Misadventures with a Master

by Meredith Wild

  It’s not a lie, but his face wrinkles with a faint grimace.

  “You know, when your mother and I agreed to lease you that apartment, it came with the understanding that you would act responsibly and keep your grades up in school.”

  A defensive knot forms in my stomach. “I have been. Grades from finals haven’t all come in yet, but my grade point average has been a perfect 4.0 all term.”

  He leans back in his chair and crosses his arms. “Do you expect me to believe that you can maintain that kind of average with the late hours you’ve been keeping?”

  My stomach drops. Has he had one of his men following me? If he ever were to find out about my relationship with Demitri, there’s no telling what he would do.

  “Where is all of this coming from? I don’t understand.”

  “Let’s just say that the doorman at your building has proven to be very informative.”

  Anger surges through me. “Are you kidding me? You have the doorman spying on me now?”

  My father matches my glare but doesn’t acknowledge the accusation. The waiter arrives, sets our food down on the table, and quickly leaves us alone. With my appetite now gone, I push the plate of French toast away from me.

  “Since when did you start caring about my whereabouts? You and Mom are never home.”

  The vein in his temple protrudes the way it always does when he gets riled up about something. “I didn’t bust my ass to get where I am to have you tarnish this family’s name with your wild-child behavior. Either it stops immediately or you can figure out how to pay rent on your own. Is that understood?”

  “But—”

  He raises his hand to stop me. “From now on, you are to be home by midnight. No exceptions.”

  “Midnight?” My voice comes out in a loud shriek. “You can’t do this to me. I’m an adult.”

  “Then start acting like one instead of a spoiled brat. You want to live in one of the nicest apartments in the city and enjoy the expense account we allow you, then you play by my rules.”

  I clench my teeth so hard I worry I might crack one. I’d do almost anything for a mimosa, but the last thing I need are more criticisms. So I pick at my breakfast, sip my tea, and listen patiently while my father tells me about his travel plans for the week, as if they have any bearing on my life whatsoever.

  Twenty minutes later, he signals the waiter for the check, and I begin to count the seconds until I can escape his presence. Finally, after we hug goodbye, I excuse myself to the ladies room instead of walking him out.

  At the marble bathroom counter, I stare at myself in the mirror, disheartened at the girl staring back me. I’ve lived under his thumb all my life. Him threatening the small amount of freedom I’ve been able to negotiate is nothing short of devastating. And humiliating. Twenty-two years of life, and I’m this pathetic.

  My eyes water. I reach for a Kleenex, determined to pull myself together and not let my father’s ultimatum ruin my whole day. I freeze at the sound of heels coming across the room, suddenly aware that I haven’t been alone. I glance up in the mirror and lock eyes with a beautiful tall blonde. Her expression is soft with concern as she approaches the counter.

  I avert my eyes and begin dabbing the tissue at the puffy circles, thankful my makeup isn’t a wreck from all this upset.

  She gently places her hand on my shoulder. “Are you okay?”

  I relax when I hear Demitri’s accent in her voice. I’ve never shared my feelings about my parents with him, but for some reason I wish I could now. Even as I think it, I berate myself for wanting something more meaningful with him. Something he may not be capable of giving me.

  I manage a nod. “Yes, I’m fine. Just having a bad day. Bad birthday, actually,” I finish with a dry laugh.

  The woman gives me a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry. Boy trouble?”

  I don’t feel like touching that topic, so I opt for the truth. “My parents forgot my birthday. It’s no big deal.”

  The concern in her expression deepens. “That’s horrible.”

  I shrug. “It stings. But it’s not the first time. I’m sure it won’t be the last. Really, I’m fine.”

  She bites down on her plump bottom lip and then glances down at her watch. When she looks back up, her eyes brighten. “My brother is supposed to meet me at the bar for some drinks. How about you join us? His treat, of course.” She winks.

