by Amelia LeFay
“You surrender far too easily for my liking, Ms. Chapman,” he replied, setting me back on my feet.
Trying to put on my best fake British accent, I lifted my head up and said, “It is merely a surrender to fight another day, for thy will rue the day thou made me snort.”
He laughed, so hard there were tears in his green eyes. “Rue? Thou? Are you trying to be British or Shakespearean?”
“Shakespeare was from Britain.” I shrugged.
“Very well. As such, I must ask will thy most beautiful of all maidens accompany me on a walk?” he asked, giving me his elbow.
“If it pleases thou.” I nodded, linking arms with him.
“I'm glad I got to see you in your natural habitat,” I said, leaning into him.
“My natural habitat.” He nodded, agreeing.
“Your staff really like you,” I said.
“You mean Nicklaus?"
“Didn't mean any one person. Wait, you know?”
“Of course I know. I'm not as dense as Max,” he replied. “He's never let it interfere with his work, and I benefit also.”
“Him having a one-sided crush benefits you how—other than making you feel good about yourself?”
He pouted. “I'm not that conceited.”
“I believe you—ahh,” I replied as he tickled my sides again. “Okay, okay.”
“Nicklaus is a great chef, and in the next year or two, he might be ready to go off on his own. Chefs are cocky; it's just how it is. His crush on me forces him to strive to be on the same level as me. He’s working twice as hard for me and never fights back. He just wants to hone his skills. Right now I'm winning out. I'm going to miss him when he realizes he's ready to go.”
“You won't tell him when he's ready?”
“If I have to, then he won't make it. I'm glad you met him; he's a good guy. I wish I was less of an ass tonight, though.”
“Liar. You enjoyed showing them who was boss in front of me.”
He glanced down and I stared back up, daring him to argue.
“Okay, maybe a little bit.”
“I knew it. I finally get you and Max.”
When we got to the abandoned playground, I rushed to the swing and kicked my leg out.
“Please share your wisdom with us little people, Ms. Chapman.” He pushed me softly on the swing.
“You and him are both alpha males and usually that never works because…well, because one ends up destroying the other. But in very rare situations, some alphas actually enjoy that fight. Someone to push them back, challenge them. You're turned on by his assholery and he's turned on by your cockiness. No pun intended.”
He grabbed the chains and held me still as he leaned over my shoulder with his lips beside my ear.
“What are we going to do with you, Jane? You’re uncovering all of our secrets one by one.”
“Make sure my lips are sealed?” I turned to face him.
“I can do that,” he replied before kissing me.
“She backed out?” I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to breathe. “What do you mean she backed out?”
“She’s worried it will make her a target of Governor MacDowell’s supporters.”
“BULLSHIT!” I slammed my hand on the table. “Someone got to her, and it was your job to make sure that wasn’t possible!”
“Maybe if you weren’t so focused on some random woman and were here focusing on one of the most important stories in this city—”
“Get out.”
“Max.”
“Go home, Scarlet. You obviously need a break from this, so go before you say something you regret,” I replied.
She clenched her fists so tightly it looked like she was about to draw blood. Grabbing her purse, tablets, and phones, she stomped out. I didn’t bother looking back but instead focused on the people across from me. All of them were trying to pretend they had not just heard something about my personal life.
“Go over everything we have,” I said, leaning back in my chair. No one moved. “Are you really going to make me call on someone?”
“Governor MacDowell—”
“Your name?” I asked the dark-skinned man dressed in a horrible plaid shirt.
“Dwayne Adams…sir”
Sir?
“Mr. Adams, I don’t remember you being in here.”
“I’ve been in the pit. Scarlet invited me here.”
“Welcome to the big time. Since you had the balls to speak up first, don’t fuck up.” I nodded for him to continue. “What do we have?”
He turned to the drawing of a spider web on the wall and pointed to the picture of Governor MacDowell in the center.
“Three weeks ago, we were given an anonymous tip that Governor MacDowell bribed a judge, Judge Aster, to get his brother a lighter sentence for a hit-and-run after a DUI. Judge Aster, who up to this point has always had a spotless record, agreed—”
“We still don’t know,” said Isla, a young blonde who still felt awkward speaking up for herself. Until then she had basically been Scarlet’s shadow.
“Right,” Dwayne nodded to her. “Isla was the one who confirmed the story after speaking with the bailiff. It was there that we were able to dig further down the rabbit hole to the corruption. This is where MacDowell made numerous property deals while he was a county commissioner in the area. Later he stepped up to blackmailing city council members. Governor MacDowell still claims to be innocent of those charges. That is when you, sir, were informed by a whistleblower at the Boston PD of the city police’s new order to ‘give warnings’ and the sex ring. We had a woman, only named ‘LL’, who claimed she was part of the ring. She called to tell Scarlet she couldn’t do the show and has now disappeared.”
“Is she alive?” I asked; they all tensed.
“You think he’d kill her?” another one of them spoke up.
I stared at him as if he was stupid; no, he had to be stupid. “This is Boston. If you don’t think that it’s possible, you’re not from here.”
