Heat flashed across my skin, warming me inside and out. “That’s…crazy. Just last night, I hated you.”
But there I was, smiling down at him like a lovestruck fool while I said it with something powerful and wonderful threatening to burst, the weight inside of me so much lighter since I’d admitted to him the root of so many of my fears.
A low chuckle rumbled from his chest. “You didn’t hate me, Lillith. You were afraid of me because I made you feel things you didn’t want to let yourself feel. You wanted me, and you hated that I had that effect on you.”
His hand cinched down tighter. He yanked my face down close to his. “You hated that you couldn’t say no.”
It was a tease.
It was the truth.
That attraction flashed.
A wildfire.
Broderick guided me over him, his cock already hard as he aligned himself with me. “I told you that I always get what I want. And what I want is you, and that’s not ever going to change.”
What I couldn’t comprehend was how this man who’d been my enemy for five months had made me want him in less than three days.
Because there was nothing I could do when I slid down onto his length but give him all of me.
My body. My heart. My trust.
* * *
Disoriented, I blinked into the shadows of the darkened room. Slowly, I came to awareness. Broderick’s big, warm body was next to mine where he was lost in the contentment of sleep, his breaths deep and slow.
I sank back into the comfort of him, nestling closer as I let my eyes drift closed. Seconds later, they popped back open when I realized what had originally pulled me from sleep.
His phone lit up on the nightstand on his side of the bed and vibrated against the glass.
Telling myself to ignore it, I forced myself to close my eyes and go back to sleep, only for the offending noise to recur.
Leave it, I silently told myself. But I couldn’t escape the tingle of worry that buzzed at the back of my brain.
Apprehension twisted through my nerves. Prodding and pinching and warning.
I sucked in a breath, trying to convince myself I was only this way because this relationship was new and it’d started on bad terms. I’d just come to recognize the side of the man that was good and honest.
We’d been a whirlwind.
Caught up. Shot to the highest high before I’d even realized I’d been swept off my feet.
That was why I felt unsettled.
It had to be.
I heard the vibration of his phone again.
Would it be so wrong to peek? Maybe it was an emergency. It was the middle of the night, after all.
I sat up, holding a decadent sheet to my bare chest, feeling like such an asshole for doing this but unable to stop as I peered through the darkness to the nightstand. I hesitated and then finally gave in.
I reached over him and glided a shaking finger over the screen to find the series of texts that screamed back from Broderick’s phone.
All of them from Rex Gunner, the owner of the most successful construction company in Gingham Lakes. A man I knew well. A man I trusted and admired.
A heavy lump grew in my throat as I skimmed through his words.
If you think I’m going to bulldoze those buildings two weeks from tomorrow, you are insane.
Do you think I don’t know it’s impossible to get permits that quickly? Someone got paid off to make that happen.
I told you I work on the up and up.
Gut told me something was off the second you walked into my office.
Deal is off.
Dread slicked my skin in a hot sheen of sweat and nausea rolled in my stomach.
I pressed my hand to my chest to try to stop the ache blossoming there as tears sprang to my eyes.
I should have known. I should have known.
You fool. You stupid fool. He played you. He played you just like they all do.
Knees weak, I slipped off the bed, trying to stand. Moisture blurred by sight as I fumbled with my clothing, trying to be as quiet as possible as I slipped out of the bedroom and into the main area of the suite.
I dressed in the dark, piecing my exterior back together while everything inside shattered.
I grabbed my purse from where I’d left it on the entryway table, fumbled with the knob, and slipped out into the hall. My breaths were shallow, my mind racing with how I could possibly fix this. Panic took hold of my spirit, and my feet moved faster and faster as I made my way down the hall and to the elevator.
I didn’t even have my car.
But I didn’t care.
I would do whatever it took to fix my mistake.
* * *
I jerked to a stop in front of the modest house on the outskirts of town. A light blazed from the porch, Rex Gunner visible through the sheer curtains as he ambled around his kitchen, obviously a prisoner to his own woes.
Or maybe tonight our worries were one in the same.
I’d taken a cab the two miles back to my house, grabbed my car, and drove straight here.
I figured if anyone had the down-low on the details, it was Rex Gunner. He had connections in this town.
I’d also known him my whole life and trusted him implicitly. It was no secret he hadn’t been the same since his wife had left two years ago, but the one thing that hadn’t changed was his company’s character. He saw to it that it stayed that way. And judging by the texts I saw, that hadn’t changed.
I clicked open the door to my car and stumbled out, still reeling from my foolishness, barely able to stand beneath the crack in my heart. I’d allowed myself to be played. Hunted down like prey and ripped to shreds.
And God, those wounds burned and hurt and ached.
Because when I opened up, I opened all the way.
Reservations incinerated.
And that vile monster had gone straight for the kill.
I rushed up the walkway and quietly knocked at Rex’s door so I wouldn’t wake his daughter. It took only a second for me to hear heavy footsteps thudding on the other side, the twist of the lock, and the squeak of his door.
