Chapter 4
”Sir?” I looked away from the door, where my new toy had disappeared, back to Davis. He was still standing by the car with an expectant look on his face. I nodded to acknowledge his presence.
”Take her belongings to the apartment and then come back and wait,” I said to him. ”I am not in the mood for a lot of socialising tonight.” To be fair, this was true of most times. I hated the social side of my life. All the tedious conversations and pandering to the entitled bastards. But it was necessary if I was going to get what was rightfully mine. It also came in handy when I had a particular mark that I was working on. Most work that I did for the Foundation required access to the higher level inner workings, and my name only got me so far. Calling in favours and using my charms worked well when they thought they had a more intimate access to me. I had fucked secrets and information out of more than one wife of some jumped up prick I was tasked to deal with. These women had very loose lips when you satisfy the urges that their limp dick husbands have been vastly inadequate in doing.
I look down at my watch and back up at the door. Only a couple of moments had passed but I was getting impatient, and I wouldn”t be surprised if the sweet Lily had already attempted to bolt. I half hoped that she had, I did love a good hunt and I would enjoy it all the more if my prize at the end would be to break her. I headed towards the main entrance and into the house, nodding at the odd face that I recognised as I searched for my lovely wife. I just needed to get through tonight, show the higher ups that I was serious about my stake and then tomorrow would be a more relaxed affair. A lot of the wives wouldn”t attend tomorrow, although some of the legacy ones would still be there, ready for the debauchery. These weekends were always the same though. Friday nights were the formal introduction while Saturday was pure sex and delights.
I rounded a corner into a quiet hallway and stopped dead when I saw Lily, and that she wasn”t alone. I growled as I recognised who it was that she was with. Alec fucking McIntyre. It shouldn”t have surprised me. I was in Alec”s home, and it was his father that was hosting this weekend’s activities. But Alec rarely attended them. So, the fact that he was here now and had already found Lily was too much of a coincidence for my liking. Alec was the first to see me as he looked up and met my eyes. Then Lily looked around when his expression dropped. The fear in her eyes made my dick twitch, and I made sure to keep eye contact with her, allowing the fury that was creeping up inside me to show in my eyes, as I approached the two.
”What the hell is going on here?” I demanded, my voice low and dangerous. Alec looked up at me, his eyes cold and calculating. He didn”t flinch or show any sign of fear, but I could see the defiance in his stance.
”Sebastian,” he said, his voice as icy as his gaze. ”What a pleasant surprise. I didn”t expect to see you here.” I ignored him, focusing my attention on Lily.
”Dear wife,” I said, my voice soft but filled with menace. Something akin to my own anger passed through Alec”s eyes as I greeted Lily. Lily flinched and glanced back over her shoulder. Ah, so she had already told him. But how much information had she let on? The agency contract specified that the details of the marriage was to be kept concealed, and part of me wondered if Lily had already broken the rules. Would I get to punish her so quickly? I allowed a sinister smirk to play along my lips as I took her hand, the one with my rings on it, ensuring that there was no denying who exactly this woman belonged to. ”I”ve been waiting for you.” I looked up to see Alec glaring at my hand and my smirk grew. Alec looked up at me and cleared his throat.
”I erm… hear that congratulations are in order,” he said and held out a hand. ”Lily and I was just catching up, and she tells me you are married.” I let go of Lily”s hand to shake Alec”s. His grip was bordering upon hostile, and I matched his energy.
”Did she?” I asked amused at the grimace as I squeezed ever so slightly hard on his hand. ”Well, I am happy that my wife is excited to share our happy news. I am rather excited myself. What exactly did my bride spill?” I let go of Alec and pulled a stiff Lily into my body and wrapped my arms around her waist. I made a show of running my nose along her neck and breathing in her scent before meeting Alec”s eyes again.
”I was just saying that we are married,” Lily whispered. ”Nothing else.” I could hear the tremor in her voice, and I knew she was lying, and from how she was reacting she knew I knew. Alec looked between us and forced a smile on his face.
”Well congratulations again,” he said between gritted teeth, before looking at Lily again. ”It was nice to bump into you both. Do enjoy the party.” I cocked my head to the side as Alec turned his back on us and walked down the hallway without looking back.
I waited for him to leave the hallway before I let go of Lily”s waist and spun her to face me.
”What the fuck did you tell him?” I demanded as I backed her against the wall. The fear in her eyes was intoxicating as she shook her head.
”Nothing, I swear,” she stammered. I closed in on her, pushing my body against hers and lifted her chin so she met my eyes.
