His conviction had her cheeks heating, and as his long fingers caressed her wrists, she was even more physically conscious of him.
“You said you’d be mine. Remember that, Lila.”
“I call take backs,” she said quickly.
He smirked. “You don’t get to have one, baby.”
The party passed in a blur. During dinner, Killean gave a very impressive speech about his work and the education program he was currently funding for students unable to meet their tuition requirement.
Though they weren’t seated at the same table, her awareness of him was staggering. Her skin was sensitive with the knowledge that he was only a few tables away, watching her like a hawk.
Despite Aiden’s reasoning, Bianca and Lila got off on a really good start. She could see why Aiden liked her. She was a sweet girl, gentle. By the end of the night, Lila had hoped to see Killean, but India told her she had seen him leave hurriedly with his bodyguards, something about work. Lila didn’t even want to know how India knew that.
It was like one party after another, because Killean’s event was coming up and she was still deciding if she wanted to go. The man was tenacious, not to mention he had quite an active libido. She couldn’t imagine him being this confident if he weren’t good in bed. She had already gotten a taste of what that would be like.
The feeling of his mouth on her as he sucked…Lila clenched her thighs together as her clit throbbed. Pushing that sinful thought away, she finished her food and went to her walk-in closet to find the perfect dress. The invitation did say she could carry a plus one and she’d already made it a date with India.
Lila opted for something cocktail and red because the color was perfect against her mocha-colored skin. The diamond necklace Killean had bought looked wonderful with it as well.
She sighed as she set aside her things for Friday night. She just hoped this party wouldn’t be a mistake. She was going on the devil’s turf, after all.
***
Lila was ready to go when the doorbell rang. She was greeted with a tall stranger dressed in a black suit.
“How may I help you?” she inquired, noticing the black limo parked at the curb.
“Good evening, Miss Montgomery. My name is Ron, and I’m here on Mr. Knight’s behalf to ensure your safety to and from the party.”
“Oh, come in, please.”
“It’s quite fine. I’ll wait here.”
In fact, his boss had given him specific instructions not to get too comfortable with her, hence his refusal to enter her humble abode.
She nodded and went to get her things.
When she came back alone, he looked over her shoulder.
“Will you be traveling alone tonight, Miss Montgomery?” he asked.
“Yes, my sister couldn’t make it.”
India dropped out at the last minute, something about a large bump on her nose that was catastrophic. Honestly, it was a small thing and no one would even notice.
Lila had initially thought that because the party was being held at Killean’s home, it would be a small crowd. But when Ron escorted her out of the elevator, she was shocked to see the large gathering. It was like a mega-gala, and the most influential people were present.
“Um. Ron, I thought we would be having a small gathering.”
He smiled. “It’s his building, Miss Montgomery.”
He bid her farewell and made his way back to the elevator. She snatched a glass of champagne from a waitress. She couldn’t help herself; she was nervous. She knew no one here as she scanned the crowd. A trio of beautiful women looked her way, and one of them smiled and nodded her over.
Timidly, she made her way to them. The one who called her over was a beautiful African-American dressed immaculately in a blue beaded number. The other two were blondes and equally as beautiful.
“I recognized you as India’s little sister. I’m Naomi. These are Rebecca and Carla. We worked with your sister on an ad campaign last year.”
“It’s nice to meet you, ladies. India got a huge thing on her nose. She couldn’t make it tonight.”
The women laughed.
“India was always a drama queen,” Rebecca said.
“I couldn’t agree more.”
Just then, Lila felt his warmth against her back before a possessive hand slid around her waist to pull her closer. He grazed his lips against her ear, and she shuddered against him. The women before her were stunned, and she could see their eyes lit up with sexual interest at the sight of him.
“I see you’re enjoying yourself,” he murmured. “Mind if I whisk her away, ladies?” He gave them a smile.
They released nervous giggles.
“Of course not,” Naomi said.
Killean took her away to the side of the room, overlooking the city below.
“I asked Ron to notify me of your arrival,” he said, turning her to face him.
He looked debonair and every bit the powerful businessman he was, wearing a dark business suit, his raven hair slicked back without an ounce of hair gel. Lila studied him, taking her time to drink in the very divine line and contour of his face.
His eyes gave away his apparent excitement, the green swirling hypnotically as he too seemed to be assessing her intensely.
“You like what you see, love?” he purred, stepping closer.
God, he smelled so good. His lips curved into a devious smile as if reading her thoughts.
There was somebody behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder. Claudia came forward, her smile faltering when she saw he was with Lila. She leaned closer and murmured in his ear, “The ambassador wants to have a chat.”
He nodded before looking at Lila. “I’ll be back.”
Claudia waited until he was gone before attacking.
“I didn’t know Killean invited you,” she began.
“What are you, his secretary?” Lila joked.
She smiled tightly. “No, just a close friend.”
Her eyes were assessing Lila, and she was doing the same. She looked good, Lila thought grudgingly.
“How long have you known Killean?” Claudia asked.
“A couple of weeks so far, you?”
