by Avery Gale
Lawton understood Brodie’s concerns, but the bottom line was—time was their enemy. The longer they waited, the more time Roberts had to shift the burden onto Cressida and the more time she had to live in fear—something that had ratcheted up exponentially last night.
The minute she’d seen her sister, she’d known something was terribly wrong and she’d been right. He hated the way her evening had ended because everything else about her first visit to The Knight’s Club had been positively spectacular.
Their first scene had taken place just after she’d come into the main room, he’d known the instant she stepped through the door they’d made the right call—there had been too much fear etched into her pretty face. But her expression had been the only thing that didn’t look spectacular—the woman was made for the outfit they’d purchased for her. He’d heard men and women all around him suck in their breaths when they saw her. The black shelf corset was threaded with a pale gold to match the highlights in her hair and the sexy garment presented her full breasts perfectly, the garters, stockings, and heels made her legs look a mile long.
Her hair cascaded over her shoulders and down her back in dark waves that, even at a distance, reminded him of silk sheets pushed aside by the restless moves of a lover lost in passion. The myriad of colors in her hair fascinated him and each individual hue seemed to reflect the candelabra lighting in the club made her glow even brighter. The two years they’d worked with Cressida had been torture in some ways, there had been times when keeping his hands off her had been almost impossible. But it had also given them plenty of time to get to know the woman inside, what most people didn’t realize was the sparkle and glow they were attracted to came from the inside. The outer shell was just a lovely bow on a beautiful gift the Universe had given the world, the real gift was the joy she brought into the lives of everyone around her. He’d seen her charm everyone from the doorman at her building to the unruly children sitting next to them in a restaurant one evening.
A few months after she’d started working for T.E.G., he and Brodie had taken her to a small nearby café after they’d kept her late finalizing the contract revisions on a bid they’d recently won. He’d watched in fascination as she’d carefully divided the huge meal she’d ordered into two sections—one far larger than the other. She’d eaten the smaller portion and then asked that the remainder to be boxed to go. He’d assumed she was taking it home to reheat for dinner the next night until she’d requested plastic utensils and a covered cup of coffee. As they walked back to the Templar building, he’d looked on as she turned toward a man huddled over a grate and instinctively put his hand on her arm to stay her.
Cressida had looked up at him and smiled, “It’s okay, Leon won’t hurt me.” She’d visited with the man for several minutes as he and Brodie stood to the side, needlessly watching over her. It was more than obvious the two weren’t strangers and after the three of them left the man to enjoy his dinner, he’d asked her about him. The story she shared about how Leon had helped her fend off a mugger one night not long after she moved to New York City stunned them. She’d never mentioned the incident or the fact she’d been looking out for her destitute defender as best she could since that night.
It had taken them several nights looking around the neighborhood to locate the man again, but when they’d finally found him, Lawton and Brodie had spoken with him at length and been so impressed they’d hired him on the spot. The process of reintroducing the man to employment after living on the streets for several years hadn’t been easy, but it had certainly been worth it. Leon now worked for their security division and also oversaw the program they were sponsoring at a nearby homeless shelter that offered career counseling and assistance to individuals who were homeless for various reasons.
Hearing Parker’s phone ring pulled Lawton out of the memories he’d become lost in, but it was Parker’s muttered curses during the call that made him uneasy. “What the fuck do you mean? Define substantially altered.” Everything about Parker Daniels had shifted and Lawton watched as the man he knew as a friend faded away and the security expert he respected took center stage. It was a transition he’d seen many times, but had never appreciated more than he did in this moment. Shifting his gaze to Lawton and Brodie, he quickly explained, “There’s a problem at the girls’ apartment. The woman I sent to check on the place tonight is the same one who was there three weeks ago and it sounds like we need to get over there.”
