by Liv Morris
We circle around the reception area, hand-shaking and hobnobbing like pros. Various men walk up to greet us. I believe they’re hoping to gain a closer look at Kathryn’s cleavage as their eyes hardly leave her breasts. They avoid looking at me because I’m rather dull in comparison to the beauty at my side.
I possessively stroke the skin on her shoulder in a silent declaration that she’s mine. They admire her and envy me as though I hold the keys to the gates of heaven. And for me, she’s as close as I’ll get to that ethereal place.
Since I stepped into the room, I’ve searched for Thorpe. Once I spotted him, I zoomed in on him like radar locking on a target. We haven’t made eye contact yet, but I’m bracing myself for the moment when we do.
Kathryn and I move about the room, avoiding the fucker at all costs. Thorpe moves right, we move left. He steps forward, we retreat. Kathryn has no idea I’ve been maneuvering our position as we go from one introduction or conversation to another on purpose. Tonight, I’m her protector. No one will touch her but me.
Conversations in the room center around numbers, profit and losses, and the hope of a strong economic recovery. The kind of talk that makes the mind wander after having a couple drinks with a beautiful woman at your side.
“I have a brilliant idea. One more drink and we head out for some real food.” I’ve made my appearance at the reception, and the finger food they serve at these events wouldn’t fill a mouse. “The fried kind.”
“Greasy?” she asks, her eyes wide and hopeful.
“The best the city has,” I say. “The Shake Shack or bust.”
Kathryn laughs. “I haven’t indulged since I moved back from Paris. So I’m all in. Why don’t you get another drink while I visit the ladies’ room.”
I scan the people in the room and spot Thorpe several feet away from us—the closest he’s been to us all evening. An escape to the bar and restroom would be smart since they’re both in the opposite direction from where he’s standing. I have a feeling seeing Kathryn and I together works as a repellant to keep him at bay. After all, he’s fucked us over on a very personal level. Even here tonight, he’s likely fucked over someone else in this room, and they’re too chicken shit to stop him. Not me, though.
“Sure, I’ll fetch us a refill.” I nod in the direction of the restrooms. I know their placement very well... for several reasons. One for the purpose they were built for. Another to get a blow job after an event cleared out for the night. “But please wait for me right outside the door. I don’t want you wandering around without me.”
“Yes, sir.” She salutes before turning down the short hall to the restrooms.
“Right here, Kathryn,” I call behind her, and a teasing smile greets me when she looks over her shoulder. I point to the ground at my feet and mouth the words, “right here.” She gives me a quick thumbs-up before disappearing behind a door.
I hurry to the bar so I can get back by the time she’s done with the restroom. The second I make eye contact with the bartender I call him over.
“Two more, please. Glenlivet and your best chardonnay.”
The bartender nods, grabs some empty glasses, and turns to fill my order. As I wait, the hair on the back of my neck prickles as the weight of someone’s shadow falls on me. The counter-to-ceiling mirrors behind the bar show me exactly who’s there.
Shit.
Thorpe. I swear his presence is like a dragon on my back.
“Adam.” His use of my name causes my stomach to clench. I lower my head and close my eyes before turning around to address him. I dig deep to bring up a blank mask. I can’t betray my true feelings of disgust when I face him.
“Xavier,” I deadpan.
“So... Kathryn Swanson?” He speaks with a poker face similar to mine. A chill runs the length of my body when I stare into his cold, blank eyes. Nothing. There’s nothing behind them at all.
“Her last name is Delcour now,” I tell him, but I want to move the subject on to something else. If he keeps discussing Kathryn, my fist will end up on his jaw. “What can I help you with?”
He throws back his head and laughs as though I amuse him. “Okay, sport. I see that’s one topic you’d like to avoid.” My balled-up hands begin to shake, so I tuck them in my pockets for safety. “I need to change the time on that meeting you requested. Wednesday at two works for me.”
My time doesn’t matter apparently. He couldn’t give two fucks. He sees himself as the Master of the Universe.
