by J. L. Beck
“I agree, Cole. So let me diffuse her. You’ll only agitate her further.”
It’s true. Eve and I butted heads. But Maddie’s taught me patience. Even now, I want to pamper Maddie in every conceivable way, starting with her pouty, little lips and working my way to her slick, welcoming core and her swollen clit until she screams my name. She’s my pleasure addiction. As long as she’s happy, I’m A-OK. “Eve’s playing cockblock, and she’s a perfect example of why I’m focusing on living life to the fullest, while luck is on my side when obviously her luck’s run out.” I punch open the door.
Maddie unwinds from the belts and sits with her legs hanging over the side. She stares out the window as the desert breeze whips sectors of her silky hair across deep-brown eyes, and she pivots her body, perched and ready to bolt. “I’ve heard about these gold digger types. They study who’s wealthy, target family lines and potential beneficiaries, or they hunt in the obituaries for their next victim, and what not.”
“Could be Eve planned on cashing in all along,” says War, feeding Maddie’s conspiracy theory. “We’ll never know her motive. I’m sure as hell not gonna listen to more of her bullshit. I mean, she acted, as if she had this great relationship with our father at the reading. Was her recount true in the eyes of their friends? Not that I could see.”
Maddie leans forward a bit, and I can tell she’s trying to unravel some twisted plot.
“We know your father was a recluse after he left Brown Valley. We know he became a self-made billionaire at some point. Maybe Eve believes she’s entitled to the money, even though he only kept her on as an employee. If she can convince a judge by producing a marriage certificate from another state, she might have a chance at obtaining half of his fortune. But as it stands, Nevada doesn’t recognize common law marriages, so without the docs, she’s a woman, a con, after his money, similar to tabloid reports of women and their sugar daddies…”
Maddie’s voice trails off, but I know what she’s conjuring in her pretty head. “Don’t think for a moment, sugar, you’re anything like Eve. We’ve loved you forever, age differences and all. You’d never put together a plot, faking you’re in love when all you’re interested in is the money, so don’t you worry ‘bout a thing.”
“How can you be so sure?” She grabs her bag and sets it in her lap, clutching the straps. “People might be thinking the same thing about me. That I’m a con or a complication that needs to be ‘taken care of?’ Because a good con makes people believe their lies are the truth.”
She has a point, sure, but I’m not buying whatever fear she’s selling. I reach over and take her hand, trying like hell to infuse her with calm no one inside the cab is feeling. “There’s nothing standing in our way of getting married, having babies, and doing whatever the hell you wish for that I won’t see settled.”
“We should still call the police. Eve’s obviously unstable. She could be dangerous.” War crawls out of the helicopter and opens Maddie’s door.
I nod my agreement, retrieve my cell from the floor, and place a call to Arnold, who picks up on the first ring. “What the fuck is Eve doing there?” I bark out, yeah, like a fucking big-ass dog.
“Mr. Pierce, sir? Eve? She’s here on the premises? She must still have a key and has disarmed the alarm. I’m heading up to the main house now…” Footsteps pound out a pulse through the receiver, along with Arnold’s rapid breathing.
My gut clenches and a wave of familiar nausea swarms my belly from the pressure, stress of the situation, and from imagining what our precious Maddie must be thinking—that we’re responsible for this mess. “Hold Eve until the police arrive.”
“On it, sir.” Arnold ends the call.
“Consider this, Cole.” Maddie slips her hand around my wrist. “If you don’t deal with Eve face to face, things might escalate.” She squeezes, her concern radiating from her pleading gaze. “Let’s try to talk to Eve, maybe make some sort of arrangement, find a truce or, at a minimum, hear her side of the story.”
That’s Maddie. Always taking in the strays...as she’s done with War and me. Fuck.
“Maddie’s right,” War interjects. “We need to cut ties with Eve and anyone else that might show up.”
“There are others?” Maddie sighs.
Her concern draws me back to her. As cute is she is in her dress and pumps, her complexion can’t conceal the bags taking up space under her eyes. She’s dead tired, as we all are. And I owe her big for giving me her love when I had nothing. Maybe that’s what our father once had with Eve—a woman who potentially loved him when he had nothing—and what me and Warren got caught thinking about threw him over the edge. Love or little delinquents? There’d be no choice for me. Kids get off track. Parents gotta keep setting them straight. But Dad couldn’t cope. Maybe our inheritance is his way of apologizing for all the bad shit that happened to us? Fuck if I know… I peg War with my stare. “I’ll send Janet to pick up you two—”
“I’m going with you,” Maddie jabs me with a hard stare.
“No, Maddie,” says War, his tone soft as a saint’s. “We’ll handle this. Besides, we need the golf cart to carry up the luggage. Cole will wait with Arnold and Eve until the police arrive.”
Thank fuck, War’s playing along, using his tender side to distract Maddie’s direction. I cup Maddie’s neck, drawing her near, hoping she can see in my eyes I’m trying to protect her. Reality is, there may be a time when I can’t, and that fact grinds on me, my neck muscles knotting. “I’ll see you in ten minutes.”
