Chapter Fifteen
Reese
"Ava!" I growl as she flings herself out of the limo, desperate to rescue her cat from Leon. When I get my hands on the prick, I'm going to strangle him for upsetting her. That damn cat is her life.
"You told me it was a dream." Her bottom lip quivers as tears well in her eyes.
The accusation in her voice is unmistakable, but for a minute, I'm not sure what she's talking about, and then realization dawns. My fucking meeting with Leon. She told me that she had a nightmare about him demanding I marry his daughter. It was a nightmare, though I left out a few details that didn’t seem relevant at the time. My mother has tried to push me toward his daughter in the past. That wasn’t going to fucking happen. And he’s tried to use his daughter to push in on my company, which also isn’t going to fucking happen.
"It was a dream, baby," I murmur, hanging onto her as she squirms to get free. "Just relax and let him come to us. You'll see."
Almost on cue, Leon murmurs something to one of his cronies and then strides forward with all the swagger of a Vegas pimp. I guess if the shoe fits…
"Leon," I growl, clinging to Ava to ensure my wife doesn't get anywhere near the bastard as his gaze sweeps over her, his used-car salesman smile already grating on my fucking nerves. I swear to Christ, the man is as shady as they come. "What is this about?"
"Reese." He nods, pieces of his gray hair slicked to his head beneath the scorching Vegas sun. "Mrs. Donovan, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Don't speak to her. Don't even look at her, Leon. Why the fuck do you have her cat?"
"Oh, Max?" His shady smile grows as he glances down at the pet carrier in his arms. "Consider him a wedding gift from your mother. She thought you might be missing him." He holds the carrier out toward Ava, who snatches it out of his hands with a little cry, her attention immediately falling to the cat swiping at the bars from inside.
My blood runs cold at the mention of my mother. "My mother?"
I swear to Christ, if he says—
"She arrived early this morning on my private jet."
"Son of a bitch."
Satisfaction flares in Leon's eyes at my response, as if he's won. We both know that's what he wants. To win. He blames me for the fact that my mother won’t marry him. He's never forgiven me for refusing to allow it. As if it's my fault he's a piece of shit who’s trying to use her.
"What can I say, Reese? I finally wore her down."
"Ava, take Max and wait in the limo," I say quietly, my blood fucking boiling. I don't care how many men with guns this prick has standing out here, I'm going to knock his teeth down his throat for touching my mother. And then I'm putting her crazy ass on a plane and sending her straight back to Porter.
I don't care what lies he's told her; she isn't dating or marrying him.
That ship sailed when he tried to use her to gain a foothold in our company. It's not fucking sailing back now. No way, no how. Not ever.
He's one of the worst things that's happened to Vegas since the Harmon Tower. And his obsession with my mother is the bane of my fucking existence. He claims that he's in love with her. He isn't. He just hates that he lost.
I thought I could breathe easy once she decided to up and move to Porter. But, evidently, absence only makes the obsession grow stronger.
"Reese, no," Ava protests. "I'm not leaving you out here to face an army alone."
I'm almost positive five men don't an army make, but far be it for me to tell her that.
"Sweetheart, he isn't going to shoot me. Not if he wants my mother to marry him," I say, exasperated. "Besides which, what, precisely, are you going to do against several men with guns?"
"I don't know. What's your plan, hotshot?" she retorts, fire in her eyes, and then her brows furrow. "He wants to marry your mom?"
"She's the love of my life," Leon says theatrically.
Gag me with a fucking spoon.
Ava's expression softens. Naturally, she believes his bullshit. She's got a soft heart. I fucking love her for it, but Leon doesn't get to manipulate her with his bullshit lies. He doesn't love my mother. He loved the access she gave him to my company and our secrets. He's a user. It's what he does. It's who he is.
"Get in the limo, Ava."
"But Reese—"
"Now."
