Dipping my mouth to my glass, I force the bitter liquid down my throat. I don’t even like red wine, but I wanted to fit in—be sophisticated—instead of admitting I didn’t really want a drink at all. My chest pulls tight, not sure why I bothered when everything has gone to shit anyway since he walked over.
James.
Apparently, the same guy who Maria’s been obsessed with, which means he’s also…
Hook.
Reality smashes into me like a sledgehammer, throwing everything I thought I knew to bits. He’s the one they spent hours waxing poetic about. The man they’d let “split them apart with his monster cock.”
I snort into my drink, a giggle bubbling from the center of my chest, unsure if it’s the wine that’s gone to my head or the remnants of how dazed James makes me feel.
He’s elusive. Dangerous.
A thrill sparks in the base of my stomach.
I shouldn’t be excited by the possibility. Should be on edge with how he has no qualms letting underage girls into his bar. How he always has men surrounding him, seeming to be at his beck and call. I should be wary at how quickly he spins me off balance until I become so wrapped in his presence I can barely breathe.
But I’m not.
And maybe it’s because in the deepest parts of me, I already knew he was different. The hint of danger stretches out like tentacles and suctions to my skin like a dark caress. It’s exciting, even if I know it shouldn’t be. Even if I know my father wouldn’t approve.
But my father stopped listening to me a long time ago, so maybe it’s time I return the favor.
“What was that?” Angie asks.
I shrug, trying to stem the blush that’s rushing through my bloodstream and heating my cheeks. I hadn’t meant to give in. Had definitely not meant to agree to a freaking date, especially not in front of Maria, who’s been consoling herself for months with the knowledge that he’s “untouchable.”
But he isn’t.
He’d let me touch him.
Nerves erupt in my stomach, and as much as I try to ignore it, I like the way it feels to be the one who’s getting his attention. Like I’m special.
Maria downs her drink, placing it gingerly on the counter before she turns her eyes on me, her stare stinging as it rips through my skin.
“Look,” I start. “I didn’t know he was the guy you were talking about.”
She scoffs.
“I’m really sorry, Maria. He’s been... persistent.” I cringe, knowing I’m only making a bad situation worse.
“It’s fine, I’m fine.” She pauses. “I’m just surprised, is all. I can’t imagine him being into someone like you.”
My nose crinkles, her judgment drizzling on my body like rain. There’s never been a moment in her presence where she hasn’t found some way to cut me down, and I’m sick of it.
“Maria, don’t—” Angie starts.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I cut in.
She shrugs. “It just, doesn’t make sense. He’s a powerful man. One who could have any woman he wanted, and he’s stuck on you?”
My body instinctively curls in on itself. “Ouch,” I whisper.
She smiles, reaching over and patting my forearm. “No offense, of course.”
Her words hit their mark, bruising my insides and cutting me open just enough to let my anger bleed. It whips through me like a windstorm, but I push it back down with a few deep breaths.
It doesn’t matter what she thinks.
“I won’t lie, girl, he was pretty intense,” Angie pipes in. “How do you even know him? You’ve been holding out.”
My fingers play with a napkin, shredding the fragile paper to pieces. “I didn’t know who he was.” I look at Maria. “I swear. I literally ran into him last time we were here, and then he showed up to the coffee shop.”
Angie’s eyes widen. “He did? I’ve never seen him there before.”
Shrugging, I look down at the bar top, nausea churning my stomach from how badly I want to change the conversation.
“It’s no big deal.” Maria waves her arm. “There’s a million fish in the sea and all that. Besides, maybe he’ll come around more. You don’t mind if I snatch him up once he’s done with you, right?” She smirks.
She’s probably right and I’m just a passing thrill. Something unattainable that he’s eager to catch, but the vision that forms in my mind of them together makes my gut twist, green whooshing through my chest.
The feeling stays there for the rest of the night, long after I’ve switched to sparkling water and watched as the girls get wasted.
It’s there as we walk out the front door and flag down a cab, my insides sinking in disappointment because James never made another appearance.
One of my legs is halfway into the cab when a voice calls from behind us.
“Miss.”
I spin around, my heart soaring.
“You.” He points at me. “I was told to make sure you didn’t leave.”
When I turn back around, I come face-to-face with Maria and Angie, their eyes wide as they look up at me from inside the car.
It’s irritating that I waited all night, like he asked me to, and it’s only now he’s bothered to stop me. Well, not even him.
He begged me for a date and then just as easily pawned me off to his employees.
My jaw locks into place and I move to slide into the car with the girls, but the icy, drunken daggers of Maria’s gaze makes me falter, and I find myself replaying all of the words she said through the night—the thinly veiled insults striking harder with every lash.
The whisper of anger that’s been brewing in my gut finally boils over, and if I have to choose between being irritated with James or verbally assaulted by Maria, the choice is pretty simple. I lean into the car. “Go on without me, ladies. Thanks for a fun night.”
Maria’s eyes narrow to slits.
Angie laughs. “You sure, girl?”
I nod, and spin back around, walking toward the nameless man and waving my arm toward the entrance. “Well? Take me to your master.”
His grin drops into a sneer, but he doesn’t say a word, his hand pushes on my lower back to propel me toward the front door.
11
James
My office at the JR is the largest of all the back rooms. It used to be Ru’s, but I convinced him to switch, citing the need for the en suite shower. He doesn’t necessarily do any dirty deeds, so he didn’t put up a fight, but there are certain occasions which call for stains to be washed from my skin.
Tonight was no exception.
My hair is still damp as I sit behind my desk, reminiscing over the knowledge I ripped from that idiot Jason’s brain. He deteriorated into sobs as soon as I walked into the room, my knife glinting under the fluorescent lights. The sight of my hooked blade twirling through my fingers was all it took for him to tell me everything he knew. Not that his version of truth does me much good. He’d never actually known the man whom he decided was worth crossing me for. Not even a name.
But Jason is a pathetic excuse of a boy. And boys are fickle.
Real men have loyalty.
That being said, I’m no idiot. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to put two and two together. There’s a new player in town, one with power and money to fly under the radar. To not expose his evil to the world while he parades around like some type of king.
Peter Michaels.
It’s smart, truly. After all, it’s easier to do misdeeds when you hide them in plain sight. People don’t expect to see darkness in the daylight.
A knock on the office door snaps me from my thoughts.
“Come in.”
A scowl mars Starkey’s boyish face as he pushes Wendy into the room.
The pink of her cheeks darken as she glances around the office, her gaze locking on me behind the desk. Her hands twist together, and I bite back the satisfaction at seeing her nerves play so visibly.
“Leave,” I say to Starkey, my eyes never moving from Wendy.
The air is thick—the same way it always is when she’s here—the energy crackling between us. It would make things easier for me personally if I wasn’t attracted to her, but having this type of chemistry will undoubtedly help my plan unfold.
Help make it believable.
She moves closer, her pale blue dress swishing around her knees, dark hair framing her cherry cheeks. Her tongue swipes out to lick her bottom lip.
“Hi,” she says.
My stomach flips. “Hi back.”
“Do you normally send lackeys to do your dirty work?”
I tilt my head. “That depends. Are you planning on getting… dirty?”
She laughs. “You don’t ever turn it off, huh?”
“Turn what off?”
“The charm. You must have had lots of practice, with as good as you wield it.”
I stand up from my chair, walking around to the front of my desk and leaning against it. “Do you find me enchanting?”