Alice has had way too much to drink, and Holli is well on her way to the same level. Of course, I’m the only semi-sober one between us. I’ve had a couple of whiskeys, but nothing I can’t handle.
“Alex, have this,” Alice shouts, slamming a shot in front of me. “They are sooo good.”
“What is it?” I ask, carefully inspecting the black liquid. It smells like liquorice which puts me straight off. I don’t like liquorice or anything aniseed tasting.
Alice throws her head back and drinks her shot. “Why are you being boring?” she starts to whine again and gestures toward the full shot glass on the sticky bar.
“I’ll have it.” Holli lurches forward, snatches the shot glass, and devours the sickly black alcohol. She sways on the spot before slamming the empty glass on the bar. “So good,” she slurs.
With the concoction of drinks they’ve both sucked down, I’m surprised they aren’t throwing up. Holli looks close, but it’s Alice I’m starting to get concerned about.
“I’m going to the toilet,” Alice says, holding out her hand to Holli. “Come with me.”
“I’m gonna stay with, Alex,” Holli shouts over the thumping bass music in the shithole bar we’ve found. “We’ll be right here.”
Fuck.
I force pleading eyes at my sister, begging her not to leave me with her intoxicated friend, but she doesn’t notice, the alcohol in her system taking away and consuming her usually intelligent brain. So instead she leaves me. Alone. Well, not alone, but with fucking Holli of all people.
And just as I knew she would, the minute my sister leaves, she wanders over and slides up beside me, wrapping her hands around my arm and subtly rubbing against my side.
“Why aren’t you having anything to drink?” she asks, noting my lack of alcohol in comparison to the many bottles of VK she has on the side.
I keep my reply curt. “I’ve got too much to do tomorrow.”
“Don’t be a spoil sport,” she teases, squeezing my arm lightly with her fingers. “Have one of these.” She leans across me and reaches for one of those alcopop things she has been drinking, but her hand misses and instead she starts falling toward the bar.
My reactions are like lightning as I wrap my hands around her waist and stop her face-planting into the wooden bar. “Jesus,” I mutter, turning her round to face me. “What are you playing at?” My eyes scan her features for any form of life, but all I see is glazed intoxication. Her bubbly smile is in mega watt mode and I sense I’m in ever growing danger here.
“You need somebody to look after you, Alex,” Holli murmurs, her hands reaching for the lapels of my suit jacket. She grasps the material tightly and pulls me toward her.
I know what she is trying to do, and I resist with all of my strength. My neck turns rigid as I fight off her forcing charm.
“I think you’ve got the wrong end of the stick here,” I say, when she tugs harder on my jacket. My eyes drift from her face for a nanosecond and I find myself staring at her legs in the simple mini-dress she has on. Those fucking legs are taunting me. Nicely tanned and perfectly shaped …
Focus, Alex!
“I know you want me. It’s okay, I want you too,” I hear Holli say, before I feel the press of her lips against mine.
“What the fuck are you both doing?” Alice appears as I’m trying to manoeuvre away from Holli. She is absolutely furious. I feel the sharp burn of the daggers shooting from her eyes.
“It’s not what it looks like.” I’m backing away from them both with my hands in the air, surrendering from something I played no part in. “She came onto me.”
“Don’t pretend you didn’t love every second,” Holli snorts.
“You’ve misunderstood if that’s what you think.” My reply is calm and smooth, but it’s laced with arrogance. And of course, Holli picks up on this in an instant.
“What was that?” She arches an eyebrow.
“Okay, you both need to calm the heck down,” Alice says, trying to settle the frosty tension building between us. “I don’t want a scene, so let’s just leave—”
Holli raises her hand and silences Alice. “You’ve been leading me on since the first day I met you,” she says, looking straight at me.
And she’s right ... sort of. It hadn’t been intentional. She was just another pretty girl that my dick wanted to fuck.
“I’m not interested in you like that,” I reply, waving my hand dismissively toward her. “You might have read into things too far.”
