The Consequence of His Vengeance

by Jennie Lucas

  She looked up at him, the picture of wide-eyed innocence. Then sighed, relaxing in surrender.

  The kiss he gave her then was anything but tender. It was demanding, rough, fierce. He had experience, and she did not. He knew how to lure her. How to master her.

  Unless—she could be feigning her desire?

  No, he thought coldly. He would make sure she did not. That would be one insult he’d not allow her to pay. He would make sure every bit of her pleasure was real.

  He stroked her soft body, taking his time, caressing her, until, slowly, she started kissing him back.

  She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling his weight back down on her. He shifted his hips, testing her ability to accept him, still rock hard and huge inside her. She whimpered, then exhaled, swaying her hips.

  He moved expertly, drawing back slowly, then pushing inside her a second time. She gripped his shoulders, closing her eyes. He suckled a nipple, watching her face carefully. It wasn’t until he saw the glow of ecstasy return to her face, and felt her muscles start to tighten around him, that he knew he’d succeeded. Triumph filled him as he began to ride her.

  Filling her so deeply, this woman he’d desired for almost a third of his life, he felt light-headed. His body started to shake with pleasure so intense that it was almost like pain. They were so intertwined it was hard to know where one ended and the other began.

  Pleasure and pain.

  Hatred and desire.

  As he thrust into her, sweat covered his body with the effort of keeping control. Her breasts swayed as he thrust inside her, all the way to the hilt. Gasping, she put her hands against the headboard, bracing against the force of his thrust. Her breathing became shallow as her body twisted beneath him with building need.

  Her eyes were closed, her head tilted back, as she panted for breath. She moved her hands to his shoulders. He barely noticed her fingernails digging into his skin. He was lost in the sensation of possessing her, filling her, owning her, the glory of her flesh, the sweetness of her skin.

  He felt simultaneously lost and found. Every corner of his soul that had ever felt hollow was miraculously filled. His body was pure light.

  From a distance, he heard a low ragged shout and realized the sound was coming from his own mouth, releasing emotion he’d kept locked up for a decade. Her voice joined his as she cried out her own joy and grief and pain.

  His body spasmed with a final, violent thrust and he poured himself into her, collapsing over her on the bed, their bodies slick with sweat, fused together.

  It was much later when he opened his eyes and discovered Letty was sleeping in his arms. He stared down at her in wonder.

  He wondered how he’d ever been satisfied by those pallid, skinny supermodels who had filled his bed till now. Those affairs had been insipid, hollow, dull compared to this fire. Tasting her, feeling her shake, hearing her cry of pleasure had pushed him to the limit.

  It’s hatred, he realized.

  Hatred had made him utterly lose self-control in a way he’d never done before, in a way he’d never imagined possible. As he’d taken possession of her body, after ten years of frustrated desire, he’d slaked his ache in a dark, twisted fantasy of vengeance.

  It had been the single best sexual experience of his life.

  But as he pulled away from her, he sucked in his breath.

  The condom had broken.

  He’d worn one, of course. No matter how he might fantasize about revenge, no matter how much he hated her, the last thing he would want was to actually get her pregnant and drag an innocent child into this.

  Now he stared down, unable to believe his own eyes. How could the condom have broken?

  Had he been too rough, forgetting everything in his need to possess her, to relieve the savage, unrequited desire of ten years?

  He’d wanted to brand her forever with the deepest mark of his possession. Had he actually wanted to fill her with his child?

  A curse filled his heart.

  Unraveling himself from her, he pulled away, rising naked from the bed.

  He walked to the window and looked down at the bright skyscrapers of this dark city. His throat was tight as he pressed his hand against the cold glass. Catching his own reflection in the window, he was startled by the cold rage in his eyes.

  Disaster. He hadn’t done anything like he’d planned. He’d actually slept with Letty. And now...it might be so much worse. His hand tightened against the window. He looked back, and his jaw tightened.

  Her fault, he thought. All hers.

  “Are you up?” Letty murmured. “Come back to bed.”

  She was beneath the blankets now, looking sleepy and adorable with her dark hair tumbling over his pillows. She’d covered herself with the comforter. As if he hadn’t seen everything, touched everything, tasted everything already.

  His body hardened against his will, already desiring her again. He’d just had her, and he already wanted more. He wanted to take her on the bed. Against the wall. Against the window. Again and again. He stared at her in bewildered fury. Truly she was poison.

  But did he really imagine after everything that had gone wrong tonight, the gold digger couldn’t achieve her ultimate goal—marriage and total command, not just of his fortune, but of his body and soul?

  He clawed a hand through his hair.

  “Darius, what’s wrong?”

  He repeated flatly, “You love me?”

  “It’s true,” she whispered.

  He took a step toward the bed.

  “What is it, Letty?” he said in a low voice. “Did you plan all along to renegotiate the deal? One night isn’t enough, is that it? You don’t want to be a rental, but a permanent sale?”

  She frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  Darius’s jaw felt so tight it ached. Grabbing gray sweatpants from a sleek built-in drawer, he pulled them up over his naked body. He forced his shoulders to relax, forced himself to face her. When he spoke, his voice was like ice.