Rex jerked back when he saw me, blinking through his shock. “Lily. What are you doing here?” He widened the door. “Come inside where it’s warm.”
“Thank you,” I managed, not realizing I was freezing, my bones chilled, my skin brittle as I rubbed my hands together.
“What’s going on?”
Rex Gunner was every bit as powerful as Broderick Wolfe. But where Broderick went straight for what he wanted, disregarding anyone who got in his way, Rex kept himself barricaded by the hard scowl on his blatantly beautiful face, life hardening him to sharp edges and bitterness.
“I…were you working with Wolfe Industries on the Fairview Street project?”
Awareness dawned on his expression. “‘Was’ is the key word.”
“I saw the texts you sent to Broderick,” I admitted, lifting my chin, knowing full well what I was revealing. How else would I have seen them in the middle of the night? But I’d suffer any humiliation to gain the proof I needed to set my mistake right.
He looked to his feet, before forcing himself to look back at me. “You get yourself in some trouble, Lillith?”
“Only my heart.”
With his hands on his hips, he gave me a tight nod, fully understanding.
“I need to know what you know so I can stop this. Addelaine Tindall was promised six months to relocate and one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars to compensate her for the transition.”
He huffed in anger. “I was told the same until I got word Addelaine signed a contract agreeing to a quick sale. Premises are to be vacated by the thirtieth and demolition begins on the first. RG Construction was supposed to have the bid, but I pulled it as soon as I got word. No question they have the city big dogs in their pocket because things just don’t move that fast. Someone got paid off, and as soon as those types of dealings start goin’ down, I’m out
.”
Anger and hurt billowed in my chest. “I can’t believe he’d do this.”
Rex eyed me. “Can’t you?”
I pressed my hand to my mouth, trying to quiet the cry that slipped up my throat without my permission.
“Lillith,” Rex murmured in sympathy.
I shook my head at him. “Just…tell me everything you know.”
Chapter Twelve
Broderick
Sunlight poured through the sheer drapes that covered the windows. I groaned as I stretched where I lay flat on my stomach, my muscles flexing as my cock stirred back to life, my body bristling with this desire I had a hunch wasn’t ever going to lessen.
Just like I told Lillith.
Once I tasted her, I wasn’t ever going to get my fill.
A satisfied grin stretched across my mouth, and I slid my hand along the mattress. Seeking her. Already ravenous. Ready for another bite. The only softness I found was the cool bottom sheet.
I jerked my head up from the pillow to look at the spot where I’d watched her fall asleep. The top sheet was gone.
So was she.
Anxiety twisted in my gut. “Lillith,” I called, voice turned in the direction of the attached en suite bathroom.
Silence rained down, ominous in the still, quiet morning.
Dread seeped into my skin and settled in my bones. My gaze swept the room.
Her clothing, which we’d left strewn across the floor, was no longer there.
My teeth gritted. What the fuck?
I thought we were passed this.
I reached for my phone to call her, gripping it in my hand as I swiped my thumb across the glass.
The alarm I felt ratcheted up a thousand notches when I saw the messages that had already been read. My chest tightened in rage at what they implied. At the suspicions they confirmed.
Motherfucker.
Lillith had seen these texts.
God. I couldn’t even imagine what she was thinking.
Panic spiraled through my body. My mind raced. Flipping through every detail James had fed me.
I flicked into recent calls listed on my phone until I found the name I was looking for.
He answered on the second ring.
“I warned you,” I seethed.
Mocking laughter filtered in from the other end of the line, his disappointment thick. I shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, that was the only thing I’d ever been.
“And I warned you. You had two weeks to get her out of there, not six months, and you sure as hell didn’t have the authority to pay her what you promised. So I had my men fix it.”
Anger rippled through my straining muscles. “I promise you, I won’t let you get away with this,” I said, crushing my phone to my mouth where I spat the words.
He laughed. “It’s already done.”
Chapter Thirteen
Lillith
My head jerked up when the bell above the door chimed, flaming the indignant anger that burned through my body and trembled all the way to my core.
“Don’t you dare walk through that door.” The words shook and grated as I forced them through gritted teeth. Broderick Wolfe froze halfway through the door of Tindall’s Thimbles. He was back to wearing his suit that made him appear every bit the villain he was.
Dark and dominant.
Last night, Rex Gunner had given me enough information so I knew where to begin digging. The proof I’d found in the few hours I’d spent combing through files on my computer was insubstantial, but hopefully it was enough that the complaint I filed to order a hold on the sale until the claims could be investigated would stick.
All night and morning I’d focused solely on this task. Refusing to give into the nagging thoughts of him. Thoughts of his touch and his kiss and the promise of something more. Refusing to let myself dwell on the fact that I’d been nothing more than a game.
A pawn used to bring down the final obstacle standing in his way.
The sickest part of it all was that obstacle was me.
He’d pitted me against myself.
He took the final step inside, and I narrowed my eyes at him. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, should have I?
His throat bobbed heavily. “Lillith…I can explain.”
