House of Paine - (A Romantic Suspense - Book 1)

by Walker, Kylie

  He had to get that out of his head though. This was his father’s step-daughter who he professed to “care” about. She was obviously not stable. She’d not only attacked Jackson Paine with her fists...she’d threatened his life to his face and then she told him to fuck off. Although Damien thoroughly enjoyed the entire show, he knew that she had to be crazy to risk talking to him like that. Nobody spoke to Jackson Paine that way and got away with it. Paige obviously held a very special spot with his father for him to allow her to act like that.

  Damien pulled up in front of the converted brownstone and Paige jumped out. With a sigh, he stepped out behind her. He had to take giant steps to catch up with her, she was practically running.

  When she saw him behind her she said, “You can wait in the car.”

  “Nope.”

  “That wasn’t a question.”

  “Whatever it was the answer is no. For some reason my father wants you “protected.” I’m not letting you go anywhere alone.”

  She took the stairs up two at a time. Damien followed on her heels. When they got to the apartment she started to stick the key in the door. Damien took it out of her hand. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “I’m opening the door so you don’t go racing in there and get your fool head blown off.”

  “This is ridiculous,” she said as he pushed the door in and flattened his back to the wall before going in.

  He flipped on the light and looked around. Satisfied, he made his way through the rest of the apartment and made sure it was all clear. “Okay, you’re good...and I agree.”

  She looked at him like he was crazy. Even that look was sexy on her.

  “You agree with what?”

  “Your assessment that this is ridiculous; this whole situation is ridiculous. You shouldn’t be sticking your nose in places where it doesn’t belong and you shouldn’t be running around New York putting other people at risk because you think you’re Sherlock fucking Holmes.”

  She looked at him long and hard and then without saying a word, she flipped him the finger and that long gorgeous hair over her shoulder and disappeared into the bedroom. A few minutes later she came out with a duffle bag and a rolling suitcase. “Okay, ready?”

  She didn’t answer him again.

  Jesus Christ she is a fucking pain in the ass.

  She brushed past him instead leaving a trail of a delicate floral fragrance in her wake. It filled his senses and he had to bit his lip as lust saturated his brain. His fingers itched with the desire to bury them in her hair and pull her up to meet his lips. With a subtle shake of his head to clear those thoughts and a heavy sigh, he followed her out, locking the door behind him. This time she talked as they drove and he wished that she would just shut up already.

  “This is a nice car, did you steal it?”

  “No, I didn’t fucking steal it.”

  “Did you buy it with your daddy’s drug money?”

  “It’s none of your business where I got the money.”

  “I just don’t understand how you can enjoy anything you have knowing it was all bought with filthy money that ruins other people’s lives.”

  “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”

  Unfortunately, Damien had to admit to himself that she did know. There wasn’t a day that went by that Damien didn’t hope for a way out of this life someday. He was smart enough to know that the only way out of this business was death.

  Thankfully, she seemed to be finished with her tirade for now. The rest of the ride was silent until they pulled up in front of his building. Paige looked up at the thirty story glass building and said, “Damn! Being a low life thug pays better than I thought.”

  “I’m not a thug.”

  “Oh that’s right; you’re an upper class drug dealer and killer...”

  “Just shut the fuck up will you?”

  He got out of the car and opened the trunk. He was pulling her suitcase out when she jerked it from his hand. He shook his head and handed the keys to the valet.

  When the doorman opened the door and said, “Good evening ma’am,” she said it back. When he said, “Good evening sir,” to Damien, she laughed. He seriously might have to throw this snarky little wench out the window.

  They rode the elevator up to the top floor and when they stepped off and she saw the luxurious lobby, she rolled her eyes. When he opened the door and she stepped into the 5000 square feet apartment her mouth fell open. The Living Room is decorated with two white leather reclining sofas and a 60″ flat screen TV as well as a state of the art sound system. The prints on the walls were original and expensive and there was a formal dining table that seated twelve guests. The balcony opened up to a stunning view of Manhattan and it was adorned with a hand-made built-in barbecue pit.

  “This is ridiculous,” she said.

  Damien let it go. He was quickly learning two things about her. The first one was that it didn’t do any good to argue with her and the second one was that no matter how much she pissed him off, it only made him want her more. His emotions swirled in a cocktail of confusion and desire warred with self-preservation inside his head. His cock was already at half-mast. He wasn’t sure how he was going to be able to live with this woman knowing that he can’t fuck her.

  “Come on, I’ll show you your room.”

  She followed him through the ultra-modern, glass-walled living room and down the hall. He showed her to the one furthest bedroom from his own room. Maybe if she was way down the hall, he’d sleep better. Paige acted like she didn’t notice the dark oak furniture and the pillow top King sized bed. She tossed her bags onto the floor and Damien left her there. He went into the kitchen and pulled a beer out of the refrigerator. He twisted off the cap and took a long pull from it. He still couldn’t believe his father did this shit to him. Damien went out into the living room and was disappointed to find her there. He was hoping she would hide out in her bedroom. Instead, she was sitting on one of his couches when all he wanted to do was relax and watch some television.

