by Lily White
“Harrison,” he says with a voice that gives no hint of dissatisfaction. “Thank you for agreeing to meet me.”
Tucking my phone away, I glance up with a bright smile, ready to charm Grant’s newest investor. Ice water douses my veins when I’m met with light grey eyes set against hair so dark it absorbs light.
Dread sinks deep into my bones, my legs shaking as I push to my feet to shake the hand of a man I can’t believe is standing at the table.
Ari stares back at me, nothing in his expression giving away the fact that he knows me, only a minuscule quirk to his lips that nobody would notice but me. Heat blooms between my legs to see those cruel lips, to remember how punishing they’d been on my body. It only makes this moment worse.
Grant’s hand slides to my lower back.
“Harrison, this is my wife, Adeline. I asked her to join us for lunch today. I hope that’s not a problem.”
When our hands meet across the table, I feel a jolt of so many competing emotions that my stomach rolls on itself, a knot of anxiety growing in my throat.
“Nice to meet you,” he says, his eyes pinning mine for only a few seconds before he slides his gaze back to Grant. “And it’s not a problem at all. The more the merrier, right?”
Merrier, my ass. This is a fucking nightmare come to life.
I jerk my hand away, wiping my palm on my dress as if that will erase everything that occurred in the mausoleum.
It doesn’t help that he stands there looking like every woman’s fantasy. Dressed in black on black, his jacket falls perfectly over broad shoulders I know are packed with muscle, the buttons of his shirt undone just enough to give a peek at golden skin I’ve tasted.
There is nothing light and airy about him. Only a presence so robust that it sucks the breath out of me, choking me with the memory of one of the best orgasms I’ve ever had in my life.
“Shall we sit?”
Grant and Ari both wait for me to take my seat. I happily do so, my entire body trembling with nerves. Grant shoots me a funny look, but I smile at him, pretending like he didn’t just shake the hand of the man I’d cheated with only two weeks ago.
What the fuck am I going to do?
Ari slides his suit jacket off and tosses it over the back of the empty seat beside him. Sitting down, he’s careful to keep his stare locked to Grant, those cruel lips refusing to smile.
“I hope you don’t mind the restaurant I chose.”
Lying, Grant grins and slips into his business demeanor. “Not at all. Are you vegan?”
“I am.”
“So is Adeline. I’m sure she’s thrilled with your choice.”
Grey eyes trap mine, a slight grin tilting the corner of his mouth. “Then you can agree that it’s difficult to eat anything with a face.”
The words slam into me, my throat so dry that I have to take a sip of water before answering. I damn near choke on it.
“Funny, that’s what I always say.”
His mouth twitches as if he knows a secret. Unfortunately, I know exactly what the secret is, and I want this lunch to end as quickly as possible because of it.
We’re in the middle of an eye battle when Grant’s phone rings.
“Crap. I need to take this. If you two will excuse me for a moment.”
I rip my eyes from Ari and his teasing grin to glance at my husband. “Of course. Take your time.”
He’s pushing to his feet when he touches my shoulder. “If the server comes, order something for me you think I’ll like. I don’t know what half of this stuff is.”
Grant plays the comment off as a joke, but I see annoyance behind eyes as green as emeralds. I nod my head and watch him walk away, cell phone pressed to his ear. When he’s out of hearing range, my head snaps back to Ari.
He stares across at me as if this entire thing is an amusing joke.
“I thought your name is Ari.”
Another twitch of his lips, his eyes dipping down as he picks at a piece of non-existent lint on his shirt. Slowly those grey eyes return to mine, all the humor in his expression absent.
“It is. Ari. As in short for Harrison.”
My heart lurches, my gaze flicking to Grant in the distance before locking on Ari again.
“What are you doing here?”
He shrugs, the anger in my voice not bothering him. Relaxing in his seat, he drapes an arm over the back of the empty chair next to him. It’s such a masculine pose that it takes effort for me not to openly appreciate it.
“What’s the matter, Adeline? Are you worried I’ll tell your husband that, two weeks ago, his wife was riding her pretty cunt over my hand? Or maybe I’ll tell him how you scream when you come? So much so that I had to cover your mouth with mine just to keep people from finding us.”
My cheeks flame, lips pulling into a razor thin line.
His eyes track to Grant and back to me, holding me in place without an ounce of guilt for what he’s doing.
With a voice that speaks of sensual fantasy and darkness so thick it can make your mind spin, Ari says, “You have nothing to worry about, if that’s the case. I promise you, I’m a lot more discreet than that. Although, I should also mention before he comes back, that you ran away too fast. I had every intention of letting you ride my tongue next.”
My heart drops into my feet at the same time my thighs slam together.
I pray Grant will close this deal quickly. That they will make their agreement and I never have to do this again.
There is no way I will survive being around Ari for much longer.
Not if he keeps talking like that.
Ari
Adeline is fucking adorable when she’s mad. Heat chases pink across pale, pale cheeks, her blood red lips held so tightly together that I want nothing more than to bite them in a tease.
She stares across at me as if she might scream, her body trembling with barely contained rage, her eyes narrowing as I relax more and glance at her husband.