“Eve could ruin everything for us.” Maddie raises lashes off pale cheeks. “Don’t let her.”
I lean in, claiming her mouth, and spiral my tongue with hers as she hums against my lips. Here she is trying to assure me by sealing her body against mine, instilling in me that she still wants me, still wants us, even though we’ve kept much from her. “Don’t you worry ‘bout anything, sugar. I’ll have Eve under control before you reach the mansion.”
I can only hope as I hike up toward the house that what they say about Vegas actually stays buried in the lights, crowds, and games. We’re all screwed if Eve doesn’t disappear, and everyone has a price. I just have to figure out what Eve wants most.
Chapter Three
War
“I want the house and to continue my allowance that I deserve after caring for your father. He owes me, and I want to remain assisting the Pierces. Remember how I once served you, Warren?” Eve purrs, as if she’s a cat in heat.
Eve’s seductive tone grinds on me, and hell if I’m going to let some long-ago-tutor, fuck-buddy turned con-woman ruin the life I’m trying to build for Maddie, Cole, and me. I grip the fucking cell so tightly to my ear, my fingers grow numb, and keep my voice hushed as Maddie’s introducing herself to Janet, Arnold’s wife, who’s come with the golf cart. “How the hell did you get my number?”
“I have my ways…”
“Listen up,” the words rush past my lips, and my mind spins with the solution, praying I can talk Eve into leaving before Cole makes it across the Terrace. No telling what Cole will do once he sees the woman who destroyed our relationship with our father, the same woman who made sure we ended up in foster care and… Don’t go there. Not now....
“I’m listening.”
“No. Fucking. Deal, Eve. Whatever Father’s arrangement was with you is over. He didn’t name you in the trust, and you’re the fifth woman to lay claim to his fortune,” I lie, but I’m sure there’ll be others…
“That doesn’t change a thing between us. We can make a new contract. So call off your dog, Arnold, or I may have to let your little princess in on a few secrets....”
I fight against the shiver that darts through me. The last thing I want is to have Maddie witness skeletons falling out of my closet when that door holds things I’m not ready to relive.
“Your pause tells me you haven’t told her about us.”
“Go to hell.”
“Eve!” Cole’s shout echoes as he m
ounts the terrace, crossing the expanse.
“We both know Cole. He won’t tolerate your intrusion. Fuck, I’ll be lucky if he doesn’t kick my fucking ass for warning you...’cause right now, Eve, you’re walking on shaky territory when my brother’s eager to claim what’s his, and that no longer includes the likes of you.”
The sound of something heavy being rolled back echoes through the cell, and Eve’s breathing, as if she’s on the move.
I’m doing damage control, that’s my gig. Always has been. If Maddie finds out about our twisted connection with Eve, it’d send Maddie over the edge in a hot second, and she’d sure as shit call off the wedding...at least I imagine the worst. Cole and I once destroyed our family. We deserved to be exiled, and we were, until we were adopted by Maddie’s parents. But isn’t this life? Just when things fall into place beautifully, someone comes along eager to tear it down—us down. No way in hell am I allowing that to happen. Payment in dollars may not be the true price Eve’s wanting. Nor am I willing to give into Eve’s demands and threats, which means I have to come up with another plan to keep Eve subdued. A personal barter.
“Pay attention, Eve. We’re reclaiming what’s ours, so you have thirty seconds to crawl into that fancy car and drive off into whatever-the-fuck sunset you’ve painted for yourself, along with all the money you conned off a dead man.”
“It was a business deal,” she says, winded. “You know who I want, who I’ve always wanted, and I’m not taking no for an answer this time, War.”
“Your services are no longer needed. Get that through your thick, fucking head.”
“Are you so sure about that?” says Eve, as if tempting a starving man with a double-double all beef hamburger combo. “This is Vegas, baby. I’m sure after you’ve explored the city for a few months, you’ll get tired of the provincial life and seek out the adult playground waiting for you, just like when you turned twenty-one, just like you found me and did your worst.”
Nausea fills my belly, and I check out the nearest tree, thinking I might puke. Fucking the tutor is as cliché as it comes, unless that tutor is a grown woman, you and your twin teenage brother fantasize about tag-teaming her, your father finds out, and that woman is the one Dad’s fallen for because he’s afraid he’s gonna age without a partner, and suddenly she’s victim to something potentially scandalous. Throw into that mix me and Cole’s juvie record, a woman who suddenly wants us gone, and I understand why Dad handed us over to the foster care system. At least I try to understand.
I palm the gnarled trunk and dry heave at the memory of what Cole and I did to celebrate our twenty-first…. Truth is, what we did was more than a have good time, but the punishment stole any pleasurable memories, and the one dishing out the punishment was Eve.
“War, can I help you?” Maddie taps my arm.
I practically jump out of my skin as she rubs small circles on my back as I’m bent over. “It’s okay. The helicopter ride made me a little woozy.” I wipe my mouth on the back of my sleeve—nothing but a little spit—and press the cell to my chest so Eve can’t eavesdrop. “Let me finish this call, babe. Go ahead and take a seat inside the cart. I’ll be right there.”