She grumbles under her breath—something about not helping me if they shoot me, which we both know is a lie because she'll miss the fuck out of me and my cock if they shoot me—before depositing the cat carrier inside the limo and allowing me to help her back inside. Once the door closes behind her, I wheel around to face Leon, fury boiling over.
"Where the fuck is my mother, Leon?" I ask, my voice lethally soft. "Is she in the warehouse?" I take a step in that direction, ready to get her and get the fuck out of here.
"Don't be ridiculous, Reese. I wouldn't bring her out here and let her see all of this." He eyes me levelly, that fucking smile slipping from his face. "We both know I'm not fucking stupid."
"Then where is she?"
"I'll tell you."
I wave my hand, signaling for him to get on with it. I've got better things to do—namely my wife—than deal with him and his bullshit.
"But we have something to discuss first."
"Hell will freeze over before she marries you." Ma may be batshit crazy, but she knows who he is now. She may have softened toward him enough to let him convince her to fly out here, but she won't marry him. Even if he wasn't a piece of shit, she wouldn't marry him simply because she doesn't love him. Her heart still belongs to my father. To her, Leon was never more than a friend.
He laughs abruptly. "You're probably right about that. But that's not what I want." He reaches into the breast pocket of his ridiculous fucking coat and pulls out a sheaf of papers before holding them out toward me.
I stare at the papers for a long moment before snatching them from his hands and glancing them over, my temper rising as I read. "You've lost your fucking mind, Leon. I told you the other day, I don't care how many of our vendors you buy out; you'll never see a goddamn dime of stock from my company."
"I will if you want to get your hands on the batteries that operate your toys, Reese. Because as of yesterday, I own the only supplier left in the United States." He smirks. "And since your company doesn't source your supplies from overseas, you need me."
The shady motherfucker…
"Where the fuck is my mother?" I growl, my temple throbbing.
"At your hotel." His smirk grows, humor dancing in his eyes. "Consider her arrival a wedding present." He turns to stride back to the warehouse and then pauses. "I took the liberty of booking her the suite right next door to yours."
Oh, this evil son of a bitch.
"What did he want?" Ava cries once I'm safely inside the limo and we're on the road again, heading back toward the hotel. She's got her cat in her arms… though the cat doesn't necessarily seem as thrilled by this as she does.
Honestly, the cat looks pissed. He's glaring at me.
"To ruin my life," I mutter, scrubbing a hand down my face. I toss his fucking contract on the seat beside me in disgust, leaning back to glare up at the ceiling of the limo. Fucking hell. Leon Anderson is a snake. A sneaky snake, but a snake.
"I thought he was going to kill you," Ava says, her voice soft. Worried.
I tip my head down to look at her. The sheen of tears in her eyes rips at my heart. I hold my arms out wide. "Come here."
She practically throws herself across the limo against my chest. I wrap my arms around her and her cat, who hisses at me.
"Max, behave," she admonishes.
The cat hisses at her, too, as if to say ‘fuck no’.
"I take it he doesn't like people?" I ask as our prick of a driver merges seamlessly into bumper-to-bumper traffic and then grinds to a halt.
"He's a cat, Reese. He's opinionated."
"Is he going to claw me if I kiss you?"
She glances up at me with big eyes, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. "Maybe you shouldn't risk it."
Yeah, fuck that.
I lean down, slanting my lips over hers. She moans into the kiss, melting against me. I flick my tongue against hers, working my frustration out against her sweet fucking mouth. I pour it all into her, letting her have every ounce of it.
She takes it like a champ, driving me wild in the process. By the time I let her up for air, we're both breathing heavy, my cock is screaming for relief, and her cat is squirming to get free.
"He didn't bite you," she says, surprised.
"I wasn't aware that was a possibility, baby."
"You didn't ask."
I chuckle, shaking my head at her as I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "I have something to tell you that you aren't going to like."
"You might as well tell me then."
"My mom is at the hotel."
"Oh." Her brows furrow. "That's not a problem, Reese. I like your mom." Her lips twitch into a smile. "Do you know that she says she moved to Porter because a psychic told her that her future daughter lived there?"
