by Alexa Riley
“You’re all I have, Paige.”
“I know. I feel like such an asshole. You have to know it started off as a job, but it became real. Our friendship was real. Is real,” she corrects. “You mean more to me than anyone else in the whole world. I know I was happy when I found Miles, but we aren’t even that close. Not like you and me. I can’t lose you, too. Please don’t let me lose another person I love because of my father.”
A tear slides down her face, and I pull her into a hug.
“Jesus, Paige, what did he do to you?”
Her arms come around me and we sit there for a moment, holding one another.
She shakes her head. “I’ve never told a soul,” she whispers, breaking my heart a little, because this isn’t a side I’ve ever seen of her.
Pulling back, I look into her tear-filled eyes. The blue looking so much brighter. “You can tell me anything, Paige.”
“I—” Her voice breaks. “I used to think I never told anyone because I was scared of him. Maybe I was, but I think it’s more because I was ashamed. Ashamed I didn’t save her.”
My eyebrows draw together as I wonder what she means. “Please don’t let me lose another person I love because of my father.”
“My mom isn’t missing. She’s dead.” A tear escapes down her face. “I watched him kill her and I stood there.”
“Oh, Paige. You had to have been young.”
“Fifteen.”
Tears run down my face, thinking about Paige having to see something like that. I couldn’t imagine. So much of who Paige is really makes sense now.
“What happened?” I ask, wanting Paige to open up to me more.
Her bottom lip starts to tremble and I can tell she doesn’t want to talk about it. Not yet anyway but this is a start.
“You could report it now,” I try. Worried about what she might have planned. When Paige gets on something, she goes at it like a dog with a bone. Another thing that reminds me of Oz. They are a lot alike it seems.
“No!” she snaps. “You never tell anyone this.” She grabs my hand, her face pleading.
“Of course I’d never tell anyone, Paige,” I reassure her. “I just—” I’m not sure what to say. I want her to find some kind of closure on this but it’s clear it’s something she wants to handle on her own. That scares me, but I want her to know I’m here for her. I’ll always be here no matter what. Even when I was upset with her, deep down I knew we would come back together.
I look at her and let go of any anger I have. I know what’s in her heart, and I know what’s in mine. I don’t want to hold on to something that makes me so sad.
“I forgive you, Paige.” I shrug and give her a half smile. “I’m shocked I lasted this long, to be honest.”
She smiles at me, and it’s the first time in days some of the weight on my shoulders lightens.
“Just don’t tell Oz any more shit about me.”
She shakes her head, and I know she means it. “I won’t. I told him I was done with everything. Please don’t tell him what I told you.”
“He doesn’t know your dad killed your mother?” I ask, wanting to make sure I understand her clearly.
“This is my secret to keep.”
I know she doesn’t like talking about it but to have never told a soul. To have had no one to give her some kind of comfort breaks my heart even more for her. No wonder she can’t talk about it. She doesn’t know how. We’ll get there, I remind myself so I don’t push her.
“I went up there because I think he’s having me followed, and I was going to scream at him.”
“He’s having you followed,” Paige confirms. “I’m not on his side, but I know our father has gone after people close to Miles before, done things to hurt them in hopes of hurting Miles. Not to mention he’s probably trying to keep the press off you. If some people find out what you mean to him...” She pauses and looks away. “Well, I get why he’s doing it.”
“How long has this been going on?”
“I only know from when he asked me to keep an eye on you. He doesn’t really talk to me about you. He doesn’t say why he’s doing it, so I can only guess. He always asks how you’re doing, if you need anything, and of course, to keep men away from you.” She pulls the tie from her hair, letting it fall in soft waves.
“At first I thought maybe you were connected to someone important and he was keeping an eye out or something. But every now and then, I’d pick up flares of jealousy, and I started to think it was something different altogether. Not to mention I’ve never seen him show interest in a woman before. Not even a drop. Then I saw you together and he was a totally different person.”
I bite my lip, looking down at my lap to keep from asking.
“I’ll tell you, Mal.” I look back up at her, and now every time I see her eyes, I think of him. Who am I kidding? He’s all I seem to think about anyway, even without the reminder.
“Miles is kind of cold except when he’s with you, and the few times I’ve seen him with his mom. He didn’t seem to do anything but work, but now here he is, running all over the goddamn place, giving Captain an aneurysm.” She adds that last part and smiles as if she likes the idea of him driving Captain nuts.
“So do I think he wants you? Yes. In fact, I think he might be a little crazy about it. It’s creepy how he can go from yelling at us to being all sweet and gushy with you at the drop of a hat. So with you, I’m thinking he’s a little crazy, but in other aspects of his life, he seems pretty normal.”
“That’s reassuring,” I say drily.
“I don’t know what to tell you to do with that. I have trust issues and even worse issues when it comes to men. The rich ones are the worst, and it’s been slowly eating away at me that I can’t get a solid read on Miles and what he’s doing with you. I saw him as a rich man using his money to get what he wanted, but I let it go because we were so far away. He wasn’t around, and to be honest, I didn’t think about it much. You and I went to school and we did us. That was, until we landed here. You got the internship. Then he and I started to have this back-and-forth struggle. I wasn’t giving him the information he wanted anymore, and I think I made him miss a step. Like an addict who wasn’t getting his fix anymore, so he showed up that night at the club and tipped his hand a little too soon.”