I have no idea what my Wednesday afternoon schedule looks like, but nothing will keep me from seeing him, presenting him with the glaring evidence of his illegal activities, and then funneling the information to the hungry press. Once his misdeeds are disclosed, they will eat him up like a school of piranhas.
“I’ll make it work,” I say sternly.
“All right, but I’m not sure what you’re up to.” He moves closer to me before he speaks further. “I’m very leery of you, son.” He says son likes it’s a dirty word. “So I’m going to have my attorney at the meeting.”
The balls on this man are like boulders. “I’m not your son and never will be.” I spit the words out, a purely involuntary reaction. “Never call me by that term again. And so we’re clear, I will be bringing someone, too. If you don’t mind.” Whether he agrees or not, Peters will be with me on Wednesday. I’d never go into the lion’s den alone.
“I suppose,” he answers with a sneer. His hatred of me is deep-seated. I’ll never be anything other than a mistake to this man.
Thorpe glances over toward the restrooms. Kathryn stands near the spot we were supposed to meet, but a group of men has circled around her. I can only see glimpses of the red silk of her dress and the dark swirl of her hair.
“Enjoy your evening,” he hisses through his clenched teeth. I swing my gaze to meet his, and I know he’s referring to her. Thorpe melts into a crowd of men before I can respond or get my fists out of my pockets.
I turn around to face the bar and knock back my new glass of scotch. I decide it’s time to rescue my woman from the pack of dogs sniffing around her, so I push off from the bar and head in her direction.
Her seductive smile pulls me across the room, the powerful connection humming between us fueling my every footstep. I am going to steal her away from this crowd and kiss her lush, red lips because the last place she needs to be is in Thorpe’s line of sight. He doesn’t deserve to even look upon her shadow.
As I make my way across the ballroom to her, several faceless people try to get my attention. I nod some vague sort of acknowledgment and continue my path to Kathryn. Finally, I’m at her side and address the men huddled around her.
“Good evening, gentlemen.” I place my right arm protectively over Kathryn’s shoulder and draw her to my side.
I bow my head to nuzzle her neck, and each man draws back from the tight circle around Kathryn. In an effort not to alienate them all, I shake a couple of hands and suffer through some awkward introductions meant to be an apology for encroaching on my territory.
“Beautiful, are you ready?” She grins up at me, quite amused by my little pissing contest. “If you’ll excuse us, gentlemen.”
A chorus of good-byes surrounds us, and we quickly acknowledge them before turning toward the door. I pull out my phone and text Eddie one word. Ready. It’s the only indication he needs to pick us up.
Once we’ve cleared the group, Kathryn gazes up at me with her brows knitted together. “I saw Thorpe talking to you, so I stayed away. What did he say?”
“I have a meeting with him on Wednesday,” I mutter in a low voice, hoping it will soften the impact of my words.
“Did you say a meeting?” Her eyes are wide with fear.
“Yes, it has to do with some business he’s conducting in Jersey. He mentioned it today in one of the meetings.” We walk into the waiting elevator alone, and I push the button for the lobby. “But there’s nothing to worry about over this.”
“I can’t believe yo
u’re meeting with him. After all we did to stay away from him tonight... It makes no sense. I don’t feel like you’re telling me the whole story here.”
She moves away from me and places a hand on her hip, and dammit, I know I’ve ignited her fire now.
“Nothing good can come from meeting with him or trying to get revenge,” she says. I flash her an innocent look at that word. “Believe me. He squashes people like bugs under his feet.”
“Oh, beautiful. Trust me.” After moving to her side, I thread my fingers through hers and bring them to my lips. “Please.”
“I do. Just be careful. Can you promise me that?”
“Being careful around Thorpe is a necessity. So yes, I can promise you that.” I cross my heart, but I hate that I’m lying to her. It’s a necessary evil, though. “And I’m not going alone to the meeting.”
“Hayes?” she asks with her forehead drawn.
“Yes.” If I tell her Peters will be joining me at the meeting, she’ll know there’s more than business involved. So I keep his attendance quiet and change the subject fast. “All those men around you. Does that happen often? Something I should be prepared for?”
