Ruin Me, Daddy (Twisted Desires #1)

Chapter 1

NATHAN

Tonight was the night I was going to make him mine.

I took a deep breath as I stood outside the door to the hotel bar and went over the plan in my head again. For the last three weeks, I’d been popping in to see Duncan while he worked, watching him, waiting for the perfect moment.

Everything was planned out, and I’d even booked a suite at the hotel for the evening so I could give him the night he deserved. All I had to do now was walk in there and convince him to give me a chance.

Not that I thought it would be difficult. We’d been flirting for most of the time I’d been coming into the bar to see him, and I’d made it clear I had money. But if I couldn’t, then I had other methods of persuasion.

With a final shake of my shoulders, I flung off any doubt I had and walked through the doors with a smile on my face. A smile that slowly slipped as my eyes darted around behind the bar and I didn’t see Duncan.

I took in the cheap Halloween decorations, the colored lights pulsing throughout the bar instead of the usual annoying fluorescent beams, the red runner down the length of the bar, and the supposedly festive cobwebs and plastic spiders strategically placed along the glass on the back wall.

But there was something—no, someone, missing.

My steps slowed as I got closer to the bar, my head cocking to the side as I replayed our conversation from the other night in my head.

My eyes drifted closed and I could see him clear as day. Duncan McCallister, a pretty boy with blond hair and a killer smile that he flashed as he served me drinks from behind the bar. He’d told me he was working tonight. I knew he did. So why wasn’t he where he was supposed to be?

The betrayal was like a knife, carving out my soul.

“Nathan?”

My eyes flashed open and I turned to see who had called my name.

There weren’t many people here who knew my name.

I’d made sure of that. I spied the bartender at the other end, in the middle of taking care of another customer, giving me a nod and holding up a finger indicating for me to wait a moment.

I stood there, watching him work. His hands were large but handled the glassware with a delicacy that spoke of experience and his smile was easy and effortless.

But it did nothing for me. Not the way his athletic build filled out his tight-fitting black T-shirt and tight jeans that seemed to be the bar’s uniform or his olive complexion and dark eyes and long, wavy hair that he had tied back in a bun.

Then again, he would do, to work off some steam and tension that suddenly filled my body.

But that hadn’t been the plan and I hated to deviate from a plan. He had me curious, though, so I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the bar and waited for him to finish with his customer. I watched him like a lion stalking a gazelle as he made his way to where I stood.

He watched me with equal curiosity and I wondered what all Duncan had told him about me. Considering he knew my name, it was obvious he’d talked to his coworkers about me and a part of me preened at the thought, while another part cursed at the inconvenience.

“Duncan’s not here tonight,” the bartender, whose name I wasn’t sure I ever knew, told me as he continued to look me up and down. The gleam in his eyes was a giveaway to the fact he thought he was the one on the prowl, but he had no idea the danger he’d just walked into by approaching me.

“Yeah, I can see that.” My fist clenched at my side, and no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t keep the harsh bitterness from my tone.

It wasn’t this man’s fault, but I didn’t care about that.

What I cared about was the fact Duncan had lied to me.

He’d ruined what I had so carefully planned for the two of us.

The other man gave me a grin as he slid my usual beer order my way.

“Doesn’t mean you have to leave. First one’s on me.” He shot me a wink as another customer flagged him down from a few stools away.

I sneered at the drink as though it had personally offended me, refusing to drink it.

“Did he say why he wasn’t coming in tonight?” I asked before he was able to get too far away.

He shot me another grin as he threw the reply over his shoulder and kept walking. “Oh, he’s working tonight. He just got bumped up to bartend a wedding in the ballroom tonight because the original bartender got the flu.”

What the fuck?

I stormed out of the bar, furious with the way the asshole bartender had been jerking me around. I wanted to kill him just for fucking with me, but I knew I couldn’t draw that much attention to myself. I roamed the halls of the hotel, slipping into the employees only section.

There had to be a way into that ballroom where the wedding reception was taking place. He was in there. And he was mine, whether he knew it or not, his life was mine for the taking.

From the first moment I had laid eyes on him at the bar, I knew he was meant to be mine. I’d watched him, wanted him, waited for him. The timing had to be perfect.

And it had been.

Until it wasn’t.

My thoughts raced and I paced along the hall, wondering why tonight of all nights he had to be pulled from where he was supposed to be. I’d planned everything so carefully.

Looking up into the bright lights that hung from the ceiling, as though they would deliver me a solution, I wondered how everything had gotten so fucked up. Wondered why the universe was mocking me, taunting me.

A low growl tore from my chest as I darted down another hallway in the back of the hotel.

It was a risk being in public, especially when I was feeling agitated, but I was desperate.

I’d watched him for so long, this was supposed to be my chance to get him.

The thought of letting him slide through my fingers made my heart clench in my chest. It was an ache that stole my breath.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, drawing me out of my spiral. I yanked it out so hard and fast, I almost flung it across the hall, not even bothering to look at who was trying to get ahold of me as I powered it off before shoving it back into my pants. Whoever it was could wait.

Fuck. I needed to get a hold of myself.

Taking a deep breath, I put my palms flat against the wall and leaned back. If I didn’t calm down, I would lose control and that was how mistakes happened.

And I didn’t make mistakes.

Ever.

An itch started to work its way across my body and it took every ounce of control I had to not scratch my skin raw, to bleed myself dry to get rid of the feeling of uneasiness crawling beneath my skin.

The instinct to rush back and grab the bartender was overwhelming.

It wouldn’t be as satisfying to take him, fuck him, and kill him, but it would still ease the primal urge in me that lusted to exert that power and control over a human being.

There was nothing more thrilling than watching the life slip out of a well-fucked man and know I did that, on both counts.

