But Andrew isn’t just focused on destroying their companies. He wants to destroy all of them. He plans to play on the one weakness they obviously still have.
Stephen is obsessed with me.
I thought Andrew planned to lord me over Stephen, yes, but not like this. I’d expected Andrew to play on Stephen’s need to control me. Throw it in Stephen’s face that I’m working for him now.
But this? It goes deeper.
And Kaylee is obsessed with Andrew. That’s ridiculously obvious. She made no move to hide that she was fantasizing about getting him naked.
My hands fist tightly in my lap.
Stephen and Kaylee may screw each other from time-to-time, but it barely means anything. They don’t want each other—they want us.
Andrew plans to fuck with their minds by using their emotions against them.
“You . . .” I stare out the window, hands fisting in my lap. “You don’t just want them to know I’m your right hand. You want them to believe . . . we’re together?”
“Yes, Lexi.” No hesitation in his answer. No regret.
“You plan on seducing me in front of them to make it seem more real?”
Silence.
Another confirmation.
God, why does that burn so badly? “So that’s what you’ve been priming me up for? To put on an act?”
“You think that . . . fucking hell.” Out of nowhere, the car swerves off the lane and onto the side of the road. It’s a residential neighborhood, but a line of trees blocks my side from view.
“Andrew?”
His seat belt snaps off.
My head flies around and I gasp. Drew is leaning over me, mere inches from my face. His hand lands on my thigh—my bare thigh.
His other hand slides behind my head to fist my hair. “Lexi.” Expression strained, he squeezes his eyes shut. “I’m going to kiss you again. Say yes, baby.”
Trembling, I whisper, “And what would you do if I said no?”
His troubled eyes open. “I’d beg you for forgiveness after.”
“Are you telling me that you’re going to take it anyway, even if I refuse?”
That wet, sexy tongue peeks out to wet his lips. “Yeah.” His voice is so deep. So rough. “Fuck me, but yeah, I am.” His shallow breaths caress my lips.
My own breaths race. Looking up into his eyes, I raise my hand to his shoulders.
He slides his hand up my thigh, closer to my aching pussy.
Shaking from head-to-toe, I ease my legs apart.
His nostrils flare and the hand wrapped around my hair tightens. The hand on my thigh flexes—it shoots between my legs, cupping my pussy possessively over my gown.
My eyes almost roll back. A low moan escapes as my hips rock into his palm.
“Fuck, baby. That’s it. You want it.” He presses his fingers against my clit. “With me, you want it.”
I nod, breathless. “Uh huh. Drew.” Fisting his lapels, I tug his mouth onto mine.
Our kiss turns instantly rough. I rock into his hand like a madwoman, chasing that pleasure . . .
He licks my tongue and moans. “Sex is going to be so good between us, baby. I know you feel it.” Tugging my dress out of the way, he dips his hand into the slit. I spread my legs wider, mewling low in my throat. Eyes wild, Drew tugs my tiny, white thong out of the way.
Two fingers slide straight into my soaked cunt, thrusting deep. “Oh God.” I’m practically vibrating on this seat, back arching and hips churning. “We shouldn’t. We really shouldn’t . . .”
“Yes we should, baby. Let yourself feel it.” He leans back in to kiss me. That wet tongue and those low, hungry groans drive me crazy. Those fingers fuck me harder, twisting just right. “Come all over my fingers, Lexi.”
I do. Sobbing his name, I explode all over his hand, the pleasure shattering every part of me.
It’s so good I can’t stop rocking my hips, even after I’ve stopped coming. Drew kisses me as I twitch from the aftershocks. “This is so wrong. We have to stop doing this.”
“How is it wrong?” He continues to lazily swirl his soaked fingers inside me.
“I . . . I don’t trust you and you haven’t given me a reason to . . . to . . .” I choke as those fingers push in deep again.
“What do you need to trust me?”
I’m a hot mess, his hand drenched in my orgasm, but I still manage to focus enough to ask, “Barnard. Andrew, did . . . did you kill him?”