Nervousness seemed to line his demeanor for the first time, but I knew better than to fall for his tactics. The man managed to switch from one disguise to another flawlessly.
That didn’t mean I couldn’t see his razor-sharp teeth.
“I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.” I lifted the short stack of papers. “I have everything I need to know right here. I know your company bribed the county commissioner. I know your company signed off on pushing the permits through. And I know your company had no intention of honoring the deal you made with Addelaine.”
He rubbed a big hand over his jaw, which today was unshaven and coarse with thick, dark hair.
A beast.
A beautiful, terrible, lying, betraying beast.
Hate flared, that emotion mixed with the cutting grief.
“My father—”
Biting laughter broke through the air. “I don’t give a damn about your father, Broderick. I give a damn about what you promised. What I care about is the fact you’re nothing but a disgusting manipulator. A liar driven by greed.”
I sucked in a sharp breath when he suddenly flew across the floor. He was in my face, nostrils flaring as he stared me down. Yet, when I expected to find anger in his eyes, I found nothing but desperation. His next words a hoarse plea. “You told me you trusted me. I demand a little of it now.”
I refused the instinct to soften, and instead I scoffed as I tipped my head back so I could meet his penetrating gaze. “You demand it? You don’t get to demand anything of me. You don’t own me, and you can’t have me. I promised you before you came here that I would stop you…but now? Now I promise I will destroy you. I won’t stop until there’s absolutely nothing left of Wolfe Industries. I trusted you, and you lied to me. Used me. And I fell for it.”
The worst part was that I’d fallen for him.
Bile rose in my throat. “You disgust me, and I don’t ever want to see you again unless it’s in court and I’m taking everything important to you away.”
He sank back, shoulders straightening as something like hurt flashed across his face. It was gone before I could decipher it, his jaw going rigid. “You really think so little of me?”
The words dripped like venom as they slid from my tongue. “I think even less.”
What hurt so badly was I didn’t want to. I’d wanted to think the best of him. Wanted him to be the man he’d shown me he was yesterday.
His lips pursed, and he nodded twice, as if he needed to accept what I’d said. Then he turned on his heels, strode toward the door, and pulled it open. He paused halfway out, looking at me from over his shoulder, his expression like a straight kick to the gut.
Pain.
“That’s too bad, Lillith, because it only took three days for you to mean the most to me.”
Then he tossed the door open wide and disappeared out into the glinting sun that shone through the frigid winter air.
I stood there gasping for air as I watched him go, trying to hold on to reason. To my senses and resolutions and the reality of who he was, all the while my spirit burning and aching, my insides twisting in two.
How had I let him hurt me so badly?
Off to the side, movement caught my attention, and I turned to find Addelaine wringing her hands where she stood in the archway to the sewing room in the back. “Child,” she whispered like a loving reprimand.
Angrily, I swiped at the tears that started to fall when I saw her standing there. “He’s a bad man, Addelaine. A big, bad man.”
She shuffled forward, her head angling to the side as she did. “You didn’t tell me.”
I looked to the papers in front of me, pretending as if I could actually make out the words printed
on the page through the bleariness that suddenly clouded my eyes. “There was nothing to tell,” I said as offhandedly as I could muster.
She clucked in disapproval. “Lily, child. Come now. Do you think I don’t know you better than that? That right there had nothing to do with this old building and everything to do with the expression you’re wearing right now.”
I jerked my attention back to her. “I made a mistake, Addelaine. A foolish, rash, horrible mistake, and because of it, I let you down. But I promise you, I won’t fail you.”
Addelaine peered up at me with her weathered face, and my breath caught somewhere in my lungs, my heart a tangle of pain and devotion.
This woman meant everything to me, and I’d let someone threaten that.
“Maybe it’s a sign that we need to let this go. You’ve been fightin’ a good fight, but maybe it’s not the right fight. Maybe winnin’ this one just isn’t meant to be.”
“How can you say that? You belong here. This is your home,” I pleaded, pushing the papers that held the complaint across the counter toward her in a bid for her to sign them.
Her attention danced around her store like a loving caress. She turned back to me with a soft smile. “Yes, it’s been my home.” She tapped a finger at her temple. “But I hold the memories right here. And more importantly”—she tapped her fingertips over her heart—“I hold them here. And even if it scares us, sometimes change is okay.”
She angled her head to the side as she reached out and set her hand on top of mine. “It’s time you asked yourself why you’re fighting so hard for this. You’re no longer that girl who walked through my door lookin’ for a place to hide. That girl needed walls to keep her safe. Are you going to continue to make her a prisoner to them?”
Tears clouded my eyes. I blinked, setting them free. “You know that girl was someone I never wanted to be.”
She tenderly cupped my face, and even though I was much taller than she was, somehow I felt as if I was a little girl as I stared up at her motherly face.
“Yet, that girl is still a part of you, and she’s always gonna be. She’s important. She taught you the lessons you needed to know. She became the smart, successful, caring woman you are today. But she’s also holdin’ you back. Refusing to let you trust, even when the truth is right in front of you.”
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