Chapter 8
8
“ I asked for a blonde.”
Of all the things I’d expected Senator Macallan to say when his security frisked me and led me through to the bedroom of his suite, it wasn’t that.
I’d been convinced he’d recognize me, given that he’d known me socially since I was a kid.
As my enigmatic partner in crime had dug through my makeup bag to get me ready to pretend to be an escort, he’d said, “A man who’s waiting for his call girl only sees what he wants to see.” He brandished a makeup brush. “C’mere.”
He said it so softly, it was how I’d imagined a lover might sound summoning me to bed, but not even in a sexual way. He had this way of making it seem like he belonged and that whatever he was doing—no matter how unreasonable it actually was—was absolutely acceptable.
He applied eye makeup and contour to my face with all the ease of a seasoned makeup artist. When he touched my face, staring this closely at me, his body once again touching mine…it couldn’t have been more intimate.
Well…it could’ve. As deft as his fingers were at applying an absolutely flawless cat eye, he was even more skilled at…other things. Things I absolutely wasn’t going to think about while he was that close.
So I took my chance to stare back, finding myself watching his mouth, looking at the way he toyed with his lip ring as he focused.
“If you look at the good senator like that, you might not need to threaten him with the email,” he said as he swiped eyeliner across my other lid, flashing his white teeth. “He’ll forget he’s got any morals and do whatever you ask.”
“You’re so full of shit,” I muttered.
He gathered my hair into a ponytail in his giant hands and tugged on it roughly, making me gasp—but not purely with pain. “Watch your mouth, princess. Do you have a hair band?”
“No.”
He transferred all my hair into one of his hands and pulled the band out of his bun with the other. His beautiful white-blonde hair cascaded onto his shoulders when he released it, and I was hit with the clean sea-breeze scent of what could only be his shampoo. It was the same scent that lingered on his jacket.
“Delicious,” he purred, and for a second, I thought he was reading my mind, but then I realized he was looking at me in the mirror.
Or the person who used to be me. With a little makeup and a sleek high ponytail, I was barely recognizable. It was like he’d done a magic trick.
“I’m not usually a fan of makeup, but that’s remarkable,” I said, still in awe.
He stood behind me and appraised his work in the mirror. “You’re not a fan because they make you up to look like a delicate little lamb being led to slaughter. I think you’ll find it’s more fun to be the huntress,” he said with a wink.
For the first time in my entire life, I looked like a temptress…and he was right, I didn’t hate it.
I was still only wearing a blanket wrapped around myself, and he eyed it thoughtfully. “I’m guessing you don’t have any hooker attire in that closet?”
“Sex worker,” I corrected, and laughter danced in his eyes. “And no, I don’t have anything risqué in there.”
He rifled through my closet, then stopped suddenly. “Is this the Bryson Blue Dress?” It wasn’t the flashiest dress by a long shot. In fact, it was the definition of subtle class, with a high neck and an A-line shape that nipped in at the waist. The rich shade of cornflower blue was its most striking feature. The Bryson Blue Dress wasn’t notable for how it looked but rather who’d worn it and what had happened to them afterward.
I shrugged. “I had it out for a photoshoot. It needs to go back in its bag.”
It was a lie. The shoot had been months ago. I hadn’t been able to bring myself to put it away again afterward because just seeing it, touching it, comforted me. My grandmother had worn it to my grandfather’s inauguration, and my mother had worn it to my uncle’s. I had such vivid memories of her wearing it that day, how beautiful she’d looked and how happy we’d all been.
I missed her. I missed my brother—and my sisters, even though they were still alive. The day my mother wore this dress was one of the last times I remembered us feeling like a real family.
“Am I cursed now that I’ve touched it?” He said it with a hint of intrigue rather than fear. Both my grandmother and mother had died in tragic accidents not long after wearing the iconic dress, so people said it carried my family’s curse. There were entire corners of the internet dedicated to obsessing over the power of this dress.
“Yep. You’re a dead man. You should get your affairs in order.”
His mouth lifted into a surprised smile, like he hadn’t expected me to make a joke. I hadn’t expected to make a joke, but he coaxed out confidence I’d never had before.
“You just might be the death of me, darling.” He caught his lip ring between his teeth, studying me with those intense eyes.
I shrugged and looked away, scared I might let my guard down too much with him.
“I lost my mom in an accident too,” he said, surprising me. “I was so young, I don’t really remember her, but that might be worse than missing her, knowing she’s been forgotten.”
