Chapter Twelve
Mason
I drum my fingers against my thighs and use my other hand to cradle my drink. After I take a few sips of the amber liquid, I frown into the glass, and a vision of London’s doe-like eyes peers back at me. My frown deepens as I draw the glass closer and tighten my grip.
I’m already hard for her, and every detail about the elusive vixen makes my blood boil.
I can’t remember the last time I’ve wanted anyone this badly, much less someone like London.
I should feel guilty for dragging her into my world and for forcing that little display in the study just to show her I can, but I can’t bring myself to.
Not when I got to see firsthand how it will be between us.
Molding London will be fun, the most I’ve had in a long time, and whatever unease I feel about corrupting her won’t last.
I’ll make sure it doesn’t. When she’s mine, and the mere thought of another man disgusts her, I know it will have been worth it.
Still, I can’t deny the small knot in my stomach at the thought of London at the club, deep in the seedy underbelly where the depraved and predatory come out to play.
I take another long sip and picture her in the short housekeeping uniform, her cleavage on full display as she flits from one room to the next.
Growling, I imagine the bracelet around her wrist, the one with clear numbers on it.
A bracelet should be enough to keep other members away, especially when they know what it means.
London is mine, and anyone who breathes in her direction will answer to me.
The club is full of men pushing the envelope and experimenting, but none of them are stupid enough to cross me.
I have spent years building a reputation as someone who is ruthless and cunning, and I don’t give second chances.
Especially where betrayal is concerned.
London doesn’t know it yet, but before her contract is up, I have every intention of possessing her in every way that counts.
A thrill races through me at the notion, and my grip on the glass relaxes. After a few more sips, I can almost ignore the knot in my stomach. Once I finish the drink, the phone in my pocket buzzes. Sighing, I fish it out and set down my drink.
“What?”
“Is that any way to answer the phone?”
I switch the phone to my other ear and raise an eyebrow. “Do you want me to roll out the red carpet? If you want a warmer welcome, I can arrange for that at the club.”
Liam Fitzpatrick makes a low noise in the back of his throat. “As tempting as that offer is, this phone call isn’t about pleasure. It’s about business.”
The silence stretches between us.
I begin to drum my fingers. “Yes?”
“Is there any news about the location we discussed?”
An image of the diner, run-down and decrepit, flashes through my mind, and I smile. “I’m making progress.”
“That’s not what I was hoping to hear.”
I roll my eyes. “These things don’t follow a fucking schedule. It’ll get done when it gets done.”
Liam makes another low noise. “I just want to remind you of what’s at stake. The Everetts are waiting for this to be resolved, too. A lot is riding on this, Mason.”
As if I need reminding.
Liam Fitzpatrick is an ass-kissing prick, and he loves reminding me of how small I am in the grand scheme of things. While we’d all love for him to be dealing with my father where acquisitions are concerned, I’m not going to let him get under my skin.
I know he’s waiting for me to fail.
We’ve been in bed with the Fitzpatricks and Everetts for years, but partnerships can dissolve in an instant.
All it takes is one wrong move or misunderstanding, and the city will become collateral damage in our war.
I have no intention of it happening on my watch, but sometimes, I fantasize about putting Liam’s head through a wall.
Repeatedly.
Then I picture him on the other end of my Glock.
It’s almost enough to make me forget the predicament at hand.
With London working off her father’s debt, I can’t go near the diner without breaking our contract.
There are very few boundaries I won’t cross, but I don’t break my word.
Not for Liam fucking Fitzpatrick or anyone else.
“…a few other spots we can suggest.” Disdain drips from Liam’s every word. “I had them lined up in case your spot didn’t pan out.”
Fucking asshole.
I’m not sure when or how I got on his bad side, but Liam is always in the shadows.
I know he’s itching to take my demise to my father and remove me as a chess piece once and for all.
I won’t give him the satisfaction.
I sit up straighter and roll my shoulders. “I said I’ll fucking handle it. Or do you want me to screw things up and bring even more heat on us?”
With the new mayor eager to make a name for himself, we both know we can’t afford any more scrutiny if we want to keep the machine moving.
