Chapter Eighteen West
I lean my forearm against the cool ceramic tiles as warm water rained down my body, my shoulders slumped, and my head lowered.
Fuck her out of your system. That's what the guys had said. That's what the plan had been. But now that the deed was done, I still want her. Crave her. Like a damn drug I have never done but suddenly can't live without.
I slam my fist against the wall in frustration, the glass walls rattling but thankfully not shattering. Not that it would have been the first time. Nor, if my temper had anything to do with it, would it be the last.
I tip my head back, opening my mouth for the water to cleanse the taste of Roe's sweet, sweet pussy from my tongue. I gargle and spit, frustrated, yet also kind of satisfied, when her flavor remains.
My mind wanders back to the bedroom. How her body fit so perfectly against mine, how the sounds she had made had almost snapped my restraint too soon. The way she sucked my cock down her throat like it was her favorite icy-pole, as if her tonsils had an itch that only my cock could scratch.
My cock twitches and hardens. I flick the hot water off and brave the cold as my balls shrink with my cock. Goosebumps break out over my skin, but I force myself to stay for a few more seconds if only to get my head out of the gutter.
Clean yourself up . I can't help but snort at the utter ridiculousness that had come out of my mouth. I couldn’t help myself, as high as I was on the taste and feel of her. But I was a fucking Duke, and she needed reminding of that. I never took care of a girl after we had banged. That was her job. Hell, she should have been up long before my jelly legs had stabilized enough to carry my weight and gotten the shower ready for me. I was a motherfucking Duke, and Dukes didn’t do cuddling and sleepovers. Damn time she figured that out.
Cursing, I realize that that is most likely exactly where her mind had gone. I had been in the shower for at least 15 minutes now, trying to clear my mind. No doubt Roe had used that time to make her escape. Turning the tap off, I push the glass door open and head to the door to my bedroom, cool water dripping from my body as I forgo a towel .
I push the door open unceremoniously, tense and ready to go find my girl, but I freeze as the door hits the wall with a thwack, making the slim, sleeping figure on my bed twitch. Roe mumbles something under her breath before reaching her arms around my giant, idiotic dog and snuggling close to him. My fucking dog is a little spoon to a tiny excuse of a woman. And I am not even mad about it. In fact, my gut turns warm, and I wonder for a moment, at the unfamiliar feeling, if I am about to have a bout of diarrhea.
Chaos may be an inside dog, but he knows better than to try to sleep on my bed. Besides the fact that he is a dog and I am not a cuddler, he has got his own damn bed, custom sized and all. But watching him snoring by Roe, his monster paws twitching as he runs in his sleep, I can't help but wonder why I had never tried this before. It looks… cozy. Nice.
Shaking off the weird as fuck thoughts, I return to the bathroom to towel off and brush my teeth. I slip back into the bedroom a moment later and contemplate the King-sized bed. Roe and Chaos are doing a fantastic job of taking up the entire damn thing. Huffing, I lift the blanket and slide in behind Roe, our naked bodies fitting together like two pieces of a puzzle. I place my arm across Roe's waist, my hand resting on the steadily rising and falling stomach of Chaos.
Seemingly minutes later, I wake to a warm body pressed against me.
"Mmm," I groan, pulling the body closer.
Suddenly, I am assaulted across the face by something large, slimy, and smelly.
"What the fuck!" I push myself up, my head racing to catch up to what I am looking at. Chaos looks up at me from where he is lounging in the middle of the bed, tongue lolling as if he is oh-so proud of himself.
"The fuck? Down!" I shout. Chaos' tail stops wagging abruptly, and he stares at me with his puppy dog eyes before slowly heaving himself up as if the effort is too much for his big bones. "Drama queen," I say halfheartedly.
Running my fingers down my face, I get the feeling that I am forgetting something. With a jolt, I look back at my now empty bed.
