Cocky: A Reverse Harem Romance

by Ashlee Price

  “A little,” I confess.

  Hector frowns.

  I look down at my hands. “I’m sorry I…”

  “No. I’m sorry.” He reaches for one of my hands. “I’m sorry I went overboard. I lost control, and I wasn’t supposed to. I let my emotions get a hold of me and cloud my judgment. I behaved badly as your dominant.”

  My eyes grow wide at the profuse apology, the first I’ve ever heard from Hector.

  “I’m sorry,” he repeats softly as he lifts his head and his eyes meet mine.

  At the tears moistening his eyes, a warmth explodes in my chest.

  He looks at my hand as he squeezes it. “I promise it will never happen again. Also, I’ve bought you some gifts to…”

  “It’s fine.” I place my hand over his.

  Again, his eyes clash with mine.

  “You don’t have to bribe me to get my forgiveness,” I tell him. “I forgive you.”

  “Well, they’re not bribes.” He glances at the desk. “They’re more of a form of atonement, so…” He shrugs. “I would hate to return them.”

  “You could give them to someone else,” I suggest.

  “There isn’t anyone else.”

  This time, something else explodes in my chest. No. It’s more of a flurry instead of an explosion.

  “Then I’ll accept them,” I say.

  He nods. “Good.”

  “And let that be the end of it,” I add as I squeeze his hand. “No one is perfect, after all. Everyone loses it every now and then, even you.”

  A flicker of annoyance crosses his eyes and for a moment, I see not a powerful man but a sulking little boy, annoyed that he didn’t get the toy he wanted.

  Cute.

  “You’re smiling?” Hector asks me with furrowed eyebrows.

  “You should try it sometime,” I tell him. “Sulking doesn’t help unless you have ice cream.”

  I eye the cloche.

  He lifts it and I catch an aroma of spices. I close my eyes and inhale it deeply. My mouth waters.

  “I do have ice cream downstairs,” Hector tells me. “But I figured you might want something more substantial since you did miss lunch and all. I didn’t know what your favorite dish was, but curry is my comfort food and I thought you might enjoy it. Sally makes the best.”

  “I like it already,” I tell him.

  He gets the breakfast tray under the cart, places it on my lap, and then puts the bowl of rice and curry on top of it.

  “I brought coffee, too, in case you’d like some,” he says.

  “Maybe later.”

  I grab the spoon and dig in, realizing that I’m famished. My hair gets in the way, though, seemingly wanting to dig in as well.

  To my surprise, Hector sits beside me and holds my hair back. “Let me get that.”

  He combs my hair back with his hands. His fingers brush against my nape and send a buzz down my spine. I hold my breath as he grabs the rubber band on the nightstand and secures my hair into a bun.

  When he’s done, I glance at him. “You didn’t have to do that.”

  “I said I’d take care of you,” Hector answers.

  I continue eating. “Where did you learn to do it?”

  “The internet.”

  I snort. “I don’t believe you.”

  “I had long hair when I was younger.”

  My eyes grow wide. “No way.”

  “What?” His thick eyebrows crease. “I was young once.”

  “That’s not what I meant. I…” I wave my hand. “Never mind.”

  I turn my head and look into his eyes. “Thank you… Mr. Davis.”

  Hector frowns. “Don’t call me Mr. Davis. You’re not an employee.”

  I lift an eyebrow. “Shall I call you ‘sir’, then?”

  “No.” He shakes his head. “We’re not doing a scene right now. You can just call me Hector.”

  Again, I feel a flurry in my chest.

  I nod. “Thank you, Hector.”

  “You’re welcome, Dani.”

  I continue eating, not just because I’m hungry but because I feel like I have to do something to dispel the blush in my cheeks at the sound of my name on his lips. Hector sits beside me, silently staring at me.

  “Don’t you have something else to do?” I ask him, feeling slightly uncomfortable. “I’m well aware you’re a busy man.”

  “It’s fine,” he says. “I told my secretary to clear my schedule.”