It’s taken a long time to build the intricate empire, and no one wants to risk having it fall.
More than anyone, I have too much riding on its success.
Even if you expand the empire beyond his wildest dreams, your father will never give you the approval you seek.
A small part of me longs for his nod of satisfaction anyway.
Ever since I was little, everything I’ve done has been to earn his approval. Little has changed since I became an adult, even as frustration and anger burn through me at the reminder that I’m still essentially his puppet.
“The Everetts are not as patient as we are,” Liam reminds me, and I can hear the amusement in his voice. “I know you’re new to this, but it’s all tied together—”
“I don’t need reminding,” I cut him off coldly. “You’ll have your spot.”
Liam says something else, but I don’t hear him.
The car I’m riding in rolls to a stop at a traffic light, and I turn toward the window.
Through the dark pane, I see the family in the car next to me.
The mother and father are in the front seat, holding hands and exchanging smiles.
A car seat in the back holds a young boy with a mess of dark hair.
His eyes are squinted, and a screen is clutched in his hand.
The window closest to me has a redhead with wisps of hair clinging to her face and a bottle of nail polish in her manicured hands.
I blink, and her face is replaced by London’s, her mouth forming a perfect “O”.
I picture her in the library, her tight and bare ass on display.
I exhale and see her fingers darting in and out of her wet folds.
I imagine myself coming up behind her with a leather whip in hand.
Then, I see myself pulling out a pair of handcuffs.
The thought of her being tied up and at my mercy is almost enough to make me come right there.
The car jerks forward again, and I’m snapped out of my thoughts.
Liam is still droning on in the background, rattling off facts and statistics that hold no interest to me.
When we pull up outside the mansion, I end the call and shove the phone into my pocket.
I make my way through the members lounging about and the women entertaining them.
On my way to the elevators in the back, a few scantily clad women in tight clothes with pounds of makeup wave at me.
I step onto the elevator and spin to face them again.
One of them bears a passing resemblance to London.
I pause with my finger over the button.
When I blink, her red lips are pursed in my direction, and her long lashes frame almond-shaped eyes.
Growling, I jab the button and stand straighter.
The doors ping shut, and I shove a hand into my pocket.
When the doors open again, I’m greeted by a few more barely dressed women, but they’re focused on the men in front of them.
Many of them are on their knees.
A few have their legs spread wide.
The smell of sex and sweat follows me as I snake through the crowd. I reach my office and spot Katia leaning against the nearest wall in her usual skin-tight outfit. Her long hair is braided, and a bored and calculated look is etched onto her features.
She straightens when she sees me. “Anything?”
I brush past her and twist the knob to my office. “The business side of things isn’t your concern, is it?”
Katia steps in after me, her dark eyes scanning my office. “That’s never stopped us before. You know I’m here for whatever you need.”
It’s the sole reason I have her in my life.
Katia has been groomed for this life since she was little.
Being with her is uncomplicated.
She knows every inch of me, and the darkness doesn’t faze her.
If anything, she welcomes it, and I know she’s been tiptoeing around me since my admission, waiting for an opening to slither back into my bed.
With the day I’m having, I’m tempted to let her do just that.
I need relief from the thoughts of London that keep plaguing me, and from the headache that is dealing with our allies.
The Fitzpatricks shouldn’t be able to put a damper on my mood, but they’ve soured it nonetheless.
I can’t let them know that I let the restaurant slip from my hands.
I know what the consequences will be.
They can’t know about London when she’s still new to all of this. I need time to shape her and make her crave the kinds of things only I can give her.
Having the Fitzpatricks and Everetts snooping around will only scare her away.
I need her for more than just her debt.
As I sit behind the desk and contemplate finding a way to keep her and seize her father’s property, I imagine the look on her face.
Something tells me that going back on my word won’t sit well with her.
London is innocent, but she isn’t stupid, and the last thing I need is for her to draw attention to what we do in a half-cocked scheme to exact revenge.
You’re the one who decided to think with your dick instead of your head. You have no one to blame but yourself for this mess.
