Systematic Siege: Provocative Tendencies #2 (SSPT #2)

by N. Isabelle Blanco

  He thrusts his tongue back into me.

  My mind disintegrates in blistering pleasure. Reality splinters into nothing but pounding, white waves of ecstasy, slamming into me. Drowning me.

  I lose touch with reality. When I come to, Drew is easing me up into his arms, hugging me as tight as he can.

  As if he’s about to die and he can’t imagine letting me go.

  I wrap my weak arms around him and hang on for dear life.

  “I meant it, Lexi,” he says roughly. But I already know. I feel the intent pounding off him. “Nothing can make me let you go now.”

  29

  Four hours and thirty-seven minutes. That’s how long it’s been since Lexi came back into my life. Since I smelled her, tasted the sweet skin of her neck. Felt her heart racing against me.

  Since I had those lips on mine once more.

  Seven fucking years and that small, quick feel of her lips almost made me come on contact.

  She kicked me out of her office, and the only reason I listened was because of the look in her eyes.

  Fear.

  Despair.

  Fucking trauma.

  I’m not a specialist but only a blind moron wouldn’t see the signs. Something fucking happened to my girl. Something that broke her.

  What did Stephen do to her?

  I resist the urge to slam my fist into my desk, but only because I already cracked the glass surface earlier.

  I’ve been watching her since I left her office. It wasn’t hard to hack into the security feed. All three of the monitors on my desk are now focused on her.

  I’m surprised Lexi made no move to secure those feeds. Clearly, she never expected me to hack into her office’s feed. She truly has no idea how obsessed with her I am. No clue what she means to me.

  My fault. I didn’t do enough to show her all those years ago.

  Lexi left the same day Kaylee played that screwed-up video in front of the everyone at school. That same day, I confessed to the school board. Told them I was in on the plan to humiliate Lexi—after I almost killed Stephen outside the building.

  He’d been rushed by ambulance to the nearest hospital.

  I was dragged straight to the board to answer for the attack. My father was one of the largest donors to the school.

  So was Stephen’s. They weren’t going to go after him on my suspicion alone. I had no choice but to lie. I told them Stephen agreed to record me and Lexi for my personal enjoyment. If I hadn’t, they never would have dared go after Menahan’s son.

  They got a hold of Kaylee’s phone and were able to trace the file transfer to Stephen. He’d also shared another copy of the file with Barnard.

  We all got thrown out days before graduation. Our parents’ wealth was the only thing that kept us from losing our diplomas.

  My father was furious.

  I didn’t give a fuck. Lexi had disappeared by then. She and her mother moved without a trace.

  The beginning of my downward spiral. I started drinking almost immediately after.

  A fucking huge mistake. On so many levels. I should have gone after Stephen and killed him when I had the chance.

  Instead, I became consumed with destroying myself.

  And the whole time he’d known where my girl was. Somehow, he convinced her to work for him.

  At some point during all that, he hurt her.

  My mind twists. Lexi stared at me, frightened, comparing me to Menahan because I kissed her.

  Against her will.

  Lexi, jumping away from me as I walked closer, shaking like a fucking leaf. Stammering.

  Blood pounds in my head from the fury. She’d reacted like many of the girls I went to rehab with. Girls that grew up in unstable homes. Girls with broken lives, regardless of the fact they came from money.

  Victims of abuse.

  Victims of . . .

  No. I can’t think it. I just got her back. I can’t afford to go to jail for murder now that I’ve found her.

  He’s going to die, but I have to be smarter about it.

  Lowering my head, I scrub my face with my hands, then look back at the monitors. Lexi is still typing away at her computer.

  As she has been since I left her office. Single-minded focus. A woman on a mission.

  She wants to help me succeed so she can hurt Menahan.

  “What did he do to you?” I whisper at the monitors, dragging my hands down my face.

  Of course, no answers are forth-coming. Not yet. I already have a team on it. All of it. I want any information I can find that pertains to all the years Lexi was gone.