“All his life. We’re like family.”
“I can tell.”
“So what is your role with Killean?”
Lila frowned, confused. “Role?”
She nodded with a condescending smile. “Well, all the women in Killean’s life play a role. Either you are his friend, his muse, or the one he’s fucking. So are you?”
“Am I what?”
She released a thrilling laugh, shaking her head. “So naïve. Are you fucking him, Lila? Because if you are, I’d warn you not to expect a happily ever after. Killean isn’t the settle down type of guy, and you’ll get hurt.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Lila asked. She felt her throat closing up.
“Take it as a warning, one woman to another. Killean fucks and then discards. And don’t think you can change him, sweetie. He isn’t in it for the commitment. You’re just the current pussy he’s after.”
The words stung because Lila knew there was some truth to them.
She gave Lila one last look, turned, and walked away. She didn’t know how long she stood there, letting Claudia’s hurtful words sink in. Lila’s eyes scanned the room, and she found Killean currently circled with an entourage of women who looked to be hanging onto his every word. A blonde held onto his bicep, giggling. Their eyes met, and he excused himself, making his way toward her.
She dodged him, and for the next hour she kept up their wicked game of cat and mouse…though Killean was less of a cat and more of a wolf. He would seek and she would run.
“I thought I’d be the first to tell you every man has had their eyes on you since the moment you walked in here. Especially the womanizer billionaire over there with his women friends.”
Lila’s head snapped up at the mention of womanizer billionaire. She knew only one womanizing billionair
e so far.
She looked across to see a Latin guy regarding her intently. He wore a black tuxedo with a grey tie. She admired the way the fabric clung to his shoulders. Lately, she’d been admiring hot men in suits. Maybe it was the dominance attached to the piece of garments.
“Who’s that?” she asked.
She followed his gaze to see Killean at the far side of the hall. Her breath caught in her throat. As if pulled by some magnetism, he turned too, and their eyes collided. His gaze burned into hers, and she could see he was pissed.
“I’m Lila,” she said.
“Enrique, a friend of your father’s.”
She eyes widened. “You know my dad?”
He nodded. “I recognized you from across the room. You are quite hard to miss anyway.”
As she sipped from her champagne flute, she realized that Killean was still watching. Even across the room she could feel his arrogance.
“So, tell me, Enrique, what do you do?”
“I am a professional dance teacher. I teach most Latin dances, and I do ballet too. On a more serious note, I am a finance banker.”
Lila laughed. “Interesting. My mom is Mexican, and she can tango and salsa like the best of them. She taught me.”
“Care to show me a few of your moves?” He smirked.
She finished her drink. “I accept the challenge.” She was determined to have some fun tonight. She wouldn’t let Killean and his bitch ruin her evening. The last thing she would do was let them dampen her mood, pining over a man that didn’t even belong to her.
He held out a hand to her.
“What, now?” She laughed.
He nodded with a smile.
“But we don’t have a beat.”
“Just come with me.”
He led her across the hall to the person in charge of musical arrangement. He raised his hand to the man sitting at the piano, and he leaned forward. Enrique whispered something at his ear and leaned away. He then led her out back on the dance floor, and as soon as they came to a stop, she heard a sexy Spanish beat replace the smooth piano piece.
“How’d you do that?” she asked.
“I’m friends with the musicians.”
“Oh.”
He held his hand up with his palm spread. Lila took his hands timidly, and that mysterious smile was back.
She admitted she was a bit rusty and nervous as everyone seemed to have their eyes on them.
“Ignore them,” Enrique said.
He placed his hands on her hips, and they started off with a simple routine. Dancing was one of her passions, but these particular moves demanded a level of concentration.
After a moment, she lost herself in the beat and the subtle glides of his hand along her body. The short flared skirt of her dress twirled sensually around her thighs as they danced. She was aware that they were being watched, and when he dipped her, she saw the man of her fascination somewhere with his bitch’s elbow resting on his shoulder. It was true that Claudia looked more like a buddy than someone he was intimate with, but who knew?
The music was cut, and she was breathless and laughing. The guests gave a round of applause, and Enrique and she bowed before he let her go.
She decided to go to the bathroom to freshen up her makeup. She went out to find Enrique and was almost bombarded by the one person she wished not to speak to. Lila diverted and sat at a table, exchanging a few words with a New York-based fashion designer.
“Why are you avoiding me?” he demanded.
Killean joined her at the bar.
Lila glanced up at him with her hand under her jaw. “Who said I was avoiding you?”
“I know avoidance when I see it,” he said tightly, his voice tinged with a dangerous edge.
“Did you leave your date hanging?”
His smile was tight. “Ah, that’s what you’re punishing me for.”
“I’m not punishing anybody. You shouldn’t be too cocky, Killean. It’s off-putting sometimes.”
“Now you’re insulting me.”
She rolled her eyes. She was trying so hard not to notice him, but her greedy eyes kept betraying her.
“Is he your date?”
She knew he was referring to Enrique. “I just met him, and no, he’s not my date.”