“I was falling for him,” I admit. “I had sex with him. Unprotected sex.” I drop my head into my hands, still not believing I’d done it. In the moment, I felt so connected to him. I didn’t want anything between us. The way he was worshipping me, I felt like he was going to be my forever. That I’d finally found a little piece of a fairy tale. That I’d been saving myself for him.
Paige grabs my wrists, pulling my hands down so I have to look back up at her. “Do you regret it?”
“No.” I shake my head. “It was wonderful, actually. He was so sweet and it was perfect. Until it wasn’t. He makes me feel so important and special. Like he’d do anything for me. That he can’t breathe without me. It’s intoxicating to think someone feels that way about me, but it’s overwhelming, too. I don’t know what to do. I mean the man has been controlling my freaking life!” I half yell the last part, emotions taking over.
“You don’t have to do anything right now. Not a damn thing. You want to talk to him? Talk to him. If you don’t, then don’t. We’ll go to work and do us.”
“Can ‘doing us’ be eating ice cream?” I ask, hungry for the first time in days.
“You read my mind.” Paige stands, pulling me with her.
“You moving back in?” I ask, following her into the kitchen.
“I didn’t really take much with me, so I’m still kind of here.”
“Good, because I need your shoes.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Miles
* * *
&nb
sp; I stare at the closed elevator, and an inner battle rages inside me, like it’s been doing all day. I thought the years waiting for her were bad. That was nothing compared to now. Knowing what she feels like under my hands, the way her skin tastes, how her lips part when I’m turning her on.
I thought I’d learned almost everything about her, but really I only knew the outside. Now I’m drowning in the details, trying to soak them all in, and I want more. My obsession has only worsened.
* * *
Turning, I stride back into my home office, pulling my phone out of my pocket. I glance at the monitors that line the wall next to my desk. Normally they’re filled with reports and stock charts and even the news. Now they’re filled with the building’s security footage.
“Mallory and Paige are on their way down,” I bark into the phone, louder than I mean to.
“On it, sir.” I can hear Ryan, the man I’ve had shadowing my Mallory, start to run. He was probably en route back home thinking Mallory was in for the night, but now I know what she’s going to do. I watch the elevator footage, wishing I’d had audio installed. I want to hear her, want to hear what she’s saying.
I know Paige is going to tell her who she is to me. Relief fills me at that. I don’t want Mallory to think I allow women into my home. The thought of her letting some man into her place makes me clench the phone I still have pressed to my ear.
Reaching out, I touch the monitor, wanting to wipe away the furrow between her brows. She turns to say something to Paige, and I see tension leave her body at whatever Paige says to her. I’m guessing the truth.
“Sir, the elevator looks to have stopped on her floor,” Ryan says as I watch them exit the elevator and Mallory opens the door, holding it for Paige. Another sliver of relief rushes through me.
I don’t like the idea of sharing my Mallory with anyone, but it’s clear how much they love each other and how close they’ve become. If Mallory isn’t going to be sleeping next to me at night, the next-best thing is for her and Paige to be sharing an apartment.
“Yes. Mallory went into her apartment,” I confirm for him.
“Paige?” he asks. I hear the ding of the elevator and glance at the monitors to see him getting on.
“With her,” I confirm, ending the call, knowing he’s on his way up here. Tossing the phone on my desk, I come around to sit in my chair and flip on the camera that faces her door. The doorman is under strict instructions to let me know if she leaves. I know it makes me seem fucking crazy, but I don’t care. I stopped caring a long time ago. Fighting it is pointless, and it only makes me more edgy when I do. I’ve learned to embrace it.
Sighing, I lean back in my chair, running my hands through my hair. The tension in my body is going to kill me. I should go for a run to work it off, but my lack of sleep is weighing on me. Like everything else about this fucked-up situation. Which it is. I fucked up. Something I never do.
I make plans and follow them through. Always three steps ahead of everyone else. It’s why I’m where I am today. It’s the only way to be if you want to get ahead, but I should’ve predicted things. I should’ve known I wouldn’t be able to go slow with her so close. I fucked up and went in too early.
“You look like shit,” Ryan says, pulling me from my thoughts. He strolls into the room, dropping down in the chair on the other side of my desk.
“Paige isn’t going to work with us,” I tell him, leaning forward and ignoring his statement.
“She’s never really worked with me to begin with.”
“I’m not firing her, so don’t even fucking say it.” I shoot him a hard look, one that works with most, but he’s completely unfazed by it. I’m not sure anything intimidates Ryan, but that’s part of why I hired him to be head of my security. One of the many reasons.
“Didn’t want you to,” he responds easily, like he doesn’t care that he has someone on his team he can’t seem to control. It isn’t normal for him. One fuckup with Ryan and you’re gone. Part of our agreement when I hired him was that he picked who worked security. He hired and fired. I thought making him agree to hire Paige would be a fight, one I’d win, but still a fight.
