Mr. Sugar: A disturbing psychological thriller with a twist of dark romance

by L. D. Fox

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One: Stormborn in Stilettos

  Chapter Two: Bazinga!

  Chapter Three: A Date with Mr. Armani

  Chapter Two: A For Effort

  Chapter Three: Covering new Ground

  Chapter Four: An Education in Fucking

  L. D. Fox

  Mr Sugar

  A deliciously dark and twisted psychological thriller

  First published by L. D. Fox in 2018

  Copyright © L. D. Fox, 2018

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

  First Edition

  This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy

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  Contents

  Happy Tears

  A Pie in the Oven

  Delegating Obligation

  Screwing Around

  G & T

  Mahogany & Brimstone

  A Ride on the Carousel

  Something Nice

  Caramel Vodka

  Catching a Break

  Sonofabitch

  Juliet's House

  Double Trouble

  Peeping Tom

  Unprepared

  Plus One

  Every Fucking Time

  My Little Princess

  Denny's

  King of Hearts

  Cookies & Cream

  Office Politics

  Joes

  Sir

  Salt & Sugar

  All the King's Horses

  D-U-N-N-E

  Perfect Fit

  Short Notice

  Drew's Trust

  Check Mate

  Afterglow

  Love at First Sight

  Her Own Fucking Lakehouse

  Lightweight

  So Wrong

  A Hungry Man

  Spoiler Alert

  Last Chance

  Blow

  Nothing Natural

  A Weekend of Firsts

  If it Ain't Broke - Break It

  It's Always Sunny at Blackwater Lake

  Motivation

  Fuck Me

  Too Many Signs

  The Scream

  Take a Hit, Baby Girl

  Coke Does That

  No Signal

  High A. F.

  Blackwater Lake

  The Unforeseen

  Mr. Sugar

  Fool Me Twice

  Kelly, Kelly, Kelly

  Catch, Never Release

  Young, Impressionable Women

  Just Keep Trucking

  Call Me

  Not Fast Enough

  Welcome Home

  Happy Tears

  Thank You

  Your Free Gift

  The Fox Pit Series

  Student Bodies

  Bonus Story: Dirty Laundry

  1

  Happy Tears

  A flurry of snow swirled around him when he opened the door. Wind snuck into the house before he could shut the door behind him. He stamped his feet, urging warmth into his toes.

  The lakehouse was hot; almost suffocating.

  He put his briefcase on the floor by his feet and dropped his jacket next to it.

  A fire crackled merrily in the hearth. But his eyes were on the young woman.

  She knelt on a sheepskin rug in front of the fire, balancing on the balls of her feet. With her head down, her lustrous hair spilled down her pale flesh in a black wave.

  The scent of wood smoke greeted him, but it was almost overwhelmed with the smell of whatever the girl had prepared for dinner.

  “What’re we having?”

  She flinched a little at the question but didn’t look up. Didn’t answer.

  “You can speak, princess. What are we having?”

  “Braised lamb shank and red wine sauce on a bed of polenta,” she murmured.

  His stomach grumbled as he tugged off his Windsor knot. God, but it was scorching in here. How did she stand it?

  “Mmm-mmm!” He let his tie fall to the floor.

  When he yanked at his belt to loosen it, the girl shivered and immediately brought her hands up to rearrange her hair over her breasts.

  Pity — he loved staring at her breasts. All of her, really. There wasn’t an inch of her he didn’t worship whenever he saw her.

  He toed off his shoes, shoved them aside with a foot, and curled his toes on the rug through his silk socks.

  “Sounds almost as delicious as you look, princess.”

  “Thank you, Sir,” came her quiet reply.

  “What did you eat today?”

  “Some fruit.”

  “That all? You’re looking a little skinny there. I don’t want you wasting away.”

  “Sorry, Sir.”

  “We’ll have plenty to eat when we’re done. Would you like some wine?”

  “Yes, Sir. Please, Sir.”

  He gave her a fond smile and went into the kitchen. There was pine in here too; it made up the walls, the floor, the ceiling. When there wasn’t food cooking, the lakehouse was usually filled with its fresh scent.

  When he opened the bottle of wine, he heard her scrambling over the carpet. Fast, anxious movement. A heavy clank. And then a grunt of frustration.

  Smiling ruefully, he filled two wine glasses and went back into the living room.

  The girl was back on her heels, head down, as if she hadn’t moved.

  He put the wine glasses on the coffee table and then sank to his knees in front of her. Taking out his cufflinks, he gazed at her downcast eyes. He put his cufflinks down beside the glasses, lifted hers, and brought it to her lips.

  Her eyes darted up.

  A thrill flashed through him at the desperation, the need burning in those cyan irises. He let her drink everything — she always did — and then put the empty glass down. A smudge of wine stained her bottom lip. He wiped it away with his thumb, dipped his head, and crushed his mouth against hers.

