Chapter 8
Icrook my fingers inside of Empire to keep her from moving as she comes down from her orgasm. I wait for the hatred to settle on her features because it’s coming. I know it like I know the sun is going to rise tomorrow. I took advantage of her, got lost in the scene and the part and her, and crossed a line.
So much for staying the fuck away from her.
“More money?” Parker says on the other line, outraged. “Are you fucking kidding me? The contract I sent you is more than fair for a young woman with literally no other credits to her name.”
My dick is hard so hard, it hurts, making it difficult to think.
“And if you want her badly enough, you’ll be willing to negotiate. Wait. Hold on a minute,” I tell Parker.
Empire peels herself off my lap despite my protests and takes a moment to lock her knees once she’s got both feet on the ground to steady herself. She brushes a hand through her mussed hair before she turns her back to me, all without a word. She drags her shorts and shirt back into place before stalking out of the room.
I wait a beat, and then two, before exhaling sharp enough to feel it in my whole body. Fuck me, what did I just do? My dick jerks with each heartbeat, reminding me time and again that I made the right decision not to follow through with pushing her into the cushions and fucking her.
Thank God she’s gone, before I became more than the monster I already am.
“Are you finally ready to talk to me, or are you going to take all day and waste my time?” Parker presses. “Please don’t tell me I’m interrupting you from more important work, because I swear to fuck, Marcus, this is the most important thing you’ll do with your miserable life.”
“You’ve always had a flair for the dramatic.” I swallow my groan of frustration, determined to ignore my throbbing erection. I want to bury it deep in Empire’s cunt, even though it’s a terrible idea. “I’m here,” I tell him. “But we need to set up a new contract. I don’t care what it takes or what you have to move around. The amount you offered her is a pittance compared to what she deserves for her level of talent.”
It’s impossible to move off the couch with my dick this hard. I lift my fingers to my face, the digits gleaming with the evidence of Empire’s desire. For me.
“Come on, Marcus. You’re busting my fucking balls here,” Parker groans.
“You’ll pay her what’s fair in today’s market,” I insist. “Otherwise, I’ll take her off the table so fast, your head will spin.” I adjust my dick in my pants and grimace. “It seems to me you’ve not only shown your hand, but you’ve demonstrated exactly how desperate you are to have my client take this part. So you’ll either negotiate with me, or you’ll find someone else.”
“You’re sure about this?”
“Painfully sure.”
On multiple fronts.
“Then let me get you set up with my assistant and you can go over the details.” A few clicks answer me, indicating Parker has put me on hold this time, and probably for a few minutes as another little power move.
Or to make up for the long pause I’d given him while I got myself back in order.
I reach down and adjust myself a second time, everything too tight and uncomfortable. Just my luck; I can’t control myself, and now my dick is in the driver’s seat, making its desires known in a painful way. It’s been too long since I’ve gotten a good fuck in, and worse, I’d fingered my ward.
Fingered her to completion.
Although, would it have been an even more horrible situation if she hadn’t come? Probably. Not like it was ever a question. I don’t leave my partners wanting. If they don’t get off, then I’m not doing my job.
The thought draws a shameful smile to my face.
Parker’s assistant clicks onto the line a moment later to set up the details of the new contract. “Mr. Ortega? Here is what Mr. Heath is willing to offer Miss Stone,” she says with a smile in her voice.
This, at least, feels natural.
I transfer myself and my half chub to the office, everything quiet in the house as I set up my laptop to go through the details and make sure I’ve got everything hammered out exactly the way I want it. Control freak, fuck yes.
She’s taking this part and when she does, I’m going to be damn well assured she gets what’s coming to her, for her sake and for mine, because I will get a hefty paycheck out of this role.
Empire is not only going to do this movie; she’ll keep getting parts, gain popularity, and her star will rise. She comes by it naturally, with both her beauty and her talent. In the blood, as it was for Olivia…
Once everything is in place, I end the call and speed dial my own assistant.
“I need to make sure the contract gets printed and sent over by courier for all parties to sign,” I tell Sherry. By now, my cock has deflated. “Right now, they should be sending it through the office email, and I’ve sent you a copy personally to make sure it gets where it needs to go.”
“Is there any doubt it will?” Sherry asks. She’s acerbic in the best possible way and one hell of a find in a world where people don’t want to work. I make sure to pay her exactly what she’s worth, keep her content, and minimize the risk of losing her to someone else.
