The Man I Thought I Trusted

by E. L. Todd

  “I have no doubt he would give up anything for you.”

  A soft smile moved onto my lips. “Yeah, you’re right. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. I have to go meet his rich friends first. Hope I don’t stick my foot in my mouth…”

  “Oh, I’m sure you will.” He gave me an affectionate look.

  Dax knocked on the front door.

  “Looks like your knight in shining armor is here.” Charlie stared at the door.

  “Psh.” I waved my hand in the air and snapped my fingers. “I don’t need a knight. All I need is my shoe.” I walked to the front door and straightened my posture before I opened it.

  Dax stood there in a black tuxedo with a freshly shaved jawline. His hair was combed back, and he looked just as sexy as always. His eyes dropped down as he looked me over in my little black dress. A quiet whistle came from his lips the farther down he went. “Damn, you look fine.”

  A smile crept onto my features because it was the reaction I’d been looking for; I’d just been looking for it from the wrong person. “Thanks.” I wanted to grab the front of his suit and pull him into me, but I didn’t want to wrinkle his pressed clothing, so I moved into him and kissed him.

  His hands automatically squeezed my ass.

  When I pulled away, I saw Charlie was looking in the fridge, like he was trying to find something to stare at instead of us. “Now that’s how you compliment a lady.”

  Charlie didn’t turn around. “You’re a lady?”

  “Oh, shut it.”

  “Ready to go?” Dax asked.

  “Yeah.”

  Dax looked around as if he expected me to bring something. “Where’s your bag?”

  I held up my clutch. “No big purse for this.”

  “I meant your overnight bag. I was hoping you would stay with me for the weekend.”

  “Oh…” I nodded in understanding. “I just figured we’re not gonna wear any clothes or go anywhere, and I could always use your toothbrush, so…do I really need anything?”

  The affection in his eyes matched his handsome smile, and he visibly melted right before my eyes.

  “And I don’t care about doing the walk of shame. I own that shit.”

  His arms wrapped around me, and he kissed me again, this time harder, like wanted to skip the dinner and just go home instead. “I love you.”

  Every time he said it, I couldn’t just hear it, but feel it, feel it in the energy around us. His beating heart was safe inside his chest, but I could see it clearly, see it thudding through the skin. He was sincere and harmless, the kind of man that would never hurt me. “I love you too.”

  The charity party was held at the Four Seasons. It was just as pretentious and stuffy as I’d imagined it would be, all the women wearing gowns, flutes of champagne being carried on trays, along with fancy hors d’oeuvres. Dax kept his arm around my waist as he guided me around and mingled with people. I was on my best behavior, acting like a classy woman who belonged there. I wasn’t ashamed of who I was, but I didn’t want to embarrass Dax with my bluntness.

  I knew he liked me for who I was, but not everyone felt that way. Sometimes I was described as a lawless bitch.

  It was fine. Took it as a compliment.

  We eventually found Renee and William, and it was nice to see two familiar faces.

  William leaned in and embraced me. “You look lovely.” He was such a kind man, the kind who could compliment a woman without seeming sleazy.

  “Thanks. You too.”

  Renee hugged me next and gave me a fake kiss on the cheek. “My brother has been really happy lately. Always smiling. Always in a good mood. I know you have something to do with that.”

  Dax immediately sighed in embarrassment. “Could you not share everything with her?”

  “I think it’s cute.” I moved closer into his side and hooked my arm through his. “I’m happy too, you know.”

  He leaned down and kissed me. He didn’t have to bend his neck down when I was in these sky-high heels, so that made embracing much easier.

  We moved farther along until we met his circle of friends. I recognized them from a mile away, not because I knew what they looked like, but because I could tell by their behavior that they were a bunch of rich playboys. For one, they were all drinking scotch or gin, when everyone else was enjoying champagne and wine. Two, their eyes constantly wandered, and they spoke louder than most people, talking about money and even women.

