Lanie
As I watched the limousine disappear from sight, something came over me. I expected it to be defeat, agony, betrayal, or heartache, but it wasn’t.
Rage. Rage and more rage.
How dare he? Stupid man with his stupid big house, his stupid big ego, and his stupid big head, thinking he knew what was best for me. He said it wouldn’t work, but I didn’t believe he meant it. I saw that look in his eyes. It was killing him. So why do it? Why go through all he had the night before to prove how he felt for me, only to turn me loose the second he had a chance to make a clean getaway? Because he had control issues—that was the reason. Well, he couldn’t tell me what to do. I wasn’t one of his employees anymore. The shredded piece of paper he had discarded on the bed was the end of that contract.
Discarded … just like me.
I was going to tell him I loved him, too, to put an end to his ridiculousness, but no such luck. Before letting me get out of my mouth the words that were sure to prove him wrong, the control freak told me to get lost.
How was it fair that he got to say all he wanted when I didn’t? I mean, sure, I could’ve echoed his declaration while in the throes of passion, but that passion had been pretty epic and I’d had a hard enough time remembering to breathe, let alone being able to say anything that would have sounded in the least bit coherent or endearing. Besides, I really thought I had all kinds of time to tell him how I felt. I mean, hello? I’d told him to call me Lanie, for Christ’s sake. Plus I didn’t want him to think I was saying those three little words just because he had. I wanted a separate moment to do the whole shout-it-from-the-highest-mountaintop-for-the-whole-world-to-hear thing so that there’d be no doubting my sincerity, because a declaration of that magnitude was a pretty serious thing. But I was all kinds of prepared to make that leap. For him, for me … for us.
And then he just had to go and ruin it with his caveman crap.
Men are jackasses.
But at least I could do something about my jackass, because I really had nothing to lose by confronting him. I was going to make him listen to me, whether he wanted to or not. He was going to know that I loved him, and he was going to feel like a total jerk for dismissing me the way he had. Because I was going down to that posh little office of his to demand his attention. He was going to see how wrong he was to make the assumptions he had, and he would never jump to conclusions again. I was a woman who had given up everything to save her dying mother’s life, and I had a voice that was screaming to be heard. I’d be damned if everything I’d been through since I entered Noah Crawford’s world was going to be for nothing.
Resigned to that plan, I turned on my heel and stalked back into the house with my shoulders back and my head held high. After a quick shower and a tour through Polly’s wonderland of inappropriate clothing, I dressed and grabbed my cell phone from the table before leaving.
I was really quite impressed with myself as I scurried down the stairs, again avoiding a neck-breaking, skull-crushing fall. When I reached the first floor, I heard a car pull up. It had to be Samuel returning from dropping Noah off, and I gave myself a healthy dose of see-this-was-meant-to-be because how perfect was that timing?
And then there was an insistent pounding on the door, followed by “Lanie Marie Talbot, I know you’re in there! Get your fat ass out of bed and open the door!”
That was my bestie, Dez.
I sprinted for the door and yanked it open just as Dez was about to pound her fist against it again. For a girl, she was pretty strong, and I was lucky that she narrowly missed cold-cocking me in the forehead. Like I needed to look like a unicorn when I went to confront Noah.
“Dez!” I shrieked as I ducked her fist. We both took a step back and looked each other over.
“What the hell are you wearing?” we asked simultaneously.
“Jinx! You owe me a Coke!” I yelled at the same time Dez yelled, “Jinx! You owe me a cock!”
Every time we played this game, I never got my Coke. Dez, however, always got her cock—without my help.
Dez was dressed head to toe in black on black. Well, mostly. Black skinny jeans, black turtleneck, black snakeskin boots. A skull belt buckle adorned the center of her low-slung hip huggers, and she was wearing a black cap embroidered with yet another skull just over her perfectly sculpted eyebrows.
I tackled my best friend, wrapping my arms around her torso and pinning her arms to her sides. “Oh my God! I’ve missed you so much!” It wasn’t until she was right in front of me that I realized just how badly.
“Get off me, Hulkette! Damn, what are they feeding you here, steroids?” she asked, trying to wriggle out of my hold.
