by Cat Miller
Everly’s heart tumbled to her feet. She would have to face him again. Luc wouldn’t just let her leave without a fight. He liked being in control, and he held all the cards. How could she look at him without falling apart? She’d have to find a way, because she’d be damned if she would cry in front of him. Maybe having a good cry in her bed to get it all out before she confronted him would help. And maybe the sky was green. Nothing would make seeing him after he’d taken another woman to bed any easier.
How had she fallen for such a dishonest man? She’d built up all of these fantasies about saving the good man hiding behind the lonely devil. What a joke! Luc was the furthest thing from lonely. What she couldn’t figure out was why’d he’d been so sweet to her. She’d actually believed they were starting something new, something good.
Lord, she’d thrown herself at him in his office and told him she wanted to spend time with him. What man wouldn’t take what was freely given? That had to be it. He was a busy man. Why go hunt for a piece of ass when it walks into your office carrying a drink and the offer of consensual sex. Of course, Everly’s intentions had been to use the time they had together to woo Luc into a real relationship. Luc wasn’t falling for Everly’s plan . . . or Everly.
She lifted her glass to her lips and swallowed down the remainder of her drink. Maybe she could just drink herself to sleep and deal with the pain in the morning. With that in mind Everly turned to signal the bartender for another when someone snaked an arm around her waist. She jolted and opened her mouth to blister the ears of the jerk trying to pull her off of her stool, but she was stopped by his hissed demand against her ear.
“Shut your mouth and come with me unless you want your cowardly daddy hiding out in Colorado to die.” It was the creepy guy who’d been watching her all evening. He was a barrel chested man with a thick New York accent and too much cologne.
Everly looked up into his cold eyes and knew he meant what he said. This man knew who she was and he knew her father. Oh god. He had to be the other loan shark her dad owed so much money to, but what did he want with her?
He pulled on Everly’s arm, forcing her off of her stool. He turned and dragged her body against his, tucking her under his arm so they appeared to be a couple. Everly reached out and slapped her handbag, sending it careening into Dolce’s drink on the bar. Dolce was still in conversation with a few men when she whipped her head around to look at her downed drink. She saw Everly’s little beaded bag soaking in the mess. She looked for Everly and found her just before she and Rolex disappeared onto the dance floor. Everly had just enough time to mouth “get help” before she lost sight of Dolce.
“The boss wants to speak to you. It’s time he receives payment,” he said with a leering glance down at her breasts.
Okay, so he wasn’t the loan shark. He was a flunky of some sort. If his boss wanted payment from Everly, things were about to get nasty, because she didn’t have the money to pay her father’s debt. She had some money saved up from waitressing over the last couple weeks at The Inferno, but it wasn’t much.
Rolex was dragging her deeper into the club. He had a painful grip on the back of her neck and was dragging her along so fast that she was on her tiptoes and very off balance. On the other side of the dance floor, he hauled her tighter up against him. Her feet never touched the flight of stairs that ascended to a more private upper level of the club with large booths that looked out over the dance floor. He dragged her past people dining, drinking, and laughing. At the end of the semi-circular ring of high backed booths sat a rotund man with watery eyes and salt and pepper hair. His table was guarded by another finely dressed Rolex wearing thug who grinned lasciviously at her.
“Boss, Tony’s back,” he said over his shoulder.
The man in the booth looked up from the plate where he was twisting his fork in a mountain of spaghetti. He looked annoyed at the interruption until his eyes landed on Everly. He rested his knife and fork on the sides of his plate as a greasy smile stretched his florid face.
“I found Parker’s payment, Boss. I was just waiting for confirmation that I had the right girl. My source identified his pretty piece as Ms. Everly Parker,” Tony told his employer with a smirk.
“I see that Anthony, and I believe you just earned a bonus. This form of payment will be much more . . . fulfilling than a monetary repayment,” said the boss, only the thug’s name came out sounding like Ant-knee. That was definitely a New York or possibly New Jersey accent.