  I tuck my hair behind my ear and shake my head. “Oh, no. Thank you, but—”

  “I insist. It’s your birthday. We have to celebrate.”

  “I don’t know…”

  Before I can argue with her, she hooks her arm into mine and leads me out of the bathroom.

  “Just one drink,” she says with a wink.

  I don’t know why I’m accepting her offer, except that I could really use a drink…and a friend. Even if we’ve only just met, I’m already attracted to her warmth and energy. I tell myself it has nothing to do with the accent that haunts my dreams.

  We bypass the main restaurant and enter into a quieter and darker bar area of the establishment. She leads me past the slick mahogany bar, and we settle into one of the wraparound booths. We order drinks. A cranberry vodka for her. A bourbon neat for me.

  “My name’s Adriana, by the way.” She extends a perfectly manicured hand across to me. Even though she is a complete stranger, I find myself at total ease around her.

  I shake her hand and smile back at her. “I’m Ka—”

  “Oh!”

  Adriana’s expression brightens, and as it does, goose bumps break out across my skin. As if on command, my attention is drawn to the front of the bar. I lock on to Demitri’s icy-blue stare.

  God, what those eyes do to me.

  The rest of my body reacts as he strolls toward us. Confident. Commanding, even from this distance. Every cell in my body immediately acknowledges his presence in the room. I pulse and tighten and quietly ache to feel every inch of his dominance.

  I squirm in my seat, feeling the delicious heaviness growing deep in my core. Dropping my gaze down his body, I take in his startling transformation. Instead of his normal expensive designer suit, he’s wearing a formfitting black shirt and dark denim jeans. I can’t get over how different he looks. But why is he here?

  “Bratr!” Adriana scoots out of the booth and throws her arms around Demitri’s neck. He returns her embrace, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on me the entire time.

  Shit. The accent. The fair features. Adriana is Demitri’s sister. I ignore the pang in my chest that comes with the realization that we know so little about each other still. After all this time…

  Adriana places her hand on Demitri’s chest, following his tractor-beam gaze to me. “I hope you don’t mind, but I invited my new friend to join us.”

  “Hello, Katherine,” he says in his sexy deep voice.

  Adriana’s mouth gapes open. “Wait a minute. You mean you two already know each other?”

  I bite my lip and try to school my features and all the ways this man turns me inside out. “You could say that,” I say, my voice faltering.

  Chapter Five

  Demitri

  On any given day, I exist in two worlds—two very different worlds. Crave, and the real world. They rarely intersect.

  As much as Katherine suddenly being within arm’s reach is a welcome development, seeing her beside my sister is unsettling. I’ve always made sure Adriana knew nothing about Crave or my lifestyle. And Katherine was never supposed to know anything about me outside this club. Yet here I am, sitting in a booth across from both of them. In this moment, it’s become painfully obvious that I have never been more fucked.

  “How did you two meet?” Adriana looks expectantly between Katherine and me.

  “I was about to ask you the same question,” I respond, hoping by the time my sister hits the bottom of her drink, she’ll forget to ask me again.

  Adriana’s enthusiasm dims a fraction. “Well…”

  “I was having
kind of a rough morning. She took pity on me in the ladies room,” Katherine says, her voice taking on a sad quality that stabs at my insides. “And here we are.”

  Adriana nudges her shoulder gently. “Stop it. Everyone should be able to toast to their birthday. How old are you anyway?”

  I swallow hard. Her birthday… I feel like a bastard for not knowing. No, I feel like possibly the worst scum of the earth. Especially considering the way I brushed her off last night. I’d left us both unsatisfied. Both needing so much more.

  “I’m twenty-two,” she answers, not meeting my eyes.

  “Cheers to that.” Adriana lifts her glass, clinks it with Katherine’s, and polishes off the last of her drink as the server returns.

  She asks for another round, and I order the same as Katherine, resolved to end this party as soon as I finish. I have shit to do and a business to run, but having Katherine this close overwhelms everything else. I’m already itching to haul her into my lap and kiss her breathless.

