Jesus Christ, I needed to get it together.
I ran a hand over my face and drained the last, cold dregs of my coffee. I needed something stronger, but it was barely one-thirty in the afternoon and I had a strict rule against drinking during work hours.
Strict rules had protected me for the last several years. Keeping me safe from what had happened, from what Carlo Romano had done to me. My fingers found their way to my forearm, tracing the faint scars hidden beneath my tattoos. Whatever it took, I would never be so completely at another man’s mercy again.
I took a left and got back on the highway, heading into the city. My only brother, Duran, was waiting for me at my office downtown. In between sleeping around, getting slapped across the cover of local tabloids, and doing shots off the tits of random women, he was a bright and talented young man.
Duran was lying on the couch in my office when I arrived, his feet up on the armrest. He wore dress pants and a white shirt, untucked and stained at the collar with a smear of bright pink. Why did he have to be so brazen about his exploits? I crossed the room and sat down, still feeling tense and frustrated from my time with Olivia.
“I met with V’s assistant yesterday,” Duran said, getting up and taking off his sunglasses. “He said that he’ll be at the Aqua River Resort soon. I’ll go there, stay for a few days and keep a low profile, and then I’ll meet up with him when he shows up on Wednesday for dinner in the private lounge. He wants to see you next though, so be prepared for that.”
Our plan was too dangerous to be spoken explicitly of even when we were alone. We couldn’t even call our Russian consort by his real name for fear of the room being bugged. Of course, I’d gone over every inch of my office with my fingertips, but I still didn’t trust Carlo Romano, the outfit’s boss, not to somehow invade my privacy.
“The Aqua River Resort and Spa,” I said crisply. “I own it. I’ll have the manager make sure there’s no undesirables around while you’re there.”
“Okay,” Duran said, standing up and stretching. He crossed the room and opened the closet in the corner where I kept my extra clothes. I flipped open my laptop as he pulled off his shirt and buttoned on one of mine and smoothed back his hair.
“I have a girl waiting in the car,” he said. “I need to head out. Anything else?”
“Who’s the girl?” I asked absently.
“Don’t worry, I’m not fucking around with any of the outfit girls. She’s paid for and I had her sign one of your ridiculous contracts.”
“Good,” I said.
“Maybe you should consider getting laid,” said Duran lightly. “It’s been a while since you had anyone over at the house. Like a long time…years or something.”
I kept my temper, looking up long enough to take a cigarette out of my desk and light it. Normally, I didn’t smoke, but I was finding myself reaching for my cigarettes more and more often in the last few weeks. Stress was beginning to take a toll on me.
Duran reached out and plucked the cigarette from my mouth and put it to his lips. “Sex is healthier than cigarettes. Why don’t you fuck one of the serving girls in the bathroom tonight or something? They always hire hot women to work their parties.”
“Thanks, I’m not an idiot,” I snapped, lighting a second cigarette.
“You’re being neurotic,” Duran said. He rummaged in his pocket for a moment and pulled out a condom and tossed it onto my desk. “Wrap it up and fuck someone before you drive me up the wall.”
I sat back and took a drag off my cigarette and watched Duran go. He was right, it had been far too long since I’d slept with anyone. My brother would be aghast if I actually told him how long it had been since I’d had anything more than a blowjob in my car from a girl who signed a non-disclosure agreement.
I was going to wait until Olivia was legally mine and it didn’t matter if she got pregnant by accident. Then I would fuck the last several years out of my system within the safe confines of my marriage. A stream of erotic images of Olivia, naked, writhing, and glimmering with sweat beneath me burst into my brain. It was going to be a long several months.
My pants were uncomfortably tight again. I dragged my mind away from the thought of fucking Olivia and threw Duran’s condom into the trash. I hadn’t bought condoms in years and I didn’t need the temptation of having one in my pocket.
I worked for the rest of the afternoon and headed back to the mansion around five to get ready for the evening. The thought of going to the Romano’s house turned my stomach with disgust. After what Carlo Romano had done to me, I didn’t think I would ever be able to hear his name again without feeling sick with rage.
But for now, I had to keep my hatred hidden. I had to keep this burning anger, this desire for revenge, hidden or my life would be forfeit. And the lives of my brother and my fiancée who now waited for me in her room upstairs.
I dressed in a dark blue Italian suit and smoothed back my hair. Tonight would be a peaceful facade, but I still pushed two guns into the shoulder holsters beneath my jacket. Then I clasped my watch around my wrist and left my bedroom, heading down the hall to the Blue Room where Olivia waited. I was early, but if I had to guess, she was probably ready and waiting.
I knocked lightly on the door, but there was nothing but silence. Frowning, I turned the knob and stepped inside, but her room was empty. I stepped on the sides of my feet to the window to scan the darkening yard. It was deserted.
Had she run?
Then I heard a sound from the bathroom on the far side of the room. Of course, she was still getting ready—I was almost twenty minutes early after all. I moved across the carpet noiselessly, crossing into view of the bathroom as I did. My heart almost stopped at the sight visible through the open door.
She was on the floor, leaning against the side of the whirlpool bathtub. Her knees were cocked and her bare toes dug into the marble flooring. Her hair was done, pinned to her head with her feathery bangs over her forehead and around her ears, and her makeup glittered on her face. She wore only a black lace bra and thin stockings and her hand was working between her thighs.
I stood there, every ounce of blood in my body rushing to my cock. She reached up and grasped the side of the tub over her head, her slender fingers going white at the tips. Then, she let out a sound that would replay in my head for the rest of my life.
It was a desperate gasping cry and it burst from her mouth as if she couldn’t help it, as if she were so lost in her own pleasure she didn’t know she’d made a sound. Another noise escaped her lips, a kind of mewl, as she rode her orgasm out against her fingers.