Vengeance: A Dark Billionaire Romance (Empire Sin)

by Isabella Starling

  She looked through the kitchen window and saw him standing there on the front lawn. He looked worried, and his briefcase dropped to the ground as he stared at the house through hazy eyes, as if he wasn’t really seeing anything.

  When eventually he came inside, she ran up to him to hug him just like she always did, but before she could, her daddy raised a hand to stop her.

  She wobbled on her feet, nearly falling over in her attempt to stay still. She stared at Daddy as he called out for her mom.

  Her mom came into the room, wiping off a big glass salad bowl. One look was all it took between them, and her daddy sobbed, just once. Her mom dropped the salad bowl and the glass shattered all over the kitchen. The sound was deafening, and the little girl covered her ears in fear when the shards flew everywhere.

  She was standing too close to the spot where the bowl broke, and as she moved to look at her mom, she stepped on a piece of glass. It dug into her skin, and before she could even cry out, she looked down at her now bleeding foot. The sight of blood fascinated her, and she stared as it pooled under her toes.

  “Evangeline.”

  The voice was insistent, calling out to me over and over again.

  “Evangeline. Wake up.”

  I tossed and turned on the couch, muttering something to make the voice stop, but it wouldn’t give up.

  I felt a hand on my shoulder, squeezing me hard, and my eyes flew open when I finally realized I had been sleeping.

  Carter stood above me, his eyes fiery with anger and his mouth set into a displeased line.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I must’ve fallen asleep here…”

  I looked around, feeling disoriented. The paperback I’d been reading was still next to me, now a little crumpled. I flushed, embarrassed about it. I hated ruining books.

  “I’m sorry,” I repeated, smoothing down the pages and getting up from the sofa.

  “Evangeline.”

  I looked up at him, and looked away again very quickly. His eyes were almost black they were so dark, and my heart pounded when I saw his expression. He was angry. This wasn’t going to be pretty.

  “I know what you did today,” he told me pointedly.

  I looked over his shoulder, and saw the maid standing in the door. She caught my gaze for a second, and the broken look in her beautiful eyes surprised me.

  She had told him she’d caught me in his study.

  But why did she look like she regretted doing that?

  “Evangeline!” he barked at me, and I looked back at him, my legs feeling shaky. “You went through my things. Do you think it’s proper for a toy to behave that way?”

  “No,” I whispered, looking down.

  “I can’t fucking hear you,” he hissed, and I looked up, my eyes filling with tears.

  “I…” My bottom lip was shaking. “I wanted to know more about you…”

  “Bull fucking shit,” he snarled. “You wanted to fucking snoop.”

  His fingers wrapped around my throat. Not hard, but threatening, and I tried to breathe through his grip.

  “I don’t know what game you’re playing, little girl,” he said darkly. “But I’m going to fucking find out.”

  I swallowed hard behind his fingers, and he tightened his grip, only a little.

  “I can help,” I gasped. “The Van Der Meer case, I can help you with it…”

  He laughed in my face, saying, “What the fuck do you know about business, little girl?”

  I kept talking. “You’re merging with their company,” I said in a rush. “You’re looking to cut down on the cost of their employees, and you think you need to fire some people, but you don’t.”

  He let me speak, but his eyes said it all. He was pissed.

  “Their bills,” I went on. “For Van Der Meer. They’re spending an absurd amount on business lunches, business trips. They’re taking four people to meetings in different cities, where you only need one. Cut down on the travel expenses. Cheaper hotels, less people. You can keep the expensive restaurants for wooing the clients… But cut down on travel costs and the people who go on those trips.”

  “You don’t know shit,” he snarled at me. “You’re just a fucking girl. And Evangeline, you’re forgetting you’re my fucking property. If I tell you not to go in my study, and you still do it, I’m going to punish you severely.”

  His fingers tightened around my throat and I cried out softly.

  “And nobody wants a broken toy,” he told me gently, and when he let go of me and left the room, I felt like I was going to pass the hell out.