I turned her loose, realizing my hug was probably borderline bone-shattering, and stepped aside to invite her in. “What’s with the Mission: Impossible getup?”
“I’m breaking you out.” She turned to look me over once again with an approving smile. “Boyfriend sure did trick you out, huh? Look at you with the little red minidress, Slutty McSlutterson.” Then she suddenly gasped, her eyes going wide. “You have been thoroughly scrogged! Spill!”
I felt my face go red. “What? No!”
“Yes, you were, Lanie Talbot! Don’t forget who you’re talking to. I think I know that just-been-f*cked look.”
I wanted nothing more than to gush to my best friend, but I needed to catch up to Noah, and Dez’s arrival was keeping me from doing that. Speaking of … “Wait, what do you mean you’re breaking me out?”
“I mean get your shit and let’s go. I’m on a covert mission to bail your ass out of sex-slave prison,” she said, and then looked around in awe. “Although I don’t really see how you could exactly call these digs a prison. This is a freakin’ palace!”
“Okay, seriously. Why are you here, and how did you know where I was?”
Dez rolled her eyes. “You said Noah Crawford bought you, and it didn’t dawn on me at first, but then it hit me like a whore getting bitch-slapped by her pimp in a dark alley: Noah Crawford of Scarlet Lotus. Right? I mean, how many Noah Crawfords can there be in the world, much less in this corner of the country, with enough money to pay two million little cha-chings for his own personal little oh-yes-daddy-milk-me-papi?” she asked with all the great acting skills of a porn star destined for the not so silver screen.
“Yes, but that still doesn’t explain why you’re here, insisting on breaking me out. I’m fine, and really, it’s not exactly like I’m a prisoner. Noah treats me very good.”
My best friend took a deep breath and sighed. “I have something to tell you, sweetie,” she started. She never called me sweetie unless she was about to lay something heavy on me. My heart jumped into my throat and tried to claw its way out.
“Faye has taken a turn for the worse. She’s been admitted to University Hospital, and they’ve called in the family. I promised Mack I’d get you there. It doesn’t look good, babe.”
Just then the front door opened and Polly bounced over the threshold. “Good morning, Lanie!” she greeted me in her usual bubbly voice as if my whole world hadn’t been turned upside down mere seconds before. The smile immediately dropped from her face once she saw my expression. “Oh, God. What’s wrong?”
My chest constricted like an anaconda was squeezing the life out of it in preparation for swallowing it whole. “Noah was right. My parents do need me more than he does.”
David
My head hurt. Hurt like I’d been sucker-punched by an I beam that had fallen from twenty stories up. Or maybe it was more like one of those chandeliers on the Titanic—or, hell, even the Titanic itself.
And my mouth tasted like ass.
I cracked one eyelid open and surveyed the damages. Usually when I woke up like this, there was always one or two, maybe even three whores that I needed to get rid of fast before they got too clingy.
Thank God I was in my office at Scarlet Lotus alone. I guess that cunt Julie had taken the hint when I’d told her to get the f*ck out last night. At least I thought I’d told her to get out. I remembered f*cking her in the ass, because hell yeah, I had to take that trip down memory lane. Too bad Crawford hadn’t been there to see it. The look on his face when he’d seen Julie was my date to the ball had been priceless, although not as priceless as it could have been. No doubt because the lucky bastard had had Miss Delaine Talbot on his arm. I should probably say she’d had him on her arm, literally. That cuff bracelet she’d worn had said it all—he’d marked her as his personal property. Which cinched the fact that I had to have her. I just needed to get my game plan together. After our informative conversation the night before, it was obvious she actually had feelings for my ex of a best friend. But even if she hadn’t, nabbing a woman like Delaine Talbot was going to take more than empty promises and a fat bank account. Not surprisingly, that was all it had taken with Julie.
I stretched and felt every glorious muscle in my awesomeness of a body groan in protest. One thing was for damn sure: the cushy leather couch that I’d had imported from Italy wasn’t doing anything for my back. Too much f*cking in my short lifetime had really done a number on it. But hell, as long as I was good at producing the orgasms, I was going to keep doing it. My orgasms, not theirs. Hey, I never gave any guarantees.
