by Marian Tee
“The fan,” Lilac said breathlessly as she snapped it open and slowly fanned herself, “is…better suited…for dinner…but I can’t…help it. I want…to show it…off.”
He nodded solemnly. “Good,” he said as he offered his arm, “---because I want to show you off, too.”
She blushed.
He hardened – or at least, a part of him did.
Lilac curled her arm around his then glanced up at him. “Where to…milord?” This close, her lashes looked even longer and incredibly lush – it only made his cock ache more badly inside his goddamn britches.
“The garden for tea,” he answered, doing his best to keep his desire from coating his voice. As they made their way to the garden, Nick took the time to explain what he knew of Briarwood as one of the few close friends of its owner.
“I thought…this was…yours.”
“Do you want me to buy it?” he asked seriously. When Lilac’s eyes widened, he suppressed a groan, wishing he could call on his bodyguards to give Lilac another pair of sunglasses to wear. She should remember not to make this friendship harder than it already was, dammit.
“Of…course not!” Lilac was taken aback at Nick’s offer. Billionaires, she thought with a sigh. Nick Christakos seemed to think everything could be bought with his money. She gestured towards her surroundings. “Being able…to visit is e-enough.”
An unhappy frown suddenly touched her face, and Nick instantly understood the reason behind it. “Lilac,” he said gently. “I don’t mind if you stutter.”
Her frown became more pronounced, her eyes darkening with misery. “I…mind.”
“Anything that hurts you won’t ever be a fucking turn on for me, Lilac. But if you do stutter, I won’t think any less of you either. If it won’t ever go away, then so be it. I don’t mind it at all.”
“T-thank you.”
He shook his head. “Thank you, Lilac.”
Her eyes widened. “W-what for?”
He didn’t answer, only twined his fingers with hers.
She squeezed his fingers, telling him without words that his touch was answer enough.
The afternoon tea was even more enjoyable than she could ever dream of, Nick a delightful companion who thought of everything. The tea and scones had been imported from England, and the tea service was the most beautiful antique set, dating all the way back to the Regency period.
Nick also told her that every part of the house had already been photographed by his design team, with copious notes about the details to be included in a report that would be emailed to Lilac tonight.
“Now,” he said firmly as he took the teapot, “---all you have to worry about is enjoying yourself.”
She took the teapot from him, startling Nick. Lilac gave him a reproachful smile. “Only…ladies pour.”
She raised a brow. “Unless…you are…gay?”
“You need proof?” he asked silkily.
“I’ll take…your word for it.” She spoke as hastily as she could, making Nick laugh.
As Lilac poured him tea, his gaze followed her every moment, marveling at how she did everything with such beautiful grace and precision it was almost like watching art come to life. “What the hell do you do during your spare time, pour tea for homeless men?” he muttered. And why the fuck did pouring tea suddenly look so sexy in his eyes?
Lilac offered him a cup. It was strong, with just the right hint of sweetness – exactly the way he liked it. “And how the fuck do you know how I like my tea?”
She smiled mysteriously. “A lady…has her ways.”
He raised a brow. “Gossip websites?” Nick grinned at the wide-eyed look of guilt on Lilac’s face.
Afterwards, they went riding. Nick chose a midnight black stallion while Lilac chose one with a beautiful brown coat.
She could see her choice surprised him and she explained, “I’ve been riding…since I was…little.”
“Figures,” he muttered, doing his best not to imagine how adorably sexy Lilac would look in an equestrienne’s tight-fitting uniform. As he helped her up, he teased, “You’re not going to ride side saddle like a proper lady?”
Lilac shook her head, smiling. “Too…hard.” She watched Nick swing himself up with ease and grace, the move practiced. “You…ride, too?”
“Since I was a kid.” He gave her a hooded gaze, a smirk playing on his lips. “Does that make me sexier in your eyes?” Nick’s shoulders rocked with silent laughter at the primly reproving look Lilac dealt him. Ah, sweetheart, you can pretend all you want but we both know the truth.
