grinding at itself. “And what am I supposed to do for you?”
“There’ll be opportunities for you to use your influence. Opportunities Charles King foolishly disregarded in value.”
“Do I have a choice?” he asked bitterly.
The sound of Alex laughing stopped me from speaking. Jack winced, as though she’d be in trouble for interrupting me. And, fairly, for anyone else, he’d probably be right. But Alex’s willingness to participate in this intrigued me too much to allow any room for anger.
“Thoughts, sweetheart?”
She spoke directly to Jack. “You have a choice. But if you choose something other than this alliance, you’ll regret it. Not because Matt will punish you, or due to a situation of Matt’s making, but because of things of your own making. Life won’t treat you the same, and you’ll know that it’s your fault it doesn’t. You’re used to getting what you want? Well, you can have it and more—as long as Matt occasionally gets what he wants too.”
I turned to Jack Knave with a smile. “I’d say my Alex is a smart one, wouldn’t you?”
Alex had been quiet since leaving the meeting. Jack wisely saw the value of a working relationship with Wonderland, Inc. and me rather quickly. Which was fortunate. I really despised torturous hours of needless convincing. The end result was always the same when I wanted something—I got it. It was quite helpful when people accepted that early on.
Now—and probably for always—I wanted Alex, but she was upset with me. I hoped she’d get over it just as quickly as Jack had.
I couldn’t see inside Alex’s mind, but that hadn’t stopped me from trying to.
“Something bothering you?” I asked finally as the car pulled to a stop in front of our own hotel. We’d only be there for the day, but there was no reason this trip had to be all work and no play. I was a businessman, but Alex deserved fun.
She moved to grab the door handle, but I pulled her to a stop with a hand at her elbow. “Give us a moment,” I told the driver. He nodded before closing the partition, locking the doors, and leaving the car to idle there in the receiving bay of the hotel.
“Alex.”
“Fine,” she huffed.
I laughed and immediately decided women didn’t like to be laughed at, no matter how powerful or intimidating you were. She looked as though she’d tear through her clothes and take me down with her bare hands if need be.
“Why did you bring me here?”
My eyebrows drew together. “I thought we’d have a little time at the beach—”
“No, Matt,” she snapped. “Not here, the beach. Here to Mexico. Here to the meeting with Jack Knave.”
“You’re a good alibi,” I replied honestly. I nearly laughed when her eyes dulled, as though I were that desperate, as if she was my only option for an alibi were I not fond of her.
“Alex,” I chastised, pulling her head from its downturned position and lifting it to face me. “In case you haven’t noticed yet, I also enjoy your company a great deal. If it weren’t you I wanted to be here, you wouldn’t be here.”
She huffed and rolled her eyes, so I leaned forward and sealed my lips briefly over hers, caressing the plump skin of each with my tongue.
“Any other questions you’d like to ask?” I queried, my dangerous eyes just a few inches from hers and my tone that of a man not to be questioned.
A small smile curved one corner of her mouth upward. “Yeah.”
My heart jumped at her brazen bravery. It was so foolish to defy a man like me, and yet, every time Alex did it, I became even more smitten.
“All right, then,” I allowed, holding my voice to a menacing rumble.
“What’s the UV index in this place? Fifteen minutes I’ve spent out of doors, and it feels like the surface of the sun. I’m hoping you packed sunscreen.”
I wasn’t sure, but I was certain it was dim in comparison to my answering smile.
“HADDER,” MATT ANSWERED HIS PHONE curtly. “This better be fucking important,” he added before listening intently to whoever was on the other end of the line.
“Hare, you know how I feel about getting involved with them,” he responded. “They’re too goddamn sloppy, and every single one of them has a fucking hair trigger. They’d bring us a shit-ton more trouble than monetary value.”
He was talking to one of his right-hand men. Harrison March, aka Hare. From the little interaction I’d had with him during Wonderland parties, I liked him.
Honestly, Hare, Cal, and Damien were all likable, courteous men in my eyes. They treated me with respect and, taking into consideration the Penn fiasco that had occurred at Roger Gold’s par
ty, they looked out for me. It was only Eric Queen who gave me weird vibes. Whenever I was in his presence, I always got the feeling he was up to something. Like his intentions weren’t on par with everyone else’s. For the most part, he was terse and even a tad defensive with me. I was happy our interactions were few and far between, to be honest.
“It doesn’t matter where I’m at, but I can tell you if you keep calling me with bullshit deals, I’m not going to be happy when I get back,” Matt said, and then, the call was done. He tapped the screen and tossed the phone onto the end of his beach chair.
For the most part, he’d been avoiding his phone all day, appearing too content with ignoring the outside world and solely focused on our perfect, flirty little bubble in paradise.
It was like he was giving me his undivided attention after I’d had my tantrum in the car. Half the time, I didn’t even know why I made such a big deal about questioning him on things he didn’t want me to. Fuck, maybe I was testing him. I really wasn’t sure. I was sure that if that was really my motivation, I was even stupider than I thought. What exactly did I think was going to happen when I finally reached his limit?
I sighed into the warm breeze, my eyelids fluttering closed as I breathed in the briny aroma of the sea. Wiggling and scrunching my toes, I savored the softness of the sand, still damp from the retreating tide. The sand blurred out in a blissful trance, the shore fading into liquid gold, vivid in the brilliant light.
Even though I’d lived near the California coast for most of my life, it had been years since I’d actually spent the day at the beach, much less paradise in the form of an expensive, luxury beachfront resort sitting on top of miles upon miles of untouched sand.
Through narrowed eyes, I watched as each wave overlapped the other, sending the white bubbling crests descending, and masking the shore with the transparent, fading water.
God, it was beautiful.
Once Matt had finished convincing Jack Knave not to fight him, we’d gone straight to the car and driven for an hour to another, even more secluded, luxury hotel. As soon as we got inside, he’d demanded I put on my bikini and spend the day with him on the beach.