  And I finally know where to start. Menahan’s servers.

  It won’t be easy getting past his security, but I will.

  I lean back in my chair, inside my dark office, surrounded by the night skyline on two sides, and I can’t look away from Lexi.

  Everything I want is in that office, twenty-two stories down, and I can’t go to her.

  She found out what I told the board. Probably blames me for whatever path her life took the last seven years.

  “I still love you, Lexi.” I never told her back then. It’s not the right time to tell her now.

  But, God damn it, I’ve got to do something.

  Two hours later, I’m still sitting here, contemplating it, when Lexi gets up to leave for the day.

  Not thinking about it, I get up to follow her.

  30

  Drew takes me back into town. I expect him to drive us straight to my car. He doesn’t. He drives to the park and pulls into the dark lot by the pier.

  I turn to face him. He does the same, and we sit here for hours, talking. Drew starts off by telling me what’s been going on in his life all these years. It’s hard watching him talk about his mom. How much she’s suffered thanks to his father.

  It’s not outright stated, but I can tell he’s also suffered thanks to that man. Drew got into kickboxing because he needed an outlet for all the anger his father causes him.

  No wonder he got so big the last few years. Between that and football, he’s in spectacular shape.

  With every new thing he tells me, I hate his father more.

  With everything, I get hungrier for him. I missed out on so much. I want to know all of it.

  Eventually, I realize what he’s doing. Tit-for-tat. He’s opening up first. Showing me he’s comfortable giving me all his facts—the good, the bad.

  When he goes quiet, I swallow and gather the courage to finally tell him everything.

  It’s odd talking about my mother, how different she is nowadays. Sad. Withdrawn.

  The sympathy on his face doesn’t help. His father caused our pain, but I don’t want Drew to feel guilty about it. “None of it is your fault.”

  “I’m his son.”

  “You can’t control his actions.”

  “Trust me, I know that. But he’s my father and I can’t help but feel somewhat responsible for all you and your mother have been through.”

  I think of my mother and how she’ll possibly react when I confess to her that I’m talking to Drew again—that I’m with him. She won’t react as negatively as Drew’s father will at the news, but she will be disappointed. I know she will.

  It breaks my heart, yet I’m willing to face it.

  “Don’t make me tell you again, Drew. It’s not your fault. I can’t imagine how hard it is to be his son.” I reach over to place my hand on his cheek.

  He nuzzles my palm and my heart squeezes painfully. “You really don’t know, Lexi. Sometimes . . . sometimes I really wish he would die.”

  I gasp.

  Staring at me worriedly, he places his hand over mine to keep it on his cheek. “I’m sorry, Lexi, but that’s how he makes me feel. I fucking hate him for what he did to you, to your family, to my mom. To me.” His eyes lose their focus.

  I can only imagine what he’s thinking about right now. What that monster that fathered him has put him through.

  He thinks I’m shocked because
of his desire to see his father dead; in reality, I’m stunned that we feel the exact same way.

  “Drew, it’s okay. I understand.”

  “You do?” The sad uncertainty in his eyes kills me. Before I can respond, he gives this little laugh and shakes his head. “Of course you do. If anyone has the right to want my father dead, it’s you.”

  I nod, broken inside. For him, not for me. This darkness his father caused in me has become so familiar over the last five years. I fought it at first, ran from it.

  The faster I ran, the faster it seemed to come after me. Eventually, I let it catch up with me. Welcomed it. This is who I am now. If I could find a way to get close enough to Drew’s father and end his life without getting caught, I would gladly do so.

  I’m okay with that.

  More than okay. It is my firm belief that the world would be a much better place without Richard Drevlow in it.

  But Drew . . . my poor Drew. He’s not used to the darkness. Thoughts of murder are new to him. They scare him. So much.

  I caress his cheek, my heart hurting for him. If I could spare him this new facet of himself, I would, but trying to do so means lying to him. Letting him believe I don’t understand, when I do.