But the beast inside me didn’t crave that nobody back there. It craved Duncan and it wouldn’t be satisfied until he was ours.

The sting of betrayal since finding out he wasn’t at the bar had slowly faded, but it still poked at the surface.

I couldn’t help but wonder if he had known he’d be tending bar at the wedding rather than the bar and hadn’t told me, because I didn’t believe his coworker when he said it was last minute.

But I couldn’t figure out why Duncan would do that, except that he hadn’t trusted me.

And if he didn’t trust me, then I couldn’t get him where I needed him to be, to go with me.

“Sir? You’re not supposed to be back here.” A young man had appeared in one of the doorways off to my right. His face was pinched with concern and confusion as he peeked over my shoulder. I assumed he was trying to figure out how I had gotten back there and what I was doing there.

Join the club, because I had still been trying to figure that out myself.

“Sorry. I think I got turned around.” I let go of the wall and glanced around, giving him my best helpless look.

He opened his mouth, ready to say something, before he looked back over his shoulder for a moment. When he refocused back on me, the apprehension was clear in his face, making me wonder just what he’d noticed before he’d said something to me.

“Where are you trying to get to? I’m sure no one will miss me if I’m gone for a couple minutes to help you.” The smile he offered me paled in comparison to the ones Duncan usually gave me, but then again, nothing about this kid shone as bright as Duncan’s star.

A slow smile slid across my face as I reached into my pocket, putting my phone back and wrapping my fingers around the stiletto blade I kept hidden there.

“That would be great. Thanks.” I made sure no one was around before I took a step toward him. His eyes darted to the side before coming back up to my face, and I could tell the unease was starting to creep in, as though he had just realized he might have made a mistake.

He had. But I wouldn’t let him go now.

I smiled as I took another step, my fingers tightening on my hidden blade. “I’m trying to find the ballroom. I’m supposed to pick up my friend from a wedding, but he’s not answering.”

With a shrug I hoped came across as nonchalant and maybe a little flirty, I closed the final distance between us and got right in his personal space. “What’s your name?”

It wasn’t that I cared. But I was meticulous and I wasn’t used to killing without stalking and a plan. So I knew I’d have to keep an eye on this man’s life for a little while after the deed was done.

The man nodded, but it didn’t seem to be at anything I’d said and went to take a step back.

I frowned, my arm reaching out to grab his wrist so he couldn’t run, but I didn’t hold on tight. Not yet.

“You still didn’t tell me your name, sweetheart.” I swiped my thumb along his wrist and offered up a shy smile, suppressing the urge to wipe my hand on my pants and get his germs, his scent, off me.

Even though I knew something about me had already spooked him, I had to try to get the situation back under control.

Because even though he wasn’t the one I was after, he was the ticket I needed to get to my Duncan.

My boy was waiting for me in that ballroom and I couldn’t disappoint him.

So, for the moment, I had to pretend to want this man, who meant nothing, at least while he could give me what I needed.

“Thomas.” The name came out in a whisper as he looked back down the hall. And I could tell the moment he was going to run, just before he took the step back.

I reached out and grabbed his wrists, pressing him against the wall, pinning his hands to the wall in a grip so tight I swore I could feel a bone or two snap.

The way he whimpered under me, with his big brown eyes staring up at me, wide and full of tears, only confirmed I must have broken something.

With a sigh, I leaned in and brought my lips to his ear. “Tsk tsk, Thomas. You’ve been a very naughty boy.”

The young man let out another whimper as he squirmed and tried to pull free of my grasp, but it was no use.

“Please. Just let me go. Whatever you want, you can have it,” he tried to reason. “I won’t tell anyone you were back here. No one has to know anything.”

“You’re right, you won’t tell anyone that I was back here.

” I rubbed my stubbled cheek against the smooth baby soft skin of his neck before I pulled him away from the wall, clasping his hands behind his back, and marched him down to the exit and into the alley.

By the time I pushed the door open, Thomas worked himself into a frenzy.

I hated criers. Why couldn’t people greet the end of their lives with a little dignity?

“Please,” he tried to beg again as I pushed him out the door, “I don’t even know who you are. You don’t have to do this.”

My hand went into my pocket and twisted along the thin cylinder there as I slowly pulled it out.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Thomas. I do have to do this.

It wasn’t supposed to be you. Honestly, you just ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But, your death will serve a purpose.” I gave him a smile as I stepped closer, but my words seemed to have caught him off guard, since he hadn’t tried to run.

“A purpose?” He looked up at me, all wide-eyed and innocent, completely bypassing the fact we were talking about his death.

I reached out and cupped his cheek, swiping my thumb over his cheekbone. It was a shame. He really was very pretty.

“You’re going to help me get to my Duncan.”

He stared at me, confused, before I made my move, but by then, it was too late.

My arms wrapped around him, pulling him into a tight embrace as my arm came up and the needle pricked the side of his neck.

Thomas’ eyes widened with fear and his mouth went slack as his body went weightless in my arms. I gently laid him down on the ground and watched as he struggled to move.

His breathing slowed as he reached out to me.

I stood, waiting against the wall with my arms and legs crossed, before his breathing finally stopped.

When I was sure he was dead, I stripped him of his uniform and pulled it on over my clothes. It was a little snug, but I didn’t think anyone would be paying close enough attention this late in the evening.

The wedding reception had to be winding down by now. I just needed to blend in enough to slip by unnoticed through the back halls. Then I could sneak into the reception and pretend to be a guest.

At least, until I made my way to the bar. To him. And claimed my prize.

Duncan was mine.

He wasn’t going to escape me. There was no escaping the beast that lived under my skin.

It was time to make my move and get Duncan out of the ballroom without anyone seeing.