“Hmm. You don’t date.”
“I don’t.”
“I sense coldness,” he quipped.
“I’m not being cold toward you. I just don’t want to give you the wrong ideas.”
His eyes glazed over with frost, as if she hit a few hot buttons.
“And what wrong ideas might those be?” he rasped.
His eyes bored into her as his fingers drummed against the transparent top of the bar. Lila didn’t like the feeling that settled in the pit of her stomach. She could have sworn she saw a darkness slowly building around him, as though he was trying to rein in on his anger.
“What happened the other night between us?”
He leaned forward. “You mean when I went down on you?”
She blushed. “Killean…”
“Do you want me to say that I was lying when I told you I wanted you?”
“It doesn’t matter because we are both different people with different standards. And I don’t want to start anything with you I know I’ll regret. You seem to have them on standby for your convenience.”
She nodded to his lady friends.
“They’re just friends, Lila.”
“Do they know that, Killean?” she snapped.
His jaw clenched, and she stood to leave.
“Where are you going?” he growled.
“Away from you, getting some fresh air and terminating this conversation.”
“Is that what you do when you’re scared? Run?”
“Scared? You’ll always scare me because I know you’ll burn in the end.”
He flinched. She turned to leave the hall, taking the route to an empty sitting area she had seen on her way to the restroom. He was hot on her trail.
“Killean. Don’t follow me!”
“You want me to.”
She glanced over her shoulder at him. “Oh, bite me!”
“Oh, I want to, specifically at that place between your thighs.”
“You’re too crude for my taste.”
“That wasn’t my impression that day in my office or in your home when I told you I wanted to fuck you, when you bared yourself to me. Let’s face it, you trust me.”
“You seduced me, asshat! It’s one of your gifts. Let’s not pretend that you don’t know the power you have to get what you want. Bastard!”
“Wow, she speaks the truth,” he said sarcastically.
“Lila?”
She glanced over Killean’s shoulder to see Enrique taking calculative steps toward them, his eyes wary as he stared at Killean.
“Is everything okay here?” he asked.
Killean’s lips thinned, and he yanked her closer against him. “It is,” he said in a clipped, dismissive tone.
Enrique ignored him.
“Can we go back to the party, please?” she asked Enrique.
She moved off, but Killean grabbed her wrist so his mouth was at her ear. “This conversation isn’t over.”
“It is,” she said in a steely voice and yanked her hand from his.
“What does that guy want with you?” Enrique asked once they were back at the bar.
With her eyes down on her fingers, she said, “He tells me he wants to…fuck me hard.” She met Enrique’s eyes then.
“I see. And do you want him?”
“Well, I do, just not in the way he wants me. It’s confusing, and I hate confusion, so I told him to stop pursuing me. It’s too much work trying to explain to him.”
“I see.”
“Stop saying that.”
After a while, he smiled. “Ah, here I was thinking I could take you to lunch tomorrow and—”
“You should.”
He seemed surprised. “But I don’t blame hi
m if he wants you. You’re a beautiful woman, Lila. Something about you is just intriguing, maybe that look in your eyes, wild but guarded.”
Her mouth dropped open. She’d thought the same thing the first time she met Killean.
“They are very interesting eyes. And I would like to keep in touch and keep that lunch date, but the last thing I want to do is trespass in another man’s territory.”
“You aren’t.”
He shook his head. “No. You just told me you wanted him too, though I still think he’s a womanizer. After all, we’re men. We’re impulsive, egotistical beasts.”
She laughed at his comparison. “At least you’re honest.”
“It’s the best policy.”
She sighed. “Thanks for rescuing me from the egotistical beast.”
“My pleasure. It was nice meeting you, Lila. I have to leave now, though, as I have an early flight tomorrow to see a client.”
“Okay, bon voyage.”
He lifted her hand to his lips and brushed them against her knuckle. She was left alone again. She took out her phone and began videoing the party, sending the clip to India. She went to find India’s friends but found Killean at the bar instead. It was like she couldn’t get enough of him.
“Come back to fire more insults?” he sneered.
From his attitude, he had been drinking in the short span of time since she left him.
“No.”
“Tell me, are you going home with him now? Has his little dancing impressed you, Lila?” There was a slur in his words.
She grimaced. “Excuse me?”
She knew better than to pay him any attention but stood there hearing him out. He was angry, and he had been drinking, which wasn’t helping his part.
“You heard me. Are you going to warm his bed tonight? Has he fallen for your innocent façade? Have you told him how inexperienced you are? Or is that just part of some elaborate scheme, something you use to lure men in to get them to chase you to the ends of the earth like a sex-deprived dog? Like you have me doing?”
She looked at his face, twisted with disgust as he continued.
“I never took you for a woman who loves to dangle your irresistible body to every man who shows interest.”
“I never thought you would act like a child when your ego is bruised. I guess we all have our flaws,” she snapped. “You’re disgusting.”
Wicked Dirty Games (Dirty Billionaire Series Book 1) Page 12