“I’m a good rider,” he told her solemnly. “But I bet you’re better. In fact, I can imagine you riding m---” Lilac shot past him, and his laughter trailed after her.
He caught up with her easily, grinning when she pointedly ignored him.
“Sorry,” Nick said in a meek voice.
She rolled her eyes. “You don’t…sound…like it.” She shook her head disapprovingly. “We’re just…friends. Remember?”
He said slyly, “And friends tease each other. Remember?”
The look of exasperation deepened in her eyes. “Not…like that!”
“It can be like that,” Nick said firmly. “And it will be like that between us.”
She couldn’t help but roll her eyes when Nick gave her a look of boyish appeal - even though it was working.
“Take pity on me, sweetheart,” he murmured. “At least give me something I can masturbate to?”
She sputtered, laughed, and blushed.
Nick smiled, but he also just got harder and harder. Soon, he had to come to a decision about Lilac. This was the longest he had gone celibate and since he had no plans of joining the priesthood, something definitely had to give.
When they went back to the house, Lilac was again delightfully surprised and speechless with wonder when a handsome young man, dressed like how she imagined a footman would be, immediately came forward to assist her off her horse.
As her feet touched the ground, Nick suddenly reappeared at her side, his arm curling around her waist possessively.
She blinked up at him. “What’s…wrong?”
“Nothing,” he said shortly.
Her mind drifted back to the footman and she couldn’t help glancing over her shoulder, blushing when she found the man still gazing at her. She quickly returned her gaze to the front. “That guy,” she whispered to Nick as he helped her into the backseat of his Rolls, “---seems straight out of a historical romance novel.”
Nick grunted as he sat on the same side as she did, being careful to keep a wide gap between them.
Something occurred to her, and Lilac asked hesitantly, “Did you…pay for all of them?”
Nick nodded curtly.
Lilac gasped. “But that…surely cost you…thousands!”
“No price is too fucking high to have you back in my life, Lilac.”
So why, she mused with puzzlement, did he sound as if he did not want her in his life now? “Something is…really wrong,” she guessed.
Nick growled.
She blinked.
Ah, fuck. Not wanting her, not kissing her, and not touching her was fast becoming the hardest thing he had to do in his life. Nick’s fists clenched and he said in a tone of self-disgust, “Don’t mind me. I’m just the selfish billionaire who wants all your smiles to myself.”
Lilac’s soft laughter bathed his senses in heat. Her fingers twined with his again, making him look at her.
She said softly, “My best ones…are always…and only…yours.”
****
The visitors’ room was empty except for Beatrice, but even so she knew all the cameras would be pointed at. Pride alone kept her back stiff as she remained sitting on the chair, waiting for another visit from the Christakos brothers.
But when the door opened, only Jason Christakos came striding in.
Instantly, her nipples hardened. If Nick Christakos was here, she would have done her best to kill her arousa
l. But he wasn’t. And so Beatrice was free to indulge.
“Beatrice.” He slid to the seat across from her, his back also erect, his stance dismissive.
“Jason, my dear, it’s so nice to see you without your nasty twin.” With his terrifying shadow absent, Beatrice was filled with Dutch courage – enough to play the vamp, leaning forward on the table and wetting her lips.
The disgust on Jason’s face hurt, but somehow it also aroused her. Under the table, Beatrice’s legs fell open, wide enough for the folds of her pussy to stretch open as well, and she swallowed back a moan at the sensation.
“I’m glad you think that,” he returned levelly, “especially since I’m here to let you know our family will decide your fate tomorrow.”
The chill in his voice made Beatrice sit up, her legs snapping closed. Not wanting to show her apprehension, she retorted with false bravado, “I meant what I said. I’ll go to the press and tell everyone about what we were---” Her voice trailed off, something inside Beatrice shrinking from the disgusted look in Jason’s eyes.