  I touched my throat, the skin burning where his fingers had been, and stumbled back to the sofa. He slammed the door shut so hard it nearly fell off its hinges, but it didn’t shut properly, still ajar when he stormed down the hallway.

  I sobbed softly when I felt another presence in the room, looking up through tear-filled eyes to see her standing there.

  Carolina.

  She rushed forward, kneeling down next to me.

  I couldn’t look at her, but she smoothed down my hair and took my hand in hers.

  “It’ll be okay,” she told me. She had a Spanish accent. “It’s going to be alright, I promise, miss.”

  I sobbed and she held me.

  “I’m scared,” I finally admitted. “He’s going to be meaner this time…”

  “It won’t be too bad,” she told me. “I’m sorry I told him… If I didn’t, I’d be punished too. He has cameras…”

  I looked at her beautiful face, at that gruesome scar.

  “He’s punished you?” I asked.

  She merely looked at the floor, and it made me cry harder.

  Her scar looked vicious, and my heart panicked when I thought I might have one to match hers soon.

  Eleven

  Carter

  I didn’t want to leave her like that, but I had no choice.

  When Carolina called me, I was just about to leave the Royale and I’d rushed back home to punish Evangeline. And if I was being honest with myself, it was the perfect excuse to see her for a few minutes. My beautiful little girl, who’d been so very bad in my absence, and was going to have to be punished for it.

  I couldn’t stay long, but I knew leaving her expecting punishment would make her squirm the entire day.

  I had an important meeting scheduled – ironically concerning the very merger Evangeline had found information on when she was snooping around my study.

  Her advice was shocking to me. She was just an eighteen-year-old girl, not someone experienced in business like I was. But truth be told, with all the shit I’d been dealing with because of my father, I hadn’t been paying enough attention to the Van Der Meer merger. I had no idea whether her words held any merit, but I was going to fucking find out.

  Leaving her in that room was one of the hardest things I’d had to do, and not because I was pissed with her for going through my shit. It was because she looked so fucking scared when I left her, and it turned me the hell on.

  I half-wished it didn’t, but I couldn’t lie to myself. The sight of her tears, the lost look in her eyes when she realized I was on to her and I was angry, got me fucking hard. I wanted her like that, just like that. With tears pouring down her face, getting lost in her own fear and the need she felt for my body, matching the need I felt for hers. I wanted to bury myself inside her up to the hilt, and I had to tear myself away so I could leave.

  Sweet Angel. She was going to have to pay, and it wasn’t going to be pretty this time around.

  I’d gotten stuck in rush hour on the road, and I was late for the meeting already. All thoughts of going through those files went through the window as I rushed into the conference room, trying to remember where my head was at.

  The room was packed, with people sitting in every available seat. I stopped in my tracks when I realized my father was sitting front and center, in my fucking spot.

  He grinned at me, and nodded to his right where a free seat was waiting for me. />
  “Glad you could join us,” he said pointedly, and I wanted to fucking kill him. This whole mess was his damn fault.

  I didn’t say a word, just made my way to the free seat, and sat down next to him.

  He was fucking useless for the rest of the meeting. A damn jackass, making more trouble than money for the past decade.

  I wanted to tell him to shut up every time he opened his stupid mouth, but I resisted. We needed to look like a united front for the rest of the people there, so I bit my tongue and pretended everything was alright. God, I really wanted to kick his ass, though. He was acting like a fucking child.

  Finally, the subject of Van Der Meer was broached, as it was one of the most pressing matters the company was dealing with at that moment.

  “There have been problems with their employees,” Vaughan, one of our advisors, explained to the board. “We’ve been looking for solutions.”

  “And what has been done?” Lloyd, one of the main investors asked. He was always quick to argue, always looking for a problem even if there was none. “You realize this should have been sorted before the merger even happened. The fact that we’re dealing with this now is a travesty.”