Wait. What? He didn’t want money? What the hell did he want? It dawned on Everly what the price would be as all three men eyed her curves with lusty looks of appreciation and agreed that she would be worth the lost cash. Everly’s stomach rolled. He wanted her.
“If you don’t mind, Boss, I’d like my bonus in the form of some down time, with Ms. Parker.” He pulled her back into his chest and ground his semi-erect cock into her ass. “When you’re done with her, of course.”
Everly reacted violently to the unwanted touch. Tony was distracted by her curves and loosened his grip on her. Everly took advantage of his inattention to spin around and slap the side of his head with all the strength she could muster. Tony was momentarily stunned by the strike to his ear and he let her go completely to cup his head.
Everly took off at a run down the aisle toward the main area of the club and safety. She wouldn’t be used again. She couldn’t do it.
“Marco, don’t let her get away!” Archie shouted.
She’d only made it a few feet when the other thug caught her by her hair and jerked her backward right off her feet. The combs holding her hair up feel to the carpet. He dragged her across the floor by the hair while she clutched at his hands trying to relieve the pain in her scalp. She kicked and screamed for help. Several people stuck their heads out of their booths to investigate the commotion.
“There’s nothing to see here, folks.” Tony stepped around her and Marco still holding his ear to block the view of her being dragged across the carpet.
“Help!” Everly shouted just before a meaty fist connected with her jaw. Tony spun around and plowed a fist into her before she had a chance to protect her face. She was dazed by the shot and fell silent. The sharp pain in her scalp assured her that she was still being dragged by her hair. She may have passed out for a moment.
The boss laughed and slapped the table. “She’s feisty one. I see why Christianson was trying to keep her all to himself.”
“Archie, don’t you think this is a bit overboard?” Someone, a man she thought, asked the boss. Archie was his name.
“What I think is that you should mind your own business and go back to your table,” was Archie’s gruff reply. There was no more protest after that threat. She was on her own.
“Take her out through the kitchens Anthony, and keep her quiet. No need to alert anyone to her location. Christianson will be royally pissed when he learns I stole his prize.” He chuckled. “It will be far too late by the time he figures it out. I’ll have my payment, and I’ll have it tonight and for as long as I want her.” He sat back down to continue his meal. “I’ll be out as soon as I finish my meal.”
Everly was still stunned and unable to gather herself to fight when she was slung over a huge shoulder and carried off like a sack of grain. “You’ll pay for that slap when I get my turn. I promise you that.” Tony slapped her ass hard.
She came around to the sound of clanking dishes in the kitchens. Just like in the semi-private dining area, no one tried to stop the thug carrying a woman over his shoulder. This was it. This would be her life. A whore passed around to her father’s debtors as payment for his sins. She couldn’t allow it. She’d rather die. Shaking herself to full awareness as they entered a brightly lit stairwell, she made her decision.
Everly reached out and clutched the railing with both hands in a death grip. Tony was moving quickly down the stairs when she jerked him off balance mid-step, and he began to fall. Tony fell forward but Everly held tight. His weight nearly y
anked her arms out of the sockets as he started to tumble, but Everly held the railing. Tony lost his grip on her and rolled the rest of the way down the stairs, cursing as he went.
With the little strength Everly had left, she got to her feet and scrambled back up the stairs. Tony chased her, limping and shouting obscenities at her back, but Everly kept going. She wasn’t going down without a hell of a fight.
FOURTEEN
Luc sat at the bar in the Capone room with Rourke and his wife Jennifer, but he wasn’t drinking. His head was fucked up enough. Alcohol would only make the situation worse. For once in his life, Luc needed to talk to a friend. He didn’t know what to do with these annoying emotions Everly evoked. Guilt wasn’t something he often experienced, and he was drowning in it at the moment.
He had called Rourke and asked him to meet him at the bar, but Rourke hadn’t come alone. It was Rourke’s day off, so he couldn’t blame the man for bringing Jennifer along. Christ. Luc was such a fucking jerk. He hadn’t even thought about what plans he might have been interrupting between the couple. They were dressed for a night out, not a night with the fucking boss.