  “You don’t love me. You don’t even know what the word means. When I think of how I once adored you, it sickens me. Especially now—now we both know what you really are.”

  Her forehead creased. “What are you talking about?”

  “This night. This whole night. Don’t pretend you don’t know.”

  “I don’t!”

  “Don’t play the outraged innocent. You sold your virginity to me for the price of a hundred thousand dollars.”

  For a moment, his hard words echoed in the shadowy bedroom. The two of them stared at each other in silence.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Your email,” he said impatiently. “Claiming you needed to pay off some mobster who’d broken your father’s arm and threatened to break his whole body if he didn’t come up with a hundred thousand dollars within the week.” He tilted his head curiously. “Is it true? Or just a convenient excuse?”

  Her eyes were wide. “My father’s broken arm...” She seemed to shudder as she pulled the blankets up higher against her neck. “I never sent any message.”

  His lips curved sardonically. “So who did?”

  Letty’s cheeks were bright red. “I...” Running her hand over her eyes, she said, “So that’s why you came for me? You were buying a night in bed?”

  “What did you think?”

  “I thought...” She faltered. “I thought you’d forgiven me for what I did...”

  He snorted. “Ten years ago? You did me a favor. I’ve been better off without you. Your other fiancé must have realized that fast, since he didn’t bother to stick around, either.” His jaw set. “What I’ll never forgive is what you and your father did to my dad. He died an early death because of you. Lost his job, his life savings. He lost everything, had a heart attack and died.” He bared his teeth in a sharklike smile. “Because of you.”

  “Darius, it’s not what you think,” she blurted out. “I...”

  “Oh, is this the part where
you come up with an explanation that makes you look like an innocent saint?” he drawled. “Go on, Letty. Tell me how your betrayal was actually a favor. Explain how you destroyed my family at great personal sacrifice, because you loved me so much.” His voice dripped contempt. “Tell me all about your love.”

  She opened her mouth.

  Then snapped it closed.

  Darius’s lip twisted coldly. “That’s what I thought.”

  She blinked fast, her beautiful eyes anguished. She took a deep breath and spoke one small word. “Please...”

  But mercy had been burned from his soul. He shrugged. “I thought it would be amusing to see you again. I didn’t actually intend to sleep with you, but you were so willing, I finally thought, why not?” He sighed as if bored. “But though I paid for the whole night, I find I’ve already lost interest.” Leaning forward, he confided, “And just as one entrepreneur to another, you sold yourself too cheaply. You could have bartered for a higher price with your virginity. Just a suggestion as you go forward with your new career. What is it called now? Paid mistress? Professional girlfriend?”

  “How can you be so cruel?” She shook her head. “When you came to the diner tonight, I saw the same boy I loved...”

  “Really?” He tilted his head, quirking a dark eyebrow. “Oh. Right. Since you’d kept your virginity in reserve all these years, you thought if you tossed in a little romance, I’d fall for you like a stone, just like I did back then. ‘I love you, Darius. I never stopped loving you,’” he mimicked mockingly.

  “Stop!” she cried, covering her ears with her hands. “Please stop!”

  Some of her blanket had slipped where she sat on his bed, revealing a curvy breast. He could see the faint pink tip of her nipple, and he could still taste the sweetness of her, still remember how it had felt to be deep inside her.

  His breath came hard. Sleeping with her hadn’t satiated his desire. To the contrary. He only wanted her more.

  The fact she still had such power over him was infuriating.

  Turning sharply, he went to his desk. He pulled a cashier’s check from a leather binder. Returning to the bed, he tossed it toward her.

  “There. I believe this concludes our business.”

  Letty’s lovely face looked dazed as she picked up the cashier’s check from the bed. She looked at it.

  “If you have another client tonight, don’t let me keep you,” he drawled.

  She briefly closed her eyes and whispered, “You’re a monster.”

  “I’m a monster.” He barked a low, cruel laugh. “Me?”

  Turning away, she rose naked from the bed. He waited, wondering for a split second if she’d toss the check in his face and prove him wrong. If she did...

  But she didn’t. She just picked up her panties from the floor and walked to the door. He sneered at himself for being naive enough to even imagine the possibility she’d give up her hard-earned money for the sake of honor, or even pride!

  She left the bedroom, going out into the great room of the penthouse. He followed, watching as she collected her bra and shoes, then scooped her white dress from the floor. Putting it on after slipping on her panties, she buttoned the dress quickly, leaving gaps where he’d ripped off buttons in his haste to get it off her. She wouldn’t meet his eyes.

  Darius wanted to force her to look at him. He wanted her humiliated. He wanted her heartbroken. His pride demanded something he couldn’t name. More.

  She stuffed her bra in her handbag and put her bare feet into her shoes and turned to go.

  “It’s just a shame the condom broke,” he said.

  She froze. “What?”

  “The condom. Of course I was wearing one. But it broke. So if you wind up pregnant, let me know, won’t you?” He gave a hard smile. “We will negotiate a good price.”

  He was rewarded. She finally turned and looked at him, aghast.

  “You’d pay me? For a baby?”

