Pleasure Payback

by Zara Cox

‘Mine is Florence Mortimer. Now that we’re acquainted, would you care to tell me what has you so het up?’

  The urge to tell her to mind her own business tripped to the edge of my tongue. But then I remembered what she’d done for Damian. ‘Your nephew isn’t who I thought he was.’

  Her lips pursed. ‘No one is, my dear. We all wear masks.’

  ‘Well, his masked slipped. And I don’t like what I see.’

  Her blue eyes attained a hard glint. ‘Watch it, young lady. That’s my kin you’re disparaging.’ She sighed. ‘Damian has a good heart. Whatever it is you think he’s done, surely it’s forgivable?’

  ‘I thought so...the first time. But fool me twice?’

  She set her cup down with a sharp click. ‘Neve...may I call you Neve?’

  I gave a jerky nod.

  ‘I don’t want to be here, Neve. But I get the feeling he’s about to do something reckless. Do I need to stick around to pick up the pieces? Or can I convince you to have this thing...whatever it is...out with him another day? He’s been through the wringer already today.’

  ‘Because he’s been to see Gideon about Penny?’ I asked with a heavy dose of bitterness. ‘How did it go, by the way?’

  Surprise sparked her eyes. ‘You know?’

  ‘Know what?’ Damian asked from behind me, rough tension in his voice.

  I took my time to face him, guarding my every exposed surface. But it was no use. The sight of him singed and flayed me, sparked every cell to roaring life, while shrivelling a heart that wanted to open wide in welcome.

  My senses absorbed him greedily, certain this would be the last time they had a chance.

  And in the time we stood there staring at each other, Aunt Flo rose and approached. ‘You sure know how to pick ’em, dear boy. Good luck.’

  He barely acknowledged her departure, his hazel eyes fixed on me. ‘What was that all about?’

  ‘Tell me why I’m here, Damian.’ I struggled to keep my voice even and barely pulled it off.

  ‘Neve—’

  ‘Is it this?’ I indicated the two stacks of papers on the table.

  He stared at me in rigid silence before he sighed. ‘This wasn’t how I intended to present this.’

  ‘Let me guess, you were going to set the scene, mellow me out with some more sex before you attempted your nice little takeover?’

  He froze, a chill turning his eyes frosty. ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘Everyone has an agenda. Those were your words. Did you plan all of this just so you’d get the leverage you need to cement your place on your precious board?’

  ‘Neve, you’ve got this wrong.’

  ‘Have I? Then tell me what’s in the document,’ I challenged.

  His lips firmed and he exhaled hard before approaching. ‘It is a bid for The Mortimer Group to absorb Nevirna but—’

  ‘You bastard.’

  ‘Dammit, hear me out.’

  ‘Why? So you can chop me up and sell me off like you did with Cahill Hotels nine months after you partnered up with him?’

  ‘That was his proposal. He wanted out of the hotel business.’

  ‘Well, I don’t! God, to think I was beginning to trust you. To think I imagined we could be...’

  ‘Be what?’ he asked sharply, his eyes ferociously intent.

  I swallowed my vulnerable words. ‘You should set your aunt straight on a few things.’

  ‘Why? What did she say to you?’

  ‘She seemed to be under a few misapprehensions about us.’

  His nostrils flared. ‘Don’t give me broad strokes, Neve.’

  ‘She thinks I have some sort of power over you. That I’m capable of hurting you. I didn’t get round to telling her you were incapable of being hurt because you have a rock where your heart should be. That sex was all you really care about so she had nothing to worry about.’

  ‘You think I’m incapable of being hurt?’ The words were tersely spat out.

  ‘I think you gave two strikes, once with your parents and once with Penny, and decided you were out. No more chances for anyone else. Everyone else is used, then written off before they even have a chance to crack that fortress you’ve placed around yourself.’

  His face turned to stone. ‘You think I used you?’

  I somehow managed to summon a smile. ‘Are you or are you not planning on leveraging Fantasy Rooms with your board, Damian?’