  “I agree,” my father cut in, while Vaughan sweated in his seat. “It should have been taken care of sooner, and it’s completely my fault.”

  I perked up. Was he finally taking some responsibility?

  “I should have had my son deal with this,” he went on, and suddenly my blood fucking boiled. “This should’ve been sorted sooner, and I apologize for not lighting a fire under his lazy ass.”

  It was Lloyd’s turn to shift uncomfortably in his seat. He hated cursing, and my father tended to do it a lot in these meetings. Not very professional at all, especially for a man of his class and experience.

  “I have been looking into it,” I spoke up. “Cuts in the Van Der Meer employment sector have been suggested, however–”

  “There you go then.” My father swiveled in his chair and grinned at Lloyd. “Problem fucking solved.”

  “However,” I spoke up again, determined to finish my sentence.

  Everyone turned to stare at me, and I could feel my father’s wrath emanating from him.

  “I believe we can solve this without firing people,” I went on. “I don’t think it’s a good move to fire people this soon into our merger. It’ll leave a bad impression on the other employees, and it will make us look bad for our investors like you, Mr. Lloyd. It’s as though we’re giving up hope and cutting down on the workforce before we even give them a chance.”

  “The costs are much too high,” Lloyd dismissed me. “Unless you have another solution, we will have to make 27% of employees redundant. Now, about the Callahan contract…”

  “I do have a suggestion,” I cut in again.

  Now they really were fucking staring. I felt under pressure, ready to sweat bullets, when I remembered Evangeline’s words.

  I hated letting people go. Hated seeing people leave when they’d been working for the same company for decades, and I always did my best to avoid it. And I’d avoid it this time, even if it meant taking my toy’s advice…

  “We can cut down on expenses,” I explained. “Without firing all those people. It will make us look good, too.”

  “So what’s this grand idea then?” my father asked, his tone mocking me.

  “I’ve gone through their accounts and expenses,” I said. “They’re overspending on travel costs. Several people travel the globe when it’s really the job of one man. And the costs are insane – accommodation too luxurious for such a small company, and personal bills for the trip that exceed even my own. It’s an easy way to cut down on costs. If it’s not effective, we will revisit the 27% idea.”

  They stared at me for a little while, and I waited for someone to speak up.

  “This is true,” Vaughan said slowly. “I’ve noticed some large sums in their travel costs.”

  “Alright,” Lloyd said in an irritated tone. “We’ll give it a try. Was that it? Can I go home now?”

  I grinned to myself and ignored my father’s seething gaze until the meeting was over, and he pulled me aside.

  “Just what the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he asked me. “Undermining me in a public meeting like that? I’m your fucking boss, Carter.”

  “You’re a fucking useless one,” I spat back at him. “Without me, this whole business would be going under. Fuck knows if I can save it as it is.”

  My father puffed out his chest and looked at me with contempt, “Your mother will be very disappointed to hear you’ve let me down.”

  I grinned and stepped closer.

  “Good thing I’m a fucking grown man, not a little boy,” I snarled. “And I don’t give a shit. You deal with it, while I cover your little Royale romp. Problem solved, Dad.”

  I left him with his mouth gaping and got the fuck out of there, back to my pretty toy.

  I wanted her to be waiting. I told Carolina to leave her a note telling her what she had to do. I knew she’d be scared. I also knew she might resist.

  But I was counting on her fear getting the better of her. I was counting on her doing as she was fucking told.

  And she didn’t disappoint.

  I took my time getting to the playroom, leaving a trail of clothes leading up to it.

  My jacket, my shoes. By the time I reached my pretty toy I was only wearing boxers.

  She was waiting. Blindfolded. Her shaky arms resting on her thighs as she kneeled in front of the door.

  “Hello, little toy,” I said, and she arched her back when she heard my voice, taking a deep breath of air.

  Little did she know, I wasn’t going to let her exhale for hours.

