by Ali Parker
Ian reached up and brushed his fingers by his eyes before putting his attention directly on me. "I'm looking."
"Do you like what you see?" I struggled to keep my composure as my lip started to tremble.
"I love it. You know I'm in love with you. Don't do this."
"Everything I am is because of the man you killed." I slapped my chest hard. "I am the woman he helped me become. Not that sorry bastard in the other room, not you and not my mother. Pauly. It was Pauly, Ian. He was everything to me and I'm having to pretend like he wasn't. Don't make me live that lie in front of you too."
The sob that ripped out of the center of my chest was ugly. It was wrapped in the horror of me almost believing the lie they were all telling.
All of them. Even Ian.
His eyes grew wide as he walked across the room like he owned it. "Listen to me good... there's a whole lot of shit going on that you don't need to get involved in. I'd take a bullet for you."
"Like I took one for you?" I pressed my hands to his thick chest and locked gazes with him.
He closed his eyes and let his head fall. "Don't do this. I'm trying to protect you."
"Don't protect me." I cupped his face and pulled him closer to me. "Love me. Respect me. Be truthful with me."
"Fine, but not here." He leaned down and jerked me against him before pressing his lips against mine. The warmth of his tongue pressing deep into my mouth felt so damn good.
I moaned and slid my hands up his back, whispering my words as he leaned into the kiss, demanding more from me.
"Pauly isn't the bad guy, right? Tell me he's not." I licked at his mouth and trapped his face in my hands. He had to be the most beautiful man I'd ever seen in my life. He could steal my breath without even trying and yet I needed more from him than love and lust. I needed truth and trust.
"No, baby." He leaned down and kissed me again, running his hands down my back and cupping the top curve of my ass. "But play the part and I'll explain when I can. Please don't fuck this up. I'm hanging on by a thread and all of it is for you. For your safety."
I nodded and wrapped my arms around his chest before jumping and wrapping my legs around his thick waist.
"Why didn't you come in here last night to see me?" I kissed him once more before brushing my lips down his throat, licking at the beautiful tattoos that adorned his soft skin.
"I did, Chloe. You were sleeping, baby." He gripped the back of my hair and forced me to look up at him. "We're walking on a razor wire right now. Do what I tell you to do when I tell you to do it, all right?"
I nodded, wanting to trust someone and needing it to be him.
A knock at the door had me sliding down the front of his body and moving to my bathroom. I closed the door and pressed my ear to it as Ian answered it.
"Mitch wants her dressed and in the foyer in ten minutes." Daniel. I was so hoping the bastard was involved in the worst way. Everyone would eventually get what was coming to them, Daniel included.
"Why?" Ian barked.
"Because she's having lunch with Tristan Stanley. His parents are spending the afternoon with Mitch, and the boy wants to take Chloe out for lunch. I'm going with her, so nothing to be worried about."
Ian spoke up. "I'm going with her. You protect Mitch and watch out for the house. We'll be fine."
"You sure?" Daniel didn't seem to agree, which didn't surprise me too much.
"More than sure."
"All right, man."
I waited until I heard the door open and close before stepping out of the bathroom. "I'm not going to lunch with Tristan."
"Yes, you are." Ian turned and pinned me with a hard stare. "Hear me clearly, Chloe. You're going to take every step your father says to take with a smile on your face. So am I. We're in deep shit right now. This isn't a silly game of politics. People are losing their lives. Good people."
"Pauly?" I pressed my hand to my chest as the room grew dim. "Did you kill because my father told you to?"
"No." He reached for the door behind me. "Get dressed and let's get this shit over with."
"Ian. Please." I needed to know. "Please. Just tell me if you did it. I need to know."
He opened the door and pursed his lips, looking more lost than I thought possible. He shook his head no and walked out, closing the door as I sunk to the floor.
I pressed my face to my hands and sucked at the air greedily. "Thank God. Thank God."
The realization that I couldn't have made it past Ian killing Pauly washed over me, forcing a fresh wave of tears to blind me. Pauly was gone, and Ian was involved, but he hadn't pulled the trigger.
Now the question was - who had?
Chapter 7
Ian
Damn her for getting under my skin so fucking fast. How did she do that?
"Ian. In here." Mitch waved me in. "Are you sure it's a good idea for you to go with Chloe to lunch? Tristan is interested in my daughter in ways that you are. If something were to happen between them, I'd encourage it. Daniel would too."
"I will too." I locked gazes with him. "I'm a grown ass man, Senator Moore. I understand my place beside you. I plan on playing it if it means keeping Chloe safe. Plain and simple."
"Excellent. I want her to impress the boy."
"Then tell her to. I'll stand by idly. I'm not encouraging anything. It would break her heart." I smirked. "I'm not the only one interested in whatever was happening between us. She is as well."
"I'm aware." His expression soured. "Help that emotion to die and quickly. I need her with Tristan. His family comes from old money and lots of it."
Chloe walked around the corner looking like the type of innocence any man with half a sexual appetite would spend a whole day working to unravel. My cock twitched in my slacks and my pulse spiked.
"Sounds like your kind of guy, Dad." She smiled and moved to stand beside me. "You ready to go flirt with the rich kid?"