“If you want to tell the whole world how you fucking had to blackmail me into your bed when I was a boy---go ahead.” Jason came to his feet.
He stood there, a Greek god in every way, punishingly severe. And yet, even with the threat of imprisonment making Beatrice’s insides quake with fear, fury also made Jason Christakos sexier in her eyes, whetting her desire.
“You might find this hard to believe, but you have my pity if you’re sent behind bars.”
It was only when Jason had already turned away and was halfway to the exit of the visitor’s room that the import of his words sank in. “Wait,” she called out in desperation.
He did not turn.
“If you cut me a deal, I will tell you about how Karla is involved in all of this!”
****
Camera bulbs flashed, the sounds mingling with screams from the crowd when Nick and his brother strode down the red carpet with Sylvia, all of them dressed appropriately for the black & white charity ball. They did their bit for the cameras, smiling and posing, but their faces took on an unsmiling countenance the moment they went past the revolving doors. On the ride over, Jason had dropped the bomb on them about Beatrice, and her last words weighed heavily on their minds.
Inside, an orchestra serenaded the guests with pre-20th century classics. The marble floors gleamed almost as brightly as the diamonds gracing the necks of most of female guests and rivaling the glow of the chandeliers above.
“Thank you for coming!” The ball’s head organizer, Nessie Jordan, came to greet them personally. She was the charming widow of a Silicon Valley pioneer, always well-meaning but notoriously tactless.
After exchanging hugs with Sylvia, Nessie turned to them with a beam.
Jason and Nick both gave the older woman their best choirboy smiles, Nessie being one of the society women whose company they truly enjoyed.
Nessie laughed. “After all these years, I still can’t tell the two of you apart!”
Nick stepped forward. “Madame, your ball is once again a success.”
Her eyes twinkled as Nick kissed her cheek. “Ah, there’s my sophisticated Nick.”
“My darling Nessie,” Jason said wickedly as he kissed her other cheek. “I’m delighted to see you grow more beautiful each time we meet.”
“And that’s the ever playful Jason.” Nessie turned to Sylvia. “However did you cope with these two when they were young?”
Sylvia only smiled. “They were the loveliest boys. I couldn’t ask for anyone sweeter than these two.”
“Aww, Mom,” Jason said mockingly.
They laughed.
Nessie leaned forward towards Nick, whispering confidingly, “Don’t you worry, son. I made sure I didn’t invite that odious fiancée of Davos.”
Jason silently cursed when he heard what Nessie said. Now was the worst fucking time to mention Karla, after what they had discussed earlier. He watched Nick’s face become unreadable, the charming smile on his lips not reaching his eyes.
“You are a dear to do that for me, Nessie, but it’s not necessary,” Nick said very gently. The gentler his tone, the more he felt and right now he did feel. What Nick just couldn’t figure out was what. Was this helplessness inside him brought about by the fact that people still pitied him for being dumped? Or was it because he still cared for Karla and he fucking hated for anyone to think badly of her?
Inside his pocket, his phone felt heavy, a burning presence that reminded him of bridges he couldn’t or shouldn’t cross. But now – Nick was torn.
Karla.
Lilac.
It was as if by choosing to call one of them, he was making a decision with far reaching consequences.
More guests arrived, requiring Nessie to excuse herself. An usher took them to their own private table. It was the only one that had only three seats, but most of the other guests were used to this. The Christakos circle was famous for being extremely tight-knit.
“Don’t let it bother you, son,” Sylvia said softly, using a little-known Greek dialect that she had also required her sons to learn when they were young. It was one of the most effective ways to prevent eavesdroppers from gaining anything from their conversations.
Jason held his tongue, knowing that the scathing things he had to say about Karla Niall would only cause a rift between him and Nick.
Nick dealt him cold smile. “I know what you’re thinking.”
“Then appreciate that I’m not saying them.”
Nick inclined his head to the side. “Touché.”
