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As I took out one, I glanced toward the door, fearful he’d find me. But I couldn’t resist opening the pages, touching them in reverence. Some areas were marked with Post-it notes and a few passages underlined in red ink.
Like blood.
The sinful thought kept my mouth dry and my mind full of ideas for my story, the one that had stalled because I was diligent about getting details correct. I did a little happy dance before sliding it back in its place. This was going to be so much fun.
I breathed in deeply, barely able to contain my joy. As I floated around the room, touching everything, I somehow ended up flopping down in Easton’s incredibly comfortable leather chair. I spun one direction then the other before spinning it all the way around to the window. This was a little slice of heaven.
Soon, less than a minute later, a jolt of raw and white-hot lightning rushed through me, so strong I momentarily couldn’t breathe. But I knew he was here, in this room. Right now.
And the electricity I’d felt before was even stronger, stealing my breath and leaving me trembling.
“What are you doing in my private space and more important, why is it that you refuse to follow my rules?”
CHAPTER 13
Easton
Sara jerked up from behind my desk, her breathing immediately ragged, her lower lip quivering. She was stiff as she walked to the front, her eyes darting back and forth. The slight hint of fear was beguiling in a way that truly highlighted what a bad man I was.
A part of me had expected that my beautiful guest would find certain locations in my house far too much of a draw to ignore.
Especially my office where I’d spanked and fucked her.
I glanced around the room, noticing one of my books was slightly pulled from its position. As I walked closer, I heard her tiny gasping breath, horrified that she’d been caught not just in my office but touching my things.
When I pulled the chosen how-to book from its place, my cock immediately hardened. “Blood splatters. An excellent choice. Did you know most crime novelists get it wrong when they write a scene? They assume either too little or too much depending on what they use to kill their victims. Even television shows with all the experts rarely get it right. I can tell details are as important to you as they are to me. Yes?”
“Yes, sir.”
The two little words were little more than whispers, but I could not only hear but feel her reverence regarding the very books I so adored having in my collection. I replaced it into the slot, pushing it so all the edges were even before turning toward her.
An even larger part had hoped she’d do so. I wanted her boundaries pushed just a little from the very beginning, to be unsure whether she could trust me or her instincts. I also wanted her to enjoy being considered my captive for a little while.
If only metaphorically speaking.
I’d wanted to be here when she’d arrived, but I’d met with my brothers again upon Creed’s rather urgent call. The unplanned meeting had kept me away for longer than I’d anticipated. The reason shouldn’t have put the fear of God into Creed, but it had. We were all used to threats being made. It was a product of our world, not just with being a powerful mafia regime, but given our wealth and the legitimate industry we continued to rule.
However, the tone of the threat had been different. Even I had to admit that. It had also been calculated, and to my mind, had been directed more at me than the other two, although I could be wrong. We were all prodigal children in one or another regard. We’d excelled in spite of our tumultuous upbringing, our IQs close to one eighty. We all had photographic minds and my brothers’ musical talents could rival any top musician in the world.
I’d been the only one to laugh after reading it.
Only in the darkness will you understand the patience needed for acting on the sheer salvation of revenge. Be patient, grasshoppers. Your time is near.
I hadn’t been certain whether to call the words in bold, yet childish red writing sent in a black envelope to our corporate office poetic or not. But when I’d laughed, my two brothers had looked at me as if I was out of my mind.
Well, if any of us were evaluated by a psychiatrist we stood the chance of being labeled as such. However, I gathered the meaning as well as the fact the person responsible was laughing his or her ass off.
The threat was much simpler than the note might imply. Someone was waiting in the shadows and had done so for a long time, preparing for the right moment to strike. And they would do so when we least expected it.
We’d spend three hours going over a list of possible enemies from our previous clients, those expelled for disloyalty, former employees, and even world organizations and governments. No particular person came to mind, at least not one we could agree on. While the stamp indicated the note had been sent from Chicago, in this day and age of being able to fabricate just about anything, one could easily disguise the actual location where it had been originally sent from.
That realization was one of the main reasons the warning troubled me. At this point my methods of operation, including personally, had just been altered. Or at least would need to be. Whether or not I indulged in carnal activities with Sara wouldn’t matter to the person or group who’d sent the threat. She would be seen as a way of getting to me, of taking something that belonged to me that might mean something.
Did I want the son of a bitch responsible to feel as if he’d won some round in an undisclosed battle? Fuck, no. I would do what I wanted but proceed with caution.
Besides, if anyone knew the three of us and our level of wealth, they were well aware that our possessions were little more than toys. As a child would do, once the toys were broken, they were tossed aside, our eagerness for another ever present. Thankfully, my two brothers had done their best at keeping their wives and families out of the limelight and press for the most part.
That had added to our reputation, which had yet to be dispelled.