"You're flirting. I'm just making sure no one gets too close to either of you." I pulled my keys out of my pocket and glanced up to find Mitch watching me closely. "I have the rental car I got last night. Do you want us to-"
"Take the black Lexus in the garage. The keys are in the foyer on the way out." He nodded toward the front of the house. "No more than an hour, and make sure," he turned his attention toward Chloe, "that you win this boy over. His parents have deep pockets and they worship that kid. It's the weirdest thing I've ever seen."
I wanted to give her a look and tell her to play the part, but there was no way to warn her with Mitch staring us down. She was full of piss and vinegar, just like me, but she could grow up a little. Especially if it meant us getting out of our current predicament alive.
"I think I can win him over, but I'm not sleeping with him." She shrugged.
"Chloe! No one asked you to do something so vile." Mitch narrowed his eyes on her. "Behave and represent me well. We're almost done with this. Help me and you can go back to your life soon. Understood?"
She nodded, though I could tell she wanted to say a million things.
"Where are we headed?" I walked toward the front door with her and Mitch behind me.
"The Stanleys are coming over here for lunch and a long conversation about my campaign. You'll need to meet Tristan at De Luca's on the water. It's just a couple of miles from here."
"I hate that place," Chloe mumbled and walked around me, opened the front door and walked out.
I paused and glanced back at Mitch. "Anything else?"
"No. I think you understand what I'm after."
Sadly enough, I did, and it was the last thing I was willing to give up.
Her.
*
"Don't you look beautiful?" A young preppy guy with light brown hair and green eyes smiled at Chloe as we walked into the bistro.
"Flattery will get you nowhere." She laughed and leaned in to kiss his cheek.
Everything inside of me screamed to reach out and choke the bastard. Mitch let me go with her on purpose. He
wanted me to see her with another man, to watch her pretend to care for someone else. The asshole knew good and well what it would do to me.
I moved to the back of the room and took a chair near the bar where I could watch her closely. She didn't even bother to turn back to look at me. It was part of the act and she was doing it beautifully. How long had she been forced to be someone she wasn't? Pauly was Mitch's lapdog and his beautiful little girl was his whore. Running from place to place forcing herself to become anything he needed her to be.
But why?
Acceptance? Love? Fear?
"Hey, buddy. You want a beer or something?" The bartender leaned toward me as I turned and nodded.
"Yeah. I'll take a Corona with a lime. Just one please." I turned back to watch her beautiful face light up as she laughed at the kid.
Maybe I was fooling myself. I wasn't the right man for a girl like her. She was young and had the world in front of her. We just needed to get her away from Mitch, which would happen sooner rather than later. He was getting sloppy.
Jeremy would bring him down if I didn't. The guy deserved to be put behind bars, but I was good with him being out for a little while longer. As long as he kept his distance from my girl, he would be afforded more time.
Did Mitch know that there were three more zip drives? Jeremy had to have known. The four in Mitch's safe were all together, which lead me to believe that whoever broke into Jeremy's place while Mitch was tucked away in New Hampshire grabbed the four of them. Were they copies of the same event?
My stomach tightened as Tristan reached out and touched my girl's face. His eyes ran down her body as he licked the side of his mouth.
"Fuck me," I groaned and turned back to the bartender. I took my beer and thanked him, downing half of it without taking a breath.
There was no way in hell I could sit there and watch them flirt with each other. Where my heart knew the truth that Chloe was mine, my head would soon convince me that it was a lie.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and forced myself to turn back toward her. I needed to keep an eye on her no matter what. I might need Jeremy to bring Mitch down, but that didn't mean that the idiot wouldn't try using Chloe as bait again.
My brother hadn't called since the night before. I knew the truck was going to take a day or so because they needed a part for the alternator and the fucking thing was so old that they were having to special order it. I'd be on this journey by myself, which seemed like the best answer anyway. Cole had enough shit to deal with.
"Hey." The sound of his voice filled up my ear.
"How's it going? Any news on the truck?" I took another sip of my beer.
"It's almost done. I'll be up there by nightfall."
"No." I shook my head and set the beer down. "Just go back to San Diego. Seriously. You have your business to take care of and shit. I'm going to watch over Chloe and figure out what part Jeremy is playing in this. I'll call if I need you."
"You sure? You mean a whole lot more than my fucking business, Ian."
"I know, bro. I appreciate that, but I'm soon to be your partner, right? I don't want to mess anything up that could turn out to provide for our future."
"Oh, now I see." He chuckled. "I think I'll head up to L.A. for a few days then. I haven't seen Liam in a while. It'd be nice to get away. Besides, I have Terrance watching out for the company. He's a good man."
"Liam Lewis?" I snorted, unable to help myself. Of all the people in the world, my brother had befriended the cockiest, richest bastard during high school. How he could stand to be in the room with Liam was beyond me. I almost considered the torture of watching Chloe flirt with Tristan a better deal than having to see Liam.
"Don't be a hater. He's a good guy."
"That's a fucking lie, but whatever. Be safe and we'll hook up when I get back."
"From Santa Barbara or somewhere else?"