They switched to English when a waiter came over to serve their drinks, filling the time with meaningless conversation. Nick idly remarked on the menu, Jason complimented Sylvia on her Oscar de la Renta gown, and Sylvia murmured about revisiting old friends in the other guest tables. All three of them were practiced in the art of deceiving, had been so since Aristos Christakos decided to wreck their lives so many years ago. Now, it was more a precaution, almost a habit, with not one of them easily trusting anyone outside their circle.
When the waiter left, Jason knew he had to bring up the distasteful topic once more. Still smiling, he switched back to the Greek dialect they were using earlier as he told Nick and Sylvia, “We need to make a decision tonight. The FBI has to either book her for good or let her go.”
“And regarding what she said about Karla being involved?” Sylvia murmured.
Nick’s fingers tightened around the stem of his glass convulsively. “She’s a victim, just like me,” he bit out.
Sylvia and Jason exchanged glances, hers dismayed, his grim.
“We’ll just discount what Beatrice says about her.” Jason couldn’t even bring himself to mention the woman’s name. From the very beginning, he and Sylvia had taken a dislike to her without being able to pinpoint why. Perhaps it was the hard glitter in her eyes or maybe the way she so slyly did everything.
He waited for his brother to speak, but when Nick continued to stare moodily at his glass, Jason continued, “As of now, we have no means to confirm or refute her words. But as for Beatrice---it’s your call, Nick. If we cut her a deal, you know she’ll double cross us the first chance she gets.”
Slowly, Nick set his glass back down, knowing he was a second away from crushing the stem into pieces with his bare hands. It was all too easy to think of it as Beatrice’s neck. The beautiful memories he had shared with Lilac earlier in the day had all but vanished, destroyed by the constant intrusion of Beatrice’s taunts – a toxic reminder that not everything in his life was perfect.
Memories of his attack once again assaulted his mind, and Nick rubbed the sides of his temple. There was one thing he had never told anyone, not even Karla or his family. When he was interviewed by the police, he told them he was conscious during every second of his ordeal…but he hadn’t been.
A part of it remained a gray blur, and every time he tried remembering, his mind exploded in pain. Karla had told him nothing happe
ned during that time, but somehow he couldn’t make himself believe her. And yet, somehow Nick also couldn’t make himself dig deep enough to discover the truth, fearing what he would uncover if he did.
“We let her go,” Nick decided in a hard voice. “Then we cut off all possible avenues of help. We force her on her knees and make her beg.”
Sylvia grasped her son’s hand. “Justice will soon prevail, my son.” She wanted to say more, but suddenly there was applause around them, signaling the start of the event. Without a word, they turned in unison towards the small stage set up in front, the three of them wearing expressions of polite interest on their faces. There wasn’t a single clue that they had been quietly plotting the downfall of their enemies.
The host of the event stood in the limelight, cracking jokes as he greeted the guests. “Oh, and of course we have the Christakos en masse in attendance,” the popular comedian remarked, this time in a more respectful tone.
Jason and Nick both responded with brief smiles while Sylvia acknowledged the greeting with a gracious nod.
The host turned to the crowd. “For those living under the rock, it’s thanks to Christakos Industries’ pledge of $50M that our charity has met its goal. It’s the most generous donation ever made...”As the host rattled on about Nick and Jason’s meteoric takeover of Silicon Valley, Jason noticed how Nick’s face only became harder with each word.
When the host announced that dinner would be served, Jason took that as a cue to introduce a new subject, one he was counting to lighten Nick’s mood. Jason said casually, “I heard you borrowed Briarwood for a day.”
Sylvia raised a fine brow at the surprising words. “Briarwood? Since when did you have a liking for the country?”
Nick shrugged.
Jason grinned. “And I heard you had a woman flown to you...”
“For the love of God, son,” Sylvia exclaimed. “Stop talking about women like they’re parcels to be delivered.”
Her sons gazed at her with identical expressions, and even the way they raised their brows at her were the same.