Andrew stares solemnly into my eyes. Fingers still pushed inside me, his palm still pressed to my clit, he calmly says, “Yes, Lexi. Yes I did.”
68
“Lexi. You haven’t said anything. Talk to me.”
We’re on the long line of cars slowly making their way up the winding driveway to the manor. I think I went into shock after Andrew confessed. Numb, I remained silent for the rest of the ride here.
He curses softly under his breath. “Now you’re scared of me.”
That’s the problem. “I’m not.” At least not for the reasons I should be scared of him.
His surprise is palpable in the interior of the car. “No?”
I shake my head without looking at him. “He was your best friend once.” And he killed him.
“You said it. Was. We stopped being friends after that entire bullshit went down years ago.”
“Why did they stop talking to you? Because you threw them under the bus?”
Andrew chuckles, but it’s a mirthless sound. “I stopped talking to them. Want nothing to do with those bastards.”
My breathing falters. “That never made any sense. You guys all planned it together. Why would you want to stop speaking to them?”
His silence almost tempts me to turn around.
Almost.
“Andrew, I’m warning you. Start making sense. All three of you were thick as thieves growing up. Everyone thought you were all like brothers.”
“Lexi, they didn’t give a fuck about that. If they had, they would’ve respected how much you mean to me.”
My head turns in his direction all on its own.
He pulls up in front of the valet. “If he cared, he never would’ve allowed Stephen to get away with hurting you.”
There’s no time for me to respond. He exits the car and walks around to hand the keys to the valet. I watch him the whole time, blinking back tears.
Dark, evil things have been done to me throughout my life, but never for me. No one’s ever . . . cared that much.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I’m really going to cry.
Drew opens the door.
On trembling legs, I exit the vehicle—and drag him directly to me. His lips meld around mine, in spite of his shock. My blood pounds in my veins, one statement repeating itself in my mind.
For me. He did this for me.
His arms snap around me, crushing me to him. One hand lands possessively on my ass, cupping me in front of everyone.
I don’t care. I need him.
His tongue slides into my mouth and I open for it, letting him dominate me. The low groan that vibrates in his chest sets me in fire.
Struggling to catch his breath, he ends our kiss, but leaves his lips against mine. “Tonight, I’m having you, Lexi.” He squeezes my ass hard. “You know that right?”
I smooth my hands along his wide chest. “First, you’re going to explain everything to me.”
He shakes his head and kisses me softly. “After.”
Only three days into having him back in my life and this man has me so horny that I actually agree to his terms. “Okay.” I still don’t trust him, still don’t know the truth of what happened on his end.
For all I know, he truly did betray me seven years ago. I’ll be sleeping with my enemy. Again.
Someone clears their throat.
Andrew and I turn as one, his arms still around me.
Asad smiles at us, a happy, pleased smile. As if we’re all old friends and he’s so glad to see us. He’s wearing a black tux, his thi
ck black hair slicked back. “Andrew, my friend. I’m afraid I didn’t fully understand your meaning earlier.”
“You did,” Drew replies evenly.
Asad shrugs. “I suspected. I admit, but this is still pleasantly surprising.” Holding his hands out, he turns that sincere smile my way. “But I see that she truly is yours. Congratulations are in order, my friend.”
There’s only one word for this man, this . . . individual with his friendly, pleased smile. He’s beyond creepy. And beyond insane. That smile may appear pleasant and well-intentioned, but I can’t stop the shiver that goes down my spine.
Pulling me away from the car and toward the entrance, Drew pauses long enough to address Asad one final time. “I see you forgot what I told you about not looking at her.”
Throwing his head back, Asad laughs. “No. No. But you’d have to be a dead man not to look. You know it’s true.”
My wide eyes move to Drew.
His lips twitch. Other than that, he evinces no emotion. No reaction.
Until he speaks again.
“I also warned you not to think about her or even dream about her.”
That cold tone . . .