  She looks different. A little tired but polished and expensive. Like a politician’s daughter. Someone who shouldn’t be spending her nights with the likes of me.

  “If you weren’t so young, I’d totally set you up with Demitri. But he’s old and serious. No fun at all. He’s obsessed with work. Isn’t that right?” Adriana juts her elbow into my ribs.

  I sigh. Jesus, what kind of Pandora’s box have I opened with these two?

  “What do you do for work?” Katherine licks her bottom lip.

  My cock notices.

  “Imports and exports,” Adriana says with a hiccup. “What about you?”

  “I’m an undergraduate student at George Washington University. One more semester, and I’m a free woman,” she answers with a tense smile, making me wonder about the truth beneath her words. Everything she’s not saying out loud.

  For the next hour, I listen as the two women interview each other on everything from Katherine’s classes to their favorite nail polish colors. If I were a passing stranger, I’d guess they were best friends. Because of what my sister endured with Lennox, she’s never trusted many people enough to let them into her life. I couldn’t have been more blown away to see her chatting with another woman when I stepped into the bar. And not just any woman. My kitten.

  “I just can’t believe the two of you know each other. That is crazy. Wait… You never told me how you two met,” Adriana says as she finishes off her third cranberry vodka.

  Three is always her limit. Anything past that, and I know I will be carrying her up to her apartment. No way that is happening today. I’d already shot a quick text to Ronan to pick Adriana up and get her home safe so I can get Katherine alone.

  Except she’s downed the rest of her bourbon and is ordering another. I shoot her a look of disapproval, but she doesn’t seem to notice.

  “Maybe you should take it easy on those,” I warn. Another night I would have made every excuse to get back to the club for work, but after watching her talk and laugh and just be… Now I have other plans. And I want her sober for all of it. Her birthday might have started out shitty, but I’m about to make up for it.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t worry about it,” Katherine shoots back.

  Adriana giggles. She has no idea the game we’re playing.

  My cock hardens at the thought of making Katherine pay for that comment later. But the more alcohol she drinks, the darker her mood becomes. I’m not sure I like this version of her.

  “D, what’s up?” Like clockwork, Ronan plunks into the remaining space in the booth beside me. He lifts his chin to Adriana. “Addi.”

  She smiles, and I swear new color rises to her cheeks. I tell myself it’s the alcohol and try to ignore the way Ronan’s looking at her like he wants to do more than get her home safe. I’ve been fantasizing about all the ways I want to scandalize Katherine for over an hour. I’ve got sex on the brain, and I’m probably just projecting.

  “What are you doing here?” Adriana plays with a loose wisp of hair.

  “I was in the neighborhood. Do you need a ride home?”

  She glances to Katherine as if she’s unsure.

  “I’m fine,” Katherine says. “This was possibly the best birthday celebration I’ve had in years. Thanks.”

  She smiles and hugs my sister tightly.

  Ronan shoots me a questioning look. Fuck, this looks awful. If he suspected I was getting too close to Katherine before, arguing otherwise is pointless now.

  “Coincidence,” I say quietly.

  His face splits with a smile as he rises.

  I inch out of the booth, and Adriana follows. We hug goodbye, and the second she and Ronan are gone, the bartender comes by with Katherine’s drink. I fish a couple hundreds out of my wallet and drop them on his tray.

  “That should cover it.”

  “Yes, sir.” He thanks me a couple times before doubling back, leaving us alone again.

  I extend my hand to Katherine. “Time to go.”

  “I’m not done.” She leans back and crosses her arms.

  “Yes, you are. Get up, or I’m carrying you out of here.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “My place,” I say. I pull into the garage under my building and park.

  She hesitates long enough for me to open the door for her. She stares up at me, confusion plain in her eyes. “Your place?”

  “You didn’t think I lived at Crave, did you?”