Before they reached the building where Cressida and Carli shared an apartment, Lawton’s phone rang, seeing Gil Talbot’s face on the screen didn’t bode well. He’d tasked his right hand man in their technology monitoring division with tracking anything related to Cressida when they’d first learned she was being cyber-stalked. So far Gil had come up as empty-handed as he had, hearing from him just after sunrise on a weekend wasn’t a good omen for the day. “Gil, what’s got you calling so early on a weekend?”
“Big problem, boss—those alerts I put out on Miss Cressi’s phone are lighting up my inbox, heck, my screen looks like flipping Atlantic City it’s flashing so often. But the strange thing is, all the alerts seem to be from posts she made.” What?
“I can assure you that’s not the case, as you know, her computer is still in our lab at Templar.”
“That’s just it—I know that and I know what her digital footprint was at the time we took possession of that particular little antique beauty. But here’s the kicker—even though I’m just getting these alerts, when I check the time and date stamp from the server it appears the information is months old—some of them go back almost a year.” Lawton knew Dale Roberts was responsible, he felt it all the way to his soul—what he didn’t know was how they’d ever prove it or how much damage they’d do to Cressida’s reputation and self-esteem in the process.
*****
Cressi sat with her legs stretched out in front of her with her back propped against the large bedpost at the foot of the biggest bed she’d ever seen. Tristan had instructed Cressi and Carli to make themselves at home, pointed out the master suite’s enormous bathroom before leaving them alone so he could find them each something to wear. They’d both taken quick showers and were now settled in but too key-up up to rest. Picking at the hem of the Knight’s Club t-shirt she wore, Cressi looked up at her sister, “Tell me. I don’t know what’s bugging you, but it’s written all over your face. And I heard Parker tell you to be brave before he left, so I’m assuming it’s something you don’t think I’m going to be happy about.”
“Cress…”
“No, enough already. You’ve been protecting me forever and I probably already know more than you think I do.”
Cressi watched Carli take a deep breath and a large gulp from the glass of wine Tristan had brought her. Personally Cressi thought the wine and cheese tray Tristan had delivered a few minutes ago had been an amazingly lame excuse to check on them, but since the man didn’t seem to be able to keep his eyes off her sister, Cressi wasn’t worried she was the one being so closely monitored. “Mom originally found out she had cancer when she was pregnant with you.” Cressi sucked in a breath, she’d always thought her mother hadn’t be diagnosed until much later. “I’m not going to go into everything because quite frankly, most of it happened when I was really too young to remember. What I remember most are Dad’s drunken rages when Mom was in the hospital the last time.”
Seeing her sister’s hands tremble and tears roll down her cheeks, Cressi sighed, “I have always felt like he blamed me for her death, I just didn’t know why. This actually explains a lot—she didn’t start treatment right away because she was carrying me, right?” Cressi didn’t need Carli’s nod to know she was right, but it was nice to have the confirmation. “Carli, you know this isn’t that big of a deal, right? I’ve always known Dad resented me, he made that abundantly clear more than once. Hell, he didn’t attend a single school function of mine and that includes graduations, after Mom died. I guess I should be grateful he paid fo
r my college education—something I always assumed he did just to get rid of me.”
Carli’s shuttered expression told her everything she needed to know. She took a deep breath before saying, “He didn’t pay for any of it, did he? You did it all.” It hadn’t been a question, somehow the truth had eluded her for almost seven years, but it was crystal clear now—and in some ways it was almost a relief to finally be able to fit all the little clues together. “You put off everything you wanted to do and started modeling to pay my way. I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner.” Looking up at her sister, Cressi fought back her raging emotions—she was mad at her father for blaming her for something she couldn’t possibly have changed, but she was even angrier with him for putting her sister in such a horrible predicament. She was also angry with Carli for covering for him and for lying about it for so long, but most of all she was straight up pissed that Carli had put her own life on hold without giving her younger sister the chance to decide if she wanted to carry the burden of guilt she now felt.