  I couldn’t picture Dax hanging out with these types of men, but at the same time, I could.

  When Dax walked up, they greeted him with pats on the arm and back.

  Dax made the introductions. “These are some of my boys. Clint, Joel, and Brad.” He turned back to his friends, “Guys, this is the woman I told you about.”

  “Nice to meet you all,” I said politely. “I’ve heard a bit about the parties and the strip clubs.”

  Clint smiled, clearly one of the arrogant ones. “And let me guess, Dax won’t be joining us for those events anymore, now that he has you.”

  “I don’t tell him what to do. If he tried to tell me what to do, that shit wouldn’t last.” I was a wild horse that couldn’t be saddled, so I would never cross that line and manage Dax’s life. If he wanted to go out and party, so be it. I was secure in our relationship, and I knew he would always be faithful.

  Clint raised his eyebrows and looked impressed. “Wow, it just got hot in here because she brought the fire.”

  “Oh honey, you have no idea.” These guys didn’t intimidate me; their looks and money meant nothing to me. People were always surprised that I could step into a world where I didn’t belong and thrive. It was because I knew nobody was better than me.

  Clint released a laugh before he took a drink of scotch. “Now I’m understanding your fascination a little better.”

  Dax returned his arm around my waist. “Oh honey, that was just the opening act. Wait until you see everything she can do.”

  We sat at the table with his friends, while his sister and William sat elsewhere. The guys were exactly what I assumed them to be, a bunch of rich manwhores.

  “So, we’re at my place in the Hamptons, and she’s bent over the bed, right?” Clint shared every detail of his life with Dax without a filter.

  Dax raised his hand and interrupted him. “Maybe we can tone it down a bit?”

  “I hope it’s not for my sake,” I said from Dax’s other side. “It doesn’t bother me.”

  Clint gave me a nod of approval before he continued. “So, I’m ramming her from behind, everything’s great, and the doorbell keeps ringing and ringing… It won’t stop. So, I have to pause what I’m doing and go downstairs. Guess who was at the door?”

  Dax shrugged.

  “Jessica. The lingerie model I was seeing. Apparently, I’d invited her up for the weekend when I was drunk off my ass and totally forgot.”

  Dax shook his head but seemed slightly amused.

  “You know what happened then?” Clint said. “Jessica yelled at me for a bit, but I’m such a smooth talker that I ended up fucking both of them that night—side by side.” He raised his fist in the air. “Who’s the man?”

  Dax shrugged. “Would have to be you.”

  “But you’re the man, too,” Clint said as he lowered his voice. “It wasn’t that long ago that you—”

  Dax quickly interrupted him. “Come on, Clint.” He didn’t raise his voice, but he definitely turned a little angry. “Don’t do that shit.”

  No, I didn’t want to picture Dax with other women or imagine the wild sex he had as a playboy in Manhattan, but I also saw that as his past, not his present. “Babe.”

  It took him a long time to turn back to me, as if he dreaded it.

  My arm hooked around his shoulders, and I leaned into him, my hand moving over his thigh. “I don’t care who was there before me. We both know none of them could compare to me anyway.” I pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth before I rose from the chair
and headed to the restroom.

  When I was still within earshot, I heard Clint say, “Damn. You’ve got one hell of a woman on your hands.”

  The pride in Dax’s voice was unmistakable. “I know.”

  I crossed the room and headed to where the restrooms were located. There were a lot of people mingling, up from their seats and away from the tables, catching up with other socialites. I tried to get through a group of people talking, but that was a dead end, so I took another route around.

  Then halted when I walked right up to somebody I knew.

  Simon Prescott.

  CEO of Kerosene Pharmaceuticals.

  Aka, my new nemesis.

  He was young, probably younger than thirty-five, definitely not a typical CEO, who were usually in their sixties.

  He gave me a smirk like he recognized me. “I know who you are.”

  I’d always been quick on my feet, so I fired back. “And I know exactly who you are. Small world, huh?”