  “Oh.”

  Somehow, that makes me a little bit happy. After all, until now, I’ve felt like just a dispensable object to him, a toy for his amusement. Can it be that he sees me as something more?

  “After all, I have some other important stuff to do here at home,” he adds.

  Oh. Here I thought he cleared his schedule for me.

  Stupid Dani.

  “The reason I lost my temper was because someone sent me a threat,” he tells me.

  I turn to him with the spoon still in my mouth.

  “Someone was able to take a picture of you with the marks on your wrist.”

  I put down the spoon. “What?”

  “That same someone also has a picture of the Rose Room and somehow managed to get a recording of one of our scenes.”

  I shake my head. “But that’s… not possible, is it? I thought we’re the only ones who have access to the Rose Room.”

  “We are.” Hector stands up. “Which is why at first I thought you were the one who did it.”

  I place a hand on my chest. “Me? I would never do such a thing. Why would I?”

  “I know.” He nods. “The more I thought it over, the more I realized it couldn’t have been you, which is why I feel even worse for what I did to you.”

  “Who did it, then?” I ask curiously. “Who bugged the Rose Room?”

  “I don’t have the answers yet, but I did ask someone to trace the email that was sent to me and to analyze those files.”

  I nod. Of course he’d have that capacity.

  It’s a good thing, I guess. If there’s a photo of me in the Rose Room or an audio recording of my moans and whatever other sounds I’ve made in the Rose Room—and I know I’ve made a lot—I don’t want them going public.

  No siree.

  Hector sits beside me again and holds my hand. “I promise I will get to the bottom of this. No one picks a fight with me and gets away unscathed.”

  And I believe him.

  Just then, his phone rings. He frowns.

  I shrug. “Maybe you have an important meeting that can’t be cancelled.”

  The phone rings again.

  “Aren’t you going to get that?” I ask.

  He sighs as he stands up and gets his phone out of his pocket. His eyebrows furrow as he stares at the screen. Then he presses the phone to his ear as he walks towards the window.

  “Yes?”

  I continue eating as he goes out of earshot. His back is turned to me so I can’t really see his expression, though something tells me he’s upset.

  Finally, he puts the phone down. He walks towards me and exhales.

  “Need to go?” I ask him.

  “No. No one’s going. Rather, someone’s coming.”

  I narrow my eyes at him.

  “My daughter,” he supplies.

  My eyebrows go up. “Your daughter?”

  “Yes. My ex-wife had an emergency and she needs someone to watch over Sam,” Hector explains as he sits on the edge of the bed. “Apparently, all of her friends are busy. I usually wouldn’t believe that, but she wouldn’t hand Sam over to me unless she was desperate.”

  “Oh. So Sam’s coming over?”

  He stands up. “She’s on her way right now.”

  Okay.

  I wipe my mouth with a napkin. “Do I have to leave?”

  He turns to me. “What?”

  “It wouldn’t be good for her to see me here.”

  “You don’t have to leave,” he tells me. “I’ll just say you’re my yoga ins
tructor, which you were.”

  “Okay.” I push the tray away. “In that case, I’ll have to get dressed.”

  I swing my legs off the bed, wincing. I look at the bruises behind my legs and frown.

  “You don’t have a pair of leggings lying around, do you?” I ask Hector.

  I definitely don’t want his daughter to see me like this.

  He rubs his chin. “There should be a pair of black stockings downstairs since the maids aren’t here today.”

  “No?”

  “One of them is on her day off and the other called in sick, or so Sally told me. I’ll tell her to give you a pair of stockings.”

  I grab the bra from the chair and put it on. “Who’s Sally again?”

  “The cook,” Hector answers.

  He glances at me but quickly looks away.

  I grab the dress. “And you have only two maids?”

  “I don’t like having a big household staff.”

  “Even though you have a big house?”

  “Gardeners, cleaners and people who do the laundry come in once a week.”

  I nod as I try to zip up the dress. “I see.”