”I certainly hope not,” I growled low in my throat. ”I would hate to have to punish you so quickly for breaching our contract.” I ran my finger down her throat before grasping it in my hand. I leaned in close and whispered in her ear. ”Or more like I would love to punish that sweet ass of yours, but you would definitely hate it.” I felt her body shiver and wanted nothing more than to push her into the bathroom next to us and make her scream my name so that nobody, especially Alec McIntyre, would mistake exactly who she belonged to.
”I-I swear I didn”t say anything,” Lily stammered. There was nothing as sweet as the sense of fear. It was like it carried its own scent, one that I was accustomed to being around. Be it when one of my marks realised I was there to dispatch of them, and certainly now looking into the wide eyes of my dear sweet wife. I wouldn”t be ordering a hole for her body, but by the time I was done with her she would probably wish that I was.
I narrowed my eyes on her for a few more seconds before nodding. I knew she was lying, but it didn”t make a difference right now. What exactly would McIntyre be able to do about it? He couldn”t go running to his daddy about it, it was William McIntyre that had referred me to the agency in the first place. I was not happy when I had been told that I needed to make a good impression if I was going to acquire the role I wanted in the Foundation. It didn”t seem to matter about all the work that I had done for them for the last four years, all the blood that had passed through my fingers. No, if I wanted to claim my heritage and my rightful place, I would have to at least appear to be an upstanding member of society, and that apparently meant being married. I had been told that because of my previous unsatisfactory record I would have to work extra hard to show that I was the right material for the Foundation. A record that I wouldn”t have had if it wasn”t for the woman in front of me sabotaging everything. I smiled at her, knowing that it didn”t reach my eyes, and nodded again.
”Well okay then,” I said and let go of her throat. I stepped back and held out my arm. ”Shall we continue to share our happy news and enjoy the party? I could use a drink, and I am sure you could use one too.” I watched as Lily looked down at my arm and then back up at me. Slowly her body straightened, and the fear seemed to bleed into determination with an enticing fire spark and she reached out to take my arm. I allowed a smug smile on my lips, I knew that my new little wife was hiding something from me, but I was nothing if not the extractor of all secrets.
We headed out from the hallway into the main entrance hall and the other guests. The party was, as usual, full of pretentious members of the elite society that I had grown up in. As I took two glasses of champagne, I recognised more than one that I had worked with, each one as corrupted as the other. The men nodded at me while the women had a mixture of reactions. Some were lustful, some glanced at the woman on my arm with intrigue, and some glared at her with distaste and jealousy. I glanced over to see that despite holding her head high, Lily was very much aware of the ill feelings directed at her. Part of me wanted to assure her that she belonged here just as much, if not more than a lot of the women here, but then another part stopped me, reminding me that I had already offered her the world four years ago and she had stomped on it and crushed it like it was beneath her. No, Lily Appleby would have to earn her place here now.
It was only an hour later, after polite conversations and delighting in introducing an obviously unhappy Lily to some people as my wife, before I found the one person who I was looking for. I quickly guided Lily in that direction and headed over with a grin on my face.
”James,” I said letting go of Lily”s arm to reach out to shake his hand. James Killinham smiled back and shook my hand. He had been my main contact at the Foundation over the last year or so and had actively been helping me get an audience with the right people after I had helped him with one of his own personal issues about tracking down a particular person who was very important to him. I had found the girl and James had been very grateful.
”Sebastian,” James said with genuine pleasure in his voice, ”I am so glad to see you here tonight.” James glanced over at Lily and his grin grew.
”Is this her?” he asked, and I grinned again. James turned to Lily and took her hand bringing it to his lips, much to her surprise.
”Mrs Lynch, it is a great pleasure to meet you. Sebastian here has told me so much about you,” he said, and Lily narrowed her eyes on him, clearly not impressed.
”Clearly not,” she said with a sneer, ”Otherwise you would have known that we had already met.” I took Lily”s hand and squeezed lightly in warning. I would be damned if I was going to let her fuck this up for me, again. James seemed unfazed about her insolence though, and his smile grew.
”Of course I remember you, dear,” he said. ”It was a sad affair what happened. I was sure you had so much promise in the school. It was why I matched you with Sebastian in the first place.” My eyes widened as he spoke. I glanced at Lily whose expression matched my own. James laughed like someone had told a joke.
”Oh, you younger generation think you know more than you do,” he said, and patted me on the back. ”I assure you there are many strings being pulled all over the place.” I wasn”t sure I like the sound that I had somehow been manipulated, I was the one who did the string pulling, I was nobody’s puppet. James laughed again and then he glanced over at me, his face becoming serious.
”On the subject of strings,” he said in a quiet tone, ”How goes our little show?” I pushed aside my annoyance and allowed my business mind to take over.
”So far, everything is going according to plan,” I said, ”as long as you keep up your end, we should be able to deal with the matter efficiently.” James nodded in satisfaction.