Thankfully, Grant is so busy with his urgent phone call that I have all the time in the world to continue poking at a woman that has no idea who she’s up against.
It was never my intent to see her today. Originally, the plan had been to meet with Grant, dangle a carrot in front of him that would set him on the chase, and then close in on Adeline at another time.
Checking her texts before I drove over, I was delighted to see she’d be joining us, and I made the decision to move up the timeline, push this game faster than I’d planned.
“You look upset,” I say, rubbing my finger over the top of the crystal water glass set in front of me. It sings just loud enough to make Adeline’s eye twitch.
Another quick glance at her husband before pinning those blue eyes on me. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but it needs to stop. I’m a happily married woman, and what happened at the cemetery was a mistake.”
She can say whatever she wants. It doesn’t mean I’ll believe her. I know Adeline better than that.
Two fingers rubbing the lip of the glass, I watch as her eyes fall to the motion of the hand that had driven a body-shattering orgasm through her.
My lips curl. “So, what you’re telling me is that you haven’t thought about what we did since?”
“I haven’t.”
My eyes lift to hers. “Have you touched yourself while remembering it?”
Adeline flinches at the question, her gaze dropping to my hand again, the pink on her cheeks turning a deep red.
“That’s what I thought.”
Leaning forward, I lower my voice to a low croon.
“It’s okay, Adeline. I’ve thought about it, too. What we did has been an image in my head many times in the past two weeks while I gripped my cock in my hand. You don’t have to feel embarrassed about it.”
Her lips part, eyes round as she struggles to gather her composure.
“And as for what I’m doing here, I’m investing in your husband’s company. He’s an enthusiastic man, don’t you
think? So desperate to pull in all the powerful people around him.”
In truth, Grant is ridiculously easy to manipulate. One call from a mutual associate bragging about my standing among the elite and Grant was on the phone with me within hours. I have no intention of actually investing a dime into his corporation, but have every intention of dragging him around for as long as it takes to steal Adeline from him.
I don’t tell her that, of course. It’s better not to spoil the surprise I have planned.
While Adeline fumes, Grant returns to the table, slips his phone in his pocket and takes a seat. He receives the fake smile from his lovely wife beside him as I turn my head to face him directly.
“I apologize for that. But you know how it is. No rest for the wicked.”
I grin. It’s like he stole the words straight from my mouth. “It’s no problem at all. Your wife is very entertaining.”
In my peripheral vision, I watch Adeline chug down her water, most likely attempting to chase the heat from her cheeks.
Grant smiles, an overly friendly expression with plenty of straight white teeth. “Did I miss anything?”
Relaxing back, I hold his stare, search the face of a man I have every intention of destroying.
“Actually, Adeline invited me to dinner at your house. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of time today to discuss business and when I mentioned it, she all but demanded I come over to continue our discussions.”
Choking on her water, Adeline turns to cough. Grant’s eyes slide her direction, a look of concern on his face before he pats her on the back.
“Are you okay?”
She nods her head, shooting me a scathing look. “Yes, sorry. I swallowed down the wrong tube.”
“You should drink slower.” A scolding remark before he looks back at me. It takes restraint not to reach across the table and rip his throat out.
“Dinner at our house sounds wonderful. Adeline is such a gracious hostess. She enjoys having my business associates over.”
“Does she?” My eyes slip to her. “I’m sure she’s the best wife she can be.” Eyes back to Grant. “It’s so hard as a businessman to find someone that understands and sees to our needs in a spouse.”
A small groan sounds from where Adeline sits, and I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing.
Despite her response, Grant nods his head in agreement, no doubt preparing to open his mouth and say something that will drag across my nerves like sandpaper.
“You and I think alike, Harrison. It took some work,” he looks at Adeline, smiling, “but she’s finally figured out a good routine that keeps her busy.”
Hand fisting on my lap beneath the table, I imagine all the ways I can kill him with the silverware sitting in front of me. I have a preference for the spoon, only because it would take longer and be more painful.
Fate prevents the slaughter when a server steps up to the table, interrupting our conversation with a practiced voice that is required of the staff in places like this.
“Welcome to Gardenia...”
The rest of what he says is white noise in my head, the specials and recommendations lost on me as I stare at Grant Cabot with a level of hatred I rarely feel.
Forcing my attention away from Adeline’s husband, I glance up at the server in time for him to ask if we’re ready to order. He’s a decent looking man, probably ten years younger than me, making him Adeline’s age. Dressed in a white dress shirt with black slacks, he has a white cloth napkin draped over his arm, his expression patient despite wanting to move us along.
Grant isn’t alone in having no idea what half the crap on the menu is. I’m not a vegan like I claimed, so rather than giving a damn what I order, I stab a finger at one the selections, the server’s eyes dropping before he nods and says, “Excellent choice.”
I should hope so. The dish costs fifty dollars and will amount to a salad sprinkled over whatever the hell smoked aubergine is.
As confused as me, Grant looks my direction. “What did you order?”
The server answers for me, “He selected the smoked aubergine salad. It’s a personal favorite of mine.”