  He stood with his hands in his pockets, standing tall in his tuxedo. “I know you’ve been trailing me everywhere I go. You journalists are all the same. But I can’t say the reporters ever took it this far…”

  “Well, you haven’t dealt with a journalist like me.” It was a complete coincidence that we were there at the same time, but it would make me look stupid to say that, so I played it cool.

  “You’re right. Maybe I underestimated you.”

  I shook my head and clicked my tongue. “Big mistake. I take down all the big bad wolves all over town, and it looks like you’re next.”

  “Or maybe I should stop underestimating you and eliminate you.”

  I’d heard every threat in the book, and I never blinked an eye. Wasn’t about to start now. “You know how many times I’ve heard that?”

  “A lot,” he said quietly, his eyes hardly blinking as he stared at me. “But this will be the last time you do.” The guy was creepier than most of the villains I dealt with because he was calm and confident. My back talk got most guys fired up and they lost their cool, but this man kept his composure so easily. He was pragmatic, and logical people were usually smart. “You’ve got a good track record. Be proud of that all you want, but this is territory you don’t want to step into. I’m not a murderer by trade, but if you keep pressing…you’ll leave me no choice.”

  “Killing sick people is so important that you would kill another innocent person just to keep making sick people sicker? For money?” It was so disgusting that I could barely get the words out. I’d seen a lot of bad shit, but this was really gross. Bad men went after other bad men. It was nothing personal. But this was different because his company went after people who were weak, in pain, and sick.

  He shrugged. “What’s one more corpse added to the pile?” He started to walk away, his hands still in his pockets. “You’re young and beautiful. Don’t waste that fighting something you can’t change.” He walked away and disappeared into the crowd.

  I didn’t want to admit that he got under my skin, but he did. I headed to the restroom as I planned, but I continued to replay the conversation in my mind.

  I’d locked up some of the biggest con men in history, traveled the world, and interacted with international terrorists, but there was something different about this guy.

  Something very unusual.

  “Why are you calling me?” Charlie asked over the phone.

  I stood in the hallway away from the restrooms, speaking freely because there was nobody around. “Guess who I just ran into.”

  “I don’t know…Arnold Schwarzenegger? Seriously, why are you calling me right now? Don’t ditch Dax to gossip with me.”

  “He’s a grown-ass man who can take care of himself. And no, not fucking Arnold Schwarzenegger, you idiot. Simon Prescott.”

  There was a long pause on the line. “Did he say anything to you?”

  “Walked right up to me and said he knew I was tailing him.”

  “Shit, that’s not good.”

  “He’s a creepy guy.”

  “Aren’t they all?”

  “No. This guy is different… I can’t explain it. He’s really calm, soft-spoken, not the least bit put off by my existence. All the other guys get huffy and puffy and panicked in some way. But not this guy.”

  “What are you gonna do?”

  “What do you mean? I’m doing the article. I’m never not completing my job.”

  “But if you’re scared—”

  “I’m not scared.” I kept the phone to my ear and looked down the hallway to make sure nobody was coming. “I just think this guy is a strange breed, is all.”

  “Did he follow you tonight to provoke you?”

  “No. He thinks I followed him—and crossed the line.”

  “Did you tell him it was a coincidence?”

  “Absolutely not. That would make me look stupid.”

  “But the fact that you really caught him off guard makes you look like a serious threat now.”

  “Which is true. I am a serious threat.”

  He sighed into the phone. “I admire your grit. No one else has it like you do. Just remember, there’s no article, no story, no praise that is worth losing your life. If this is more than you can handle, there’s no shame in handing the article back to Vince.”

  I would never live with that kind of shame, default like a coward. I’d had to prove myself to get that spot at the paper, and I wasn’t going to blow it now. “It’s fine. It just means I have to move quicker than I wanted to.”

  “How are you going to get anywhere when he knows you’re on to him?”

