9. Knox #3
Flattery, I could do that. I could also see the way his eyes hadn’t left my body in this dress.
Something very different from the stupid lunch yesterday.
He’d noticed me, but he’d gone back to ignoring.
No doubt the dress tonight was a little more interesting to a man who seemed to enjoy mistresses.
I stole another glance at my uncle. If looks could kill, someone would be digging me a grave right now.
“Uncle. Is everything going okay? I know you mentioned a new project on the strip. Is that how you and Carrow’s family know each other?”
My uncle’s right eye twitched, but I doubted anyone else noticed.
“You are coming out of your shell, my sweet little niece. Asking about things you aren’t involved in.”
I pressed into the side of Carrow, playing up the innocent little damsel.
“I’m sorry, Uncle. Didn’t you tell me to take an interest in Carrow and his family’s business since I’m marrying him soon?”
Mr. Thorne let out a deep belly laugh, and my uncle relaxed when he noticed Carrow’s hand cover mine.
“Grayson, no worries. She’s a delight. Such a sweet little thing. I’m thrilled to see her willing to help Carrow run the family business. It’s so important we’re all on the same page.”
Same page my ass.
I wondered if my uncle could tell just how many shits I wasn’t giving anymore. Not now that I thought I had some kind of escape standing behind me, watching me. Maybe my uncle should have checked if I even wanted my inheritance, because I was ready to walk away from it all.
The money I would get? The assets my parents left?
They all were meant to be mine when I married.
I know my parents had arranged a marriage that would protect me as I got older.
My father had known he wore a target on his back.
My parents loved me for the most part. Mom at least felt like she was trying to protect me.
I got the best schools. The best clothing.
I had a nanny who took me places, and once in a great while, Mom was there to read me a bedtime story and hug me.
It was never perfect, but my life had never been the same since their deaths.
Every day for years I imagined the man I was supposed to marry. I’d imagined he would come and rescue me. I always thought he’d wanted me, or at least my money.
He never came, and instead I was in hell. I’d sell my soul to the devils at my back or I would run away and find another way to live free from this.
“Margaux, my dear. Perhaps you can help Carrow tonight. A few of our associates for the project you mentioned are here tonight. I’d like to hand this over to Carrow. Harrington, how does it sound to let the kids meet with the investor?”
The way Mr. Thorne said investor sounded off. I didn’t know much about business. But I knew lies. I could hear the lies because they were the only language I’d become fluent in since my parents’ death.
“Thank you, Mr. Thorne. Nothing would please me more than to be of use to Carrow.” I looked up to the man in question making sure I batted my eyes just right and my smile was sugary sweet. I tilted my head and slowly licked my bottom lip, watching the way his eyes followed the small movement.
“The auction starts shortly. One of the investors is upstairs.” Mr. Thorne handed Carrow a key.
Carrow seemed to walk a little taller, but I didn’t exactly get the same kind of blind confidence. Carrow walked like the world was beneath him. He pulled me away, my hand firmly being crushed by his. Great. He was being clingy.
“You didn’t come across as a woman interested in the family business, sweetheart.”
My smile faltered at the sound of Carrow’s lowered voice as we crossed the room.
“Of course. I’m supposed to be useful to my husband, aren’t I?”
I tried not to make eye contact, but I still noticed his little thin-lipped smile.
“You could have just spread your legs for me. All my parents wanted from you is a pretty daughter-in-law and the family name to continue. However, I’m curious if you’re going to be more fun to break than I originally thought.”
I breathed in through my nose and bit down on my cheek to keep my inner demon at bay.
“Oh, Carrow. I hope we don’t need to be ugly. I’ll do as you need, but let me be helpful to you.”
He patted my hand as we stopped at an elevator where he pushed the button to go up.
I wasn’t sure what the next move should have been. I thought I could get some info from my uncle, but now? What was I about to walk into?
“Are you looking for those pathetic looking guards? You won’t need them anymore. I’ll hire my own to watch you.”
Guards?
“Did they look pathetic? My uncle seemed to think they were rather effective.”
Carrow pulled me into the elevator, and as he did I turned to scan the crowd for any of them and couldn’t find a single one. For all my newfound confidence, I suddenly felt the poison that was dread trying to crack the part of me that tried to stay strong and keep going.
“Margaux, I didn’t like the way they looked at you. A good security detail doesn’t covet what isn’t theirs.”
His fingers grabbed my chin as he said the words.
“I’d hate to hear my future bride’s innocence be questioned purely because she was led astray. I’ll ensure you are well guarded by men I choose.”
The elevator didn’t take long. It dinged, and we got out and started walking down the long hall of the third floor of the hotel.
“Carrow, I’m just curious, but do those men look like men you’ve seen before? I feel like maybe you’d have seen them gambling, in a high-rise casino, with a girl on your arm that isn’t me.”
I giggled playing the Margaux Harrington card while pushing buttons I wasn’t sure I should and really didn’t care. We stopped in the middle of the hallway.
I looked up for the first time since getting off the elevator, but he was still looking straight ahead.