I willed my head to stop pounding as I sat up and stretched some more, hoping to get some of the kinks out of my neck and back. Goddamn, I was sore. My head started spinning, but after a moment or two I was able to get the floor to stop moving long enough to stand. Putting one foot in front of the other, I made a zigzag line to my bathroom—admittedly, I was still a little drunk—and grabbed the bottle of painkillers I kept in the cabinet. After popping one in my mouth, and then another for good measure, I ran cold water in my cupped hands and drank out of them.
When I looked in the mirror, I beamed at myself. Any other motherf*cker who’d had the same night I had would look like shit, but not me. I always looked good. I reached for the toothbrush that I kept there, because I had a pretty f*cking smile that had to be maintained, and made my pearls gleam before jumping in the shower. After toweling off, I headed to my personal closet to grab a fresh set of threads. Yeah, I kept a wardrobe there.
The shower sobered me up quite a bit, which was a good thing because I had a very important appointment that I needed to keep and I needed to be fresh. One glance at my Rolex let me know that I still had plenty of time.
I was shocked, to say the least, when I walked out of my office and saw Crawford stepping off the elevator. He groaned when he saw me as well. I took the groan as a compliment, a definite mark in my favor. Maybe I wasn’t the easiest person to get along with when I was on the opposing team, but that fact served its purpose. The more miserable I made him, the more likely he was to eventually give up and turn over his half of the company to yours truly just to get away from me. So if Noah left himself open, you bet your sweet ass I took the shot.
“It’s Sunday, Crawford. What are you doing here?”
“I have work to catch up on,” he said, pulling out the key to his office. Obviously he was going to blow me off, but I just couldn’t let him do that before I’d had my fun.
“You left early last night. No worries, though. I explained to the board members and clients that you had a hot little number that was demanding your attention,” I said smugly. He knew the translation; I cut his balls off and handed them over in a paper bag. Score one for the home team. His inattention to them gave me the advantage in the little game we played for control.
He scoffed and shook his head.
“Speaking of … she’s one hellcat of a woman, that Delaine. Eeeew-eee!” I crowed. “Got a hell of a mouth on her, too. What was it she called me?” I asked, tapping my chin as I recalled her words. “Oh, yeah. A remora. Seems to think your dick is bigger than mine, which might or might not be true, but that didn’t stop your other whore from jumping on the David Stone express, now did it? Of course, unlike Julie, Delaine sure was quick to defend her man. Passionate about it, too. I could use someone like her on my list of go-tos.” Bingo! That one had hit home.
Hatred flashed in his eyes. Mistake number one: the more he cared about her, the more I wanted her. He closed the distance between us in half a heartbeat and pinned me against the wall with his forearm to my throat. Mistake number two: assault in the workplace just added another weapon to my arsenal.
“You stay the f*ck away from her! Do you hear me?” He seethed, his words forced through clenched teeth as he pointed a finger in my face. “Stay the f*ck away from her! That is your one and only warning, Stone. I swear to God, I’ll kill you with my bare hands.”
Mistake number three: terroristic threatening. I might need to get a protection order, you know, because I was terrified for my life and all and shouldn’t have to be subjected to a hostile work environment.
I flashed him my winning smile because I had him just where I wanted him. It was exactly that sort of emotional reaction I’d always warned him about when it came to getting attached to women. He wasn’t on his A game, wasn’t thinking clearly, and he certainly had no idea that he’d given me all the ammunition I needed to ambush him and steal away his pride and joy. Scarlet Lotus was mine for the taking. And take I would.
His cell phone rang. For a moment, he looked like he wasn’t going to answer it, but then he swore under his breath and finally backed away, restoring the flow of air through my trachea. I did my best to cover my cough as I rubbed at the spot while he answered his phone. Crawford was no wuss. I knew if we ever went toe-to-toe in a physical altercation, he’d be a formidable foe, but no way was I going to let him know that.
“What?” he barked into the receiver.
I ignored him and started toward the elevator because, quite frankly, I was bored with him. I already had what I needed and still had that appointment, so …
“Polly, slow down. Who?… Dez? Who the f*ck is Dez?… Shit, no … Oh, God, no. Where is she?… No, no, that’s fine. University?… Okay, just calm down. I’ll call Daniel, he’s on staff there … Yeah, go … Just go be with her, Polly.”
