Either Stella didn’t get a hold of her, or she somehow knows to help me. I’m just grateful this is happening. “I didn’t know I had a leash on me.”
“Common courtesy isn’t a leash, Asshole.”
“You’re just a cheap lay, Stella. We all know it.”
I see the hurt flash in her eyes, but I had to do it. I was told to do it. To hurt her as badly as I could. I’m hating every second of this, but I can’t back down now.
“Fuck you, Kace. Or better yet, I won’t. I should’ve known a little boy couldn’t handle me.”
“I handled you quite well the other night. Don’t pretend I didn’t. You said I was your best.”
“I quit. Do you hear me, you little bastard? I fucking quit. And if you come near me again, I will make sure you’ll never walk on stage again, much less sing.”
She turns and runs from the room. It takes everything in me to not run after her. I’m so lost in that thought that I don’t see the slap coming. My head whips to the side as I see Sheila standing before me, crying.
“What you did is unforgivable. I won’t quit because there are three other people in the band who I happen to like. But I want you to know that I think you are the lowest piece of scum on the Earth. How dare you do that to my daughter?”
“Get to work, Sheila,” I tell her in a flat voice. I’m dying inside, but I can’t show it.
Hours later, I’m the last one left in the loft. I can’t put one foot in front of the other and leave. Not after what I said and did. I just want to curl up in a ball and cry.
“Hello, Kace.”
I look up and see a girl walking towards me. She could be around eighteen, or she could be my age. I can’t really tell. I do know she looks a little familiar, but that happens to me quite a bit. Too many fans. Her hair is dark blonde, and she has glasses on. She’s wearing a t-shirt from our last tour, and tight jeans.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Is that any way to greet a fan?” she asks as she walks around the room, touching a bunch of shit.
“Who let you in?”
“Does it matter? We could have some fun.”
“No, we can’t.”
“C’mon, I can show you a good time,” she says as she takes out her phone. She pushes a few buttons as I just glare at her. After a minute, she smiles. “No? I’ll leave then, I guess.”
“Please do.”
She laughs as she walks out. I don’t even know what to think. That was definitely weird. I should be used to weird by now, but I’m not. I have too many other things to think about.
I know I need to have someone analyze the pictures for me to see if they can find anything. I’ve just been worried about trusting someone. But I need help. I can’t live like this forever. I lost Stella. I can’t lose anyone else. Like my mom. That would be too much.
So, I’m going to bite the bullet and go see the investigator my lawyer found for me. I told him I needed someone who was amazing at their job, and would be discreet. He wanted to ask more, but when I just stared at him, he didn’t. He found me someone, though. I call her, and she says she has an hour free right now.
When I get to her office, a stunningly beautiful woman greets me. “Hello, Kace. I’m Mel. Please come on back.”
“Oh hey.”
Damn. I wasn’t expecting my private investigator to look like her. If I wasn’t hung up on Stella, I’d probably try to go for her. But I am. Even though I know she hates me, I still want only her.
“Are you going to stand out there and stare at my ass, or are you going to come into my office and tell me why you called me?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. The day a man doesn’t look at my ass, is the day I’ll start worrying.”
I laugh and take a seat in front of her desk. She takes the seat next to me instead of going behind her desk. I’m going to like this woman. I know it already. I tell her everything, except what the pictures I’m being blackmailed with contain and the text messages I’ve received lately. I want to make sure she’ll take my case and agree to a confidentiality agreement before I show her.
“Yes, Kace. I’ll keep everything confidential.”
I take a deep breath and pull out my phone. Before I can swipe out of the lock screen, I hear her gasp. I look over at her and smile. “My girl’s pretty hot, huh?”
“Your girl?”
“Stella. She’s my—well, for about a day she was my girlfriend.”
“Only a day?”
“I’ll show you the texts, and then actually, I want to talk a little bit about her with you.”
Mel looks uncomfortable, but nods. I show her the texts and her mouth hardens into a line. “This person is evil. I can’t believe they had you do that to Stella. I mean, I’m guessing you followed orders.”
“Yeah, but I went too far. I said things I shouldn’t have.”
“So you want me to help figure out a way to make it up to her?”
“No.” It’s my turn to look uncomfortable. “Some things don’t add up with Stella.”
I explain things to her. How Stella’s friend invaded my privacy and how she has an apartment that she shouldn’t be able to afford when she was practically begging me for a job. I tell her that Sheila has never said anything about family money, and we used to talk all the time. Granted, she never really talked about Stella, which is weird, but I think being rich would’ve come up.
“What do you think she’s hiding? Actually, let me rephrase that. What are you afraid she’s hiding?”
“Honestly, my biggest fear is that some guy’s paying for everything.”
Anger flashes through her eyes so fast I almost miss it. She takes a few deep breaths before she speaks. “I’m assuming you’ve slept with her.”
“Well there wasn’t much sleeping going on.”
“And you think she’d do that with you if another man was paying her bills? And have sex with you in her apartment he was funding?”
“I hope not, but I need to know.”
She opens her mouth to say something, but then closes it. I can feel her anger, but I just don’t get it. Shouldn’t I be suspicious? I think I’m having a normal response.