"I'm heading to Maryland later this week with Mitch and Chloe." I lifted the beer to my lips again as Cole grunted.
"This is so fucked up, man."
"You don't know the half of it. She was acting like a spoiled brat again this morning. I swear I'm not sure which side of her is really her."
"Hold tight and put yourself in her place. She's been kidnapped, shot at and lost someone she cares about. She's confused, scared. Of course she's going to resort back to being a child. You would too."
"I hate it when you're right." I let my eyes run down the length of her beautiful body. Everything inside of me screamed to walk across the room and pop pretty boy in his mouth before tossing her over my shoulder like a fucking caveman. That'd go over with Mitch like a sack of rocks.
"I'm always right. Take care and let me know if you need me."
"I won't. Love you, bro."
"Same."
I dropped the call and finished off my beer as anger swirled in the center of my stomach. Tristan was laughing about something, but was leaning in too closely to my girl. She moved back a little and glanced over toward me, smirking. She must have been telling the bastard that she had a guard watching her.
He glanced my way and scowled. I almost laughed, but kept it to myself. There was no reason to act like a child, though I very much wanted to. I was too fucking old for that mess.
*
The lunch seemed to go on forever, and I'd gone through a range of emotions by the time Chloe stood up and walked toward the door. I slid off my stool and followed her, hoping like hell that Tristan wouldn't be stupid enough to try and kiss her.
Sure enough, he leaned in and she turned a little, forcing him to kiss her cheek.
Every muscle in my body locked into place as I stood a little ways from them. She wasn't the girl throwing a childish fit, but a sensual young woman on a mission. I didn't want to question her motives, but I couldn't seem to help myself.
I'd been through too much shit over my life to ignore the warning signs. Maybe Mitch wasn't the only one playing a game. What if she was too?
Was it too farfetched? Yes.
Stop it. Fuck.
"Come back to my place?" Tristan offered her his arm. "Your father would be fine with you hanging out with me. We have guards all over the place."
"No. I can't." She moved back and bumped into me as I stepped up behind her.
"She's coming home." I winked at the boy and opened the door. "After you, Miss Moore."
She waved at Tristan and smiled. "Another time?"
"Absolutely." He turned a hard stare onto me as if his preppy ass could scare me in the slightest.
We walked to the car in silence. The voices in my head were screaming loud enough, warning me that I was walking on thin ice. That everything around me was a lie.
She let out a long sigh as we got in the car and glanced over at me. "That was fucking miserable."
"You didn't look miserable." I hated myself the minute I let the insecurity slip through my lips. We were both swimming around in a pressure cooker of emotions. One of us was going to blow soon.
"Are you serious right now?" Her eyes narrowed and she looked more like the brat I'd been willing to throw over my leg and spank and less like the woman I wanted to hit my knees for.
"No one was there but me. Is there a fucking reason why you had to flirt with him to the extent that you did?" I started the car and pressed the gas, pulling out of the parking lot and heading down the coast much faster than I should have.
"I did what you told me to do." She turned to face me. "I played the part."
"Yeah, really well." I shook my head. "I should have let Daniel come instead. I feel like I could fucking puke."
Now who was being the child? I wanted to beat my own ass.
"Fuck you for that." She reached out and popped me in the chest - hard.
I jerked the car to the side of the road and gripped her hand. "For what? For caring about you?"
"You're not being fair, Ian." She unbuckled and tugged her hand back as she reached for the door handle. "I'm being forced to slut mys
elf out and you think I enjoyed it? You're not the man I thought you were."
"That's the line you're going to throw at me? I don't think so." I reached over and gripped her other arm before pulling her into the seat with me.
She pressed her hands against my chest as she straddled me. "No. I'm not doing this."
"Yeah. You are." I gripped her face and pulled her down for a long kiss, making love to her sweet mouth until she stopped fighting me.
Her fingers gripped my shirt as she pressed herself to the front of me.
Pleasure rolled through the center of my stomach and left me with more clarity than I'd had in weeks. She hated everything Mitch stood for. My insecurities had me projecting things onto her that didn't belong there.
I wasn't enough for Mandy and here I was convincing myself the same was true of Chloe.
"I need you," she whispered against my lips, sealing the deal for me.
"Then take me." I gripped her hair tightly and had my way with her mouth as she rolled her hips and moaned softly against me.
We were cracking under the pressures around us, but we could fight against it. I wanted to protect her, to save her, to make sure she survived this. She wanted so much more than that though... she wanted love.
Maybe it was time to start lavishing her with it.
Chapter 8
Chloe
His anger was more than apparent over me flirting with Tristan, but what fucking choice did I have? He'd been more than clear earlier that morning that I needed to slip into my role and play the part perfectly. It would keep everyone off my back and give him time to figure out what the fuck was really going on.
I'd been an emotional roller coaster on purpose and I was exhausted from it.
The feel of his hands gripping me so tightly it hurt was far more comforting than I wanted to admit. Nothing seemed real but him.
"Not here." I leaned back as he ran his fingers over my sides and gripped my hips.
"Yes. Here. I'm not taking the chance of your father getting in my way right now." He reached up and cupped the side of my face, pulling me down and kissing me hard.