“So what do we do if we have no guest? We’ve been replaying and promoting this interview for the last two days. What are you going to say tonight?”
“The truth,” I replied, standing up. “Keep working on this. Keep hounding the police and the governor’s office. You’re a friend of a friend who knows someone at the governor’s office. Don’t stop until you’re so annoying that they tell you anything just to get you to leave.”
“Yes sir.”
Walking out, I headed back to my office. Everyone was in the pit answering phones and typing so damn hard it was like a symphony orchestra. Making it into my office, I sat back down in my leather chair and rubbed my eyes.
“Long time no see Max.”
“Jesus!” I jumped at the man sitting on my couch with his snakeskin shoes on my coffee table. “Not long enough, Teddy. Get your feet off my table.”
He snickered, stood up, and ran his hands through his slimy brown hair. His gut hung over his belt, but he didn’t seem to care.
“You shouldn’t be here,” I said to him.
“I just thought I’d come to speak with you man to man—well, make that man to little fairy. Why have you dedicated your time to sticking it to my father?”
“Fuck you. Your father is a criminal.”
Teddy MacDowell, the son of the very devil I was doing my best to make sure did not get away with this shit, just sucked his teeth and took a seat in the chair in front of me.
“This is starting to feel personal, Max.”
“It’s Mr. Emerson,” I said before pushing the intercom button.
“Yes sir?”
“I’m going to need security up here. Now,” I said, never looking away from him.
“You were never very friendly.” He frowned. “Well, at least not to anyone but my brother.”
“Leave.” I got up, moving around the table to stare him in the face.
“Remember Chris? I’m sure the public would love to know about your personal lif
e too, huh? How about we do a sit-down interview! How about I tell everyone you are nothing but a cock sucking little bi—”
Before he could get the word out, I punched him across the jaw. He stumbled back, rushed me, and grabbed on to my neck.
“Sir!” Security rushed in and pulled him off.
“You’ve got secrets, too, Emerson! Keep coming for my family like this, and I am coming for yours, you hear me? You hear me, you little fuck boy!” he hollered as they pulled him away.
Slamming the door closed, I grabbed the lamp near the couch and threw it against the wall.
Fuck them. Fuck them all!
“Max is late,” she whispered, lying on my lap as I brushed her hair back.
“He’s a workaholic.” It was true. What she didn’t know was he always came back home on time. The only times he didn’t was if something had happened, something that took him back to that dark place again. If he wasn’t home by that point, he wouldn’t come back home until early in the morning, most likely drunk.
What happened?
“You seem worried.” She rolled over to look up at me.
“I’m fine—”
“Liar! If you can’t tell me, just say you can’t tell me.” She was far too damn perceptive for her own good. Leaning over, I kissed her lips.
“I don’t know enough to tell, and even if I did, it’s not me who should say something.”
She frowned. “I’m too tired to decode whatever that means.”
“Sleep then.”
“I want to have sex with you both,” she said bluntly while pouting. It was one of the things I enjoyed about her, how she didn’t shy away from her sexuality. How she was confident in her own skin, which was refreshing in a woman.
“I’ll wake you up when he’s here.”
“Promise?” She lifted her pinky to me.
Linking it with mine and kissing it, I nodded. “I promise, my horny little butterfly.”
Her eyes closed but she smiled. “Are you promising BDSM stuff too?”
Fucking hell. “Go to sleep Jane, before I break a rule.”
“Yes, Chef.” She giggled to herself. She was beautiful when she slept. She looked so innocent, not at all like the temptress she really was.
No. Focus. Max. I tried to calm myself down while reaching for my phone.
The phone rang once before going to voicemail. He’d declined my call. The little shite!
Putting my phone on the table, I sat up, lifting Jane’s head to get up. Part of me thought about taking her upstairs… Things are about to get ugly here. However, another part of me wanted her to see it. I wanted her to be so emotionally invested, so fucking knee deep in both Max’s and my life, that she felt like she really was a part of it and not just a woman we both fucked for the hell of it.
Taking my jacket off, I laid it over her body. She’d switched to shorts so short they were basically underwear and a tank top so sheer her nipples were poking through the material, along with thick furry socks. I took it back; she wasn’t innocent. Even while she slept, she was still fucking toying with me.
I wanted to touch her.
I wanted to fuck her.
I wanted her.
She’s mine…she’s ours.
She asked for quote ‘BDSM stuff’ as if it was nothing, as if she understood what I wanted. Fucking her with Max only partially satisfied me. I was trying to get her comfortable with the idea of the both of us before I further freaked her out. If she knew what I wanted to do to her sexy little body off the bat, she’d run and never come back.
If she knew how badly I wanted to see my cum on her face, how badly I wanted to tie her up, beat her pussy and ass until they were bright red…would she still see me as sweet Wesley? There was no point rushing into it. I could wait. For now.
Until then we’d have to focus on Max.
It was 2:47 a.m. when I heard the automatic voice alert me that the door had opened, and just like I’d expected, he stumbled in drunk. He threw his jacket off to the side and angrily pulled off his tie.
“Good to know you’re not dead in a ditch somewhere,” I said.