“Fine,” she says. “I’ll look into Stella for you. Are you ready to show me the blackmail pictures now?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I tell her, pulling them out.
She looks at them, and I see the shock on her face. “These aren’t what I expected. At all.”
“Now you understand.”
“Yes.”
“Do you think you can help?”
“I hope so. I have some friends I’d like to involve,” she says, putting up a hand when I start to protest. “They’ll keep your secret. I promise. I’ll need to keep the pictures to show them.”
“Okay. But only if you think they can help and won’t tell anyone. I’ll want to meet them if this goes on much longer.”
“They like to work behind the scenes, but I’ll try and see if I can get you a meeting.”
“What are they spies or something?”
“Something.”
I can tell she’s not going to elaborate. Why do I keep finding women who keep secrets? At least with Mel, it’s her job to keep them. It’s not Stella’s job. And that’s why we have a problem. One I really need to discuss with her. If she ever speaks to me again.
Chapter 8
Stella
I’m in one of the small conference rooms at the Foundation waiting for Jane, Reina, and Mallory to arrive. I know why they called me in. I had no right to quit a job tied to my mission. No matter how badly my feelings were hurt. The mission comes first. I know that. I’ve been trained. And I’ve also been called a lot worse than what Kace said to me. I’ve just never been in love on a mission—or anywhere else for that matter—so I reacted badly. Now I have to face the firing squad so to speak.
Mallory’s the first to enter. She comes over to hug me, but I can see that she’s worried. “I�
�m sorry, Mal. I didn’t mean to do this to you.”
“I know. We’ll get through this.”
Reina and Jane enter a moment later. There are no hugs from them. I know they care about me, but the needs of the Society have to come first. And we all know I screwed up. Bad.
“I’d like to give you a chance to explain to us why you quit, Stella. I’m sure you’re aware that by doing that you’ve made our job much harder. And just because it’s your mother we’re doing this for, doesn’t mean it’s not still a real mission,” Reina tells me.
“I know it’s real. It’s just the things he said.”
“You knew he had to embarrass you. Ainsley said she told you about the text he got.”
“I know. But what he said…I…he-he said I was just an easy lay.”
“I’m sorry, Stella. But you’ve had worse said to you. I’ve heard it. And you’ve always maintained you cool.”
“I love him,” I tell them quietly.
“We really are turning into a dating service.”
“I’m sorry, Rei.”
“Don’t apologize. You can’t help who you love. I’m the poster child for loving the wrong man.”
“It’s working out for you now,” I remind her.
“Maybe,” she says looking down at her ring, before looking back up at me. “But we’re not here to talk about me.”
“I know. I can try and get my job back.”
“That’s the only acceptable outcome,” Jane tells me.
“Isa got the bugs planted.”
“Yes, Stella, but we need you there in person. I’m sorry, but unless you want us to abandon the mission, you need to get your job back.”
I’ve never abandoned a mission. Never. It’s rare that any of us do. We’re not quitters. “I’ll get my job back.”
“Good. I’m glad this is settled. I know this will be hard for you, but you wouldn’t be working for us if you wanted an easy, carefree life.”
“Thanks for going easy on me, Jane.”
“I’m not a mean ogre,” she says with a chuckle as she comes over to hug me.
“No, you’re not. You just have to keep us on track.”
“Not for much longer. Reina will be taking over fully soon.”
Reina starts to speak when Alex buzzes in. “Sorry to interrupt, but Mel’s here. She says it’s important that she talk to all of you. She specifically asked for Stella to be included.”
“Send her in,” Reina says, looking at me. I shrug because I have no idea what Mel wants to see us about.
Mel was once slated to be a Society girl, but she decided that she’d rather work on her own. She still helps us from time to time, even teaching a couple of the classes for our new recruits. For the last few years, that’s meant our support teams. We haven’t had turnover in any agents for a few years now. We’re all really happy with our jobs.
“Hey, Mel. What can we do for you?” Reina asks when she walks in.
“I got a new client yesterday who I thought you might be interested in. His name is Kace Reynolds.”
My eyes widen. “Kace hired you?”
“Yes he did.”
“What did he ask you to do?” Reina wants to know.
“Find the person who’s blackmailing him—which I’m guessing you knew about. And, well, he also wants me to see if Stella has a Sugar Daddy she’s hiding from him.”
“What?”
Is he insane? I’m going to kill him. He thinks I’m fucking someone else on the side. Or I guess he’d be the one on the side. I want to throw up.
“He said you practically begged him for a job, yet you live in a fancy apartment and wear expensive clothes.”
“So, obviously I’m getting money from some guy. While fucking Kace. This is just great. The icing on the damn cake.”
“Stella, calm down.” Mallory tells me.
“Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously. We just talked about how you need to get your job back. Again. You can’t punch him the next time you see him.”
“If it’s any consolation, he was really upset when he was talking about you. And he showed me the texts about ignoring you, and then embarrassing you. I’m assuming you know about those, too.”
“Yes. We know. Did he tell you anything else?”