My stomach hollowed at the unexpectedly vulnerable statement. It hit close to my own fears about forgetting things about my mother and brother.
“Who raised you then?” I asked, trying to shake the heartache that always accompanied those thoughts.
He shrugged. “My dad was never in the picture. My grandparents did as much as they could.”
The soft way he said it made me wonder if he’d been the caretaker in that relationship.
“You don’t seem like someone with grandparents,” I blurted, not really meaning to say it aloud.
He pouted sympathetically. “They didn’t teach you biology in princess school either?”
I shoved his shoulder with my hand, then immediately regretted it because it put us so close together, and my whole body practically buzzed with awareness anytime I touched him.
“I know how biology works, but you seem more like you were spawned from darkness or are the progeny of a vampire or something.”
He blinked and let out the first genuine-sounding laugh I’d heard from him. It was so infectious, I smiled back, then realized what I was doing and wiped it from my face. He looked just as surprised and stroked a thumb along my jaw. “I could get used to making you smile like that.”
What am I doing ?
“Don’t,” I said, walking back towards the bedroom to put some distance between us. There was too much at stake to be flirting with my father’s enemy.
He turned back to my cherished blue dress. “Well, that clearly won’t work,” he said, reverently sliding it to one side. When he didn’t find anything deeper in the closet, he returned to the bedroom.
He stripped off his tux jacket and then his shirt, then pulled off his tank top undershirt so fast, I didn’t have time to protest. And once he’d done it, I apparently lost the ability to speak when faced with his bare chest. Because all I did when he tugged my blanket off and pulled his undershirt over my head was stand there and let him. His ribbed shirt hugged my body, barely covered my ass, and plainly displayed my nipples through the white fabric.
I put my hands over them indignantly. “You cannot tell me an escort would walk through a hotel like this.”
He laughed. “What, barefoot? You’re right. Put those strappy fucking heels back on.”
How had he even noticed my shoes?
I did as I was told even as I said, “You know that’s not what I meant.”
His expression turned serious. “Of course you can’t go like that. You’ll wear my leather jacket over it.”
The devious bastard had cornered me. I could walk out there like this, or I could admit I had his jacket.
I stormed over to the bed and retrieved it from the blankets it was buried under. “Happy?” I snapped.
He bit his bottom lip, fighting a smile but not saying a word.
The embarrassment served as a useful distraction for what I was about to do. Any excuse to run away from him after just pulling his jacket from my bed. I picked up my phone, then squared my shoulders as I headed for the door. I was scared and uncertain, but the adrenaline flooding my system felt different from the nervous fear that usually drowned me in the face of my father’s expectations. I was doing it to keep Jacque safe and to avoid disappointing Daddy…but on some level, I was doing it for me. It felt good to be taking charge. Good…and absolutely terrifying.
“Now pardon me while I go commit my first felony.”
Senator Macallan stood there leering at me after observing that my dark hair was the wrong color. It felt like he was a Karen in a restaurant, complaining about something trivial to get a discount even though it didn’t actually bother him.
“Okay, I can leave and see if someone else is available. Not sure how long it’ll take, but…”
I was bluffing, and we both knew it, but some scared part of me wanted him to send me away so I could turn tail and run but still tell myself I’d tried.
“Stay,” he said. “You look just like Juliet Bryson…I like that.”
“Oh yeah?” My voice wavered uncertainly. Did he know? I was freaking out.
“Yeah. I’m gonna enjoy pretending I’m balls deep in that frigid bitch.”
My god. This was one of the softest-spoken, most polite people I’d ever met, but apparently not when he got to be himself. I’d only ever been nice to this douchebag.
“Well, don’t get too excited yet. We’ve got something to talk about first.”
He circled me creepily, only half listening to anything I was saying. “I already know the rules,” he said dismissively.
Am I really going to do this? Shit, shit, shit!
“I’ve got a new rule for you. You stop pushing to have Kevin King investigated.”
Now that got his attention.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” He suddenly looked angry.
“Someone who knows what you’ve been up to…” I passed him my phone with the email open, and it only took seconds for his eyes to get huge.
For an instant, he looked like a wounded animal about to strike, and I was scared he’d hurt me, but then he deflated in shame. “What do you want?” he said with disgust, but he was the one who’d been stealing from impoverished kids and saying…unkind things about them.
“Already told you. Kevin King is off-limits. You don’t push for him to be investigated, and if you hear anyone else stirring up trouble, you put a stop to it.”
The sigh he let out was as heavy as his mistakes. “Fine. Get out.”