“Besides, I can’t go firing your sister, now, can I?”
I don’t give him a response as I tilt back in my chair. Paige being my sister isn’t common knowledge. In fact, I had no idea about her until Ryan brought me the information.
At first I was pissed when I found out about her. Then I got a better look. She hated him as much as I did. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. And in this case, it was family.
“It’s better to keep her here.” He looks away from me, and for a moment I see a look pass through his eyes.
“I suppose so.” I get up from my chair, walk over to the bar and pour myself a drink. I raise it to Ryan in invitation, but he shakes his head.
“You know, you look at the monitor about every ten seconds. If you’re wondering if you have a tell. But I guess it doesn’t matter with how you were staring at her through the whole meeting this morning.”
I shoot my drink and slam the glass down on the bar harder than I mean to. “You’re supposed to be watching her, not me,” I bite out.
Ryan smirks. “Watching her means watching everyone who’s watching her.”
Part of me wants everyone to know she’s mine, but another part doesn’t. Right now, people aren’t paying attention, but when the whispers start, they’ll be looking. Looking at my Mallory. It’s coming either way, so I might as well rip the Band-Aid off. Well, as soon as she’ll let me. I promised her time, space. It’s going to take everything in me to give her that, but I’ll do it for her.
I’d do anything for her...but give her up. Which brings me back to where we are now.
“Paige isn’t going to help us anymore,” I reaffirm. “We’ll need to be prepared for this. I know she’ll keep an eye on her, but she won’t give me anything. Hell, she barely has since they arrived in New York.”
“I’m already on it. I’ll make sure we have eyes on her if she isn’t in her apartment or office. But, sir, I’d like to let Jordan do that. I should be on you. You’re at higher risk and—”
“No,” I cut him off. I might be at a higher risk, but Mallory is more important. Ryan is the best, and that’s why he wants to be on me. I want the best on Mallory. Without her, I wouldn’t last. If something happened to her, I’d be done for. I don’t tell Ryan this because it’s fucking crazy and I know it. He already thinks I’m losing it as it is. I need him to do as he’s told.
“Are you saying your team isn’t good enough?” I look over at him and watch his jaw tighten. No one is more anal about their work than Ryan.
“I’ll make sure I’m on her detail.” He rises from his chair. I give him a nod as he exits the room, and then look back at the monitor. Paige still hasn’t come out and I’m not thinking she will.
I go over to the couch, kicking off my shoes and unbuttoning my shirt, getting ready to lie down. I don’t want to go back to my bedroom. The bed is unmade from when we made love. I’m not sure how I’d react if I still smelled her on the sheets, or worse, if the smell was gone.
I think back to the bathroom today. I’d waited for the perfect moment to corner her. Ryan had told me she was on her way back up to her desk. I needed to talk to her. Just a little taste to take the edge off. Even more so after I’d seen how the little prick next to her in the meeting was looking at her. I need to remember to have Ryan pull his file for me.
“Time,” she’d said after she kissed me. And she had kissed me. I may have taken her mouth first, but she came back at me just as hungry. It was there. I know she felt it. There was no way I was alone in this.
I’d give her what she asked for, but I’d do what I’d planned to do from the beginning: try to get her attention, date her. Slowly make her fall in love with me. It was go
ing to be damn hard after I’d rushed so much already. Now I know what it’s like to have her in my bed and under me, where she belongs. Her legs spread for me as I come inside her, never taking my mouth from her body.
My cock jerks at the reminder. Reaching down, I pull myself from my slacks and think about the next time I’ll get her to myself. Maybe this time I’ll tie her to the bed so she can’t slip away in the middle of the night. Crawl between her legs and bury my face there. Make her beg me to eat her until she begs me to stop. Until she can’t move because I’ve exhausted her with pleasure.
“Mallory.”
I moan her name as the erotic thoughts flash through my mind and come lands on my stomach.
“Fuck,” I growl, sitting up.
I’m never going to make it.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Mallory
* * *
Tuesday
“Delivery for a Ms. Mallory Sullivan.”
I turn to see a man standing in our office and holding a bouquet of pale pink peonies. Skyler stands up, leans over to my cubicle and lets out a whistle.
“Right here,” she says, pointing at me, and I stand too, a little shocked.
I take them from him and he makes me sign a form before giving me a small salute and walking out.
The blush hits my cheeks as I turn and place them on my desk. There’s a small envelope attached, and I unpin it from a leaf, looking up to see Skyler waiting expectantly. I raise an eyebrow at her, and she rolls her eyes and laughs as she gives me some privacy.
Last night Paige and I talked some more before I went to bed and had a better night’s sleep than I’d had in days. It wasn’t anywhere close to as good as the one I’d had with Oz, but I’ll take it over being a zombie any day of the week. I left my phone off, not really ready to talk to him yet. I still need to think things over and get my head on straight. But I guess Oz found a way around my silence. At least he’s giving me space, in his own way.