by Iris Morland
Silence. Then: “She says she needs to see you.”
She. Anthony’s heart seized. “Send her up,” he barked.
He strode to his front door, and before she could ring the doorbell, he wrenched open his door to see Thea on his doorstep. He laughed at the reversal of what had happened last week, but it was a bitter laugh.
Thea looked tired, hesitant, and hopeful. The sight of her did something to Anthony’s insides that he dared not think about too deeply. She seemed pale, but beautiful, in that delightful elfin way she had about her. In her hand, she carried a small bag.
“Should I ask how you found out where I live?” he asked blandly.
“It was easy to convince your assistant that I was a lady friend who’d agreed to meet you.”
He grunted. He’d need to talk to Cara about giving out his address so easily. With an ironic flourish, he opened the door farther to let Thea come inside.
She tipped her head back as she took in his penthouse: the ceilings were high, showcasing the staircase to the second floor. Anthony wasn’t much for ostentation despite his wealth, and after Elise had left, he’d replaced all of the furniture with neutral colors and simple lines. Functional, but expensive. It was preferable to Elise’s love of rich velvets and deep colors that had irritated him after she’d left.
Thea walked to the opposite wall to gaze at a painting. She let out a little laugh. “This is a Henry Thatcher, isn’t it?”
“It is. Do you know his work?”
Thea opened her mouth, but then she just shrugged. “We studied him when I went to art school. He never did much for me, personally.”
She wandered, like she wasn’t entirely certain why she’d come. Anthony followed her without asking questions. But when she began to pick up a glass ball from a coffee table like she was shopping for her own apartment, he said, “What are you doing here, Thea?”
She tapped her nail against the glass. “This is pretty.” At his confused expression, she added, “I wanted to apologize.”
“You came all the way here for that?”
“I thought we should keep up the theme. You know, of showing up at each other’s places without telling each other first.”
Thea circled around another table, not meeting his gaze. He watched her, feeling rather like a hawk circling its prey, even though the prey had stepped into his net of her own volition.
“I shouldn’t have said what I did that night. About your company. I don’t know all the circumstances—”
Anthony held up a hand, stopping her. He slid an arm around her and pulled her into his embrace. “If you think I give a fuck about that night when you’re finally standing in front of me, you’re wrong.”
Her lip trembled. Not wanting to keep talking, Anthony kissed her.
He groaned, deepening the kiss, and Thea melted into his arms. Triumphant, he slid his hands up her back to touch her bare skin. It had only been a few days since they’d had sex, but he needed her like it had been years. Centuries. He was already rock-hard. He was halfway tempted to bend her over this table and fuck her right then.
Thea turned away, ending the kiss, but she was breathing hard. He cupped her breast, feeling her nipple peak under the fabric of her shirt. She gasped.
“I need to tell you something,” she whispered.
He kissed her neck, setting her on the table behind her and moving to stand in between her legs. “I don’t care what it is,” he said, and it was true. He didn’t care. She could tell him she was the fucking queen of England and he wouldn’t care. Nothing mattered but that she’d come to him and that she was in his arms.
Thea sighed. “Oh, Anthony,” was all she said before she finally surrendered.
He tore off her shirt and bra, leaning down to suck one nipple into his mouth as he kneaded her other breast. Thea dug her nails into his shoulder, saying his name over and over again. It only made him more crazed for her.
But the table was creaking, and Anthony chuckled when Thea squealed as the table rocked. He picked her up with a grin that turned into a moan when she slid her clever fingers inside his shirt to caress him.
Anthony practically dashed up the stairs to his bedroom. For a flicker of a moment, he remembered how he’d found Elise and Ryan in here. The memory tried to hurt him, but with Thea kissing him, her smell and touch enveloping, he knew that the memory couldn’t hurt him anymore.
Besides, he’d gotten rid of that damn bed anyway. And Thea would be the first woman to sleep with him in this one. All of his flings since Elise had happened elsewhere. The realization that Thea would be the first was surprisingly poignant.