Holy shit, I did it!
I wondered whether I needed more concrete reassurance than that, but it was written in his posture. He was defeated and would’ve done anything to stop that shame from becoming public knowledge.
“You are Juliet Bryson,” he said softly, not really speaking to me.
“The frigid bitch herself.” I flashed him a look of disgust and turned for the door.
Once I left his room, I made it three steps around the corner before someone snatched me around the waist and yanked me into a hotel room. I tried to scream as the door slammed, but his hand clamped over my mouth.
“You are a lucky, lucky girl…”
I knew that low, melodious voice even if I still didn’t know his name. I knew the feel of his body against my back as well. I was far too comfortable with his arms banded around me.
Like he could feel that I’d recognized him, he released his hold on me.
I whipped around. “You were lurking here the whole time? Why?”
“You went charging in there with no plan and no backup. What if he’d gotten violent to stop you from outing him?”
“You told me not to take my gun.”
“That didn’t mean you should go in there with your real phone, no plan to check in, no fucking plan at all.” If I didn’t know better, I would’ve said he was worried about me.
“Why didn’t you bring any of this up before I went in if you were so worried about it?”
“Because I wanted to see whether you’d have the sense to give a single thought to your own safety.”
“Well, it worked out fine.” I was buzzing with power like I’d never felt before. I’d handled my own shit. More than that, I’d handled something neither King nor my father had been able to manage.
I’m a goddamned shark . Maybe still a little one in a sea of great whites…but no longer chum.
He studied me. “You…enjoyed that, didn’t you?”
“Hell no, I was terrified.” My heart rate still hadn’t come back down anywhere close to normal.
“Ah, but you liked the rush, the thrill of bringing a powerful man to his knees.”
Adrenaline pounded through my system, and on some level, he was right. I felt daring, like I could do anything.
He lifted my chin, staring like he could draw the feeling from me and savor it. He looked hungry for it.
“Do you miss this, Mr. Jaded? I bet you haven’t been scared like that in a while.” My chest rose and fell rapidly to match my thumping heart rate, but I leaned closer, refusing to back down from his closeness.
He tilted his head in that predatory way I was becoming familiar with. “You’d be surprised…”
The moment was there. I wanted to kiss this wildly inappropriate man. When I’d wanted him before, I’d had the excuse of ignorance, but now I knew precisely who he was: an enemy to my family and a danger to the careful plans my father had for me. Plans I’d just risked everything to keep alive.
I stepped back, putting some distance between us.
A sudden memory of the brutal awkwardness of kissing Kevin struck me. For this plan to work, I had to do better than that.
Maybe kissing Mr. Dangerous isn’t such a bad idea…I need the practice.
He leaned back against the wall, tucking his hands into his pockets like he was trying to avoid touching me. “I’ve seen that look before, princess. You go hunting for trouble, you’re going to find it.”
Like he already knew what I was going to do, his arms were there to pull me closer when I took the two steps to reach him.
He tugged my hips against his, folding me into his arms like I was something precious.
Did he really want me, or was this all a game?
Did it matter?
His lip ring was the first thing I felt as he lowered his mouth to mine, which only made me notice how soft his lips were. I became shockingly aware of my entire body as he slanted them over mine. He was gentle but dominant, viscerally sexual but still sensual in a way that almost felt romantic. He kissed me like he’d been waiting for it his whole life, which was ridiculous because he’d probably kissed hundreds of people.
There was nothing awkward about kissing this man. He didn’t leave room for awkwardness or thoughts or anything but the feel of him. Why couldn’t he really have been the man I was supposed to marry?
Because he’s dangerous!
His hand started to work its way ever so slowly under the hem of the shirt I was wearing, and I had to stop this. Now that I knew exactly what he could do with that clever, clever hand, I’d be a traitor to my family if I kept going beyond what I needed from him.
I pulled away while I could still reason.
He dropped his hand and feathered tiny kisses on my cheeks and up to the shell of my ear. “We can go slow,” he said, his voice dripping with temptation.
“I can’t do this with you,” I said, not meaning to explain myself.
“Why not?” He still had that hungry expression, but there was a dark, unreadable layer to it now.
“Because I don’t trust you,” I said.
He shook his head, smiling, but there was no joy to it. “Yes, you do. You don’t trust yourself with me. There’s a difference.”
“Thanks for mansplaining my feelings to me. You’re a lying, manipulative motherfucker.” I tossed it out as a fact, but there wasn’t the anger behind it there should’ve been.