  He decided to ignore her and he took a seat on the other couch. He used the remote to turn on the 60 inch television and the room was quickly filled with the sights and sounds of classic cars and motorcycles. As Damien settled back to watch it Paige said, “Why didn’t I know about you before? Where were you when my mother and your father were married?”

  Damien took another drink from his beer, picked up the remote and pressed the volume button up a few notches.

  Paige shook her head. “Wow, mature.”

  He continued to ignore her...or at least pretend to. What he should have done if he really wanted to ignore her would be go to bed. Instead, he sat here in the living room with this annoying woman because no matter how much of a pain in the ass she was, he wanted her like he’d never wanted another woman. He couldn’t figure it out.

  Eventually she tired of being ignored and went to her room. Damien turned off the TV about a half an hour later and headed for his own. As he got close to hers he realized the door was cracked open and he thought he heard her crying. He stopped where she couldn’t see him and looked in. She had her back to him, but he could tell by the way her shoulders were shaking and the way she was breathing that she was crying. In her hand was a photograph. Damien couldn’t see who was in the photo but he assumed that it must be her brother. He felt a tug of sympathy for her.

  Alex wasn’t a nice person, but he was Damien’s brother and technically all he really had. He would be devastated if anything happened to him...much less if he was murdered. He would do the same thing that Paige was doing; only with a lot less patience and class...he’d go on a spree. He left her alone. He didn’t know her brother and she acted like she could barely stand him so he doubted that she’d want any comfort from him.

  Chapter 13

  Paige slowly opened her eyes and looked around. The sun was beating through the glass wall. She’d forgotten to pull the blinds before she finally gave in to sleep last night. She
sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as her mind registered where she was.

  She was in Damien’s penthouse.

  She could smell the aroma of coffee and it was enticing. Throwing her legs over the side of the bed, she slipped into her moccasin slippers and still dressed in her tank top and booty shorts, she stuck her head out into the hallway. She could hear the shower running. Thinking she could get her coffee and get back to her room before he got out, she headed for the kitchen. She walked through the swinging double doors and looked around. She hadn’t come in here last night. It was a gourmet kitchen with every amenity a gourmet chef might want. She went over to where the coffee pot sat, reached up into the cabinet above it and found a cup and poured herself one. She brought the mug up to her nose and inhaled its aroma letting the steam seep its way into her pores as she did.

  She took a sip just as she stepped out into the living room and nearly choked on it. Damien was standing in the center of the room, rubbing a towel through his hair. He was completely nude and Paige had never seen anything like him in her life. Something coiled deep inside of her, something she’d never felt before...like a dam on the verge of collapse. Her body trembled with a raw need. He looked like he’d been sculpted out of clay, or stone. His smooth tanned skin encased a body of solid muscle without an inch of fat anywhere. Brilliantly colored tribal tattoos sleeved his entire right arm and climbed up to his collar bone and neck. On his inner right forearm was the word ‘PAINE’. They caught the light of the sun coming in through the glass walls and Paige wanted to trace them with her fingers. She stood rooted to her spot, fighting the violent urge that coursed through her body to touch him. She could picture herself running her hands across his broad shoulders and letting her fingers dance down across the most defined set of pecks and abs she’d ever laid eyes on. She let her eyes roam over his body freely, soaking in every detail, and as they fell on what he carried between a pair of muscular, shapely thighs, the words “total package” ran through her mind.

  “There’s coffee made,” he said, without looking up. He knew she was there watching him. His confidence...or was it arrogance...only served to turn her on more.

  “I got some, thanks.”

  She was surprised that her voice even worked. It felt like everything inside of her was shaking. He looked up at her then. Paige wasn’t sure what her face looked like at that moment but whatever it was amused him. His sexy full lips quirked up on the edges in a mischievous grin as he said, “If you need a shower, it’s free.”

  He turned away from her then and she couldn’t help but watch the flexion of his taut ass and quads as he walked away. His back was as muscular and defined as his front and he had tattoos across his upper shoulders as well. When he disappeared from her sight, it still took her several seconds to recover her heart rate and breathing enough to move herself forward. Paige shivered, then allowed herself to picture him again and finally headed for the shower...a cold one, at that.

  When Paige finished her shower she put on a pair of yoga pants and a sports bra and tank, pulled her hair into a ponytail and went out into the kitchen to see if she could find something to eat. What she found was Damien...in a pair of basketball shorts and nothing else. It was at least a little less distracting, but not much.

  “Eggs on the stove,” he said, “There’s bread for toast.”

  “Thanks.”

  Paige fixed a piece of toast and served herself some eggs. She brought her plate over and took a seat at the little table across from him. She wasn’t sure that she’d be able to eat with him sitting there looking like something that just came down off of Mt. Olympus. She moved her eggs around on her plate, and then trying to ease some of the tension by breaking the silence she said, “You have a lot of tattoos.”

  “Yep.”

  “Do they all mean something?”

  He looked up at her then. Those eyes were as ridiculously sexy as everything else about him. God was having a very good day when he made this man. Then he opens his mouth and completely ruins it, “Why do you care what they mean?”