  “It’ll be harder, but that won’t stop me.” I glanced down the hallway and saw Dax heading my way, a look of concern in his eyes because I hadn’t returned from the restroom after so long. “I gotta go. Dax is coming.”

  “We’ll talk later.” Charlie hung up.

  I put the phone back in my clutch and closed it. “Hey, sorry I took so long.”

  He walked up to me, and his hands immediately slid over my hips. “Everything alright? You’ve been gone for almost thirty minutes.”

  “No, I’m totally fine. I had to call Charlie.” I tucked my clutch under my arm and then grabbed Dax’s hand so we could walk back together.

  “And why did you have to call him?”

  “A work thing. Don’t worry about it.”

  “I don’t know if I can. I’ve never seen you step aside to call Charlie like that. What happened?”

  “I just saw one of the subjects of an article I’m working on. That’s all.”

  He held my hand as he looked at me, his expression subtle, but his concern obvious. “You mean from the pharmaceutical article?”

  “Yeah. I saw him. We exchanged words…”

  “What kind of words?”

  I totally played it down so he wouldn’t worry. “You know, the usual. I’m not gonna find enough dirt to lock him up even though we both know I will… Same old shit.”

  He released a quiet sigh, like he was trying to swallow the words in his throat.

  “Let’s go back to your friends and talk about all those bitches and models.”

  He sighed again, but this time for a different reason. “I’m sorry Clint said that—”

  “I’m not mad. Chill.”

  “When you didn’t come back, I was worried that his words got under your skin.”

  I shook my head. “Not at all. I know what rich and handsome men do in their spare time, so it’s not like I was surprised. And I know we’re different, so what does it matter?”

  He looked ahead as we continued to walk into the ballroom and approach our table. “I’ve got to be honest… If I had to listen to Charlie talk about your old lovers, I don’t think I’d like it.”

  “I don’t see why it should bother you. They were meaningless. And I’m in love with you, so…”

  He stopped and pulled his hand away from mine. He turned to look at me, to look into my eyes with that absorbing gaze.

&n
bsp; “Those women meant nothing to you, so why should I care? Why be jealous of them when they should be jealous of us?” I rose slightly on my heels and kissed him on the mouth. “Now, let’s sit down. I’ve been waiting for that dessert all night…”

  When we got back to his penthouse, there was no gentle undressing, no quiet whispers of love and devotion.

  He positioned me on all fours on the edge of his bed and yanked up my dress. The only thing that came off was my thong. The heels remained on my feet.

  His jacket and bow tie were on the floor, his collared shirt open, and his slacks rested on his hips as he pulled down his boxers and let his hard cock spring free.

  He shoved himself inside me, every inch of that fat length hitting me hard.

  “Oh god…”

  He got a good grip on my hair and tugged my head back so my face was tilted toward the ceiling. One hand was on my hip, and then he went to town.

  He fucked me like I meant nothing to him.

  And I loved it.

  With my heels over the edge and my back arched, I took his entire length over and over, feeling him slam into my wet flesh again and again. I looked out the window at the city, seeing his faint reflection in the glass. I could see his tanned skin through the opening in his shirt, see the tightness of his jawline as he clenched his teeth.

  It was so hot.

  He gripped the back of my neck and shoved my face down into the bed, raising my ass in the air even more. Then he scooted a little closer and fucked me harder.

  My hands reached behind me to grip his thighs as I lay there and took it, moaning into the sheets as tears dripped from the corners of my eyes and soaked into the fabric.

  He grunted through his thrusts. “Fuck, I love this pussy.” He grunted again, slamming his length inside until he was balls deep. “Jesus fucking Christ.”

  He wasn’t just good in bed, but listening to him verbally desire me, talk dirty like that, was such a turn-on. It made me come a moment later, feeling that big dick ram into me, even though there was nowhere for it to go. “God…yes.”

  When he felt me come around his length, he joined me, moaning as he flooded me with his come. “Fuck.” His strokes slowed down as he filled me.