  “It’s okay to feel that way,” I whisper, still caressing him.

  “About my own father, Lexi?” His look of disbelief is kind of adorable.

  My lips twitch. God, every second that passes I want this guy more and more. “Baby, you happened to get saddled with a demon of a father. You’re human. You’re allowed to feel the way you feel.”

  Drew grabs my hand and laces our fingers together. He has that aroused, sexy look in his eyes. “Call me that again.”

  I bite my lip, feeling my cheeks heat up. “I didn’t even realize I called you that.”

  “Don’t care. Say it again.” He leans toward me, eyes getting lazier, locked on my mouth.

  I do, whispering, “Baby.”

  His hand snakes around the back of my head, and then he kisses me, slow, languidly, each lick of his tongue getting me wetter. “God,” he groans against my lips, tilting his head and kissing me deeper.

  I moan in the back of my throat, blindly reaching for my seatbelt to get it off.

  A light bite of my lip, and he moves back, his breaths harsh in the car.

  I’m still trying to find the clip of my seatbelt.

  One look at his expression stops me.

  “I mean it, Lexi. I don’t care how wrong it is. I’m killing my father for you.”

  31

  I can’t get over the look Lexi gave me. After our conversation in my car, I drove her back to pick up hers and followed her home. No way was I going to let her drive back this late on her own.

  A few blocks from her house, she parked her car. I pulled up behind her and we stood outside for a good ten minutes, just holding onto each other.

  It feels fragile, this thing between us. Like anything could break it apart—tears us apart again. Nothing will. I can’t imagine losing her again. Nothing can get between us.

  Except my father.

  Lexi’s last words before I left come back to me.

  “Please, Drew. If you do anything to him, it’ll haunt you for the rest of your life.”

  “I’m not saying I’m going to do anything tonight,” I told her. “But something has to be done, Lexi. He’ll never leave us alone.”

  “Then let me be the one to do it.” Her eyes glittered at me, pleading. Steady. “When you figure out what you’re going to do to get rid of him, let me be the one to handle it.”

  So naïve. She’d been resolved. Comfortable with the idea. Whereas I’m still breaking out into cold sweats thinking about getting rid of my father. I tighten my numb, shaking hands around the steering wheel.

  I don’t care how comfortable she is with the idea, I’m not letting her get involved in any way. If this backfires, it’ll all be on me. Only me. Fuck, I don’t even have a plan. Not yet anyway. I’ll figure something out eventually. I have no choice.

  I get home around 2:00am. When I pull into our large, sprawling driveway, I see my father’s car pulling into the garage in front of me.

  Great. Just who I want to see.

  I play with the idea of stopping, dimming my lights, trying to escape his notice.

  Too late for that. I bet he already saw my headlights behind him. Bracing myself, I drive into the eleven-car garage behind him. My parking spot is on the far left of the garage, his is on the right. I could try and use this as my chance to escape any sort of confrontation with him.

  But hell no, I won’t. I’m tempted. No matter what I do, the little boy that once wanted his love is still inside me. Still scared. Cowering.

  I’m not a pussy, I remind myself. I’m a man now, a man ready to fight for his woman. A man ready to do whatever is necessary to have her and keep her safe.

  That starts with facing my father.

  “Andrew!” He calls out, coming closer.

  I’ve already stopped next to my car to wait for him, keys clutched tight in my hand. I watch him getting closer and realize he’s walking oddly.

  Damn it, he’s drunk.

  This situation just keeps on getting better.

  He gets within a few feet of me and I notice that his tie is in his hand. His shirt is partly unbuttoned. There’s makeup marks all over his collar.

  I think of my mother, how I’m sure she once loved this asshole.

  The cocky smirk on his face pisses me off. It’s a familiar face. And not just because he’s my father. I see that face every time I look in the mirror.

  I look more like him than I do my mother and it fucking kills me.