His brows tug together, an apologetic grin stretching his lips. “You’ll have to excuse my ignorance, but what’s aubergine?”
“Eggplant,” Adeline answers and my thoughts go directly to the emojis Grant used to describe their return flight home from their honeymoon.
For fuck’s sake. I won’t be able to eat now without thinking of his dick.
“Why not just say eggplant?” he asks.
Good fucking question...
“You know what, never mind. I’ll just take the same thing.”
I shouldn’t have chosen this place, but I did it as a special fuck you to the asshole sitting across from me. As a passive aggressive stab at his efforts to change everything there is about Adeline.
But when I learned Adeline would be joining us, I saw it as a happy coincidence and a way to endear myself to her.
Now, I will suffer the decision with a fake smile on my face.
Adeline rattles off her order before the server walks away, and we return to the conversation.
“When do you think you’ll be able to join us for dinner, Harrison?”
I hate how Grant keeps saying my name. It’s a psychological trick, one used by people attempting to sell you shit by making you feel included and important. He doesn’t realize it, but I see through his every attempt to lure me in and manipulate me.
Pulling my phone from my pocket, I scroll over the screen like I don’t already have a date in mind, AKA: as soon as fucking possible.
“How’s tomorrow night? My schedule happens to be clear.”
“Wonderful,” he exchanges a glance with Adeline and snaps his fingers at her. “Make that happen.”
He actually snapped his fingers. Like she’s a dog there to fetch his slippers or roll over for whatever treat he might toss.
Prior to setting up this charade as a potential investor in Grant’s company, I’d considered killing the man and being done with it. Two reasons stopped me from taking that course of action.
One: I’d already killed Adeline’s father and caused suffering in her life. If there was a chance she truly loved her husband, I didn’t want to repeat the same mistake.
And two: I may be damn good at my job, but there’s an inherent risk to it, one that can’t easily be dismissed unless large sums of money are involved. It’s the difference between an assassin and a murderer. The former is worth the time and effort. The latter is a lack of emotional control in a psychopath, which I refuse to become.
Grant simply wasn’t worth the risk. Not then. But now, after snapping his fingers in Adeline’s face, killing him is back on the table.
“I’ll make the arrangements,” she answers meekly, wearing the fake ass smile on her face that hides what she’s really thinking.
I almost feel bad for being part of this.
Almost.
Satisfied with his wife’s response, Grant turns to me and begins his sales pitch about the company, rambling on about sales figures, stocks, acquisitions, expenditures - a bunch of shit I couldn’t care less about.
I barely hear a word he’s saying as my eyes track to Adeline every so often, her body stock still in her seat as she stares at me with expected fury behind her blue eyes.
Fighting not to smile each time I see it, I’m saved from Grant’s boasting when the server reappears with our meals in hand, placing them in front of us as if he’d just unveiled a priceless artifact that we should offer our left nut for.
Unimpressed with whatever the fuck that is on my plate, I take immense pleasure in the scowl on Grant’s face. It makes the food more enjoyable, only because he hates it so much.
With my napkin tucked on my lap, I stab my fork into bite after bite, chewing slowly while Grant looks as if he might die right here in front of me.
He pats his mouth with his napkin a little while later, giving
up on pretending he can stomach the food. I take far too much satisfaction in it. Unfortunately, his sudden lack of appetite frees up his mouth to continue his pitch, and my stomach sours immediately. This man loves to hear himself talk.
Thankfully, I thought ahead, the seconds ticking down until an alarm on my phone frees me of the nightmare. Grant is mid-sentence when the alarm finally rings and I lift to a finger to shut him the hell up.
Glancing at my phone, I feign apology. “Sorry, I need to take this.”
I’m on my feet and walking away from the table quicker than he can respond. Faking a conversation, I glance Adeline’s way to see she’s watching me closely, her eyes tracking me across the dining room while her piece of shit husband whispers something in her ear.
Her lips pull into a thin line, but she nods her head, taps out a note on her phone, and finally looks away.
This lunch needs to end. I’ve accomplished what I want for now. But there is still one last hook I need to bait before walking out the door.
Slipping my phone in my pocket, I walk back to the table and toss a hundred dollar bill down. Grant’s eyes lift to my face, his brows tugging together.
“I apologize, but something important has come up. It’s like you said: no rest for the wicked. I have another meeting I need to attend about another investment.”
A flicker of concern flashes in Grant’s eyes and I know I just sunk the hook into his lip. Now all that is needed is to tighten the string and reel the bastard in. It’s too bad for him that he’ll be chasing that string for a long ass time.
“This should cover the cost of my meal-“
He shoves the hundred toward me, a practiced smile stretching his lips. “No, please. Lunch is on me.”
Pausing, he sits back in his seat attempting to appear relaxed when he is anything but. I can see the desperation behind his gaze, the slight tick of his jaw that indicates frustration with the turn of events. Grant Cabot is not a man accustomed to taking no as an answer. He has no idea how truly weak that makes him.
“If you don’t mind me asking: who’s the other firm? I’m sure I can beat whatever they have to offer.”
I almost laugh. Unless this bastard is offering me his wife, there’s nothing else he has that I want.