AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That’s what I’m meeting with Gladstone about tonight. I need to make sure the girl is fitting. Everything I’ve seen of her says so.”
“Her father was an ally,” Percival adds.
“Please, the only reason you’re even considering her is because she’s the country’s pity doll,” Simon groans at the same time as a cabin announcement sounds behind him. “My jet’s landing at Teterboro in ten.”
“When are you back?”
“Fuck, I don’t know, Henry. When I’m done here.”
“You need to be here.” Julian blows out an exasperated breath. “It’s all falling to shit.”
“Does it ever get exhausting being the eternal pessimist?” Simon retorts. “I don’t know about this distraction plan. Arthur won’t fall for it or some pretty girl that the country likes because her father died in office.”
“What do you suggest?” I ask, replacing Rufus’ water and topping up his kibble.
“We get rid of all distractions and focus on what’s important.” I already know he’s pissed about me missing the breakfast meeting this morning. Truth is that I don’t care how he feels about Eve—she’s my girl. While I understand his feelings on relationships are tainted by his experience, he chose to make the mistake that led to who he is now. There’s no way he’s deflecting that shit onto me.
“Is that what you’re doing every time you swan off to Manhattan?” I ask coolly.
Before he answers, Percival cuts the conversation. “Six minutes.”
“Laura’s not all bad. Besides, she knows the importance of keeping people happy. More than that, she’s good at it, even when they don’t pity her.” As Simon’s about to argue, Julian adds, “She has connections that benefit us.”
“Great, another business trade-off.” Simon’s tone is strained. “We all know how well those work out.”
“Who’s the pessimist now?” Julian snickers as Simon’s line goes down. “Whether it ends well or not, Benedict is right. Arthur’s weakness is women—”
“Commitment,” I correct.
“Same thing. As long as we can keep him interested in Laura long enough, this is a great plan.”
In my eyes, I don’t care whether he’s interested or not. He’ll use her to woo the public, and what he does behind closed doors doesn’t matter. It’s all about appearances, and that’s the only thing Arthur needs to worry about right now—the public’s perception of him.
“I’ll see you at the gala,” Julian says before he hangs up, leaving me and Percival alone.
“Are you sure about tonight?” he asks as I head back into the bedroom.
This place has always been refuge, more so when I returned from Afghanistan with my head too fucked to be around people. I’ve never brought a woman here. This is too personal to let people in. Even my mother. But Eve…Eve is the exception to every fucking rule.
Trust isn’t something I give easily, but her sincerity makes it difficult not to lose it to her piece by piece. With every endearing smile and sultry laugh—even her incorrigible stubbornness and sharp tongue have a way of disarming me. That knowledge does nothing to quash the feeling constantly pulsing in my chest—the constant need to have her close. To know every move she makes. To witness every smile she graces this world with.
“Yes,” I answer Percival’s question just as the bathroom door opens and Eve steps out, wrapped in a bath sheet and her hair a wet, sopping mess that I want to twist into a thick rope and use it to collar her throat as I fuck her. Hard. Really fucking hard so that neither one of us knows where we end and the other begins. “Make the arrangements.”
“Yes, Your Grace,” he chuckles down the phone with a soft note of affection.
He likes Eve. He’s always liked her. Maybe it’s why he was so adamant that she play at my father’s memorial howl and then on protecting her from me.
“Sort everything out like we discussed earlier. You remember everything, yes?” I ask, drinking in the soft, bashful smile on her lips while her eyes flutter over me, pausing on the scar on my side with a scowl.
“Options.”
“Yes, and the rest.”
“I have it all under control and will send someone over shortly. Do you want me to bring Rufus back tonight, or should I take him home again?”
My faithful friend. Rufus used to be the only love in my life. We’ve never gone to sleep upset with each other. At six years old, my beloved bulldog doesn’t have much time left. He can barely walk around this place without running out of breath. I can’t leave him on his own for long, and when I have to, Percival likes to take him home with him.
“It’s okay, I’ll bring him back from the club later.”