“Not now,” he grumbled, brushing past me. Grabbing on to his arm, I pulled him back.
“You ignored my calls six times.”
“Wes NOT NOW!” He pulled his arm from me.
“Fuck that! Yes, now!”
He tried to punch me, and for that, I punched him right back. My fist went right into his stomach. He stumbled back before charging forward like a damn bull, slamming my back into the railing of the stairs.
“Oh! My god, Wes! Max! Stop!” Jane yelled, but neither of us listened. We both struggled, falling to the ground until I was able to pin him under me.
“ENOUGH!” I yelled down at him as he tried to fight, then I held down harder, leaning forward. More softly, I said, “Max enough.”
He stopped, closed his eyes, and nodded. I got up, but he just lay prostrate on the ground. I took a seat beside him on the floor. Jane stood there in shock.
“Jane.” I offered my hand and she didn’t take it.
“I don’t like things like this,” she whispered.
Max tilted his head to the side and stared at her for the longest time before saying, “Who likes being like this?”
She frowned but walked over and sat beside us. “What’s happening?”
I couldn’t answer that question, so I waited for him to speak.
“The first guy I cared about, the first guy I ever slept with…his name was Christopher MacDowell, son of Governor MacDowell, who I just exposed to the world as the monster he really is.”
I had heard this story before. He was telling her.
“So Chris is upset?”
He laughed bitterly and shook his head. “I met Chris when I was sixteen. He was fifteen. We bonded over hating the Catholic school we were in. His family threw a New Year’s party, one of those parties to prove how much money you have, and we both got drunk. One thing lead to another and we fucked in his bedroom. After hiding for so long, being with him was like a sanctuary. It went on for four months. We were so careful. In that time, his mother died and I started to notice bruises on his body. He told me he had started boxing. I didn’t think much of it. I thought he was working through grief. What I didn’t know was that his father was getting abusive. During one of our secret meet-ups, we got caught.”
He just stopped talking for a moment and took a deep breath. Jane reached over, brushing the side of his face, and he closed his eyes, leaning toward her.
“We got caught, and his father was so pissed off that his face turned red. He called my mother and told me he was going to press charges and have me locked up where someone would do to me what I did to his son. I was so freaked that I stopped talking to Chris. He called and I avoided him like the plague. My mother…she kept it from my father, but the look of disgust she had on her face told me how she really felt. She sent me away to one of those ‘pray the gay away’ camps in secret. My father thought I was in Italy with friends. When I came back, I found out that Chris had killed himself. One of the maids told me he had written me a letter, but my mother had burned it. To this day, when I see her, I can’t forgive her. I can’t forgive myself either. I just left him with that monster. God knows how many times his father beat him before he finally… I was scared and I left him.”
Maxwell wept and Jane just hugged him.
“What happened tonight?” I asked him.
“Chris’ younger brother swore he’d expose everything if I didn’t back down. He really thinks I’m the reason his brother killed himself.”
“He’s blackmailing you?” she whispered.
He shook his head. “He won’t say anything. Governor MacDowell would kill before letting him expose that secret. It’s just…”
The reminder of it still hurts.
She must have known what he was thinking because she kissed Max’s forehead, his cheeks, his nose, his lips, and he couldn’t help but kiss her back.
Chapter Thirteen
“Do you trust me?” Wes had the nerve to ask her with a satin tie and a vibrator in his hands. Jane kneeled in the center of our bed with her hands placed on her thighs and her head down. She was also blindfolded. He hadn’t done anything yet, and she was already trembling. I wondered how she’d react if she saw the tray of ‘tools’ he had just to the left of us.
“Yes,” she answered, and when she did, he took her hand and led her to stand right in front of the bed, and me, naked. Lifting her wrist, he tied it tightly to the bedpost, kissing the ties before moving over to the next one.
“Do you remember the safe word?” he asked while gently pressing his thumb on her lips as his other hand traveled the length of her side, stopping only when they reached her pussy. He stuck his middle finger into her.
“Yes. It’s caterpillar,” she replied, licking her lips.
“What do you think of our little butterfly, Max?” Wes turned back to me with a wicked grin.
He knew I couldn’t answer because of the ball in my mouth. He’d stripped me down and tied me to a chair so I had a front row seat to his show. This isn’t my thing. I’d said it a hundred times, and yet watching him turn on the pink vibrator and holding it to her nipples, then her mouth, making sure to wet it before slowly sliding it up her pussy….it turned me on more than I could imagine. My cock rose at the sight of her like that; my tongue fought against the ball in my mouth. She twisted her legs, clenched them together, and turned her hands to pull on the ties. He grabbed on to her thighs and spread them open.
“Looks like I’m going to have to tie those down too,” he muttered to himself. I couldn’t have looked away from her if I wanted to.
The rope he had used on me was so secure that I could only sit and stare at her. Her pussy was vibrating and was making her so wet she was dripping down her own thighs. I swallowed the saliva in my mouth. I wanted to lick it. I wanted her on my tongue. When Wes returned, he spread her legs and tied them to the bottom of the bedpost.