I stare at her for a long moment, not sure if she's serious or not. "You're shitting me."
"Nope. She said she had to consult a psychic because you wouldn't help her out."
I throw my head back, laughing loudly. My mother is fucking nuts. Jesus Christ. "I guess she was right, wasn't she?"
"Guess so because you got me wasted and married me."
"Her room is right next to ours."
Ava's eyes go comically wide. "Well, that's going to be awkward."
I hit her with a hot look. "You're just going to have to learn to be quiet when I'm inside you, Ava. Because I will be inside you whether she's right next door or not. I refuse to spend the rest of this trip without fucking you senseless."
"Reese, I can't be quiet." She looks panicked at the thought. "We should just cut the trip short and go back home. Then she won't be right next door and I won't have to be quiet."
I wrap my hand around her throat, tipping her head back. "You can and you will be quiet. Even if I have to gag you."
She whimpers, squirming on my lap. "Reese."
"Fuck," I growl, my cock throbbing at the thought of her bound and gagged, unable to move or make a sound while I do whatever the fuck I want to her delectable body. If there's a heaven, I think that might be it. "You like the thought, don't you?"
"What? No," she squeaks.
"Liar." I nip her bottom lip, dragging it through my teeth. "You do. I see it written all over your face, Ava. Tell me."
"Fine. Maybe I do."
I kiss her again, groaning at the thought of all the ways I'm going to make this woman come undone for me. At the thought of having a lifetime to spend lost in her, wringing pleasure from her perfect body. Christ, is there anything better?
And then her little hellcat hisses, sinking his damn claws into my hand.
"Fuck," I growl, jerking back.
"Meow." Max flicks a gaze up at me. He stares at me as if to say ‘back off, motherfucker’.
I heed the warning. For now.
"Bad kitty!" Ava admonishes, bustling him back into his pet carrier. He doesn't make it easy, clinging to the sides of the thing as if his life depends on it. But she outsmarts him after a moment and manages to wrangle him inside. Once he's settled, she plops back down on my lap, snuggling in.
"Is he always a pain in the ass?" I ask, watching him swat through the bars of it.
"Always." She laughs quietly and then sighs. "How did Leon know about him?"
"The same way he knew we were married, I'm guessing," I mutter. "My mother."
She stares up at me with wide eyes. "You told your mom about us?"
Jesus.
"You're my wife, Ava. You think I'd hide it from her?" I curve my hand around her jaw, locking eyes with her. "What's it going to take to make you realize this is as real as it gets, sweetheart? I didn't marry you on a whim. I married you because you’re what I want."
"I…" She licks her lips, staring up at me.
"Tell me," I growl. "Whatever it is, whatever you need, I'll make it happen."
"I don't need anything, Reese," she whispers. "I just feel…"
"Overwhelmed?"
She nods emphatically. "You're a freaking billionaire. And I'm a crazy cat lady. This feels too good to be true."
"You're the crazy cat lady I can't stop thinking about." I touch my lips to hers. "The one who keeps a smile on my face and makes my cock hard every minute of the day. Anyone can make money, Ava. Not everyone can light up every goddamn room they walk into. Trust me, sweetheart. Out of the two of us, you're the prize here. I'm just a grumpy motherfucker with money to burn."
"Yeah?" She beams up at me. "In that case, I have news for you."
"What's that?"
"We're going to have to burn some of that money before we go back to the hotel. Max needs things, or you're going to be buying a whole new penthouse suite."
I chuckle, flicking a glance at the cat. I have a feeling I'll be paying for damages regardless of what we buy for the fucking cat. There's no way he's going to cooperate while we're here. And thanks to Leon and his fucking meddling, I don't know how much longer we're going to be here.
My instincts say to grab my mother and get the fuck out of town now, but if he really did just buy out our battery supplier, I might not have a choice but to stick around and negotiate with him. Because our entire line of sex toys operates on rechargeable batteries. Without them, we're fucked. But no one else is.