"Fuck! "
I toss on a pair of gym shorts before leaving my room and jog to the opposite side of the house. Without knocking, I slam open my sister's door, heart thudding dangerously in my chest.
East jolts into a sitting position, seemingly waking up.
"What the hell, Western?" she shrieks, bringing her quilt up to cover her chest. She is wearing a singlet, but I know girls hate sleeping in bras. My sister's peaked nipples are definitely not a sight I want to be seeing right now, or ever, for that matter.
"Where is she?" I demand, hastily looking away and heading to East’s ensuite. It is quickly apparent that Roe isn't here if the empty bathroom is anything to go by.
"Where is who?" East gasps. "Honestly, West, what if I was getting dressed? What if I had been masturbating?"
I wave my hands by my ears, trying to erase the last question from my brain. "Jesus, fuck, East! Not something I need to know you do!"
Her face burns bright red. Fucking fantastic. I turn back to the door, eager to continue my search.
"Wait- West! Who are you looking for?" her eyes widen and as she comes to some form of conclusion. "Wait… are you talking about Roe ?" I pause, tilting my head. So, she had seen her. "Why the fuck is Roe in our house at-" she cuts herself off as she reaches for her phone on the nightstand. Ok, so she hadn’t seen Roe after all. "Nine thirty in the morning on a Saturday?Did you fuck my best friend?"
"Felix is your best friend," I say, rolling my eyes at her demands. "And watch your mouth. You know Dad doesn't tolerate that kind of language coming from you."
I slam her door closed behind me, hearing an exasperated "West!" call after me as I jog towards the stairs.
I sigh in relief as I reach the ground floor and hear Roe's voice coming from the dining area. Then I hear his voice.
"I do love a girl who knows her place."
I storm into the room, jaw clenched and muscles tense.
My father is lounging in his usual chair at the head of the table, legs spread, chin high. Roe is standing a few feet away, hands clasped behind her back, chin tucked into her chest, and an innocent smile on her face.
"Of course, Mr. Mazzuchelli," she says, sweet as sugar, barely sparing me a glance as she continues. "Now, as to those questions…" she trails off, smiling shyly at the floor.
The fuck is she playing at?
"Of course, my dear," I ground my teeth together at his use of endearment. "West, you didn't tell me the school had set an assignment on interviewing local business owners. "
I almost snort. Roe sends me a quick glare before returning her gaze to the floor. Of course my girl would spin this bullshit to get a story for her Dukes assignment. I pull out a chair, keen to hear what she has to say.
"Not one of my classes," I shrug, flicking a finger at the coffee pot that Roe had obviously just served for my father. Turning her back on my father, she sends me a scathing look as she pours me a cup. I grin. "Told you I'd have her kissing my toes in no time," I tell my father, not taking my eyes off Roe.
"Indeed," he laughs, helping himself to a sip of his steaming mug of black. Roe's lips thin, before she gives herself a little shake and brings that pretty, fake smile back. "So, tell me, Miss Nixon, what questions do you have for me today?"
Roe smiles at her toes before glancing up through her eyelashes at my father, who practically preens under her gaze.
"Well," she starts, throwing in a quick lip bite, "to tell you the truth, we haven't actually started planning out our interview questions just yet. I hope you don't mind if I wing it?"
Vincent laughs. "Not at all. Please, take a seat. Help yourself to some coffee. "
Roe pulls out the seat opposite mine. She throws me a blank glance as she helps herself to some coffee. Taking a sip, she closes her eyes and lets out a throaty moan, making my cock jump to attention.
Infuriatingly, I spy my father tilting his chin in interest, the sick fuck.
"Do you mind if I record this, Mr. Mazzuchelli?" Roe asks, pulling her phone out. "I am afraid I came completely unprepared for this and haven't even brought a pen and paper." She wrings her hands in a nervous gesture and I raise an eyebrow, lifting my cup. This girl should be in Hollywood.
"Not at all," he says. He gestures for Roe to start. "And, please, call me Vincent."