”Good,” he replied. ”I don’t want this dragging on any further.”
”And when I do what needs doing, will that be enough for-” I began to ask but James shook his head quickly and nodded behind me. I turned to see the host of the party himself heading our way. William McIntyre was a well-respected man in society, but I knew him in a very different light. A light that by looking at the way he was staggering slightly was showing.
”James,” he called out as he dragged his latest gold digging whore along by the arm. As far as I was aware they had only been seen a few times but by the look on the girls face she was already realising the mistake that she had made. William made it to us and patted James on the back and then turned to me.
”Ah, young Sebastian,” he said a little too loud. ”Are you ready for the final assessment next month?” I glared at him while James grimaced.
”William, this is Sebastian”s new wife,” James said through gritted teeth. William looked dazed at the change of subject until his eyes fell on Lily. The look he gave her was no less than predatory and I wanted to punch him square in the face.
”Well, hello there,” William smirked at Lily and reached up to paw at her. Lily was obviously a smart one and backed away from his advance slightly. I stepped forward putting myself between his wandering hands and my new wife. William didn”t notice and continued to leer at Lily.
”I must say Sebastian,” he slurred without taking his eyes from Lily. ”You picked a good one here. It”s a shame I didn”t see her first, I would have done some damage to a beauty like this one. Maybe we could still arrange something.” He then turned to the blond with him and slapped her ass hard, the sound resonating through the room. ”You would like that, wouldn”t you sweetheart?” The woman flinched slightly and looked uncomfortable, bordering on frightened, before nodding her head quickly. I clenched my fist, digging my nails into my palm before I chose to punch the bastard. I knew full well that William was too rough with his women, which was why he couldn”t keep hold of one. I glanced over at Lily who had wide eyes, glinted with fear. She glanced me with an uncomfortable look before looking away again. I took a deep breath and forced a smirk on my face.
”Apologies gentlemen,” I said quickly. ”But it has been a long day, and I am ready for bed.” William smirked at me and winked.
”Oh, I don”t think I would leave my bed with a bitch like that to play with,” he said. James shook his head quickly, warning me not to mess anything up. I knew he was right, but I was ready to be done with kissing up to William McIntyre. Next month I wouldn”t have to worry about him anymore. Until then, though, I would have to play it safe.
I took Lily”s arm and with a last nod I steered her away from the men and towards the house exit. I pulled my phone out and sent a quick message to Davis to say I was ready to leave, knowing he would be waiting outside already.
”That was Alec”s father?” Lily asked quietly as we made our way to the entrance. I nodded quickly.
”Yep, William McIntyre himself,” I sneered. ”I wouldn”t get any ideas though, the man is not very nice to his women.”
”Well, that was obvious,” Lily scoffed. ”I saw how terrified the woman was.” I cocked my head slightly. Lily was observant. I recognised the all-out fear in the woman”s eyes, but then I was used to seeing fear in people’s eyes, and I was normally the one causing it.
”Well, you won”t have to worry about him,” I said as we headed out of the building and towards the car. ”I won”t let him get a chance to hurt you.” Lily snorted as we reached Davis who had the rear door open ready for us. I stopped before allowing her to climb into the car and turned to face her.
”What”s so funny?” I asked. I didn”t like that she was so dismissive of the promise. Lily sneered at me. Even then, her face was a picture of beauty. One that I hadn”t forgotten in the last few years since she had ruined my life.
”I don”t have to worry about him hurting me,” Lily said with a tinge of sarcasm. ”I just have to worry about you hurting me.” A spike of anger seeped into me, stirring something deep down. I wanted to tell her that I wasn”t like that and was offended that she thought I was, but it had been less than two hours since I had threatened to ruin her life. A movement behind her caught my eye and I glance over to see Alec standing in the house entrance glaring at us. I let a smirk play on my lips as I watched him, making it clear that I knew he was there. Then I looked back at Lily and my smirk widened. I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her flush against my body. I lifted her chin, so she was looking up at me.
”You certainly don”t have to worry about me hurting you,” I whispered before crashing my lips to hers. I could feel her surprised through the kiss as I forced my tongue into her mouth and deepened the kiss. The anger quickly gave way to a fire of lust as she melted in my arms and submitted to the kiss. I pulled back, breaking the connection, to see a matching look of lust, glinting in her eyes. I smirked again and leaned in to whisper in her ear,
”When I hurt you, I”ll make sure you enjoy it.” I smiled as she took in a sharp breath and pulled away to glare at me. I chuckled at her flustered cheeks as I waved for her to pass. Lily stomped past me and climbed into the car, shuffling to the far side. I turned to look up at Alec again and saw his fists clenched by his side. I smirked and nodded at him before climbing into the car as well, shutting the door behind me.