“What’s wrong with me?” Holli snaps into the ultimate of bitches in a fucking flash. The change is like lightning and I’m blinded by the speed. She has a hand on her hip, tosses her hair, and waits for my response.
I’m absolutely gobsmacked.
I’m never usually at a loss for words, but tonight’s caught me off guard. This girl has the worst drunk attitude, ever. And judging by the look in her eyes, I’d say she’s verging on psychotic. The glare she pins me with sends an icy tremor along each of my vertebrae.
It is a look of pure evil.
She is evil.
“You aren’t my type,” I try and lie.
“I think I am,” Holli scoffs, rolling her eyes. “I’ve seen the way you look at girls like me. You devour them, Alex.”
And now it’s time to stop this game. As nice as I thought she was, I don’t have time for this shit. Her true colours are surfacing, and she’s coming across as a devious whore.
Usually, I would have snapped up a looker like her, but since she’s friends with my sister, there is way too much baggage involved. It wouldn’t be a simple fuck and chuck type of night. Her personality screams clingy. And I do not do clingy, at all.
“Listen, sweetie. I don’t know what you think there is between us, but you need to wake-up to the real world. Not everyone you meet is gonna want to sleep with you. Just because you have really nice legs, it doesn’t mean you get to snap your fingers and get what you want.” I take a breath and snag a quick look at her legs for the final, final time for tonight. “You think you know what sort of guy I am, huh? You don’t know me at all. I’m the type of guy who will fuck you for my own pleasure and not give a shit whether you come or not. You would be nothing to me but an empty shell that I slam my dick into. Is that what you want? If you do, we can go fuck in the corner or nearby alley? You only have to say—”
I don’t get to finish my little speech before Holli’s palm stings across my left cheek in a hard, fiery slap. She recoils back for number two, but thankfully Alice catches her arm midair.
“You bastard!” Holli screeches, struggling to get her arm free from my sister’s grasp. “You don’t know shit about me. How dare you talk to me like that.”
“Alright, calm down,” Alice snaps, jerking Holli backwards so that she stumbles out of my personal space. “You kind of asked for it if you tried it on with him. My brother doesn’t take any shit, nor does he do the girlfriend thing. Not after his divorce to that other bitch.”
“What, you are with him? Even after he just spoke to me like shit?” Holli curls her upper lip and sneers in my direction.
“Of course I am. He’s my brother at the end of the day, and you brought this on yourself.” Alice stands her ground, but I notice she is looking more unsteady on her feet.
“I think we had better call this a night,” I say, beckoning for Alice to come to my side, which she does without a second thought. “Holli, I will see you to a taxi and then I will take Alice home.”
“Arsehole, don’t bother,” she hisses, grabbing her bottles of VK off the bar and stomping through the thickly packed bodies on the dance floor.
Usually, I wouldn’t just leave a girl like this, but I know I need to get Alice back to my flat and into bed. Holli will probably wake-up and regret everything she has said and done, so I can leave with a clean conscience.
“Come on,” I murmur, taking most of my sister’s weight, and helping her out onto the main road. “We need to try and get a taxi.”
~
With my arm wrapped securely round Alice’s waist, I walk her into my building and toward the lifts where Jeffery is waiting. Considering our roles were reversed the other night, and Alice was the one taking care of me, I’m sure he must think we are a family of alcoholics.
“Good evening, Mr. Lewis,” Jeffery greets me. “Is Ms. Lewis, alright?”
I chuckle when Alice lolls into my side. “One drink turned into a lot of drinks,” I reply, putting my hands behind her knees and sweeping her into my arms. “I don’t see this side of her very often. She tends to go out in Coventry, so it’s my mum that has to put up with this usually. I’m afraid tonight is my turn.”
Jeffery nods and presses the button for my floor.
“What time is it?” I ask, realising I still haven’t heard a peep out of Libby.
“It is almost midnight, sir.”
We are quiet on the short journey up to my floor, apart from Alice’s heavy breaths filling the small space. I note the briefest of smiles on Jeffery’s lips at her sleepy form in my arms.
