CHAPTER THREE
PARKER
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I stride back down to the car grinning, Eric shadowing me, and spin my phone around in my fingers.
The one containing Aurora’s phone number.
Like I didn’t have it anyway...
She fell headfirst into my trap like I knew she would. Well, I do have my Louis Vuitton aftershave on—aka panty melting juice—and so it should be, at two thousand dollars a bottle.
What I didn’t expect was the bolt of lust that slammed into me the moment Aurora—as planned—did.
My cock sat right up and started fucking singing.
I knew she was a beautiful woman—after all, I’d spent hours browsing her social media learning what I could about her. And enjoying the images of her in cocktail dresses, bikinis, and everything in between.
But I wasn’t prepared for how stunning she is in real life.
I climb into my town car and Eric does the same, but up front with Durran, my driver. Some days I wonder what they think about my life. I’m a thirty-one-year-old billionaire who spends every weekend at the Alliance Club where we have hot willing women on tap—and I mean on tap—and shows no interest in dating any woman.
Now, I’ve had them drive past Aurora’s home a few times in preparation for today. When we saw her head into the funeral home, I made them wait.
From there, it was pure luck that I pushed away from the wall, to head back to a meeting, when she walked out of the building.
Right into my damn arms.
Fate.
Not that I believe in that stuff.
Anyway, Eric and Durran would never ask. They’re paid not to.
I’d like to say I’m not going to hurt her, but that’s not true. Once I learn what I need to, I have a feeling she’ll be a blubbering mess.
For all I know, Aurora could be my half sister. I need to have her DNA tested while I seek the answers to why this princess was mollycoddled while I was abused. And the people who did it.
The fact I’ve reacted physically to her is a little sick.
Then again, I was groomed to fuck anyone, so I’m ignoring my dick.
Mostly.
It’s just a theory, anyway. There’s nothing to prove she is. But I need to know.
I will find out everything.
With Mary-Anne dead, she has to have left some proof behind. Even if that proof is inside her daughter’s head.
I’m going to get it out.
The search algorithm I’d set up years ago to find Mary-Anne Whitlock from New York—information my grandmother had shared with me—finally found her. I thought it was a false alarm. The system has taken years to fine tune and cut out hundreds of thousands of false leads.
When I saw it was her death notice, I cursed so fucking loud.
First my father, then her.
Motherfuckers.
I don’t get to seek revenge or confront either of them. Frankly, they both got off lightly compared to the fantasies I’ve had about how I’d punish them.
Slowly.
Painfully.
Shaming them.
Torturing them.
All that’s left is Aurora.
Pretty little Aurora with her big green eyes and now deeper red hair.
Is she innocent?
Hard to tell, but she’s a sexy little thing and as fucked up as this is if we are related, I wouldn’t mind blowing my thick cock inside her for a few hours one afternoon.
She lives in Hell’s Kitchen—a lower income neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan—which surprised me given her mother’s high net worth.
Mary-Anne clearly hadn’t shared it with her daughter.
“Honestly, you don’t need to walk me home.” Aurora had said as I strode alongside her. The urge to put my hand on the small of her back had my fist clenching and opening.
It wasn’t a damn date.
But I liked touching her. I liked the way I felt huge next to her small frame.
Like I was protecting her.
Mixed emotions had me clenching my teeth. After all, this is probably what the little witch had our parents doing when she was little. While I was being groomed for a world she’d never be exposed to.
“Just being a gentleman, as my momma raised me to be.” I said, guiding her around a group of people with my hand on her elbow.
I’d cursed inwardly as heat flashed across my palm. Then her eyes shot up to mine and I could see the same desire I was doing my darndest to hide.
“She did a good job.”
No. She didn’t.
My mother left me alone with a child abuser, then buried her head in the sand when I pleaded for help.
I don’t know how old I was when I threw a tantrum, not wanting to go out with Dad. Not wanting to have my body touched and aroused when it felt scary and unnatural.
Mom got angry, telling me how ungrateful I was that my father wanted to spend time with me. That hers never had. That Dad loved me.
When I told her what was happening, tears running down my face, she slapped me and told me to stop making up stories.
That was the moment I knew I wasn’t safe in this world. That no one would ever fucking protect me. That it was me against the world.