  “Here. Let me help you.” He zips up the back of my dress.

  Normally, he helps me undress, not dress, so this is new.

  After he steps away, I give the dress a whirl. “So how do I look?”

  “Good.”

  I smile.

  “I’ll get those stockings.”

  As Hector walks to the door, though, his phone rings again. He pauses to take the call and this time I hear a few words.

  Movie. Threat. Scandal. Fuck.

  After he hangs up, he turns to me. “I’m sorry, Dani. I have to go, after all.”

  “Is there a problem?” I ask, concerned.

  “I’m not the only one who received a threat,” he informs me.

  My eyebrows shoot up. “Oh.”

  “Your fiancé did as well.”

  My eyes grow wide. “What?”

  I wouldn’t know, since we’ve barely spoken since our argument. I didn’t even know he was back in the country again.

  Hector puts his hand on the doorknob. “I’ll get to the bottom of this. Do you think you can keep Sam company for a bit?”

  “Sure.” I nod. “I’d love to. Just don’t forget the stockings.”

  “I’ll ask Sally to bring them up,” he says.

  He opens the door, then pauses in the doorway to glance at me.

  “Take it easy, okay?”

  I nod. “Take care.”

  He steps out and closes the door behind him.

  I sit on the bed and touch my lower lip.

  First, Hector got a threat. Now, Kaleb.

  I know. I know. I’m still a bit mad at him. Well, more disappointed. But I don’t want him hurt.

  I don’t want any of them hurt.

  Why would anyone want them hurt?

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Hector

  “I don’t understand,” Reilly tells me with a shake of his head.

  He’s sitting a chair away from me at the conference table at my office. Kaleb is sitting across from me. Apparently, they’ve both received threats earlier today.

  “Why would someone unearth an old scandal concerning my mother and threaten to expose it if I went on with this movie?” He places a hand on his forehead in exasperation.

  “How is your mother?” I ask him.

  “I haven’t told her,” Reilly answers. “I don’t want her to worry unnecessarily.”

  “She won’t have to worry,” I assure him.

  “Yeah,” Kaleb agrees. “We’ll get whoever is pulling off these weird stunts and kick his ass.”

  I look at my copy of the email that Kaleb received. In it, the blackmailer says that someone will come forward to accuse Kaleb of sexual harassment if he doesn’t drop the movie. Like my email and Reilly’s, it’s also signed Red Kitty.

  I frown. Whoever this bitch is, she’ll pay.

  “Why would they want to stop Black Solstice from getting made?” Reilly asks me. “We did get the consent of the author’s heirs, right?”

  “This isn’t from the author’s heirs.” I place my elbows on the desk and lean forward. “Nor is this just about Black Solstice.”

  “What?” Kaleb gives me a puzzled look.

  “The threat I received did not mention the movie,” I inform them as I look at the papers. “Also, there was no condition. It simply said I was going to pay for my crimes. Besides, I received the email first. Whoever did this is trying to ruin me. She’s trying to ruin me personally. She’s trying to ruin me professionally.”

  “So we were threatened because of you?” Reilly ask me.

  I sit back. “Unfortunately, you’re right. I’m the real target here. You were just targeted because you’re working with me on a movie.”

  “Wait.” Kaleb sits up. “You said she?”

  I nod. “I’m pretty sure it’s a she.”

  A previous submissive, if my theory is correct, and I have narrowed the list down to three, all of whom are being checked on right now.

  “So what are you going to do?” Kaleb asks me.

  “I’m taking care of it,” I assure him. “The two of you needn’t worry.”

  “You better.” Reilly sighs. “I don’t want my mother’s name dragged through the dirt.”

  “It won’t be,” I promise him.

  “Wait a minute,” Kaleb says suddenly as he looks at the copy of the photo sent to me.

  The one of Dani’s wrists, though I didn’t tell them it was Dani.

  I didn’t bring the other picture.

  “What?” I ask him.

  “The name on this cup…” He squints. “I know this cafe. Dwayne said Dani goes there a lot. Apparently, she’s friends with someone who works there. Name of Scott.”