Anthony flipped on a lamp before they undressed. Thea wore a black bra and matching thong, and when she bent over in front of him to take off her socks, her luscious ass in the air now, Anthony’s cock jumped.
He kneaded her ass like he’d done to her breasts earlier as she stood up again. Thea wiggled her hips in invitation. He slipped his fingers under her thong and touched wet feminine folds. Thea shuddered when he pressed a finger inside her as he lightly rubbed her clit with his thumb.
She leaned her head against his shoulder. “Anthony,” she whispered.
He rubbed her swollen clit harder until she arched and shook. She whimpered as he drew out her orgasm. She was so amazingly responsive that it only heightened his own need for her.
“Get on the bed,” he ordered, kissing the side of her neck. “I’ll be right back.”
She shot him a sultry glance over her shoulder, and it took all of his self-control not to toss her onto his bed and slide inside her, consequences be damned. When she shimmied out of her bra, he swore under his breath.
“Don’t move,” he said before heading to the bathroom. He found a condom and rolled it onto his cock in record speed. By the time he returned to the bedroom, Thea was completely naked and reclining in the middle of his bed like something out of some erotic fantasy. With her breasts upthrust, her nipples a deep red, she made his mouth water.
“Oh good, you’re back,” she joked.
“Get on your hands and knees.”
She shivered and soon she did as he told her. Of course, Thea being Thea, she made sure to do it as slowly as possible just to drive him crazy.
Anthony pressed his hand between her shoulders until her upper torso lay on the bed. She was a feast for the eyes, and he was going to devour her.
He pressed his cock inside her, her tightness and heat squeezing him. She moaned as he filled her to the hilt. He stayed like that for a long moment, his toes curling. He couldn’t get enough air into his lungs.
When he started to move, he could see Thea’s fingers dig into the sheets. He gripped her hips, not letting her pick up the pace. He laughed, dark and low, when she cursed his name.
“Come on,” she whined, turning her head to look at him. “Please, please.”
“I love having you beg me.” He just thrust more slowly, making sure to rub against her clit each time.
“Oh God, I hate you—” Her voice trailed off when he pulled out, waiting a second before pushing back into her. He continued that rhythm for a while until Thea’s moans turned into squeals. Her sheath tightened around his cock, and he knew she was close.
His own control snapped then. He slammed into her, faster and faster, and to his delight she only pushed back against him with each thrust. His release coiled inside him, and right as Thea screamed his name, he came. His vision blurred, and all he could feel was Thea—her tightness, her heart, and most of all, her desire equaling his own.
They collapsed together onto the bed, both of them gasping for air. Sweat glistened on Thea’s body, and he couldn’t stop himself from licking beads of it from between her breasts.
They lay like that for a while, not moving or speaking, simply being. Thea eventually rose and went to the bathroom, and he could hear water running. She returned wearing his robe, which was so big on her that where it hit him below the knee, it went almost to her ankles.
“Anthony, I need to talk to you,” she said.
Anthony yawned. “Come back to bed. We can talk later.” His eyelids were heavy, and he just wanted to sink into sleep.
Thea shook his arm. “I need to talk to you,” she repeated, more urgently this time.
He peeled open one eye to stare up at her. “No more talking. Just sleeping. Get into bed.”
He closed his eyes, and when she sighed and got into bed beside him, he smiled in triumph. Sleep claimed him soon thereafter.
20
Anthony was gone when Thea woke in the morning. His side of the bed was already cold, so he must’ve left hours ago. Yawning, she went to take a shower, the hot water clearing the cobwebs from her mind.
Her conscience pricked at her. She’d driven down here to tell Anthony the truth, and she’d failed utterly. She’d tried to get Anthony to listen, she told herself. But he hadn’t wanted to talk. Then he’d kissed her and it had all gone downhill from there. It was like the second he touched her, every thought in her brain disappeared.