“I will pass on your compliments.” I smirked instead of saying any of that and slowed when we were a few feet from Aurora’s apartment.
Fuck. I’d nearly messed up.
I sped back up, needing to be smarter than that. If Aurora thought I knew who she was or where she lived, it would scare her off.
Rightly so.
“Well, this is me.” Aurora waved up at the building and her cheeks turned deep pink.
Any other guy would have been in heaven watching a woman blush and melt under his attention. I was thrilled my plan was working.
The fact we might be related didn’t stop my body from craving her. Something I’ll burn in hell for, probably. Then again, I’m likely headed in that direction, anyway.
“Thank you for bumping into me, Aurora. ” I’d over-pronounced her name and slid my hands into my pockets, rocking back on my heels cheekily.
“You’re welcome, Parker. Thank you for catching me.” She glanced at the door to her building, then back at me, delaying her retreat as she waited for me to ask her out.
It was tempting to let her suffer, but I wasn’t here to flirt with her. I wanted inside her mother’s home.
Inside her brain.
Wherever the information was.
“Seeing as we’ve agreed you owe me your life, perhaps you will do me the honor of having dinner with me.”
Aurora giggled. “Did we?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“Or you could just ask me out for dinner.” She tilted her head.
Interesting.
I sensed a little more confidence than she’d originally shown. Her sense of humor was playful, and I liked it.
In bed, I bet she’d be...
Nope.
DNA results first.
“Have dinner with me.” The corner of my lip twitched, genuinely and surprisingly enjoying the banter.
“That’s an order,” Aurora replied. “Not an invitation.”
Yes, it was, and I wasn’t asking.
I leaned forward an inch and rasped, “Say yes.”
Her smile faded as she pulled in a short, nervous breath affected by the chemistry that was crackling like two spark plugs forced together.
If I’d been bolder, I would’ve accused her of having wet panties. I hated myself for wanting to find out.
I fucked enough women to know they were.
Fortunately, Aurora had interrupted my thoughts, nodded, and in a breathless voice, agreed to go to dinner with me.
Without wasting time, I lifted her hand, kissed her knuckles, and smirked. “Tomorrow night. I’ll pick you up at seven.”
Winking, I turned and strode away. There was no need to glance over my shoulder. I knew Aurora was watching me. Hope she liked my tight ass. I’d been working hard on my glutes recently.
“Are we going straight to the club, boss?” Durran asks, snapping me out of my daydream as we drive through Manhattan.
I stretch out a leg, waiting for my semi-hard cock to settle down, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to. If she’s my fucking sister, I’m going to have to start going to the club every goddamn night.
Tonight is Friday, the night we meet up at the Alliance Club, thirty minutes out of the city.
Maddox bows out most weeks now that he’s engaged and Kyra is pregnant. Fair enough. We still have our Wednesday morning breakfasts at Dune—Killian’s four-star Michelin restaurant here in Manhattan.
“Yes. But I want to get changed first,” I reply.
“Got it.” Durran indicates to change lanes and heads to my penthouse on Billionaire Row.
I rub my hand over my cock. The sooner I get this information from Mary-Anne’s daughter, the sooner I can get her out of my life.
I shake my head.
I didn’t expect to feel the need to slam her against the side of my car, rip up her dress, and fuck her senseless in front of eight million people in New York City.
I shouldn’t be surprised by the unexpected desire. Sex was forced upon me, so I don’t think about it the same as other people. Sex is just sex.
The first time I came, my father was present. He slapped me on the shoulder and told me I was a good boy. I didn’t feel good. I felt dirty and scared.
That feeling goes away after a time, replaced with numbness.
I still enjoy carnal pleasures, obviously, but it’s a habit. Like smoking cigars. I enjoy it, but none of them are any good for me.
That’s not what this is though.
It’s rare for me to react to a woman so powerfully without choosing to get aroused, or either of us stroking my cock to join the party.
This was involuntary and a surprise.
The intellectual part of me knows I shouldn’t be attracted to Aurora if she is related to me, but my cock doesn’t care.
But I won’t fuck her.
Aurora’s role in my life is to provide me the answers I seek and to show me she isn’t the fucking saint I pictured her to be.
That she’s no better than me.
And lead me to the people who are still alive so I can string them up and let them bleed.