“You already knew that when you kissed me.” His teeth grazed my neck lightly, but when I gasped and arched into him for more, he bit me harder. “And watch your mouth, darling.”
I pushed away from him, stepping back while I still had the self-control to stop him. “I only kissed you to learn how it’s done properly. Mr. King found my skills lacking, and I might not get another chance if I mess it up again.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Who’s the manipulative one now?”
I shrugged, feeling like a goddamned warrior, and opened the door.
“Where are you going?”
“To make a few more rash decisions.”
I hammered my fist on Kevin King’s hotel room door like I had every right to be there. A quick call to security had gotten me the room number. My father had called me immediately to see what I was up to, but he could wait. He wouldn’t dare interrupt if he thought I was down here securing what he wanted.
Seconds later, King flung the door open with a gun aiming straight at my face. Up to that point, I hadn’t seen what made my father think King was ruthless enough to be his successor, but I could see it now—the vicious expression, the penchant for violence he disguised far too well the rest of the time. He wasn’t just prepared to use his weapon—he was eager to do it.
I’d been around violent men my whole life, but this one worried me.
“Juliet,” he said curtly, lowering the gun but still not looking friendly. “Was I not clear enough?”
Yowza . As far as he was concerned, I’d been dismissed. Now I was an annoyance.
I took a steadying breath. “You were clear, but you were wrong. May I come in?”
He sighed heavily but stood aside to let me enter and close the door.
“Macallan is going to stop pushing for you to be investigated. I have his word.”
He looked like he was working out a puzzle. “Your father said he couldn’t help. He talked to Macallan?”
The pounding, thrumming thrill of triumph kicked back into my system. “No. I did.”
He failed to hide his surprise. “How did you pull that off?”
“Does it matter?”
He looked me up and down, not missing my flushed cheeks and scandalous attire, the bite mark on my neck. Whatever he thought was better than the truth that I’d conspired with the enemy.
The look he gave me was covetous, like I was suddenly an auction item he had to own. “Not so meek after all. Are you still a virgin?”
I raised my chin indignantly. “Of course. Until my husband claims me.”
Oh, he liked that answer…
His eyes skated over my body possessively like he was determined to be that man. Was this how he looked when he was hunting?
Before I could lose my nerve, I crossed the room in three quick steps and tugged his head down to mine. I kissed him like Mr. Dangerous had kissed me, claiming his bottom lip between mine before letting my tongue trace the seam of his lips. I was too focused on his reactions to enjoy it.
This time he responded, cupping my ass and grinding me against his erection. He took control, plundering my mouth with his tongue as he backed me towards the bedroom. Things were escalating quickly, but I stopped him. I wasn’t positive I wouldn’t be disappointing in bed with my lack of experience, so it was better to quit while I was ahead.
I pulled away, then kissed him on the cheek. “Good night, Mr. King.”
He laughed disbelievingly. “That’s it? You’re leaving?”
I threw him a saucy look over my shoulder. “I have my doubts that a meek little thing like you will suit my needs.”
There was a flash of anger in his expression, and I thought I’d gone too far, but it was quickly replaced by a wolfish smile. “We’ll see about that, Juliet.”
I’d barely made it to the elevator when I got a text.
Unknown
This is Kevin. Have dinner with me tomorrow.
I thought about asking if it was a question or a command, but I’d pushed him pretty far tonight. Compliance was safer.
Where and when?
Kevin
My plane will pick you up on the airstrip at 8.
Looking forward to it.
Was I looking forward to it? I was excited to tell my father the news. I was still nervous that I’d blow it with Kevin but determined not to lose my upper hand.
As I got back inside my room, my phone went off again, this time with a message from a different unknown number, but it was immediately clear it was Mr. Dangerous.
Unknown
Well played, I’ll see you tomorrow.
He attached a map location that was half an hour away, obviously where he expected me to meet him to fulfill my end of the bargain. Forget worrying about what he was going to make me do in the three hours I belonged to him—how was I going to sneak out and explain being gone for that long when I was being watched this closely? After Geoff’s murder, Daddy had begun insisting a driver take me everywhere.
I don’t know if I can get there without getting caught.
Unknown
A deal’s a deal. You’ll figure it out.
Seconds later, a video came through.
I hit Play with dread coiling in my stomach. Was it video of what I’d done with him in the Kennedy Room?
As soon as the thumbnail loaded, I knew it was far worse.
A clip of me blackmailing Senator Macallan.
I’d walked straight into his trap.
Unknown
Three hours. Anything I want.