He watched Rourke nuzzle his wife’s neck in a rare, unguarded moment in public. Rourke wasn’t a man prone to public shows of affection, but his wife, understanding her husband as she did, didn’t seem to mind. Rourke was a hard man until it came to Jennifer. You could almost see the flinty steel in the man’s eyes melt at the mention of the beautiful blonde’s name.
A strange sensation washed over Luc. He didn’t like it, at all. It kind of burned, and it made him angry. It was envy. What the fuck did he have to be envious of? Why would the idea of having a woman look at him with complete trust and adoration –as if he’d hung the fucking moon just for her or some bullshit– make him long for someone to look at him that way? The vision of a curvy redheaded Fury filled his mind when he imagined himself in Rourke’s position. The idea tantalized him when it shouldn’t.
Luc believed some time away from Everly would clear his mind. He didn’t like his staff gossiping about him. He didn’t want to hear about how wonderful Everly was when he knew she’d be returning to her life in Colorado and his life would go on as it had for years.
He didn’t want to think of her in the long-term, because there was no long-term for them. She was a sweet bombshell born to a ranching family in the Midwest. He was the ruthless, high-stakes businessman from Nevada who’d taken advantage of her weak-minded father and nearly destroyed their family legacy.
She was the kind of woman who dropped out of college to raise her little sister and help keep the family business afloat. He was the kind of man who stepped on the necks of men stupid enough to risk it all by signing on the dotted line. They were completely incompatible. She was the marrying kind, and he would never want more than sex from any woman. Or so he’d thought at the time when he stalked out of her suite and headed straight for the airport a few days ago when Isa had stunned him with talk of the rumors running around his casino.
Christ! He’d fucked up royally. Luc closed his eyes. He rested his aching head in his hand and leaned on the bar while the last several days replayed on his eyelids.
When his business out in California without Everly’s constant presence didn’t dislodge thoughts of her from his mind, Luc returned to Vegas feeling angry. Angry with himself for being so fucking weak. And angry with her for being so fucking perfect. Not perfect for him, though. No, the perfect women for him were beautiful in a cold, artificial, empty headed sort of way. A way that allowed him to enjoy their bodies and dismiss them easily. Not all fucking warm and luscious with an opinion and moral fiber that made him feel like a creep for using her.
During the flight back to Vegas his head had swam with thoughts of Everly and his decision to distance himself from her completely and permanently. He resolved to let her go. He’d just send her back to her family. That’s what she wanted, right? He would end her contractual obligation a bit early. Everly had done her time. He’d never intended to actually sleep with the woman, but she’d been too tempting to resist once he had her in his arms. If she’d been resistant in any way, he wouldn’t have been interested in her. But she’d been just as eager and hot for his body as he was for hers.
Thoughts of his mother crept into his mind, and he squashed them before they made him feel like a monster again. Everly had worked long hours waitressing in the casino for free. She cleaned up after herself, and she’d never once asked him for anything. None of that equaled the worth of the business he’d acquired from Dean Parker, but he was willing to let it all go to get his fucking peace of mind back. That decision made, Luc tried to relax. The next time he saw Everly would be the last time he saw Everly. It was a good thing. So why was his stomach in knots?
Just as he exited the airport Luc’s cell chimed to remind of him a dinner meeting. That was followed by a call from Cammie, his regular bed partner when she was in town. Cammie was elegant and hot as hell in bed. She let him fuck her any damn way he wanted. Then she left quietly and without any fuss. It was perfect timing. He’d take the sophisticated Cammie to dinner with him. Afterward, he’d fuck her until he remembered redheads aren’t his type. In the morning, he would call Everly to his office and relieve her of her duty. It would all be over, and he would get back to his orderly, drama free life. Business as usual by tomorrow afternoon. That was his plan. It was a good plan. Until it all went to shit.