“I’ve got the big brother of the year award tonight,” I say, stepping off the lift when we reach the top floor. “Night, Jeffery.”
Walking to my front door, I try and jar my pocket against the control panel, hoping to God I can get it open without having to actually take the fob from my pocket.
“Come on, you bastard,” I mutter, lifting my leg and rubbing my thigh awkwardly. If anyone were to walk past, right now, at this very moment, they would wonder what the fuck I’m doing.
When I finally hear the heavenly beep of the door unlocking, I use my foot to kick it open and carry Alice inside. I’m about halfway down the hallway, after successfully kicking off my shoes and closing the door, when my phone starts to ring in my pocket.
“Bollocks,” I breathe.
Alice stirs and wakes. “Ugh. Turn it off,” she moans, putting her hand on her forehead.
“I know, I know, give me two seconds. I’ll put you in the guest room.” I’m skidding along the hall in my socks toward my spare room, while my phone continues to rattle loudly in my pocket. But by the time I’ve dropped Alice on the bed and put it to my ear, the call is dead. “I missed it,” I shrug, flicking to my missed calls.
And there I find a call from Libby.
Her name hasn’t appeared in my phone for so long. We exchanged numbers the other day through business cards, and I didn’t waste any time at all in programming her number back into my contact list.
I have no shame.
“Night, Alice,” I say, getting up from the bed and hitting redial on Libby’s number. I put the phone to my ear and listen to the dial tone as I’m walking to my office. I’m happy she made the first move because it makes me look less of a stalker in wanting to know where she is.
“You have reached the voicemail of Elizabeth Lewis. I’m afraid I cannot take your call right now, but please leave a message after the beep.”
My forehead crinkles, confusion spreading through my bones. I called merely thirty seconds after, but she isn’t answering.
Sitting down at my desk, I put my phone on the table and hit redial as I switch on my laptop. This time, it doesn’t even ring, but instead goes straight to voicemail.
“What the hell?” I mumble, picking up the phone just as the beep sounds. I leave her a message along the lines of, “Libby, I have just seen a missed call from you. Alex.”
Thankfully, I keep my shit together and keep my tone curt and very formal. She isn’t affecting me. She isn’t.
“Ace.”
The earlier whisper of her voice penetrates my brain. I’m suddenly thrust back to the hotel room at The Mailbox. I see Libby’s body beneath mine, the sweat glistening between her breasts, and the drawn out sighs escaping from her rosy, plump lips.
Sort your fucking head out, Alex!
My hands grip the lip of my desk, my knuckles straining and turning white from the force I’m using. I feel my pulse throbbing in the side of my neck as I think about Libby with another man.
Her kissing another man.
Her sleeping with another man.
I curl my hands into fists and bring them down hard on the surface of my oak desk. Pain radiates throughout my nerve endings, but I welcome it as a blissful escape.
So I do it again.
And again.
I carry on smacking my fists, willing these emotions to leave the confines of my body. She has had me for long enough.
But who am I kidding? There is no way I’ll ever be rid of these feelings. It has been seven years and I’m still as fucked up as I was the day she left me. Time supposedly heals, but for me, it’s nothing but an endless loop of pity.
I’m a man that strikes fear into the everyday life of those around me with my demanding and controlling personality. Yet, I’m also a man who gave the ultimate power to one woman who used it to bring me to my fucking knees.
And still is.
NINE
Needless to say, Alice had one heck of a hangover this morning, when she finally got her arse out of bed. At least four times I tried waking her up, but she wasn’t having any of it. So in the end, I did the unforgiveable in her eyes, and I threw a glass of cold water over her head.
Hitting the button for the lift, I chuckle to myself. She was so pissed off with me, but I couldn’t help but laugh. I know she won’t bother ignoring me again.
“Mr. Lewis.” I spin on the spot and face the young girl approaching. “Sir, here is your morning coffee, and you have a visitor in your office.”
She looks flustered as she hands me my coffee and fusses with a stack of papers she is carrying. I don’t actually know who this girl is, but I gratefully take the Costa off her hands.