  “I don’t. I was just making conversation. Just pick one to tell me about, like the one on your arm that says, PAINE.”

  He looked down at it, like he didn’t remember what it looked like. Then he looked back up at her with that same crazy intense gaze and said, “It’s a family crest. We all have them.”

  “Nice, so it’s like a stamp that says, “I’m the direct descendent of a drug lord...”

  Damien almost spat out his coffee and his eyes narrowed in annoyance. “Don’t start.”

  “Don’t start what? I’m just stating a fact. You wear your family “crest” so proudly that one might actually think you were a model family.”

  “You don’t know a fucking thing about me or my family.”

  “Really? I think I do. My mother was married to IT. I lived in IT. My brother died for IT.” She said with venom rolling from her tongue.

  “Let’s not go there.”

  “Why? Because you know that your father knows more than he’s saying about my brother’s murder? You wear that crest like you’re royalty when the truth is no matter how nice you live or dress or look...you’re just a criminal underneath, the same as any other street thug.”

  “And you have a big fucking mouth. If your brother’s mouth was as big as yours it’s no wonder he’s dead.”

  Paige could instantly feel the blood rush to her head at his words. “Don’t you fucking dare talk about my brother. He had more integrity in his pinky finger than your entire family has all put together. You’re not fit to let his name roll off your lips.”

  He stood up, pushing his chair back hard. He dropped his fork onto his plate. Paige made herself sit tight and not jump at the sound. She didn’t want him to have the satisfaction of knowing that he startled her. He stood there for a second with his chest rising and falling, looking at her like he had something else to say. He must have decided against it because he took his plate over and tossed it into the sink and then headed for the kitchen door.

  “Damien...”

  He stopped, but he didn’t turn around. “What?”

  “Does your father know who killed my brother?”

  Damien turned to look at her then. Something swirled deep within his eyes but she wasn’t sure what it was.

  “You’ll need to ask my father. I’m not his keeper.”

  “Fine, how about this, do you know who killed my brother?”

  “No. I have no idea.”

  He turned and left the room then. Appetite gone, Paige got up and emptied her plate in the garbage disposal and rinsed it off. As she finished putting hers...and his into the dishwasher, she heard a knock on the front door. She peeked out the kitchen door in time to see Damien rush down the hall and open it. Kelsey Kramer was standing there...looking as fresh and gorgeous as ever. Damien propelled her back with his body and closed the door behind him. He didn’t want her to see Paige. Paige wondered if it was about keeping her safe...or not making Kelsey jealous.

  She slipped quickly down the hall to “her” room before Damien opened the door again. She closed the door behind her in case Kelsey came inside and she grabbed her phone.

  She had a text from Tommy.

  It simply said, “Bronx Zoo at noon, by the alligator exhibit.”

  Paige was surprised. She thought Tommy was long gone by now. She hoped that meant he wasn’t still in danger. She sat down on the bed trying to decide if it would be better to ditch Damien and sneak off on her own or just tell him and let him drive her...but stay away when she meets with Tommy. The question was really whether or not she trusted him and the answer was that she trusted him as much as she did any of the rest of these people...which amounted to zero.

  She heard Damien come back inside a few minutes later. She looked at the clock. It was almost ten-thirty. If she was going to meet Tommy, she needed to go soon. She pulled open her door a crack and looked out. She saw Damien move across the foyer; he was alone.
She stepped out and went into the living room. He was slumped on the couch flipping through the channels on the television. She was pretty sure this wasn’t what he was used to doing. She wondered what he would be doing if she wasn’t remanded into his custody, then she decided that she’d probably rather not know.

  “What did Kelsey want?”

  He didn’t answer her; instead he gave her a look that said ‘don’t ask’. He went back to his channel surfing and she said, “I’m going to meet my brother’s old partner at the Bronx Zoo at noon.”

  That got his attention. He sat up straight on the couch and said, “Not alone you’re not.”

  “That’s fine. You can come with me. You just need to keep your distance while I talk to him.” He smirked and she asked, “What’s so funny?”

  “You.”

  “I’m funny?”

  “Sometimes...when you try and act like you’re in charge.”

  Paige narrowed her eyes at him as he got up and walked towards his bedroom. She let that go, but what he obviously didn’t know was that she is in charge. These controlling, angry, tough-guy, wise guy, assholes just think that they are. She went and changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and when she came back out he was waiting for her. He had on jeans too and a N.Y. Mets jersey with a backwards baseball cap. He was ridiculously sexy in it. He looked good in a suit and tie, jeans and a ball cap...and absolutely nothing. It’s too bad he didn’t have an attitude to match.

  They drove out to the Bronx in silence. When they got to the zoo it was about eleven forty-five. “I’m meeting him near the alligator exhibit. Please stay out of sight, okay? I don’t think he’d be happy about me bringing you.”

  Damien snorted like he didn’t give a shit what Tommy was happy about or not, but he found a bench near the front entrance and sat down. Satisfied, Paige made her way to where she was meeting Tommy.