Kathryn’s cheeks pinken, and she elbows me in the side. I flinch, pretending it hurt.
“Oh, cut it out. That was good your good side. What about that display of testosterone back there?”
I bend down to whisper in her ear just as the door to the elevator opens. “Pure and simple, those men wanted to take what is mine.” I bite down lightly on her earlobe, marking her, and a tiny whimpered sigh escapes her lips.
Chapter 16
“Back to The Pierre, sir?” Eddie looks at me in the rearview mirror.
“Not yet.” I glance over at Kathryn to confirm our previous discussion. She nods with an eager smile. “My woman wants The Shake Shack.”
“The one on Columbus, correct?” he asks before merging into the street’s traffic.
“Yes, that’s the one.” I pat Eddie’s shoulder from the back seat and sit back next to Kathryn. “Eddie used to take Tom and me there when he first started working for me. We’d go when we needed something to soak up the booze late at night. That was before he met his wife, Lois.”
“Oh, so you used to carouse around with Tom?”
“During our twenties, I used to hit the club scene with Tom. Patrick, our other partner, married right after we started Kings. But Tom didn’t meet Lois until after Kings hit the Fortune 500 list three years ago. That’s when I hired Eddie.” I glance at the rearview mirror and see Eddie’s smiling mug reflecting back at me. To think about it, this is the first real conversation he’s ever heard from the back of the SUV. Hell, it’s one of the first times I’ve left the privacy divider down. How things have changed.
“I see. So after Tom met Lois, you were unleashed to roam around town. No one to act as your conscience.” Kathryn analyzes the situation perfectly, as usual.
“Yes. ” I remember back to the times he pulled me out of bars before I was able to find a woman to wet my dick. I think he half fell in love with Lois as a way of escaping our nights out. “Tom kept me somewhat in line.”
“ ‘Somewhat’?” she scoffs and then laughs.
“Come here.” I pull her closer to me. “Cliché as it sounds, I think those days are over for me. Wait, I know they’re over.” I lean down and kiss her head as she cuddles into me. “Can people really change?”
“I don’t know if you changed, Adam. I think it’s more likely the real you is finally starting to surface.” She wraps an arm around my waist and hugs me tight. I close my eyes and revel in her touch. “So who did you hang out with after Tom starting seeing Lois?”
“No one, really. I pretty much just went from one dinner or charity event to another.” The nights all blended together back then. It played out the same way: drink some scotch, eat some food, and find some woman to fuck. “Nothing really stood out.”
“That sounds horrible.” She grazes her lips across my neck at my collar and loosens the bowtie until it’s hanging free. The buttons at the top of my shirt are next. One by one she undoes them, and her lips follow her fingers down my chest. “Psych 101. You were lonely and used sex to fill the void in here.” She taps her finger against my chest and climbs onto my lap where I cradle her in my arms. The place she belongs.
“You’re right,” I tell her because it’s the truth. My life today is nothing like my life a couple of weeks ago, before I met Kathryn. And how I felt then can’t compare to how I feel now. Our lips touch for a soft kiss, one meant for comfort versus passion.
“I worry about you going to see Thorpe on Wednesday. After all these years, why now? Was it what I told you about him and me?” She asks me the one question I don’t want to answer.
“It will be a quick visit, I promise. Just to discuss his business in Jersey.” I omit the dark details behind the meeting because I know she would disapprove of me seeking revenge. When the anvil falls on Thorpe and his empire, I don’t want to miss seeing it hit him hard. So my disclosure of his wrongdoings has to be in person.
“Okay, but I can’t shake the bad feeling I’m having right now.” She gazes up at me with pouty lips. The kind of look that could make me promise her anything.
“Everything will be fine.” I caress her cheek and slip my fingers in her soft hair. “There’s another Thorpe I’m meeting on Wednesday night, right?”
She perks up in my lap, and the melancholy mood fades. “Yes, I can’t wait. It’s more than a birthday celebration for my mother. It’s the meeting of two long-lost brothers.”