She taps at her phone for a moment before setting it between the two of them, a microphone image visible as the recording starts.
Roe clears her throat. "Why don't we start at the beginning? How did you come to be in business, Vincent?"
Dad leans back in his chair. "To be honest, Miss Nixon, business ownership and management is in my blood. My father passed his legacy on to me just as his father did to him, and so on. The Mazzuchelli's have been of money for many generations, you see. Actually, my great-great- grandfather almost blew it for us all. Gambling and whoring his way to an early grave. Luckily, he left behind a son with brains as big as his balls. It was he who formed the Dukes, in fact. But I am getting sidetracked. My father signed off his businesses to me on his retirement.
"Being a well-educated man, I decided to sell off what I could while the stakes were high. Yes, they were dropping drastically, but they had not yet fallen too far to get out of. Some of those businesses are still going, though their income is not quite like it used to be. Others fell to bankruptcy, as I had predicted."
"That was so very clever of you, Vincent," Roe preens appropriately.
My dad nods. "Thank you, my dear."
"May I ask which of your many businesses is your most profitable?"
"Of course," Dad says, a sly smile stretching his lips. "That would be my hotel franchise, Mazzuchelli's, of which I'm sure you are familiar?" Roe nods, and I focus closely, remembering the unusual income I had spied on the business statement. "Mazzuchelli's was my father's one and only idea of consequence. Not just the five-star accommodation, but the restaurant of only the best cuisines, the bar with the world's finest alcoholic beverages… and Th e Den and all its dazzling delights." His eyes sparkle as he mentions the mysterious money maker, clearly a fan of these dazzling delights .
Roe's head tilts as her brow crinkles in a frown, clearly as unfamiliar with the term as I was.
Dad continues before she can question him further.
"I have also recently acquired shares in a live exporting company, which I am hoping will improve Mazzuchelli's income even more."
My eyebrows jump. This was new. Why hadn't he told me about this last night?
Roe's face sours. "Live export? How exactly will the suffering of innocent animals improve the income of a hotel?"
"You do not approve, Miss Nixon?" he says in a bored tone.
I down the dregs of my coffee, knowing Roe's interview was about to be cut short.
"Pity. Miss Nixon, I am a very busy man and must take my leave now. West, if you will?"
I push to my feet and motion for Roe to follow. She opens her damn mouth, ready to start something she wasn't prepared to finish. I glare at her and she seems to take the hint .
Regaining some composure, she thanked my father for answering her questions, her smile strained. I wait for Roe to exit first before stepping out behind her, my shoulders relaxing as soon as I feel my father's gaze cut off from our retreating forms. I almost plow into Roe as she freezes just steps down the hall. East stands there with her arms crossed and lips pinched.
I push Roe to walk again, not wanting Father to know East had been listening in. Business was not the place for a young lady like her, he would say.
East pivots and leads us up the stairs to our shared lounge room.
She whirls on Roe before I have even had the chance to collapse onto the sofa.
"What the fuck, Roe!" she demands.
I frown but hold my tongue at her language.
Roe rag dolls onto the couch opposite me with a deep sigh.
"Where do you want me to start?"
"For one, what the hell are you doing at my house at the ass crack of dawn?" East hisses.
Roe rolls her eyes. "It is many hours past sunrise, East." She quickly continues, hands raised, as East opens her mouth. "But I see where you are coming from. "
After a quick glance my way, she blurts, "I slept with your brother," before wincing and shrinking into her seat.
I smirk as East glares my way. Damn right I fucked my sister's new friend.
"Before you say anything," Roe continues, "you saw what we were like with each other. It was going to happen one way or another. It is done, and it will never happen again."
My smirk drops as I glance sharply at Roe. Like fuck is she going to lay down the rules like that. I mean, sure, we agreed it would be a one-time thing. But that was before . Now that it is after, I'm not so sure that I want it to be a one-time thing.