That smile on Asad’s face somehow gets even wider. “Now I know you aren’t serious. She’s a vision. You cannot expect any living man not to think and dream about her.”
This time, Drew’s lips part slowly into his own wide, happy smile. “Thank you for clarifying what the problem is for me. I see what I must do now.”
I swear to God, my heart stops beating. My body goes cold. Realization is like a loud, painful slap. That man just called death onto himself and he doesn’t even know it.
69
The echelon of New Jersey society mills about the manor, engrossed in various forms of mutual ass-kissing. Still, most people turn to watch us as we enter, their eyes focusing mostly on Drew.
Morbid curiosity lights up their expressions and suddenly it’s obvious—I may have found a way to isolate myself from the tragedy of what happened to Andrew years ago, but these vultures didn’t.
No doubt, they ate it up.
They probably followed every headline, dissected every update. Took pleasure at his fall, in that way that only the privileged and bored can.
Now, as we walk past the main foyer, they’re all hungry for a piece of him. Maybe some just want his money, his power.
Most of the women, though? It’s obvious what they want. An acrid wave of jealousy bursts free, nearly blinding me.
Andrew’s arm tightens around me. At first, I think it’s because he sensed my rising aggression, but when I look up at him, I notice that he’s glaring at someone.
I turn my head to follow his stare.
A group of men are standing over by one of the bars and most of them are eyeing me. Andrew’s fingers flex around my hip before he steers me to the other side of the ballroom. He’s practically vibrating with leashed energy. We make it halfway across the ballroom.
All of a sudden, as we’re walking by the dance floor, a sea of people ahead of us seems to part in slow motion. On the other side of the divide, a tall, black-haired man comes into view, standing perfectly still.
As if he’d been waiting for us.
The smirk on his face stretches into a full-blown smile.
I almost trip at the sight of him. Andrew tightens his arm around me to steady me, but it’s too late.
Years of abuse come barreling back into my awareness. My vision blacks out, skin going cold—
“Stephen, wh-what—oh God, please! Get off!” It’s dark, I can’t see, but his hands are everywhere. I can’t get him off.
“Stay still, Lexi,” he pants into my ear.
Revulsion nearly suffocates me.
I kick, flail, scream. He doesn’t stop and I know no one will hear me! Not here, in this hidden room, in his massive skyscraper, in the middle of the night.
My panties are ripped off. Teeth chattering from the fear, I start sobbing. “P-please. I’ve never had sex.” Unbidden, Andrew Drevlow’s face flashes through my mind and I start crying harder.
Stephen forces himself between my legs, but I keep fighting, nearly hyperventilating. “Let me have what’s mine, Lexi!”
The blow to my face stuns me.
By the time I come back to, I feel something hot pressing against my entrance—a single hard thrust and I’m screaming at the top of my lungs as my pussy tears around the invasion—
“Lexi? Lexi!”
That low hiss snaps me back to reality. Blinking, I look around. We’re no longer by the dancefloor. We’re in a large hallway, backed up inside an alcove.
Drew is in front of me, his hands on my face, worried eyes glittering. “Baby, talk to me.”
I whisper his name, chest racing, eyes watering.
Rage clouds his expression, and the switch is so rapid that primal fear slithers through me. It’s a deadly calm and detached look. A determined one. “I’m going to kill him. Right the fuck now.” He starts to move away.
My hands snap around his wrists, stopping him. “No. No. Not like this.” A whirlwind of turmoil razes my mind, but I shove it all down. Ignore it. I have to. If the man in front of me sees me break one more time, he’s going to murder Stephen.
Here.
In front of all these people.
He won’t care. He’s past that point.
“Drew, not like this,” I repeat, voice somehow steady. Trembling, I lift his hands back to my cheeks; he cups my face again immediately. “There’s no coming back from this.” No coming back to me. I don’t dare say that second part aloud.
Maybe he picks up on it anyway. That contained violence in him recedes, replaced once again by his worry. His thumbs caress my cheeks. “It was so bad that you’re still having flashbacks from it.”