  “Where have you been?” he asks me, eyes scanning my body. Is he trying to find makeup marks on my person?

  “Out.” Even if I hadn’t been with Lexi, I wouldn’t give him more than that.

  He throws back his head and laughs. I don’t think I’ve ever hated any sound more. Stopping right next to me, he throws his arm over my shoulder. I have to resist the urge to jerk away from him. “I heard you and Kaylee are still together.”

  Then his information is outdated. Thank God.

  “But—” his eyes, the same color as my own, narrow, and it takes a hell of a lot of willpower to stay where I am. “—I have a feeling you weren’t with your girlfriend tonight.”

  I tense before I can think of controlling it. How the fuck . . . then again, that’s how my father’s mind works. He picks up on the shit no one would ever pick up on. I don’t know how he does it.

  It’s made him a brilliant business man.

  And it makes him one of the most dangerous adversaries anyone could ever face.

  It’s futile to lie to him, let alone straight up foolish. Blatant lies never work on him. I learned that early on in life. Lies somehow set off his internal detector. Half lies, for some reason, tend to sometimes work better on him.

  “I wasn’t.” I hold back from tacking on a “sir”. It’s been years since I last adhered to that stupid rule of his.

  My father continues to study me. “Who was she?”

  My reply is quick. It has to be if I want him to believe me. “Fuck if I know.” I jerk my shoulder in a shrug. “I didn’t bother to ask. Didn’t need to.”

  His laugh grates on my already fried nerves.

  Slapping me on the back proudly, he says, “Sometimes you aren’t such a disappointment after all.” He starts walking toward the entrance of the garage. “You know, for a second I thought you were going to say you were with that Berkman girl. Would have been a shame. I don’t want to have to destroy her son. Her father was my real target. She and her mother can rot on their own for all I care.”

  I swallow my rage, watching him enter the house. It kills me, but I know I have so much of that man in me. I have the capacity to be as much of a monster as he is.

  That’s why, as I stand here, I’m more resolved than ever.

  My father has to die.

  S
oon.

  “You’re amazing in bed, babe.”

  I smirk at Stephen’s comment. “I know.”

  “Honestly, I don’t understand why Andrew would want to dump a girl like you.”

  Hearing that name aggravates me. I turn over on the bed and rise up on my knees before Stephen.

  He’s draped on my bed, one arm tucked behind his head. Black hair mussed. Light brown eyes content.

  Shit, he better be content. I rocked his world and I know it.

  I look him up and down. Stephen is sexy as hell and incredible in bed.

  But he’s not Andrew.

  No one is.

  A man like that doesn’t leave me.

  Andrew doesn’t seem to know that but he will. Soon.

  “You promised me that video, Stephen.”

  He raises his eyebrow. “I did. But first, I have to know what you plan to do with it.”

  Gorgeous, but sometimes he seems to be kind of slow. “I’m going to use it to make both Andrew and his bitch pay.” Yeah, I’ve forgiven Andrew his indiscretions in the past. Because, come on, we’re meant for each other.

  Marrying him will make me the envy of every woman everywhere.

  Marrying him will make me twice as rich as I am now.

  He always cheated with nameless girls. But now he thinks he can leave me for that pathetic little nobody?

  I poke Stephen in the chest. “Give it to me.”

  “I thought you only wanted to hurt Andrew. This will hurt them both.”

  Rolling my eyes, I sigh. “Duh. I told you, that’s what I want.”

  He doesn’t say anything.

  “What aren’t you telling me?”

  “Nothing babe. I’ll give it to you as promised.”

  Okay, maybe he’s not so stupid after all.

  Stephen sits up and reaches for his phone. “But you have to promise me something, in return.”

  The nerve. “I don’t like stipulations. You promised. And I already fucked you, so I don’t owe you anything.”

  His eyes flash before darkening and becoming lifeless.

  Shivers break out all over my skin. I start to move back. His hand flies out and latches onto my arm, squeezing hard. “Stephen, you’re hurting me!”