I had no clue what that one-sided conversation was about, but then again, I didn’t really give a f*ck. As the elevator dinged and the door opened, he looked back at me briefly and then pulled the phone away from his ear. “I meant what I said, David. Stay away from her,” he warned again.
“Oh, yeah. Sure thing. You have my word.” I gave him a mock salute as the doors closed. He knew there was nothing doing, but it sounded like he had his hands full with whatever crisis that little gnat had called him about. Which just gave me a wide-open berth to take care of business.
Down in the parking garage, I climbed into my red Viper and cranked the custom stereo before I peeled out of the parking garage with tires squealing. All the more inadequate modes of transportation on the road ahead of me split like the Red Sea to allow me passage. It was plausible that it was just the fact that traffic was normally sparse on an early Sunday morning, but I’d like to think it was because I was a f*cking god behind the wheel of that piece of masterful craftsmanship.
“That’s right, you sad bastards … make room for greatness.”
I pulled into the parking lot of Foreplay, a popular party spot for the college kids—and a place with big business deals that had been successfully kept on the down low. So down low they were underground. Hos and schmos on the top, real-life whores and business moguls in the pit. It was the perfect framework.
I walked up to the back door and gave two knocks in rapid succession, six in a heartbeat rhythm. Right on cue, Terrence answered the door.
“Mr. Stone! Right on time, as usual,” he lied convincingly. I was at least twenty minutes late, but like I said, time stood still for David Stone. “Come in, come in.”
I stepped inside the dark entrance and inhaled deeply. “Aw, the sweet, sweet smell of p-ssy and money in the morning,” I crooned. “Is there any better combination?”
“No way, man.” He laughed and clapped me on the back. “Mr. Christopher is waiting for you.”
Flashing my award-winning smile, I said, “Of course he is. I know the way.”
He nodded and went about his business as I walked down the corridor to Scott’s office and stepped inside without even bothering to knock. Scott was kicked back in his chair, smoking a joint. The day’s take was spread out on his desk along with blocks of the latest shipment that he’d yet to distribute to his runners.
“Hey,” he lazily greeted me, his eyes barely slivers through squinted lids as he exhaled his ganja smoke.
I shut the door and shrugged out of my jacket before nodding to the fluffy white lines of snow he’d arranged on a little rectangular mirror. “You started the party without me?”
“Just thought I’d get the sample ready in advance.” He sat up and butted the joint in the crystal ashtray on the corner of his desk, and then started shuffling the ledgers before him.
Scott Christopher was my business partner, though for my part it was silent. Foreplay belonged to him, but I provided the financial backing and most of the clientele for his trade business. Two trades, to be exact: sex and drugs. Scarlet Lotus was my main source of income, but the auction and cocaine padded my pockets. Nicely, I might add.
F*ck those amateur pimps and dealers on the streets. That was nothing more than chump change. We catered to the elite.
Although I had a solid investment in his dealings, the only reason Scott was able to attract the rich and powerful was through me. Nose candy was the hang-up for a lot of well-to-do types, and I had my finger in the punch bowl on that one. An entrepreneur like Scott would never be able to approach men of the same caliber as the ones with whom I associated. Many of my business luncheons and hobnobbing with clients and prospective investors for Scarlet Lotus provided me with a little side action to boot. My promise of discretion was what brought the big fish in for a nibble. Once they sampled the goods, their business was hook, line, and sinker. They only managed to go deeper inside after that, securing a bit of p-ssy to satisfy their needs in whatever way their pervy hearts desired. We had a little something for everyone.
The cherry on top was that I knew all of their secrets. I smiled in their faces, shook their hands, and patted them on the back. But at the end of the day, I’d stab them in it if push ever came to shove and mine was against a wall. The need for contracts meant there was a paper trail, proof of their scandalous behavior. However risky those documents were, our clients considered it a worthwhile liability in exchange for the goods. I considered it a surefire bet they’d be team David when I made my move to take Scarlet Lotus for my own.
I loved my f*cking life.