“Cressi, please—”
“Don’t. Not now. I’m still coming down from an incredible night that has now totally crashed and burned. You are too exhausted to even keep your eyes open. If we talk about this now, we’re both going to say things we regret. Let’s table this discussion until things settle down, but rest assured this isn’t over.” Cressi left her sister under the pretense of using the restroom, she needed a few minutes alone and Carli was so close to collapse, Cressi knew she would fall asleep if left alone for a few minutes.
Staring at herself in the mirror, Cressi vowed to find a way to pay her sister back, it would take years, and she probably needed to think about finding another job. Lawton and Brodie hadn’t mentioned what would happen after their month deal was over and there wasn’t any way she would ever be able to go back to the way they’d been before. It would be too distracting and painful to see them every day and not be able to touch them, and far too devastating to see their next flavor of the month show up at the office for noon meetings behind locked doors. She knew too well exactly what happened during those closed-door sessions because she’d been stripped and fucked over every flat surface in both Law’s and Brodie’s offices during the few days they had actually made it down to the Templar executive suite.
The evening had started out so perfectly, the scene she’d shared with Law and Brodie had opened up a whole new world for her. Maybe she’d find a new club in some other part of the city, something close to her new job. Feeling more alone than she could ever remember feeling, Cressi slid down the glass wall of the shower and just let go of the sobs she’d been struggling to hold back since Parker had explained what they’d learned so far about Master D. Cressi felt like she was trying to stand in the middle of a crashing storm while it was tearing down everything around her, and it had all finally become too much.
Pulling one of the plush bath sheets from the warming rack, Cressi curled up in the corner and hoped the tears would wash away her fear and uncertainty. It was obvious Tristan and Parker were interested in Carli and Cressi didn’t relish feeling like a third wheel. The last thought she had before falling asleep was that she would rest a couple of minutes and then get dressed. She’d hail and cab, find a cheap place to crash, and escape by sleeping until the world was right once again.
Chapter Twenty
Brodie hadn’t known whether he should panic or be grateful Cressida wasn’t in Tristan’s bed with her sister. Carli was curled up fast asleep, completely oblivious that he’d entered the room so he headed to the bathroom—what he found stopped him cold. He hadn’t even realized Lawton was following him until he bumped up against him after Brodie had stopped so abruptly. “Fuck me, I can’t believe we left her here alone.”
“Jesus, Joseph, and Mary, she looks like she’d been emotionally gutted. Let’s get her home, she can’t sleep on this damned floor and I want her to wake up between us. Everything else can wait.” Brodie was in complete agreement, nothing was more important than taking care of the woman they planned to spend their lives with—even if they hadn’t had the courage to tell her that yet. Something in the back of his mind niggled that everything was teetering in the balance, but he pushed it aside as he brushed strands of her hair from her cheek. Her hair was still wet from her tears, her eyes were swollen and red from crying, the baggy shirt she wore was at least four sizes too large—and she was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
Lifting her gently into his arms, Brodie pressed a kiss against her forehead when she stirred, “Shhh, pet, I’ve got you. Lawton will get a blanket and then we’re taking you home.”
“Oh, okay. Thanks. I’ll clean up whatever mess was in our apartment after I take a nap.”
Lawton leaned over and kissed her, “No, baby, you belong between us. You may sleep alone with one of us from time to time, but you won’t be sleeping alone ever again.” Brodie doubted she’d heard Law’s words, because she was completely limp in his arms letting him know she had once again succumbed to both physical and emotional exhaustion. It didn’t matter, Lawton’s words were true—they’d just keep telling her until she believed it. Looking down at the sweet woman in his arms, Brodie wondered yet again how they continually managed to screw up with the one woman who mattered the most.
Just a few hours ago everything had seemed so perfectly on track as he’d slid his fingers through the wet silky folds of her pussy leaning over her watching Lawton clamp her pretty nipples. The corset they’d dressed her in displayed her so perfectly he was tempted to call the boutique and order one in every color available because there wasn’t a color he didn’t think Cressida would look fantastic in. But at the moment the only color he wanted to see surrounding her was the soft dove gray of the linens on his bed.