East, who is still watching me closely, breaks into a grin before leaping onto the couch with Roe.
"I cannot believe I am witnessing the downfall of my brothers' whoring ways," she exclaims. "And with my newest bestie? Girl, you might as well change your surname now because there ain't no way in hell you will be flying solo again."
I glare at my little sister.
Roe huffs a laugh, shaking her head. "Nope. Just no!"
"You have been bingeing Disney again, haven't you?" I ask sarcastically .
"Oh, shoosh! I know my romance movies, buddy, and you have it ba-ad," East sings happily. " Both of you do."
Roe scowls at East, but her cheeks are flushed. Some sick, primal part of me ignites at that.
"You are so damn wrong, girl, but if you wanted to know what it was like, all you had to do was ask," Roe taunts.
East's eyes widen, and she shakes her head rapidly. "Nope. We are not going there."
Roe laughs and pulls East in for a quick side hug.
Bored of their antics, I open my phone and open Facebook. Wouldn't you fucking know it, the first post to pop up is a bad recording of me slamming a fist into that damn singer's face. I curse and throw my phone to the side. Father was not going to be happy.
Slinging me a side eye, East asks Roe what her plans are for the day. If I had anything to do with it, she would be tits down, ass up on my bed, my cock buried inside of her till the sun rose on the morrow.
"Katie is taking me to look at some cars," Roe says, pulling her phone out. "Shit, I really should get going.”
Before I can demand that she stay for a while, East jumps in. "Ooh, can I come?" she batts her eyelashes, "pretty please? "
"Easterly," I cut in before Roe can have her say, "you know father would not approve."
East huffs, sinking into the chair. Roe, however, rises to her feet.
"That asshole can stick it where the sun doesn't shine!" she all but shouts to the heavens.
I rise to my feet and grab her by the throat, pulling her roughly until we are chest to chest.
"Keep your voice down," I growl. "Do you have a fucking death wish?"
Roe tilts her head back, angling her mouth closer to my own. I can't help but drop my gaze to her lush lips, slightly agape and breathing heavily onto my own.
"So, this is suddenly incredibly awkward but also freaking adorable," East says from seemingly far away.
Roe jerks from my grip, keeping eye contact as she lowers herself back down to her seat. I do the same; my cock rock fucking hard. Roe smirks as I adjust myself while East is pointedly looking anywhere but at me.
"So," Roe says, relenting our stare off. "What is the Den?"
Easterly looks expectantly at me.
"I don't know," I admit after a beat .
East snorts, "How could you not know? He tells you everything."
I shake my head, not wanting to get into this with my sister. I choose to ignore her question and turn back to Roe instead.
"I was going through the accounts last night," I say in a hushed breath, leaning closer to the girls. "Under Mazzuchelli's, there was a list of departments that any typical hotel would draw income from: accommodation, the bar, and restaurant. Beneath all that was The Den . That is the first time I have ever seen or heard anything about it. But what had me even more confused was the money it raked in."
They both look at me expectantly. I sigh and slouch back into the chair. "I'm talking hundreds of thousands every month."
"He is a drug dealer," Roe says seriously, and I snort. "What? You think dearest daddy is above selling drugs?"
I shake my head, but truly, I am not a hundred percent sure anymore.
"He said 'dazzling delights'," East says slowly. "Maybe it’s a strip club?"
I contemplate a moment but shake my head. Law's family owns strip clubs and the like. Vincent has always sneered about those businesses on the few occasions he had spoken to me about them. How dirty and used the women were. The loud music, the sticky floors, and terrible company.
Roe’s phone beeps, bringing me back out of my head.
"Shit, it's Katie," she sighs, getting up. "I better get going."
I rise too. "I'll take you home."
"Really, there's no need-"
"For once, could you not just do what you are told?" I cut in, exasperated.
I prepare for a typical Roe backlashing but am taken aback when I glance back at her and see her smiling. And, fucking hell, is not it the most beautiful thing.