“Actually, Reina. I think I may know something you don’t. I did tell him I was asking for outside help from friends who wouldn’t spill his secrets. So, he knows about me talking to you. Of course he doesn’t know it’s ‘you.’”
“Show us what you’ve got.”
She reaches into her large purse and pulls out a folder, sliding it to the middle of the table before taking out the pictures and spreading them out. “Holy shit,” I say. “He’s not protecting himself.”
“No. He’s not.”
No wonder he’s been doing whatever the blackmailer wants. It’s not to keep pictures of himself from surfacing. It’s much worse. The pictures are of the very married Marvin…and Vivian, Kace’s mom. Things just got a lot more complicated.
* * *
Kace
I’m alone in my suite, thinking about Stella, as usual. I need to come up with a plan on how to get her back once this mess is all taken care of. I have faith in Mel. Of course I also have to see what Mel finds out about Stella. If there’s some other guy involved, I’m out. No matter how much I love her, and want her, I will not share her. It would kill me.
I’m still thinking about this when there’s a knock at my door. I go over and look through the peephole. It’s Stella. It’s like my thoughts brought her here—well, not exactly. She’d be naked if I manifested her. Not in this black and white tank-top and pants pajama set she’s wearing now. They’re loose and hide most of the curves I know and love. She’s still the most beautiful and sexy woman I’ve ever met. I take a deep breath and open the door.
“I wasn’t sure you were going to open it,” she says, biting her bare lip and walking in when I step back.
Damn if she’s not hotter when she’s like this. With no makeup, and her hair all loose and natural around the shoulders. I love her when she’s all bombshell, but this…this is when she’s devastatingly beautiful.
I close the door before answering. “I’m the one who was wrong. I know it. What I said…I didn’t mean it, Stella. I swear I didn’t mean it.”
“That’s what everyone thinks when they see me, you know? That I’m just some chick who sleeps with every guy she meets. Even before I started making my hair more blonde, or wearing red lipstick. I’m smart, but no one cares. And yeah, I’ve been with lots of guys. But most of those guys have been with lots of girls. And no one calls them a ‘whore’ or ‘easy.’”
“You’re not those things. I don’t think of you like that.”
“A part of you does, or you wouldn’t have said that to me. I’ve been called those things a lot, Kace. But until you said them to me, I never felt like they were true.”
Her lips are trembling and I see tears forming in her eyes. No. Just no. “You’re not. At all. Come here, love.”
I gather her into my arms, pick her up, and carry her to the couch, holding her on my lap as she cries. I kiss the top of her head and whisper reassurances until she finally stills and just wraps her arms around me, holding tight.
“I’m a mess.”
“You’re beautiful.”
“I came here to seduce you into giving me my job back.”
“So I should hold out and not tell you that I don’t want anyone else dressing me until you give me a nice blow?”
“Ass,” she tells me as she swats my arm, before looking up to glare at me. “And my mouth on your cock last time was just ‘nice’? Really?”
“I almost lost consciousness, so that would be a no.”
“I’m waiting.”
“For?”
“You to better describe my mouth on you. Sucking and licking…”
“You’re evil. Pure fucking evil.”
I stand up fast and toss
her over my shoulder. I walk into my bedroom and throw her down on the bed. “Are you going to fuck me good now, K?”
“No. What I’m about to do to you is going to be bad. Very, very dirty and bad.”
I pull my shirt and jeans off, letting my cock spring free since I’m not wearing any underwear. As I lean over and rip her pants down, I see I’m not the only one going commando. Her pussy’s glistening, and I lean down for a quick lick. She arches off the bed, and moves her hand beneath her shirt.
“What are you doing?”
“Playing with my tits.”
“Did I say you could?”
Her eyes widen, and she licks her lips. “No.” I raise an eyebrow, and she pulls her hands out placing them at her sides.
“I let you tie me up in your bed. In my bed, I’m in charge. You’re going to do exactly as I say, or I’ll have to punish you.”
“Maybe I want to be punished.”
I flip her over, and smack her ass. She moans, and I almost come. “You liked that, didn’t you? You want it harder?”
“No. Just like that. Please.”
That right there is another reason why this woman is so fucking hot. She’s going to tell me when I go too far. And not let me go farther than she wants. I pull her up onto her knees.
“Fingers, tongue, or cock for your first one, love?”
“All of the above.”
“You’re a greedy girl, aren’t you?”
“With you? Hell yeah. You have the stamina for it.” Oh yeah, I do.
“I think you need to ride my face first. Then maybe you can have my cock.”
“We can 69. I loved it when we did it like that.”
I smack her again. “I told you I’m in charge. Maybe later I’ll let you suck me off, but right now I need to make you scream.”
I look around and know just how I want to do this. I pull her to the end of the bed and wrap her legs around me as I walk to the chaise lounge by the window. I stand her up as I lie down, my head at the bottom. “Take off your top and bra. Then kneel down over my head, facing the window.”
She does as I ask, and I reward her with another lick. Her hands clench into fists at her sides, but she keeps them there. For now. Soon she’s going to want to touch—me or her.
I grab her ass with one hand and my cock with the other. I stroke myself as I suck and lick her clit and pussy. I feel it happen. She starts to reach for me. I knew it.
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