  “Scott?” Reilly’s eyes grow wide. “I saw her with him in the park once.”

  “In the park, huh?” Kaleb’s eyes narrow. “And what were you doing there? Stalking Dani? You just couldn’t stay away from her, could you?”

  Reilly grits his teeth.

  I frown, feeling like I’m caught between two teenagers fighting over the last slice of pizza. And the problem is I can’t be the referee, because I want that slice as well.

  I shake my head.

  Focus.

  It can’t be a coincidence that Dani’s picture was taken at that cafe and that someone she knows works there.

  Who is this Scott?

  Just then, my phone rings.

  I pick it up. “Hector Davis.”

  “Mr. Davis, I have the information you asked for.”

  It’s Paul Devenue, the man I called earlier.

  I stand up and leave the table. “I’m listening.”

  “We were able to trace that email back to a man named Scott Simmons. I have his address here for you. I’ll send his file now.”

  Shit.

  “Anything else?”

  “An interesting discovery,” Paul says. “You asked me to check on three women. One of them turns out to be going out with this Scott.”

  I stand up. “Who?”

  “Olivia Dunn.”

  My hand clenches into a fist.

  I knew it.

  “Do you have her address as well?” I ask.

  “I have something better,” Paul answers. “I tracked her phone. It appears she’s at a location you’re familiar with right now.”

  My eyebrows furrow. “Where?”

  “At your house.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Dani

  “Are you sure we can go this way?” I ask Sam as she drags me through the eastern corridor of the second floor. “You know your father will get mad if we end up somewhere we’re not supposed to be.”

  “It’s fine,” Sam tells me without letting go of my hand. “He’s not going to get mad at me.”

  I raise my eyebrows. “Oh, so we aren’t supposed to go this way?”

>   She doesn’t answer.

  “He will get mad at me, you know.”

  Sam stops and smiles at me. “He won’t. I’ll protect you.”

  The words and the way Sam says them remind me of Hector’s earlier promise to get to the bottom of things, and a smile forms on my lips.

  Like father, like daughter.

  They may not look much alike apart from their blue eyes, but Sam shares her father’s strength and intelligence.

  She’s a sweet girl, too and I wonder where she got that. Before today, I wouldn’t have thought it could be from Hector, but now I wonder.

  “And what are we doing here again?” I ask her as we continue walking.

  “I’m just going to show you something,” Sam tells me.

  I narrow my eyes. “And do I get a clue what this something is?”

  “A small golden statue.”

  “Really? And what’s so special about this statue? Is it made of real gold?”

  “Maybe,” Sam shrugs. “It’s an Oscar.”

  I stop walking as my mouth gapes open. “What?”

  “It’s the award they give to the people who make the best movies,” Sam explains.

  “I know what an Oscar is.”

  “Have you seen one up close? Have you touched one?”

  I shake my head. “No.”

  She gives me a pleading look. “I just want to see it again, to touch it again, maybe take a picture with it.”

  I narrow my eyes at her. “Sam…”

  “I wasn’t able to when I was here,” she says. “I just want my friends to know how great my father is.”

  I sigh, suddenly feeling sorry for her.

  “Okay. Let’s go see Oscar.” We continue walking. “Where is it?”

  “In my father’s bedroom,” Sam tells me.

  I stop again. “What?”

  She points to a door. “It’s right there.”

  Just then, that door opens and a man and a woman come out.

  My eyes narrow as I recognize the man. “Scott?”

  As for the woman, I don’t recognize her but she looks like she’s about my age, maybe just slightly older. Her strawberry blonde hair hangs an inch from her shoulders and her brown eyes narrow at me.

  “You’re Dani, aren’t you?” The blonde grins.

  “I thought you said she wasn’t here,” Scott tells her.

  She shrugs. “I thought she’d already left.”

  Scott rolls his eyes.

  I pull Sam’s arm and hide her behind me. “Scott, what’s going on here?”