I watch Maddie as she heads toward the cart, drinking in the sway of her ass that lulls me into thinking she’s okay. That we’ll all be okay once Eve’s out of the picture. Except she’s not.
Yeah, Maddie’s teased the fuck out of us for the past two hours, and just the thought of her taking me in her talented mouth makes my dick twitch. She’s so much more than I deserve, and she’s my angel. Cole’s, too. Eve’s the devil. I raise the cell to my ear. “Take your cheap offer and peddle that shit to someone else.”
“I’m anything but cheap. You’ll see. Things will change… With your financial freedom comes boredom, but I can show you ways to explore the fun side of life like no other, now that you’re older and your father’s gone,” she says, as if that’s been her ultimate desire all along: Father’s money, our bodies. The perfect mix of sex with no limits.
My skin crawls at the thought of her hands on me, and no amount of shivering shakes off the regret from my past. Already things are changing...I mean, fuck, we’ve parked a helicopter on the golf course at the foot of our estate, and I’m wondering what’s next. Could Eve be right? Will our desire for more send us back to the life of BDSM? No. Fuck no with Eve. Maybe with Maddie, if that’s what she wants. “You have ten seconds before the police arrive.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Watch me.” I end the call.
I’ll come up with creative ways to keep our wealth hidden. Save more. Spend less. Blend in. Try to keep me and Cole under the guise of two cowboys and their fiancée when he’s wanting to build a castle in the sky and rain down dollars to those below. Always the hero, that guy, which is why Arnold and Janet have been retained full time, contractors, designers, chefs....
The whirl of flashing lights in the distance catches my eye. This is the shit side of money. Temptation arriving when you’re least expecting, and with the potential to fuck up the happiness you’re building with the love of your life.
I pack the luggage onto the back of the cart. A minute later, I’m sitting on the second-row bench seat with Maddie as Janet propels the cart onto the roadway and heads uphill.
Maddie blinks up at me. “We need to have the locks changed first thing in the morning because I won’t be sleeping until I feel certain no one we don’t want inside gets inside.”
“I’ll stay awake all night to make sure nothing happens. Don’t you worry, babe. ” Don’t worry, babe? Fuck. Even as I make the promise to Maddie, I have one of those I’m-gonna-need-a-bigger-boat moments regarding Eve. She’s never been one to back down. ‘Course, neither has Maddie. But at the same time, I wonder how many times I’ll have to lie to Maddie about me and Cole’s history with Eve before this nightmare is over.
The roar of a car’s engine snaps my attention as it rounds the hill, bright white headlights blinding me. Tires squeal as the driver seems to gun the engine, heading straight for us.
Chapter Four
Maddie
Janet’s scream pierces my ears, and my heart launches into my throat, thinking the end is here before we’ve began.
War leaps between the seats, seizing the steering wheel, and cranes the cart to the right, as if he’s a stuntman for The Fast and the Furious movies, or could be his quick-thinking stems from his teenage years when he and Cole raced their street cars on Road 29. Either way, we land on a narrow “Carts Only” path as a silver Jag whizzes past us.
A chill snatches my breath, leaving me gasping, heart galloping, while I’m craving my guys huddled around me so closely I can’t tell whose limbs are whose.
“Fuck that was close,” War says, his words stumbling from his lips.
“I agree. My life flashed in slow motion until it went black, and I think we’re all watching the same reel. Why would she do that? I mean, I didn't get a good look at the driver, but I sensed it was her.”
Janet grips War’s arm where his jacket bunches up and watches the sedan that speeds around the corner, taillights bleeding red against the night. “You can’t explain crazy. But if it wasn’t for Warren’s quick thinking, I’m afraid we all may have played our last round.”
War plops beside me and roams his hands across every inch of my body. “Are you hurt?”
A knot lodges in my throat, and I roll into him so tightly he has to peel me back a few inches to check out my fear-filled expression under the streetlight’s yellow glow. “Not physically. But what happened?” I ask, as if I didn’t just witness a near hit and run. Shock is a sneaky bitch. I’m a vet and know the signs, and I’m suddenly shaking, and my hands are ice cold, even though Las Vegas is near seventy degrees tonight.
“Eve happened. She won’t be coming back anytime soon. I promise.”
I knew it was her… “Always trust your instincts.”
War tightens his grip on me, as if he can infuse me
with his promise when the future is a blank canvas, ours now tinted black from the threat of Eve. My shaking knees join the party, and I’m not sure I can stand as Janet engages the cart, turning us around until we’re racing uphill toward the estate.
“Police,” Janet murmurs when we pull into the circular driveway.
Sure enough, the presence of the police drains me even more, when all I want is to climb into bed, get lost in the pleasure that is my guys, and hold them right back, celebrating we’re still breathing and safe.
“Can you stand?” War thumbs my cheek and roams his dark gaze over my face.
“Yes, but I want to go inside, preferably find a small closet where I can hide.” My words tremble out of me on a strange chuckle that doesn’t sound like my voice at all. Shit.