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” he said.
He started to move and stopped again.
“Are they familiar, Margaux?”
I shrugged.
“Familiar to whom? Me or you? I obviously know them.” I stood on my tiptoes and whispered, “I know them very well.”
My back hit a door in the blink of an eye. The pain broke a floodgate within me. A flood gate of crazy. I couldn’t stop laughing.
“Margaux, your uncle and my father expect this deal to go through. Your uncle has the legislation ready to go. A few more senators and a few more backers, and it’s signed and sealed. The old Lux casino is gone. Your uncle is ensuring that the land stays within our hands.”
His hand slid to my throat.
“Now move, fiancée. You’re a part of this whether you like it or not.”
I followed trying to swallow the laughter.
I’d lost it and didn’t care. Carrow had kept talking, and I wasn’t sure what any of that shit meant, but I had a feeling Ronan and the boys would. We stopped outside room 311. Okay. Good feeling gone.
Carrow placed the keycard on the door lock and it opened.
“Get inside. If you’re tainted goods anyway, maybe you can get this deal signed faster.”
Carrow pulled out some papers that were tri-folded from inside of his jacket. The lights were all off except for one near a small sitting area. Not a penthouse, but larger than expected from the outside.
“You must be Thorne’s boy? Tell me, what has him sending you and this tasty little treat?”
I cringed.
“Excuse me? I am a human, not a snack.”
Carrow seemed to be looking between me and the man.
“The percentage of your cut is spelled out in the papers. We just need your funds to make sure they don’t trace it back to Harrington. His part is taken care of. Harrington’s focus is on the idea that his plan will create jobs, keep the revenue local.”
The guy eyed me, and my skin crawled.
“Fine. Fine. But what about her? Is she part of the negotiations?”
I cringed, but Carrow didn’t say much.
“She’s my fiancée. How about I find someone just as beautiful and send her up?”
I tried to hide behind Carrow, feeling the man's eyes undressing me.
“Fine. As long as she looks like her. Leave this one just to keep me company. Until you up hold your end of the bargain.”
Carrow didn’t move for a few seconds, and I almost wondered if beneath his pompous exterior there was a heart.
“You’ll sign the contract first?”
The man held out his hand, and Carrow put the papers in it.
“Of course. Leave her here until you fulfill your promise though, as collateral.”
Carrow pulled me forward. His hand pressed on my lower back.
“Fine. You can borrow her. Do not go too far, she’s mine. I will have a replacement here in less than twenty minutes.”
I turned to Carrow.
“Wait. What?” I asked.
He didn’t even look at me, just pushed my hand off his arm and turned for the door.
“Twenty minutes, and she is just on loan to keep you company. Margaux, serve him a drink.” With that, Carrow left the room, leaving me and the man alone. I watched his hands move and realized the contract was still in them. So it was me, the man, and a contract. Maybe this wasn’t useless after all.
“What would you like to drink? It’s not a fully stocked bar, is it?”
It wasn’t if I compared it to even the bar set up at the game the other night. I also only knew how to make a handful of drinks that Reina had shown me.
“Bourbon. On the rocks. Pour yourself a little something too. Your fiancé is a trusting man.”
I rolled my eyes this time and stepped to the small bar.
“He doesn’t trust anyone, especially me,” I said and poured his drink.
I hesitated but turned around and nearly dropped the glass.
“Sir, you need to move away.”
He’d gotten bold.
“Why would I do that? He said I just couldn’t go too far. Maybe you just suck me off? Your lips look like they are perfect for sucking dick.”
I gagged.
“No thanks. I won’t even suck his cock, so that’s a no go.”
He didn’t seem fazed.
“Well, that wasn’t a request. If they want my money and my silence then I want your mouth.”
The door beeped open and we both turned. I expected Carrow. Instead it was a blur of black suits and rather familiar faces. One such body reached for the man, and with one hand around his neck slammed him against the far wall.
“What were you doing?” Ronan asked.
The guy clawed at the hand around his throat.
“Who the hell are you and how did you get in here?”
Talon held up a room key.
“It’s not hard to get access to keys. It’s even harder to hide her.”
They motioned to me.
I smiled at the horror in the man’s eyes as I walked forward and grabbed the contract from the table.
“Looks like I won’t be sucking your dick after all.”
Maybe that was the wrong thing to say, or maybe I’d just poked the bear, or rather bears. Either way, four sets of eyes narrowed, and I think that man peed himself.
“You didn’t say that to pretty girl, did you?” Jett asked, stalking closer.
The man’s face was red, and I realized it was probably the pressure Ronan was placing on his windpipe. The man didn’t answer, he just choked out air and one or two unintelligible sounds.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Knox said, pulling out a lighter I’d never noticed before. He flicked the lid open and lit it again and again as he grabbed for my arm.
“Angel, this guy disrespected you. What would you like to do?” Knox asked me.
I didn’t know why it mattered. But the way the four of them stood between me and an asshole? The way they’d come to find me without me having to ask?
Why was it suddenly so hard to breathe?