By the time their driver pulled up in front of the Templar Building, Brodie’s cock felt like a steel rod and having it pressing relentlessly against her hip was probably why she was beginning to stir. Brodie directed his words to Law, but he knew some part of Cressida’s mind was tuned in to the conversation, “I can’t wait to strip her bare, perhaps we should consider taking her in the elevator as a way to take the edge off, what do you think?”
“Elevator sex never held much appeal for me until I met Cressida, and now—I barely think of anything else when we’re on our way up to the office or home.” Brodie watched Lawton type a quick text to the building’s security staff and knew he’d just had them shut down the camera feeds from the small enclosure. It was one thing to scene with their little exhibitionist in front of like-minded people, it was an entirely different matter to do so in front of their staff—most of whom were single men Cressida’s age.
As soon as the mirrored doors slid closed isolating them in the elevator, Brodie set her on her feet, “Stand up, pet, let’s get you out of this shirt.” From now on they’d make sure she had something pretty to wear home from the club, he wasn’t thrilled seeing their woman in another man’s shirt and Brodie was certain Lawton felt the same way. Cressida put her arms up immediately and as soon as the shirt she’d been wearing hit the floor, he leaned down to circle her nipples with his tongue. She’d flinched at his touch and he hated they hadn’t had time to massage oil into them after her shower. A bit of arnica and sesame oil would have gone a long way to ease the discomfort she was feeling now. They’d used clamps on her before, but this was the first time she’d worn them for any length of time, and she was obviously feeling the effects of that. After teasing each one of the deep rose buds, he asked, “Are your nipples still tender, pet?”
The elevator slowed to a stop and when the doors opened, Brodie saw Lawton reach for the button that would hold them open but when Cressida started to step forward, Brodie’s hand on her upper arm halted her progress. “Here, pet. Right now.” Her quick gasp was followed by a nod. In seconds Brodie and Law both stripped out of their clothes and positioned her to their liking. Watching the swollen head of his cock slide between Cressida’s lush, full lips a
s moist heat surrounded him made him groan in pleasure. “Goddammit to hell, your mouth is fucking lethal, love. I swear you steal my mind, the minute I feel your tongue caressing me every cognitive thought flees right out of my head.” When she screamed around his girth, he opened his eyes to see Lawton had shoved himself in to the hilt. Brodie wasn’t surprised to see the tension lining his friend’s face—obviously Law was fighting just as hard for control as Brodie was.
“Baby, you were so wet for me, I could smell your arousal and simply couldn’t wait a second longer to be inside you.” Lawton’s voice was little more than a growl, “Did I hurt you? I should have gone slower, but I couldn’t hold back.” Setting a quick pace, Brodie could feel the fire in his balls boiling close to the point he was going to come any second. The way Cressida wrapped her tongue around him in a swirling pattern that made him wonder if this was what a spiral of fire felt like. The way she pushed herself forward until his cock was pushing in so deep, he felt the muscles at the top of her throat tighten around him, which sent him over each and every time. He and Law both swore Cressida had no natural gag reflex and it was something they watched carefully, because she was so eager to please they worried she might get caught up in the moment and ignore her own safety.
Feeling the hot jets of his cum splash back against the tip of his cock was hot as hell and made him wonder how she managed to swallow every drop of the gift he gave her even as she was being ravaged by her own orgasm. When Lawton finally pulled from her and helped her stand upright, Brodie saw nothing but devastation in her eyes. The look was so bleak he felt like the world had shifted on its axis. Stepping close, he bracketed her face with his hands, “Talk to me, love. What put that look on your face. Your heart is breaking and I have no idea why.” Tears pooled in her eyes and she closed them trying to shut him out, but he wasn’t going to allow her to hide from them or herself. They’d made several big mistakes with her during their time together, but he wasn’t going to let her give up on them, “No, don’t shut us out. Open your eyes and answer the question.”