  She murmured into his mouth, rising to meet him, so her naked body was flush with his. She was as hot as the air in the room — his body responded instantly. His fingers dug into the muscles that ran along her spine.

  When he tasted salt on their kiss, he pulled away. He searched her face, cupping her head in his hands.

  “Why are you crying?”

  “I missed you, is all,” her lips trembled until she straightened them into a line.

  “Happy tears, I hope.”

  “Happy tears.” She nodded, freeing another pair of them. “Just happy tears.”

  He tugged her against him, inhaling the scent of her.

  Eager as he was to be inside her, to hear her gasping moan as he filled her, the feel of her in his arms was just as intoxicating.

  God, how he wished he could always be here with her. That he wouldn’t have to leave. Wouldn’t have to go back to his other life — to all the stress and anxiety it brought him. But would it still be the same if he saw this angel every day? Or was she his secret stash of heroin hidden in the pages of a bible under his bed?

  He slid his hands over her ass, bruising her against him. Behind her, something clinked.

  His eyes flickered open.

  Firelight reflected dull orange from the chain snaking out behind the girl.

  The chain was symbolic, of course.
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  Her love for him tethered her here. Bound her.

  He ran his hands over her silky hair, wiped away the trickle of tears running down her cheeks, and kissed her again.

  Maybe, one day, he wouldn’t need the chain anymore.

  2

  A Pie in the Oven

  2 Weeks Earlier

  Drew Sugar sighed as he guided his Mercedes SL into the drive. He tugged down the visor and caught the remote control before it could land in his lap. For a second, the mirror behind the visor reflected his dark eyes and black hair back to him.

  God, he looked tired. There were smudges under his eyes. And had those lines in the corner of his eyes always been that deep? He needed a haircut too; no wonder the chairman had given him a double-take this morning when he’d arrived at the office. The man would never say anything, but his cocked eyebrow had spoken volumes.

  The garage door didn’t open, despite how hard Drew jabbed his thumb on the remote. When in the hell was he going to remember to get a new battery? His car door creaked faintly when he opened it; something else he had to make a mental note of. Possibly a little WD40 would work it out, or else he’d have to ask them to take care of it the next time he had the car serviced.

  Trying to stamp out the litany of tasks that filled his thoughts throughout the day, Drew slid from his car. He tugged out his briefcase behind him, paused to disentangle it from the seatbelt, and slammed the door shut.

  Whether it had been the crash of his car door or just coincidence, when he turned it was to face Kelly, who stood a few feet away. His and the next-door neighbor’s house had only the low wall to demarcate the lines of the properties. Well, it used to be a wall — now it was a particularly enthusiastic swathe of the aforementioned creeper. Juliet had always kept their side of the vine trimmed.

  There’d been roses too when his wife had been alive. She’d spent a lot of time working on their garden.

  It had been on his to-do list for almost a year now; tidy up the garden. Replant the dead roses. Buy a book on how to look after roses. Failing that, hire a damn gardener to do it for him.

  “Afternoon,” he called out.

  Kelly let the trash can’s lid fall closed. She took in his suit and briefcase with a crooked smile. “Isn’t there a law against working on a Saturday?”

  “If there isn’t, there should be.”

  Her smile widened. “Have you heard of saying no? It can be pretty effective.”

  Drew’s mouth pulled to the side. “Not if you’re gunning for a promotion. Then it’s all about ‘yes.’”

  Kelly’s blond hair caught fire in the sunlight as she stepped from beneath a bough of his overzealous maple tree. Luckily, she’d never complained to him about the tree. He’d had to trim it almost every year when that old geezer Fitzpatrick had lived next door.

  It was one of many reasons he liked Kelly; she didn’t add to his to-do list.

  The woman gave him a half-embarrassed smile.

  “Anyway.” He hoisted his briefcase up. “I best get inside. My daughter’ll be arriving soon.”

  “Your daughter?”

  Drew paused in the act of turning away. “Oh, right. You wouldn’t have met her yet. She’s been away at university.”

  Kelly crossed her arms over her chest and stepped closer. She wore pale jeans, white sneakers, and a hoodie that would possibly spell ‘fabulous’ across her breasts if she zipped it up all the way. Her blond, shoulder-length hair had been strung into a messy ponytail, with a few strips of hair fringing her face.

  “You don’t look old enough to have a girl in uni,” Kelly said, her mouth twitching as if she was trying to force herself not to smile. “Is she adopted?”

  Drew ducked his head a little. “And here I was, thinking I’m looking more like my old man every day.”

  Kelly laughed and ran a hand through her hair. “I know that feeling. Takes more and more courage to look in the mirror these days.”