  He said coldly, “Why not, when I paid you for the act that created it?” His expression hardened. “I will never marry you, Letty. So your attempt at gold digging ends with that check in your bag. If by some unfortunate chance you become pregnant, selling me our baby would be your only option.”

  “You’re crazy!”

  “And you disgust me.” He came closer to her, his eyes cold. “I would never allow any child of mine to be raised by you and that criminal you call a father. I would hire a hundred lawyers first,” he said softly, “and drive you both into the sea.”

  For a moment, Letty looked at him, wide-eyed. Then she turned away with a stumble, but not before he saw the sheen of tears in her eyes. She’d become quite the little actress, he thought.

  “Please take me home,” she whispered.

  “Take you home?” Darius gave a sardonic laugh. “You’re an employee, not a guest. A temporary employee whose time is now done.” His lip curled. “Find your own way home.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  LETTY SHIVERED IN the darkest, coldest hours of the night as she walked to the Lexington Avenue subway station and got on the express train. It was past one in the morning, and she held her bag tightly in the mostly empty compartment, feeling vulnerable and alone.

  Arriving at her stop in Brooklyn, she came numbly down the stairs from the elevated station and walked the blocks to her apartment. The streets were dark, the shops all closed. The February—no, it was March now; it was past midnight—wind was icy against her cheeks still raw with tears.

  She’d thought it was a miracle when she saw Darius again. She’d thought he’d found out the truth of how she’d sacrificed herself, and he’d come back for her.

  Telling him she loved him had felt so right. She’d honestly thought he might tell her the same thing.

  How could she have been so wrong?

  You disgust me.

  She could still hear the contempt in his voice. Wiping her eyes hard, she shivered, trembling as she trudged toward her four-story apartment building.

  While many of the nearby buildings were nice, well kept, with flower boxes, hers was an eyesore, with a rickety fire escape clinging to a crumbling brick facade. But the place was cheap, and the landlord had asked no personal questions, which was what she cared about. Plugging in a security code, Letty pushed open the door.

  Inside, the temperature felt colder. Two of the foyer’s lights were burned out, leaving only a single bare lightbulb to illuminate the mailboxes and the old delivery menus littering the corners of the cracked tile floor.

  Even in the middle of the night, noises echoed against the concrete stairwell, a Doppler tangle of tenants yelling, dogs barking, a baby crying. A sour smell came up from beneath the metal stairs as she wearily climbed three flights. She felt wretched, body and soul, torn between her body’s sweet ache from their lovemaking and her heart’s incandescent grief.

  The fourth floor had worn, stained carpet and a bare lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. Going past the doors of her neighbors—some of whom she’d never met even after three years—she reached into her handbag, found her keys and unlocked the dead bolt. The door creaked as she pushed it open.

  “Letty! You’re back!” Her father looked up eagerly from his easy chair. He’d waited up for her, wrapped in both a robe and a blanket over his flannel pajamas, since the thermostat didn’t work properly. Turning off the television, he looked up hopefully. “Well?”

  As the door swung shut behind her, Letty stared at him in disbelief. Her handbag dropped to the floor.

  “How could you?” she choked out.

  “How could I get you and Darius back together so easily?” Her father beamed at her. “All I needed was a good excuse!”

  Her voice caught on a sob. “Are you kidding?”

  Howard frowned. “Are you and Darius not back together?”

  “Of course we’re not! How could you send him a message, pretending to be me? Offering me for the night!”

  “I was trying to help,” he said falteringly. “You’ve
loved him for so long but refused to contact him. Or he you. I thought...”

  “What? That if you forced us together, we’d immediately fall back into each other’s arms?”

  “Well, yes.”

  As she stared at him, still trembling from the roller coaster of emotion of that night, anger rushed through her.

  “You didn’t do it for me!” Reaching into her bag, she grabbed the cashier’s check and shoved it at him. “You did it for this!”

  Her father’s hands shook as he grasped the cashier’s check. Seeing the amount, his eyes filled with visible relief. “Thank God.”

  “How could you?” She wanted to shake her father and scream at him for what he’d done. “How could you sell me?”

  “Sell you?” Her father looked up incredulously. “I didn’t sell you!” Struggling to untangle himself from his blanket, he rose from his chair and sat beside her on the sofa. “I figured the two of you would talk and soon realize how you’d been set up. I thought you’d both have a good laugh, and it would be easier for you each to get over your pride. Maybe he’d send money, maybe he wouldn’t.” His voice cracked. “But either way, you’d be together again. The two of you love each other.”

  “You did it for love.” Letty’s eyes narrowed skeptically. “So the fact that you read about Darius’s billion-dollar deal this morning had nothing to do with it.”

  He winced at her sarcasm, then looked down at the floor. His voice trembled a little as he said, “I guess I thought there was no harm in also trying to solve a problem of my own with a...dissatisfied customer.”

  Glaring at him, Letty opened her mouth to say the cruel words he deserved to hear. Words she’d never be able to take back. Words neither one of them would ever be able to forget. Words that would take her anguish and rage, wrap them up into a tight ball and launch them at her father like a grenade.

  Then she looked at him, old and forlorn, sitting beside her on the sagging sofa. The man she’d once admired and still absolutely loved.