But I don’t regret anything I’ve done to get to London.
Since the moment I clapped eyes on her, I knew.
My blood boils at the thought of her, and I have half a mind to drag her into my office now and show her what a real man feels like.
“You look like you have a lot on your mind,” Katia purrs, pausing to nudge the door shut with her shoulder. “Why don’t I help?”
I sit behind my desk and lean back. “I thought I made it clear what I expect from you going forward.”
A small part of me is already regretting taking Katia off the board.
She’s not London, but she knows how to give me what I want. All I have to do is snap my fingers, and she’ll be on her knees, giving me a temporary reprieve.
Katia’s lips spread into a slow smile as she takes a step forward. “Why not do it one last time? For old time’s sake.”
I raise an eyebrow. “I didn’t take you for the sentimental type.”
Katia’s fingers move to the buttons on her shirt, and her footsteps are slow and measured. “I’m whatever type you want me to be, sir. Whenever you want.”
I sit up straighter and link my fingers. “I’m sure you have better things to do.”
Katia stops on the other side of the desk, and I look at the swell of her breasts, held back by her black bra. She reaches behind her and undoes the clasp. Then she leans forward, her dark eyes glittering suggestively.
What is the matter with you? She’s here and willing. Just accept what she’s offering.
Katia has already seen and tasted the darkness.
She revels in it almost as much as I do, and she’s never known anything else.
London, on the other hand, is going to experience everything for the first time, and while the thought of taking Katia is both familiar and tempting, it’s nothing compared to the pull I feel toward London.
Part of her appeal is in knowing that I’ve already planted the seeds of doubt.
When the time is right, I will pull London in, and she won’t know what hit her.
She will welcome it.
Knowing that I will be the one to corrupt her shouldn’t have me this excited, but it does, and it’s all I need to lean away from Katia. She leans back, snaps the buttons back into place, and links her fingers behind her.
Suddenly, I’m not looking at the woman I’ve been fucking but the assassin who has been born and bred to carry out my dirty work.
“I’ve been scoping the property,” Katia says evenly. Her dark eyes study me intently. “We shouldn’t have any problems with the diner. I think the old man will probably be happy to have it off his hands.”
She and I both know that isn’t true.
While I haven’t laid eyes on London’s father, I know that borrowing that much money had to have been hard. For a man like that, it was a Hail Mary intended to save his business. Knowing he would lose it anyway had to hurt even more than knowing Carlisle humiliated him in front of his daughter.
I don’t take any pleasure in this aspect of running a business, but it’s a necessary evil.
I’m not in the business of making exceptions, not even for the father of the woman I intend to seduce and corrupt.
I’ll just have to find a loophole in London’s contract that gets me what I want while ensuring that she honors her word.
And how are you going to do that? She only agreed to serve her time in exchange for the diner and her father’s safety.
I shuffle some papers around the desk, my mind racing. “Stand down. I’m pursuing other possibilities.”
Except none have the strategic advantage that the diner has.
It’s at the center of the city; one of the most lucrative spots around.
The Fitzpatricks will settle for nothing less, unless I can figure out a better location that’ll make them forget about it.
Katia nods curtly. “Will there be anything else?”
I spare her a cursory glance before sliding my gaze back to the paperwork. “No, that’ll be all.”
Katia turns and leaves the office, the door clicking shut behind her. I stand and walk to the cart on the other side of the room. After pouring myself a generous amount of whiskey, I lift the glass to my lips.
I pause and smile at the thought of London serving me a drink in a skimpy little outfit while handcuffed. Then I stare out the window, at the world outside bathed in the silver glow of the moon. I down my drink and let it burn a path down my throat before settling in my stomach.
The next few hours are quiet as I leaf through the papers and scroll through documents on my computer.
By the time I’m done, I have a crick in my neck, and the blood roaring in my ears is even louder.
With a little more force than necessary, I push back my chair, cross to the door, and step outside.
I wander through the club and picture London as one of the girls here.
She’ll fit right in whether she knows it or not.
I’ll make sure of it.