  “Come on,” He shifted his briefcase to his other hand. “You don’t look a day over thirty-five.”

  She burst out laughing. “That’s an outright lie.” She slapped a hand over her mouth, her cheeks reddening.

  Standing with one hand over her stomach, the other suppressing another laugh, he found himself inexplicably attracted to Kelly. It wasn’t the first time either; he’d never seen her sad, or angry, or even irritated. She always greeted him with a broad smile and a friendly wave. From what he’d been able to puzzle out about her, she lived alone. It was a big house, and the area was one of the better ones in the city, so perhaps she’d divorced some rich guy and was living off his alimony.

  Or, perhaps, she was widowed like him.

  “You have any kids?” he asked.

  “What?” Her eyes widened. They were dark green, oval-shaped, and free of makeup. “Oh, no. Not my scene.” She shifted, crossed her arms over her chest. “Do you just have the one? Penny?”

  “Juliet wanted lots of…” Drew tightened his grip on his briefcase’s handle. “We’d tried for more kids after Penny, but Juliet couldn’t… we lost a few. Doctors told us it would be safer if we just stopped trying. Safer for Juliet, you know?”

  Kelly’s eyes widened. “I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine—”

  “It’s fine. We were… fine with it. We had Penny and, trust me; she’s pretty exhausting. I don’t know how we would have managed more, to be honest.”

  The woman looked away, and then squinted back at him, lifting a hand to shade her eyes. “What happened with Juliet? If you don’t mind my asking?” She shook her head. “It’s just, the real estate agent mentioned something—”

  His lips twitched. “That nosy—” Drew cut off the sentence with a cough. “Carol’s been trying to get me to sell ever since the funeral.”

  She shifted but didn’t press him. She didn’t have to; it was in the past. All the emotions – the anger, the hurt – it had all subsided.

  “Car accident. She went out to get groceries. It was raining. They say she hit a puddle of water — hydroplaned — lost control.”

  Kelly brought a hand to her mouth but didn’t say anything.

  He cleared his throat. “I guess after a year, Carol’s sick of waiting for me to decide to move so she can make some more commission from me.”

  “I don’t see why you have to. If you can afford the mortgage…”

  Drew shrugged at her. “It does feel a bit empty sometimes.” He sighed and turned to the house. “One of the reasons I’m looking forward to seeing my girl.”

  He cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair. “Anyway, I’d better get inside. Nice seeing you again.”

  As he was turning away from her, Kelly caught at the sleeve of his suit. “Hey, so…”

  Her touch sent a thrill through his arm that made goosebumps break out.

  She licked her lips when he faced her. “I… I’m having a few people over, Wednesday. For my birthday. If you want, you can pop in?”

  “Yeah, sure. What time?”

  “Eightish?” She shrugged. “It’s nothing big. I’m just putting down some snacks and beer and stuff.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Kelly grinned up at him and gave him an awkward thumbs-up. “Cool. Okay. Then I’ll see you Wednesday.” She waved a hand up and down the drive. “Or, probably before then. You know, ‘cos we keep running into each other out here.”

  “Sure. Looking forward—”

  A screech of tires made them both spin away from each other. His eyes flashed wide as his daughter’s VW Golf came to a halt a few feet from where he stood. With the car’s tinted windows and the sun glaring from the windshield, he couldn’t even see if Penny had the decency to look apologetic at almost mowing him over.

  “Jesus,” he muttered, ripping his hand away from his heart.

  He suppressed a surge of irritation and barked, “Penny!” before he could stop himself. He gave Kelly a quick glance.

  His neighbor pursed her mouth as if she fought va
liantly against another smile. “Kids, huh? Never saw the point,” she murmured to him.

  He laughed and gave his head a shake.

  Beside him, the VW Golf’s door opened. It didn’t creak — he always made sure Penny’s car was in immaculate condition. Not only did it get regular services, but he also made sure she had run-flat tires, tinted windows, and redundant anti-theft systems installed.

  “God, that was a long drive.”

  Drew’s face solidified. Kelly, still watching him with a stunned smile, blinked a few times at him before turning to the new arrival.

  A blue-eyed girl slid her arm over the top of the car and shoved her sunglasses up into her dark hair. Then she bit the inside of her lip, glancing at him and Kelly.

  “Am I interrupting?”

  He stepped forward. “What are you doing with my—”

  The girl closed the car door, putting her in full view of him and Kelly. This wouldn’t have been a bad thing if she’d been wearing more than a pair of cutoff jeans and a tank top that hugged her perky breasts like a jealous lover with too many whiskeys in him. The only thing decently clad were her feet; strangely, the thick, military-style boots didn’t look as incongruous with the rest of the outfit.

  “This is… your daughter?” came Kelly’s quiet voice from beside him.