Thea dressed, sick with guilt and frustrated at how weak she was for this man already. Although it terrified her, she texted Anthony, saying, We still need to talk. When do you get home?
When he didn’t reply, she hoped it was because he was in a meeting and not ignoring her. She wandered downstairs and got some food from the kitchen. After she’d eaten, Anthony finally replied. Back late. Feel free to stay at my place as long as you want.
Well, that was helpful. Sighing, Thea plopped down on the living room couch. As she started perusing social media, her attention was snagged by an article that one of her friends had shared. The headline made her freeze.
Is this the end? Bertram, Sons, and Co. CEO cheating scandal of the decade
Thea clicked on the article with bated breath. As she read it, her anxiety increased with each word.
An unnamed source close to Bertram says that his former wife, socialite Elise Bertram (née Edgerton, now Elise Weaver), cheated on Bertram with her new husband. Even worse? Allegedly, Bertram used company money to hush up the scandal.
By the time she finished reading, she had to put her head between her knees, she was so dizzy. At first she wondered who had discovered this secret of Anthony’s, but then memories began to flood her mind.
That night with Mittens. She’d been drinking. He’d kept asking her about Anthony. Thea remembered taking that last shot, and—
Oh God. She’d told Mittens everything. She’d told him the one thing Anthony had told her in confidence, and she’d basically word-vomited it without a care in the world.
Her hands were shaking as she called Mittens. She didn’t know for sure he’d leaked the story. Mittens wouldn’t betray her like that. He was her friend. Even though he hated Anthony, he cared about Thea more.
Right?
Mittens answered on the first ring.
“Did you leak this story about Anthony?” she asked in a quivering voice.
Mittens sighed. “Of course I did. Did you think I wouldn’t use everything I could to take this guy down?”
Tears sprung to her eyes. “How could you? How could you use something like that against him? Against me?”
“Look, you told me the basics, and I had other sources corroborate it. It wasn’t just you. You just gave me the first hint. Don’t beat yourself up about it.” His voice turned hard. “You promised to help me to take him down. You were the one who created that campaign in the first place. I’m not the one acting like a hypocrite here.”
She couldn’t get enough air into her lungs. “You were supposed to be my friend first. I trusted you.”
“I’m sorry for hurting you,” said Mittens, and he sounded sincere. “But sometimes you have to fight dirty. Trust me, this is for the best.”
“No, it’s not! This is wrong. He didn’t deserve this. You don’t know him. He’s not a bad guy. He’s made mistakes, and I hate that he does animal testing as much as you do, but acting like this is a black-and-white situation is absurd. And I told you something I should never have revealed. Don’t you get that?”
Mittens sighed. “So you’re in love with him?”
Thea stilled. Her mind whirled, denying Mittens’s words, but she knew he was right. She had fallen in love with Anthony. She’d resisted it for so long that she’d been in total denial.
She took in a shaky breath. “How I feel about Anthony is irrelevant. You went behind my back and did this. Why? How could you? I would never do something like that to you.”
“Look, if you don’t get it, I can’t make you understand. Sometimes you have to hurt people to accomplish the greater good. That’s what you said, remember? To save innocents, you have to fight dirty. It is what it is.”
“I can’t talk to you. We’re over. Don’t contact me again.”
Thea hung up the phone before wrapping her arms around herself. Her heart shattered, knowing that her friendship with Mittens was over. She felt like she’d been physically stabbed. She hadn’t hurt this much since her mother had died.
Then her next thought was: did Anthony know yet? Oh God, he’ll never forgive me. I’ll lose him and Mittens.
The thought of Anthony hating her made her start crying. Losing Mittens was bad, but losing Anthony? That thought was devastating.
“I love him,” she whispered to herself. And now she would never have him. She blamed herself for being such a blind fool. She blamed Mittens for his betrayal. Crying so hard that she was gasping for breath, she tried to figure out what she was going to do.
