I don’t tell her I’m not sure. We’ve never been tested like this before. But I’m an optimist and I choose to believe my brother will come around. “Because, like you said, we are all so close. It’s not going to happen. I won’t let it. Okay? Don’t worry about it. I charmed you, didn’t I? Damien’s going to be a piece of cake.”
She turns back onto her side, and hugs the pillow. “I know why he hates me. I get it. I’d hate me, too.”
“No one hates you. Really. They’re just really mad. He’ll get over it. Damien’s not vindictive.” That, at least, is the truth.
“No, but I am. Toward him anyway,” she admits.
“So… win him back?”
She wriggles back against me, her ass grinding against my groin. It instantly responds. “How do I win him back?”
I groan into her chest. My body is ready for hers whenever she wants. “I don’t know, but definitely not by what you’re doing right now!”
She laughs and turns back to rest her head on my chest, her hands dragging down my body to wrap her fist around my already hardening cock.
“Careful, hellion. Don’t start something if you want to sleep.”
She drags her tongue along the line of my neck, whispering into my ear, “Maybe I want to help you sleep.”
“Then by all means, don’t let me stop you.”
I lay back and let her stroke me, whispering to her all the things I want to do to her, and when I come, it’s her name on my lips.
CLARISSA
S
omeone is whistling at me.
It’s James.
James, my own bartender, has his fingers in his mouth and is letting out an ear-piercing wolf whistle.
“Woo-hoo, look who made it into the papers!” he holds up his phone and reads off it. “‘Baxter and
Masters are the newest hot couple on the New York dating scene. Which begs the question, is New
York’s most eligible, self-described, lifelong bachelor finally off the market? What will this do for the Kids & Care share price when it goes public in a few months? In the wake of Baxter’s recent scandals, there was talk of postponing the IPO. We don’t have the answers, except to tell you that the two make an enviable couple.’ Shall I go on?” James asks, taking a breath.
I don’t know why, but I bow. The ridiculousness of the article, as well as how my employees are acting, makes this all seem like a circus.
I’m no stranger to the tabloids, but no doubt, this is going to be fodder for a while. Socialite dated her ex’s brother? It’s the stuff of gossip dreams. Maybe that’s why it’s perfect for Matthias, something to take everyone’s mind off the last time he was in the papers.
James grins, but then turns serious.” Hey, Boss, I just realized that you might think that it’s one of us who talked to the papers. It wasn’t me and I can’t imagine it was anyone else, either.”
As I hang my jacket on the back of one of the bar stools, I eye James, making him squirm. “You think these stories are true?”
I take turns staring down each one of my employees.
None of them speak up.
Hell, I really am Queen Bitch.
I laugh to break the tension. “Guys, relax. Look, you’ve seen him around., So yes, we’re… whatever the word is… when two adults spend some time together. But yes, please, anyone comes asking questions, we’d really appreciate if you tried to be discreet as possible. It’s nobody’s business.” Unless you literally leak it to the tabloids, the traitorous bitch in my head says.
“Sure thing, boss,” James answers, and everyone else makes noises of understanding.
I go to my office and sink into my chair, and pull my phone out of my pocket. Since my run in with Gerry yesterday morning, I dread every message, every call that comes in.
Fuck him.
He was the biggest mistake of my life. How much longer am I going to have to pay for it?
I have never thought of myself as naive before; I know how to look for signs of people trying to take advantage of me for money, for sex, for my family… but using me to try to organize a mutiny on his whole family? That’s not something I ever knew to look out for. Damien had complained about Gerry since his grandfather passed away, telling me about how all Gerry wants is to maintain his role as CEO, but I had never thought he’d use me as a pawn in his game.
How long is he going to use one drunken, desperate night against me?
I don’t want to know what Matthias will do if he knows what happened with Gerry. I don’t want him to know just how far we plotted, how much we reveled in the thought that one day we were going to take them all down.
Desperation and hate rots you from the inside out, and I only felt it for a short amount of time. Gerry has lived with it since the day he realized that his father would always prefer his brother and his brother’s children over him.
And he had been fighting it since.
Low life scum.
My phone buzzes. It’s Matthias. There’s no hiding how wide I smile, or how the thoughts of my predicament fade in the light of him.
It’s a picture of the view from his office.
Matthias: Want to go for a ride?
Me: Is that a proposition, Mr. Baxter?
Matthias: You are insatiable, Ms. Masters.
Me: Only for you, Mr. Baxter. But I’m going to have to take a raincheck. The news of our relationship is starting to spread. The guys at work pretty much laid out the red carpet for me.
Matthias: Nice. Hope they leave it out for me. I’ll be there a little late tonight. Have to catch up on some work. A hellion has been sucking me of my lifeblood lately.
Me: As far as I can recall, Mr. Baxter, I have done no such sucking of the kind.
Matthias: Would you like me to stop burying my face between your legs so you can get to sucking?
Me: Now, now, no need to be hasty. Go to work, Manwhore.
Matthias: Only a manwhore for you, hellion. Only for you. Miss you, can’t wait to see you tonight.
I hug the phone to my chest, smiling like a fool.
Smiling because of a text? What am I, a teenager?
No, because teenage me never felt this way. Not adult me either. And who knows if I’ll ever feel like this again when this is all over.