  ‘Well, you got me. But what about you, Neve?’ His voice was a sharp scythe.

  ‘What about me?’

  ‘Tell me what your grand plan was. Or should I guess? Sex was your weapon of choice, wasn’t it? Get me to the point of obsession. Make it so I wouldn’t see bloody straight by the time you were done with me?’

  My deep flush gave me away before he was done talking. But I still shrugged. ‘What does it matter now? You’re going to leave and I’m going to go back to being the forgettable screw who amused you for a little while.’

  He laughed, a scraping, scary sound. ‘You think you’re forgettable? You think I didn’t wake up this morning knowing I had to make changes if I wanted—’

  A throat cleared at the door, and Margret appeared. ‘Pardonnez-moi, Monsieur, but Madame Mortimer wants to know if you’re ready to leave.’

  Damian didn’t answer. Not right away. He stared at me as if he wanted to say something more.

  His silence cut me open, freed the burning question blazing through my heart. ‘If you wanted what, Damian?’

  His face tautened into an impenetrable mask. ‘Nothing I’m going to get from you. I see that now.’ He turned to Margret. ‘Tell my aunt I’ll be right there. I’m done here.’

  I knew that last bit was intended to wound. And it found its mark so accurately, I could do nothing, not even breathe, as he walked out of the room.

  The sound of the rotors spinning in preparation for take-off tore through me as surely as if the blades had struck my skin.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Damian

  IT WAS AMAZING how much could happen in four short weeks. A person could come out of the wilderness and be enfolded back into his family—or reinstated on the board by a slim majority, as was my case. Amazing too how that same board could fall apart after a short absence of its CEO and convene an emergency meeting to instate me as interim CEO. At least until Gideon returned from his extended sabbatical and we could co-CEO together as we’d planned many years ago.

  Most amazing of all was how none of that mattered a damn to me any more.

  Gideon and I had patched things up before he went after the woman he had fallen in love with. Our bond had bent out of shape and would require a hell of a lot of work, but it hadn’t broken.

  Neve, on the other hand...

  I tried to take a breath and tensed at the lance of pain in my gut.

  Fucking hell, what hope did I have of living anything resembling a normal life if I couldn’t take a breath without her?

  I whirled in my comfy CEO seat, stabbed my keyboard and waited impatiently for the laptop to flare to life.

  A sharp tap of the refresh button showed an empty inbox.

  Same as five minutes ago.

  Same as every day that dragged by without a response. Every single email arrived at its destination—I’d co-opted a nerd from IT to monitor it—and every email was immediately trashed.

  Who could blame her?

  She’d seen the demons I carried, and had still given me the time of day. Hell, she’d given me more than that. She’d listened without judgment. Given me comfort where I hadn’t received any for a long time. Hell, she’d even given me that last push I’d needed to confront Gideon, set things straight once and for all.

  She’d wanted to do more. I’d seen it in her eyes, felt it in her touch.

  But I was the fucking bastard who’d turned aw
ay from it all.

  I wanted it back. All she had to give and more.

  She might be trashing my emails but she was still connected even though her manager claimed she didn’t know where Neve was.

  In a last-ditch effort, I picked up the phone. Ten minutes later, I had a plan in place.

  Neve

  My finger hovered over the delete button, as I wondered how much more of this I could take before I succumbed and cried wolf. Or how much more I could take before the broken pieces inside me fossilised into permanent scar tissue.

  Every day felt worse than the last. And every day he sent me a message.

  Why was he doing this?

  Damian has a good heart.

  Of all the words we’d exchanged, why did the ones uttered by his aunt haunt me the most?

  I pushed away from the desk, pacing to the window in a futile hope that the glorious Surrey countryside would overcome the temptation to open the email. But even the short distance from the computer flayed me alive. I withstood the agony for a pathetic minute before I succumbed.

  The message was short. Succinct.

  Fantasy Rooms. Special Edition

  Mortimer Royal, London

  Tonight or any night that suits you. 8 p.m.