One comment, and the final proof that without me saying the exact words, Andrew knows I was raped.
“Andrew, is that you?”
Drew turns his head to stare over his shoulder.
I remove his hands from his face and peek around him.
Just as he tenses, the danger beginning to rise in him again, I see Stephen Menahan standing there, a pretty blond on his arm.
A blond whose baby-doll blue eyes are wide with glee. “It is you! I’m so glad to see you.”
Stephen’s eyes land on mine, and slowly his lips curl into a self-satisfied smile.
It takes seconds for my brain to jump through a thousand different conclusions, but only one leaves me chilled down to my soul.
A low, rough sound leaves Drew. “Menahan, get your fucking eyes off her. Now.”
The woman on Stephen’s arm jumps at the tone of Andrew’s voice.
Stephen ignores Drew’s warning, full-on smiling now, that same vicious smile Asad wore earlier—the smile of a monster. A shark baring its teeth. “I find this to be a bit embarrassing Drew. Turns out, we may have a bad habit of sharing bed partners.”
70
There’s no time for anyone to react. A group of laughing people exit the ballroom and immediately they spot us.
“Menahan! Drevlow!”
For some reason, hearing those two names combined is what tips me over the edge. As the people close in on us, all dying for the attention of both powerful men next to me, I turn around and flee.
Running. Like the coward I am.
I only make it three feet before I bump into a blonde man with light gray eyes.
“Whoa, Lexi! Where you going?” He grabs my arms.
Speechless, I stare up at him, shocked by the sight of him . . . but of course. “You’ve been with him this whole time.”
“Finn, hands. Off. Now.”
Finn drops his hands like I’m a hot piece of coal.
Drew comes up behind me, his arm slipping around my waist once more.
And I snap.
“Let go of me!” I hiss.
“United front, Lexi. United front.” Ignoring the people calling out his name behind him, he begins wal
king. Finn falls into step next to me.
Without turning around, I can still feel Stephen’s eyes glued to my back the entire time.
“I don’t want your hands on me,” I growl, teeth grinding.
“We’re going to talk about this. But not here. Not now.”
That logical tone somehow breaks my heart more.
Yet, it makes sense that he doesn’t get it. It doesn’t matter to him. And it shouldn’t matter to me, but it does.
“Get. The. Fuck. Off. Me. I’ll walk on my own.”
“You know that’s not happening.”
The certainty in his voice is enough to merit a kick in the face. Is he fucking kidding me? Forever bossing me around. “In two seconds, whatever your little brilliant plan is, it’ll be ruined. You need it to look like I’m on your side.” I smile up at him sweetly as we walk by a second group of people. “My fist meeting your face is going to make that a bit difficult to believe, don’t you think?” I turn my head away from him once more.
Finn stares at us nervously. “Are you guys having . . . like a couple’s argument? Cause if so, I can leave.”
“No!” I snap.
“Yes,” the asshole next to me calmly replies.
A couple’s argument? Is he fucking crazy? Scratch that. I know he is. However, so am I, and my emotions are spiraling out of control. “Andrew Drevlow.”
“Shit,” Finn mumbles next to me. “She’s full-naming you. Maybe you should—”
A glare from Andrew quickly shuts Finn up.
I try to move away again.
His arm tightens and that stare turns in my direction next. “You aren’t going anywhere.”
“I already went through this with Stephen.”
“Go ahead, baby. Keep fucking comparing me to him.”
“How can I not?” I counter, chin raised.
His nostrils flare, eyes blazing. I can’t tell if that’s anger, lust, or a combination of both.
But, God, that expression—I rip my stare away. Don’t you dare get aroused now.
Too late. Can’t help it when it comes to that bastard.
“You still haven’t let me go. I find it hilarious how you haven’t done so yet.” Grinding my teeth, I try to think of my mom. Of my burning hatred for Stephen. Of why I can’t lose control and show the world just how much discord there is between me and my boss.
Systematic Siege #4 (Siege Serial) Page 6