“And how are the numbers looking on our other venture?” I hung my jacket on the coat rack and walked over to test the sample of coke for myself.
Bending over the desk, I took the straw and put the tip to my nose and the other end at the base of one of the sculptured lines. Once I closed my other nostril with a finger, I shut my eyes and inhaled the superior white powder. Although it felt like fine sand being shot up my nose, the cut was so pure there was no burn, only an immediate numbing and the high that would make Mighty Mouse feel like the Incredible Hulk.
I slowly opened my eyes as the sensation took the fast track through the rest of my body. “Oh yeah, baby. That’s the good shit right there.”
On a normal day, I’d feel like I could take on the world. Put a little of the devil’s dandruff up my nose, and I knew I could not only take on the world, but the universe as well. The rich and powerful craved that feeling, became addicted to it. Given our clientele, it was no surprise our hugely successful and highly profitable cocaine biz was the envy of street dealers the world over.
I took a seat and propped my feet on the corner of Scott’s desk. He looked irritated, but he wouldn’t say shit about it. “So, the numbers on the auction?”
“Spectacular, thanks to the virgin on the block, but that’s nothing compared to my other news.” His face lit up with a devious smile. “I’ve got an interesting bit of information for you.”
I arched a brow at him because he was acting like a man who suddenly knew all the answers in life and was about to make me a deal I wouldn’t refuse. “Is that right? Do tell.”
“How about if I just show you?” He opened the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out a manila folder that he slid across the desk.
I chuckled when I saw the name Delaine Talbot written in red on the tab.
I could practically see that sexy little smirk on her face from the Scarlet Lotus Ball when she’d torn me down. It gave me some serious wood. I knew word of mouth had been spreading among our customers and their colleagues, so I got pretty f*cking curious as to the reason Scott would be holding a folder with my future conquest’s name on it. I flipped it open and scanned the singular document inside.
A satisfied smile crept over my face when I scanned what appeared to be a contract promising two years of Delaine’s life to one Noah P. Crawford. “Well, f*ck me. Noah, Noah, Noah,” I tsked.
“Thought you might like that,” Scott said with a self-satisfied grin.
“Why didn’t you tell me this was going down?”
“I didn’t know he’d be here. He’s smart. When he called in, he did it anonymously. Wouldn’t give me his name, only a number and a very particular interest. A virgin. I honestly didn’t think I’d ever hear from him again because the odds of finding a virgin desperate enough to put her innocence on the menu are nil to none. And then Delaine Talbot,” he said with a wave of his hand toward the folder I was holding like it was the holy grail because it f*cking was, “signed up on the day before the auction.
“I called him up, and he told me he might make the auction and that I should reserve a room for him just in case. Imagine my surprise when Noah Crawford walked through those doors.”
“Yeah, I bet.” I laughed as Noah’s signature stared back at me, right alongside Delaine’s.
I closed the folder and pushed it back across the desk. It took everything in me to do it, but at least I knew where the contract was and had access to it at any time. Scott would never hand it over to me to use in my conquest to blackmail Crawford into giving up his half of Scarlet Lotus. That would be too risky for the rest of his business. All of it: the auction and the coke. Not to mention his suppliers and the power players involved in every aspect would get twitchy if they thought he’d gotten sloppy and their dirty deeds were in danger of being exposed. It was best not to spook them.
I just needed to figure out a way to make my newfound knowledge work in my favor without risking life and limb in the process.
“If you decide to tell Noah you know, you keep my name out of your mouth,” Scott said, putting the folder back in his desk. “And if he figures it out, you better make damn sure you give me a heads-up so that I can clean house. I mean it, Stone. These people I deal with do not play well with others.”
“You worry too much, Scotty. Crawford isn’t about to step into a light that is unfavorable to him. Besides, I’m pretty sure I know how to get what I want without bringing you down in the process.”
I wasn’t confident my plan would work, but the important thing was that I had finally won. What had happened between Noah and me back at the office earlier that morning was my word against his. And although I would have had a valid case and would have thoroughly enjoyed dragging his name through the mud, there was no way I could prove what had happened. But this? There was just no denying this. I had it all in writing.
Scarlet Lotus was as good as mine.