“Thanks, I guess.” I search for a lanyard or name tag or anything to enlighten me, but she has nothing. A random girl with no name, who brings me coffee, and has rosy red cheeks. Interesting stuff for a Friday morning after all.
Shit. Is it really Friday?
It dawns on me that I’ve got a weekend between now and Monday when I’ll see Libby again. I may be a workaholic, but I know she isn’t.
Stepping into the lift car, I clutch my Costa and ponder what today will bring. Yesterday was a good day, but the good has to be evened out with the shit eventually, so I’m expecting something drama filled.
When the lift coasts to a stop on Libby’s floor, I exit and head across the reception toward the offices at the back. As usual, I feel the eyes of everyone in the office on me. I’m used to it now. Let them look, I say.
“Mr. Lewis, you have a visitor—”
“The Costa coffee girl already filled me in,” I say, lifting up the cup and nodding to Libby’s assistant when I walk past her desk.
“You met our new trainee then. That’s Eliza,” she replies as I nod my head and carry on. “She’ll get anything you need. You just have to ask her.”
“I got it. Thanks.”
Pushing open the door to our joint office, I stop at the sight of a bloke sitting in my chair, and at my fucking desk. I’m livid. I don’t tolerate people pissing around with my stuff, ever.
“Get up, you cheeky shit,” I snap, closing the door behind me.
My chair swivels round and Sean stares at me. “About bloody time,” he grumbles, getting up and crossing the room. “We’ve got a problem.”
“What kind of problem?”
“A big one ... Oakley is making a move. I’ve just had word from Benedict that one of our stable Investments is looking at playing the field a little bit. Turns out the bastard is trying to do a deal with Oakley behind our backs.”
“Are you shitting me?”
Sean shakes his head. “I wish I was. It looks like Oakley has been delving his hands in a lot of our business. He’s still after Libby as well. The word is that he has a mole working for him. Not that I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case. The bastard has some vendetta against you.”
I wave him off. “Brea
ch of contract. We’ll sue all of them for breaching the agreement they’ve signed.”
Sean sighs. “If only it were that simple, mate.”
“Go on.”
He takes a deep breath. “He must be working with someone we know. Most of our contacts have been persuaded into deals for new ventures that don’t breach the current agreements held. Oakley is taking the back route with this and not even giving us a look in. The cheeky fucker is working his way down our list of partners.”
I blink a few times, registering Sean’s words in my brain. “Call Benedict and get this shit sorted. I need to know who it is and what their motives are—apart from trying to fuck me off.” I mean, honestly, who the heck have I pissed off that much?
“I’ll get right on it. We’ll sort this out, mate. Well, I guess we have to if we want the company to survive through this—”
“Ambush,” I say, finishing off his sentence. “Oakley Finance and Investments can kiss my arse. We’ll fight these bastards at their own game. And we will win.”
Sean nods. “You got it.”
He goes silent, his attention focused over my shoulder. I hear the door opening behind me and the shuffle of papers. Sean clears his throat, his eyes bulging wide from their sockets.
“L-Libby?” I watch him scan her up and down with amazement, and I know I’m not the only one enjoying how much she has changed over the years. I’ll let him have this one glance. The next time, he’ll find my fist in his face.
“Sean?” There is confusion in Libby’s voice. “What are you doing here?”
He jerks his thumb in my direction. “Having a meeting with the boss.”
Libby walks over to her desk and puts down the papers. “It’s been a while, right? I had no idea you worked for Alex, he hasn’t mentioned you. Have you been in business together long?”
“He found me when he got the business going, and we’ve been working together since,” Sean replies.
Libby raises an eyebrow. She silently takes a seat and boots up her laptop. She hasn’t said two words to me yet.
Absolute fucking silence.
Obviously sensing the rapidly growing tension in the room, Sean says, “Well, I’m gonna shoot off. Alex, I’ll get that stuff you’re after.” He turns to Libby. “It was nice seeing you again.”
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