I cringe when I think about Ollie’s current opinion of me. He respects me in the world of business, but worries I’ll break Kathryn’s heart. “I’m more concerned about meeting Ollie than the meeting earlier in the day with our asshole of a father.”
“Ollie’s going to love you. You’re pretty irresistible like that.”
“The charms I’ve used to win you over would be lost on him,” I say while tickling her side. “From the articles I’ve read about him, he seems like a no bullshit kind of guy.”
“That would describe him pretty well,” she says. “He’s flying in tomorrow and wants to meet me for dinner. I think I should tell him about you then. Are you all right with that?”
“I think it’s best to tell him beforehand. Springing it on him over dinner on Wednesday could ruin your mother’s birthday. And I don’t want that to happen to her.”
“Me, neither. I’ll talk to him tomorrow night. I don’t normally bring up his father when we talk, so it might be best to have him over my apartment for dinner. It could be a tough conversation for a lot of reasons.” She bites her lip in worry and I hold her a little tighter. “But I think he’ll be excited he has a brother when it’s all said and done.”
“There’s something about us both being shunned by the same man that could bring two brothers together. Although I find Thorpe’s rejection of Ollie worse. To have a father practically disown you in the public eyes is beyond cruel.”
“Ollie rejected Thorpe first…” She takes a deep breath before continuing. “After everything happened with me.”
“True,” I say, trying to remain calm, but in reality I’m fired up. “I’m glad you had Ollie to get you through that time.”
“That summer was hell for sure. We both lost our fathers in a way. Although Ollie’s loss was by choice.” She stares out the window with a grimace, likely remembering those ugly times.
“Yeah.” I agree as the SUV stops at the curb in front of The Shake Shack. “Looks like we’re here,” I whisper, breaking through her pensive mood. She gazes at me, and my heart warms when I see a small smile forming.
“I have no clue what to get. It’s been years since I’ve been here.”
“What’s your favorite flavor?” I ask.
“Vanilla.” She licks her lips.
“Really?” I chuckle, surprised by her choice, and squeeze her as she sits in my lap.
“Don’t act
so surprised. I like vanilla on occasion.” She winks.
“I can handle vanilla, beautiful.” I can’t contain my grin. “Hey, Eddie,” I call up to him.
“Yes, sir.” Eddie turns his head.
“Two of the usual, but a vanilla shake for both of us.” I order up the standard fare for when I visit here: a Shackburger, fries, and shake. “Hold on, I’ll get you some money.”
Kathryn slides off my lap so I can retrieve my wallet. I hand Eddie a hundred. “Thanks, Eddie.
“Yes, thank you, Eddie.” Kathryn beams. I pat the seat next to me. “Get back over here.”
“I guess you’re used to bossing people around.” She’s being sarcastic, but she’s right. I’ve fallen into this persona that demands rather than asks graciously.
“Probably. Something I need to work on.”
“Yes.”
“Noted.” I file that promise away. “I’ll work on my manners.”
“You better.” Her kidding becomes obvious as she tries to mask her smile with her seriousness. She peeks out the window toward the burger joint again. “It looks like there’s quite a line inside for Eddie.”
“There’s always a line this time of night. Weekend or not.” I pull her up onto my lap when I have a brilliant idea. “There are things we could do to pass the time.” I wiggle my eyebrows as she smiles up at me. “Is that a yes?”
She answers by placing her lips on mine. Our tongues tangle in a sweet embrace as she straddles my lap. Her pussy presses flush against my already hard dick. “Is this what you had in mind?”
“Yes, but I’ll add some of this, too.” I cup her ass and pull her even tighter to me. I’m hoping to hit her in just the right spot.
“Oh God,” she says, confirming my target has been met. Her head falls back as I continue thrusting forward.
“It’s going to take Eddie awhile to get the food and the windows are tinted...” I squeeze her ass harder. “So undo the top of your dress for me, baby.”
I lick my lips as she quickly glances outside the window and raises her hands. The ties of her dress drop to her lap and her full breasts are unveiled.