  My fantasy. Your rules.

  Did he know I was in England? I’d sworn my manager to secrecy while I explored a possible new hotel site.

  But Damian was a billionaire with unlimited resources. And somehow he knew I was close enough...to what?

  It was the what that saw me alight from a taxi two nights later outside Mortimer Royal, the latest in the illustrious hotel chain.

  The doorman doffed his cap and held the door open. As I walked across the stunning atrium it occurred to me that the email hadn’t given me a suite number or specific location.

  Before I could complete the thought, a tall, striking man approached. His badge announced him as Head Concierge.

  ‘Miss Nolan, welcome. If you don’t mind following me, the lift you need is right this way.’

  Biting back the questions that rose, I followed him to a lift marked private. He accessed it with a black key card, before handing it to me. ‘Please use it if you need to come down. Enjoy your evening.’

  The doors slid shut, throwing back my reflection at me. My cheeks were pale and I looked...wide-eyed and terrified. I dropped my gaze, straightened my red cocktail dress and silently willed my insides to stop shaking.

  The worst that could happen was another unpleasant confrontation.

  Yes, one that could decimate what’s left of your broken heart.

  My fingers tightened around the key card as the lift slowed. The carriage stopped. Pain and uncertainty sliced me in two.

  When I’d boarded the helicopter he’d sent back for me in Bordeaux, I hadn’t thought I could be capable of loving with my heart shattered in a thousand pieces. And yet I had.

  Still did.

  I can’t do this.

  I lifted the key card, aimed it at the electronic panel. And stopped.

  You’ve come this far.

  Shaky and tentative, I stepped out and looked around. Plush carpeting rolled towards a single solid door that stood ajar. I approached slowly, nudged it open.

  The air evaporated from my lungs.

  The bar, and the bartender mopping the shiny counter, looked achingly familiar. In fact, the whole scene looked familiar, right down to the chairs grouped near the window that showed night-time Boston. Except this time, there were no other guests.

  Heart thumping wildly, I approached and slid into the farthest seat.

  The bartender sauntered towards me with a smile. ‘What can I get you this evening?’

  ‘Umm...whiskey sour, please,’ I managed past a throat clogged with roiling emotions.

  He nodded. ‘Coming right up.’

  I took the drink he set before me a minute later with trembling fingers, not even a little ashamed that I was fortifying my wild tremors with liquid courage.

  Damian slipped into his seat just as I finished my drink.

  This time I didn’t glance his way. I knew every inch of his body, knew what looking at him would do to me. But from the corner of my eye I saw him reach for the bottle of water set before him.

  The bartender approached. ‘Want another?’

  ‘Yes.’ I paused, cleared my throat. ‘And a shot of your best whiskey for him too, on my tab.’

  The bartender nodded. He returned with my drink, then, unable to stand the agony any longer, I turned and watched him slide a shot of whiskey towards Damian.

  He stared into the amber liquid for a nerve-wracking stretch. Then ferocious hazel eyes pierced me from across the bar as the bartender slipped through the door and shut it behind him, leaving us alone. ‘There’s only one woman I trust to buy me a drink.’

  My heart lurched wildly. ‘Why?’

  ‘Because she’s the only person in the world I trust implicitly. The one who helped me learn to trust again. Helped me accept a part of myself I thought I’d lost.’

  My mouth twisted. ‘She sounds like a saint.’

  His eyes locked on me, pleaded with me. ‘She is. A saint. A vixen. A sharp, intelligent businesswoman. Most of all, a compassionate human being who deserves nothing less than abject worship from a fool like me.’

  I remained frozen, my shattered heart unable to pick itself up from the crater it’d fallen into weeks ago. Not even to acknowledge the pain rushing through his eyes.

  ‘Abject worship sounds...tedious. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure it’ll be fun for a while. But then...what?’

  ‘Then she can have whatever she wants.’

  ‘What if she has an agenda?’