His dinner meeting went smoothly. Cammie said and did all of the right things. She was the perfect companion for a man like Luc. She knew when to make small talk and when to be quiet. She’d been groomed to take over her own family’s business, so this was all in a day’s work for Cammie. She knew how the game worked.
Luc couldn’t help but wonder how his Fury would do under the same circumstances. He slapped that thought down viciously. It didn’t matter if Everly could handle a business meeting with grace. She would be gone tomorrow.
In the car on the way to the Inferno, Cammie crawled into Luc’s lap. The driver made eye contact with Luc before raising the divider between the front and rear seats to give them privacy. Cammie was aggressive, as was her nature. Luc usually loved that he didn’t have to coax or romance Cammie in any way. When they got together, they both knew the score. For some reason her touch felt foreign, like she was a stranger instead of a recurrent bed buddy.
He focused on her mouth, her scent, the long, lean body he’d mastered so many times and threw himself into their kiss. In the back of his mind, the caveman that usually screamed for him to conquer was noting that this woman didn’t have the curves his hands wanted to feel. She smelled like expensive perfume. It was a nice scent, but it wasn’t the clean soap smell he liked best. Her lips were firm and demanding against his when he wanted soft and pliant. That stupid fucking caveman needed to get over it.
As soon as they entered the elevator, Cammie was rubbing herself against him, and the needs of his body finally began to overrule his preoccupied mind. Luc’s hands grasped Cammie’s ass and hauled her against him. He fought back the building sense of wrongness climbing up his spine. He was a single man. He always had been. This wasn’t wrong. He didn’t owe Everly anything at all. Certainly not loyalty.
With a numb sense of unreality Luc let Cammie lead, because he didn’t seem to be able to make a move of his own. She knew just where to touch him to get a response. They made their way to Luc’s door, and he fumbled through his wallet for the key card. Cammie grabbed his hand and dragged him through the door, but Luc was already pulling away mentally. As soon as they stepped off the elevator Everly’s presence on the penthouse level swamped him.
She was there in the rooms just down the hall, he knew it. She was there, and he had to wonder if she was alone. The notion of her entertaining another man had his caveman pounding at the door of his brain for release. Why did he feel so fucking possessive of Everly?
Christ! He could even smell her warm sweetness in the hall, and it made him long to knock d
own her door to be sure he was the only man that would be covered in her sweetness. That warm aroma wrapped around his senses like a lure. Like she was standing there just waiting for him to turn around and face the truth. Everly was the only woman he wanted. For as long as she’d have him, Luc wanted to be with her.
When Isa mentioned the L word to him, Luc had freaked out. He’d run as far and as fast as he could. He didn’t understand Everly or her reasons for agreeing to the bogus contract. He didn’t understand his own reaction to her either. Love? He really didn’t understand that word. He’d only ever loved his Gran. He cared deeply for Rourke and Dolce, but was that love? He supposed it was a familial kind of love. But romantic love? No, he never wanted to go down that road. And that was why he’d lost his shit and ran like a bitch. He was afraid his confusing reaction to Everly was pulling him toward something he could never allow to happen. He couldn’t love her. He couldn’t love any woman, but if he could, Everly would be the one woman he’d want.
Cammie released his arm when they entered his foyer and immediately began stripping out of her slinky dress. There was no way he could crawl into bed with her. As insane as it sounded in his own mind, Luc couldn’t cheat on Everly. They weren’t together in a traditional sense, but she was his. He’d never felt the need to claim a woman before. He didn’t like it all, but there it was.
The revelation that came with Luc admitting that she was his, at least for now, nearly floored him. If she was his . . . then he belonged to her. He was Everly’s. That’s why he felt so damned wrong and dirty for touching another woman. He’d always been loyal to his friends. Loyalty to a woman had never even crossed his mind. He belonged to Everly for as long as she was with him. Until things between them were settled and she left him behind to return to her life and her family, he would be loyal to her. But he couldn’t love her. No. That could never happen. He just wasn’t that kind of man.