  “No, but…” She shakes her head like she doesn’t understand and gets out.

  We take the elevator to the penthouse, and she walks in slowly. Several minutes pass in silence as she assesses the apartment. I follow her gaze, wondering what details she’s taking in. I’ve owned the condo for a few years, and while I enjoy the space, I’ve kept it purposely bare. White walls and surfaces. Natural wood and sparse decor. I wanted my time away from work to be just that… A departure from the business I’ve lived and breathed for so long.

  She approaches the granite island in the kitchen. “I don’t feel like I’m supposed to be here for some reason.”

  I laugh softly. “I don’t bring girls here. That’s what the club is for.” I take a bottle of water out of the fridge and hand it to her. “Here, drink.”

  Darkness passes over her eyes. She snatches the water bottle out of my hand and twists off the top before guzzling a few gulps down.

  I cross my arms and lean against the refrigerator. “Is there a problem, kitten? Or does the bourbon bring your claws out?”

  She regards me for a moment. I brace myself for one of her sarcastic comments. I’m not prepared for what comes next.

  “What do I mean to you?”

  Her question is a swift punch to the gut. Fuck me.

  I push off and pace into the living room. She follows me. When I turn to face her, she’s a few inches away. I’m aching to haul her against me and kiss away this conversation. Make her come until the question that lingers between us fades into the background. But deep down I know she deserves an answer. She’s not inherently clingy. She’s not as desperate as half the subs who would crawl for me at Crave. She’s the Attorney General’s daughter, and I’ve been feeding my obsession with her for far too long.

  “You’re too good for this life, kitten.” I brush my hand over her cheek and touch the sparkling diamonds decorating her ears. “Too beautiful for the things I want to do to you.”

  “You think because I’m wearing my grandmother’s diamonds that I can’t kneel for you?”

  The visual those words give me is almost more than I handle.

  “Crave is an escape. It’s not who you are, which is why I’ve kept you away from there. But this thing between us… It doesn’t need a name because it’s…” Folly. Impermanent. Doomed to end.

  She stares, her gaze searching mine a moment until it seems like she finally understands. Then she turns and heads for the door.

  I follow her and take her arm, spinning her toward me.

  “You’re not l
eaving like this.”

  Her jaw sets tightly. “Really? It’s my birthday, and I can spend it how I’d like.”

  I cinch her closer to me and run my palms along the expensive fabric of her dress. She looks like she should be going to a charity luncheon, but all I can think about is how I can dirty her up.

  I brush my lips over hers and move to her neck. “I haven’t given you your present yet.”

  She inhales and releases a few shallow breaths, her body melting into me a little more. I slide my hand under her dress, unable to stop myself from seeking evidence of her arousal, even though I can already smell her. Feel her heat. Sense that she’s on fire for me, ready to give me everything.

  “Demitri…don’t.”

  I can sense her curling into herself, untangling her emotions from me even as her body says something else. I stare down at her, needing to read her face for everything she’s not saying.

  She blinks up at me from under her soft lashes, a sad defiance swimming behind her eyes. “There’s only one gift I want from you.”

  I tense inside. I could satisfy her a thousand ways, but not the way she wants.

  She seems to know this. Placing her hand gently against my chest, she steps back and reaches for her purse.

  “Kitten. Don’t go.”

  She shakes her head, her expression tight. “I can’t stay. Not like this. Not anymore.”

  Suddenly I’m stricken with panic. Because this doesn’t feel like she’s saying until next time. It feels like she’s saying never again.

  I catch up to her at the door. “Katherine.”

  She pauses at the command in my voice. If she only knew how much desperation is behind it.

  “Look at me.”

  She has one hand on the door, the other wrapped defensively around her midsection. All of it is killing me. Her back to me. All the body language that’s telling me—screaming at me—that she’s done with this game.

  “If I look at you, what am I going to see?”

  I release an agonizing breath. “A man who doesn’t want to watch you leave.”