  He grimaced, agony flashing across his face. ‘I’m learning that not every agenda is bad. Some of them are pursued with integrity and compassion as the end game. Mine going forward is to love, cherish and, yes, worship too.’ His eyes met mine, his gaze pleading. ‘If I’m given the chance.’

  I shook my head. ‘I can’t.’

  His jaw tightened. ‘God, don’t say that, Neve. I’ll do anything. Just don’t close the door on me. On us. I fucked up in France, I know I did. My plan was to propose an affiliation deal like the one you wanted with Cahill two years ago. I know I should’ve heard you out in Boston, maybe we could’ve worked something else out that didn’t involve jeopardising your company. Don’t get me wrong, that’s not why I was offering it in France. Simple truth is you’re a brilliant businesswoman, an asset I didn’t want to get away. And yes, a large part of it was that I was terrified of you walking away from me for good. But I want... Fuck, I’ll jump through whatever hoop you want so long as you consider giving me a chance.’

  Shame lanced me. ‘You were right, Damian. I kinda had my agenda too.’

  He shook his head. ‘You were reacting to what I did. I was a little too brutal with my assessment. You weren’t ready. But I could’ve framed the whole thing much better.’

  ‘I worked hard for everything in my life. Everything. I learned to keep quiet and make myself unobtrusive so I didn’t upset my mother when she was having one of her pity episodes. I fought for a relationship with my father after my mother drove him away and tried to keep us apart. And guess what, you were right. I hated failing at both but I still persevered with miserable results. My business was the only area I thrived in. So for a long time I hated you for turning Cahill against me. But looking back now, I’m glad you did. I would probably be bankrupt now or sold off in pieces. So, in a roundabout way, you saved me.’

  He continued to look pained. ‘I hurt you. Attacked you to save myself the pain of hearing the truth. I know that’s not a great pedigree to align yourself with, but I’m selfish enough to hope that I can learn from you, Neve.’

  ‘Your pedigree doesn’t define you. I’ve learned
the hard way that not everyone who can have children should. As much as it hurts, my mother is probably one of them. You can’t bring a child into the world only to turn around and blame it for everything that goes wrong in your life.’

  ‘Or in my case use it as a bargaining chip for money.’

  We fell silent, absorbing our shared pain for a moment before he rose. ‘I don’t want to dwell on the past. The reason my rift with Gideon hurt so much was because we vowed that we would be different from our parents. That we would be better. You showed me that it was possible, that I could rise above the bitterness. I want to be that person, Neve. But only with you.’

  My lungs flattened. ‘I... What are you saying?’

  ‘That I regressed into shitty behaviour that last day in France. I told myself it would be a pleasant surprise for you but I was desperately trying to find a way to hold onto you. I didn’t want our time together to end. I was hooked on you.’

  ‘Hooked?’

  He ventured closer, until he was within reach. ‘Fuck it, okay, I was in love with you. I fell in love with you the day I walked into the pre-production meeting and you tore strips off me. Only I didn’t know it then. All I knew was that I wanted you in my life. The night I walked you home and you didn’t invite me in I knew I couldn’t live without you. You drew me when I didn’t want to be drawn. You reached inside and touched me deeply and I knew I’d never be the same again. I talked to Tyler and Sam this morning. I’ve withdrawn my consultancy deal. They’ve agreed to partner with you exclusively if that’s what you want.’

  ‘No. I don’t want.’

  His forehead twitched. ‘What?’

  ‘I don’t want a deal that doesn’t include you.’

  ‘But...’

  ‘You want to worship me? Well, I’ll give you a chance. But only if you let me love and worship you too, Damian.’

  A visible tremble went through his body and his eyes turned black. ‘Bloody hell, you know how to bring a lovesick man to his knees, don’t you? You do realise I intend to stay there for ever for you?’

  I laughed. ‘That was kinda my plan from the beginning. Such a shame I had to fall in love with you that night two years ago when you sat down at the bar with a world of pain in your eyes.’