  “You look fucking perfect like this,” I told her gently, stroking her hair. “On your knees, waiting for Daddy, just like a good girl should be.”

  She whimpered and I pushed my thumb inside her mouth. She licked it tentatively, sucking a little, just for show.

  I wanted her to call me Daddy again. God, I wanted it. But it had to come from her, not from instructions. It felt so much hotter that way.

  “Are you ready for your punishment?” I asked her gently, my thumb leaving her mouth with a soft pop.

  She mewled and nodded, once, then twice as if she’d just made up her mind.

  “You’re keeping the blindfold on the whole time, little Angel,” I said, and she bit her bottom lip. What a fucking sight she was.

  I bent down next to her and my fingers sought out her soaked little pussy, just like that. I slid them along her pussy lips and she whimpered again as I wiped her juices off, bringing my fingers up to her pretty mouth.

  “Tell Daddy how good you taste,” I said, and she opened her mouth and sucked her juices off my fingers. She was such a sweet little thing, her mouth working my fingers slowly, hesitating before each suck. I wanted more, though. I wanted to unleash every bit of my depravity on this innocent little girl, and turn her into the perfect toy. No other girl had ever come close to what she was doing to my cock, my fucking heart. God, I wanted her. I fucking needed her.

  I slipped my fingers out and she gasped.

  “Good,” she whispered, the first words from her pouty mouth since I came into the room.

  “More, little toy,” I groaned. “Tell me in fucking detail.”

  “It tastes sweeter when I’ve come a lot,” she admitted, and I growled out loud. She was driving me insane, with a few words and by sucking in her cheeks when she licked me clean.

  “Too bad you won’t get to today,” I said, and she whimpered in protest, but I ignored it. “I can’t let you come, can I, pretty toy? You’ll never know the meaning of punishment if I don’t get stricter with you. And it’s so very important.”

  She nodded. I tipped her chin back and she gasped.

  “Say yes,” I said, and her bottom lip trembled.

  “Yes, Daddy,” she said.

  My cock swelled painfully in my boxers. I
wanted her. I needed her right then and there, I didn’t give a shit about punishments or anything else.

  “Open your pretty mouth,” I said, and she followed directions eagerly, parting her lips for me. “Good fucking girl. I need to fuck your mouth now, Angel. I’m not going to be gentle. Do your best to take it, okay?”

  She nodded, but I cut her off by pulling my hard cock out and pushing all the way down her throat.

  She choked right away, a sound so horny it made me groan out loud. I fucked her mouth like it was the only thing that mattered. Just being inside her mouth, fucking her so deep she squirmed beneath my hands.

  “You’re such a perfect little thing,” I told her. “Such a perfect toy for Daddy. Suck me off, toy. Be a good little girl and suck Daddy’s cock.”

  She did her best, which must’ve been hard because I sure as fuck wasn’t going easy on that mouth of hers. I kept thrusting inside her, rough as fuck, feeling her teeth graze my dick because she couldn’t help it, not with the force I was fucking her throat.

  And looking down at her made me harder, but despite my previous words, I wanted to see her eyes. I wanted to watch her, so desperate to fucking come while I fucked that throat.

  I tore off her blindfold and pushed deeper. Her eyes were filled with tears, her pupils so dilated they looked almost completely black.

  I stroked her cheek with one hand, wrapping the other around her throat. She was such a good little cocksucker. I could feel my thrusts through the tender skin of her throat, and it felt fucking amazing.

  Watching her was mesmerizing, and I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I realized she was close, and I pulled out completely. She moaned so loudly, and strings of precum connected her mouth to my cock. It was almost too much to take.

  “Don’t you dare fucking come,” I growled at her. “This isn’t about you, little toy. This is just about me getting off with your throat. You’re just a toy, just a little slut for me to get off with. Understand?”

  “Yes, Daddy.” Her voice was soft, and she folded her arms behind her back to prove how good she was for me.

  I groaned, about to push back inside when I noticed someone standing at the door. I turned to the side.