“I’m double checking,” I groan, scrubbing my eyes with one hand. “Can’t be too careful. Get it handled.”
“You know I will.”
Sherry is the only one who talks to me like she doesn’t give a shit who I am or what I’ve been through; part of the reason I’ve kept her around so long. Not to mention, she’s the most talented multitasker I’ve ever seen in my life.
“And don’t forget, Marcus, you need to file the paperwork for Empire’s trust,” she finishes. “You’ve been putting it off.”
My head immediately feels like it’s splitting down the middle.
In any normal situation, a guardian or caretaker would no longer be legally contracted to watch over their ward once the ward in question turns eighteen. Sure, I got it. Except Olivia and Bennett wrote into their will as a personal request that I care for her until she decides to leave, or until she turns twenty-two. A caveat to the will states that if both Empire and I sign the release form, then she’ll receive her money early, and we can wash our hands of each other.
Only once she signs will she be able to access her entire trust from her family’s estate, not just what her parents left her as an inheritance.
I signed the papers on a bad day, drunk and pissed off at the world. I thought I wanted nothing to do with her. I haven’t been able to bring myself to follow through on it, though, and so I decided to put off having her sign and ride things out until Empire’s twenty-second birthday.
The whole idea leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Not just the situation, but Empire being out there on her own. Alone. Dealing with all the shit herself.
“Don’t worry about the paperwork. I’ll handle it when I’m good and ready,” I reply.
“You sure about that, boss?” Sherry quips. “The estate lawyer called yesterday wondering if the sheets have been signed, and I told him you were getting around to it shortly.”
Of course. There’s always a time limit on these things.
My brows furrow lower, and if I weren’t already in a pissy mood, I’d let everything slide past me. Today, I find myself gritting my teeth and glaring at the computer screen, as though Sherry can actually see my expression.
“Just make sure you use the courier I like and stop trying to save money by hiring kids on bikes.” I hang up, focusing on the screen until the words of the contract blur together.
Empire has no idea about the terms of her trust or what I’ve been asked to do, what she’s been asked to sign. She has no idea that her mother personally pulled me aside to make sure I’d be down for the job. As though I’d ever been able to tell the woman no.
Whatever Olivia Stone wanted, if it was within my power, I’d have given it to her. Now, I feel even worse about fingering Empire. I let my lust and horniness get in the way of everything I’ve stood for, and while it’s never been much, I at least had a small shred of integrity left to me. It’s probably lost now.
Empire thinks I’m a pain in the ass, but she needs me.
I’ll tell her about the paperwork later and deal with the aftermath then. For now, she stays with me, and we pretend the release form doesn’t exist.
I lean back in the chair, wishing I’d stayed away instead of coming back to this godforsaken mansion. I should have moved Empire somewhere else, a little closer to downtown and my office. It might have been more manageable than this mausoleum to our memories.
The double doors in the office lead out to a rear patio area and around the corner, it opens to the backyard. There isn’t much room to roam in the Hollywood Hills, but I remember the parties the Stones used to throw, fucking extravagant wastes of money where their “friends” dressed up in outfits costing more than a used car.
Except Olivia had shone diamond bright in the center of the crowd. Empire stood at her side, just as beautiful as her mother, her features lit by a smile. It’s been a long time since she smiled that way.
I don’t blame her.
Those family dinner parties are a long time gone.
I remember the times she would parade around in one of her mother’s gowns, toddling in shoes way too big for her little feet and making everyone laugh with her antics.
Or, when she got older, how her outfits grew smaller and tighter, with more skin on display. Bennett always got so fucking pissed at his friends, ogling his daughter, and he’d clap me on the shoulder and say, “We’re going to have a lot of trouble with her when she’s older.”
“Get the baseball bats ready,” I’d reply.
I’m the one who needs a bat, straight to my frontal lobe.
Now, she has blossomed into womanhood, and I’d done my best to protect her, to keep my eyes off her like those other assholes who only saw her as a piece of meat. I’m too old to be anything but her parents’ manager, on the periphery of her world and her vision.
I spent almost enough time to convince myself I didn’t want her.
And when I come back to the present moment, I’m still sitting behind the desk. I’m still putting off filing the paperwork for the trust, because those days are just as dead as my friends, and signing away my access to Empire won’t bring them back.
It’s only going to leave me broke and empty.