All Thea knew was that she had to try to explain things to Anthony. And to tell him about her involvement in that campaign before anyone else did. At least he didn’t know that piece yet…
She fumbled for her phone, calling Anthony. But he didn’t pick up. She called a second time, a third. She left voicemails. She texted him, but no response. Shaking with anxiety but refusing to sit by and wait, she grabbed her keys and headed to his office.
When the door to his office burst open, Anthony glanced up from the email he was currently typing to see Elise storm in. She slapped a magazine on his desk before she demanded, “What the hell is this?”
Anthony picked up the magazine warily. When he read the headline, he saw red.
“Did you finally leak this?” Elise’s cheeks were flushed, and her eyes glittered with anger. There was some satisfaction in her gaze, too, though. That was enough to make Anthony almost worried.
Slowly standing, he said calmly, “I didn’t leak anything. It must’ve been one of your lackeys. Or Ryan himself.”
“He would never. What would he get out of it?”
“What about you? Didn’t you say that I could tell the world about your fucking my VP?” He narrowed his eyes at Elise. “So why would you even care?”
Elise seemed to waver before hardening her expression. “I don’t care,” she said airily, although Anthony knew she was lying. “But I have a feeling you’ll care about the other details that were leaked.”
She flipped to the middle of the magazine, handing it over to Anthony. He read the article, his anger growing with every word.
The details were so specific regarding Elise’s affair with Ryan that Anthony knew beyond a shadow of a doubt who had leaked the story, including the most incriminating bit: that Anthony had used company money to keep them both quiet. Elise, despite all of her bravado, wouldn’t have let this get to the press, and Ryan would never do anything Elise didn’t approve of. Besides, that NDA Anthony had had them sign was ironclad. They were stupid, but not that stupid.
It had to have been Thea. The only person I told. But why?
The realization of her betrayal cut so deeply that it took all of his strength not to show it in front of Elise. He’d thought that Thea was the one person worth trusting, the one person who wouldn’t fuck him over. But she’d used him, just like everyone else had done. How much money had she gotten, going to the press?
He tossed the magazine at Elis
e, disgusted. She scowled at him before she started laughing. It was so jarring that Anthony didn’t know how to react.
“You don’t know, do you?” she asked. Her smile only widened. “You don’t know the best part of this whole story.”
“Spare me your games, Elise.” He had to get control of this scandal. He had to explain to his board why he’d used company money to hush up Ryan and Elise. When Bruce finds out about this…
Anthony could feel the reins of his company slipping through his fingers. Everything he’d worked for, everything he’d fought for—gone. In a burst of rage, he slammed his fist onto his desk so hard that it rattled the floor of his office. He didn’t feel the pain in his hand. All he felt was the freezing of his heart at Thea’s betrayal and the loss of everything he cared about.
Elise, however, just waited until he’d gotten control of his temper. Pulling out her phone, she handed the device to him with an email pulled up.
“I did some digging of my own. I heard about your little vacation in the woods with that woman,” she explained. “You should read this.”
Anthony was tired of reading. He didn’t know how any of this could get worse. But as he read the email, he realized it could.
So much worse.
The recently disastrous social media campaign against Bertram, Sons, and Co.? The creators of it have been revealed. The masterminds include Milton Haverford III and Thea Younger, both of Fair Haven, Washington. Both animal activists, they created the campaign to take down this powerful company that continues to use animal testing. Shady? Maybe. Clever as hell? Definitely. Props to them.
Thea. Thea had been behind that campaign. And not only that, but she’d leaked his secret to the press. God, he’d played right into her hands, hadn’t he? Had she planned them getting stuck together in that cabin? Had it all been a ruse? Had she fucked him just for information?
“Interesting, no?” said Elise. She was still smiling. “Yes, I know about that woman—Thea. It’s funny, how many people who are still loyal to Ryan after you threw him out, who told us both what was going on with you and her. So, how does it feel to be betrayed?”