Chapter 5
WHITNEY
Ican’t believe I’m sitting at lunch with my friends and wishing I was home with my husband instead.
One week is all it took to turn me into a pathetic bitch who craves Dane Sinclair every second of the day. I would drop to my knees and beg for his cock right now in front of the whole goddamn restaurant.
When I was married to Gerald, these lunches were my escape. These lunches gave me a few hours where I could hear about the sex and drama from the other women’s lives.
Now I’m checking my watch every five minutes to see if it’s time for Dane to pick me up. He had business to tend to and wanted to drop me off. At least that’s what he said. We both know it’s his need to possess and control me.
And with Dane by my side constantly, Harrison can’t get near me. Thank fuck for that.
I’m sitting at a table with three women I have known for years. All Doves who are married to rich Ravens, just like me.
“So, Whitney,” Caroline starts with a wide smile. “How is married life treating you? Dane Sinclair . . . I can only imagine.”
The others are silent, waiting to see what I’ll say.
I push my salad around with my fork. “It’s going fine.”
“Fine?” Margo laughs. “That man is sexy as fuck. Please tell me the sex is half as hot as he is.”
I choke and bring my napkin to my lips. I also fight the urge to punch my friend in the throat for commenting on how hot my husband is. “Margo!”
“You have lived vicariously through our sex lives for years.” Liz sets down her phone and grins. “Isn’t it only fair that you share a few details?”
Caroline waves her hand. “Oh, stop teasing her. But seriously, Whitney. We all want to know. What’s he like? He must have really wanted you to spend so much!”
I take a sip of my wine and consider how much to tell them.
“I’m quite content, if that is what you want to know. He’s . . . let’s just say that we’ve been active since we married. I really don’t even know why I agreed to join you all today when I could be with Dane.”
“Lucky bitch.” Liz picks up her wine glass.
“Does he have any interesting kinks?” Caroline asks.
“Jesus, Caroline.” Margo laughs. “You can’t just ask that.”
“Why not? We are all adults here.” Caroline turns back to me. “Well? Does he?”
I think about last night. About Dane tying my wrists to the headboard and edging me for an hour before he finally let me come. About the way he made me count each time he did it and slapped my pussy when I didn’t say the number loud enough.
“He’s dominant and intense.” I point my fork at each of them. “And that’s all I’m going to say.”
“Fine.” Caroline sits back in her chair with a dramatic sigh. “Keep your secrets. But just know that we are all insanely jealous.”
“Agreed.” Liz raises her glass. “To Whitney and her sexy, dominant new husband. Thank fuck Gerald did you a favor so you can finally enjoy decent sex.”
I stiffen at the mention of Gerald’s death, hoping that the others don’t notice. The women raise their glasses, and I do the same. We clink them together, and we all drink.
“Speaking of husbands,” Margo starts, her voice lowering. “I think Richard is having an affair.”
The table goes quiet.
“What makes you think that?” Caroline asks.
“He has been ‘working late’ three nights a week for the past month. He’s constantly on his phone with a love-struck look on his face.
And he’s suddenly very interested in going to the gym.
” Margo takes a long drink of her wine. “I’m not an idiot.
I know he’s fucked other women from time to time, but this feels different. ”
“Have you confronted him?” Liz asks.
“Not yet. I want to know who she is before I decide what to do about it.”
“Smart,” Caroline says. “You need leverage.”
It’s the way of many Raven men. Gerald fucked anything with a pulse under the age of twenty-five.
I knew about it, but I never cared. It meant he left me alone.
I grip my knife so tight my knuckles turn white. The thought of Dane sleeping with another woman makes me physically ill. He will learn what punishment from me means if he even thinks of sticking his dick somewhere it doesn’t belong.
“Whitney?” Caroline is looking at me. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Just thinking.”
“About whether Dane would cheat on you?” Margo asks.
Damn them. They know me too well. “No.”
“Liar.” Liz grins. “But even if he does, you never cared when Gerald did it. And now you have the Sinclair name and money to spend.”
I want to argue. I want to tell them that Dane isn’t Gerald, and that it’s different now.
But I can’t find the words to explain how it’s different. That I feel things I never felt with Gerald. So I just smile and nod and pretend their words don’t bother me.
“Oh, that reminds me. Did you all hear—” Elizabeth starts, but she’s cut off by a voice behind me.
“Whitney.” The voice is male and familiar. “A word?”
I know that voice before I even turn around.
It’s Harrison Lockwood. I turn to look at him over my shoulder. His silver hair is perfectly styled, and his smile is pleasant and entirely fake.
The women at my table go quiet. They all know who Harrison is, and they know he bid on me. Everyone knows. Word travels fast among the Ravens.
“Of course.” I stand and smile. “Excuse me, ladies.”
I follow Harrison through the restaurant to a private alcove near the back. The noise from the main dining room fades to a distant hum.
“It has been quite difficult to get you away from that asshole. I can only imagine what he’s been doing to you.”
“What do you want, Harrison?”
“Right to the point.” He pulls out his phone and taps the screen.
There's a picture of me purchasing arsenic.
He presses play on a recording. “I received your payment, Mrs. Marsh. I will omit the toxicology report and the fact that your husband was already dead when his car hit the tree from the autopsy report.”
Then I hear my own voice thanking the man.
I stop breathing. I look around to see if anyone is within earshot.
“You were recording me?”
Harrison pockets his phone. “A bit of insurance.”
He leans back against the wall, a wide smile on his face.
“This was your plan. I can’t help it that Dane outbid you at the auction. I still don’t understand what you wanted with me to begin with. I can still share my connections with you and get you into the circles you need. You don’t need to be married to me.”
Harrison’s smile shifts to a scowl. “You really thought that this was about you? Or stupid connections? Your husband settled one hundred million into a trust for Sloane. We happen to use the same lawyer, so I ensured that there was a clause that the trust could be controlled by her new guardian. As your husband, that would be me. And now I’m out one hundred million dollars. ”
I gasp. I knew nothing about the money. Gerald hardly spoke to me and certainly never about money, unless he thought I was spending too much. I can’t help but wonder if Dane knew about it.
“I needed that fucking money.” Harrison steps closer, his face red. “I had to sell a property to scrape together enough to buy you at auction. My situation is precarious, and these fucks will always keep me on the outside without a proper fortune.”
“None of that is my fault. I don’t know what you expect me to do about any of this.”
“Actually, I have been considering a new approach.” Harrison leans forward to brush a stray hair away from my face, but I slap his hand away.
“I could marry Sloane myself. She’ll be eighteen soon.
I could pay her some special attention. Surely she’s got enough daddy issues that a good fuck from a mature older man would win her over. ”
I slap him across the face this time. “Stay the fuck away from my daughter.”
“Then you will do exactly as I say.” His voice drops. “You are going to provide me with information about Dane Sinclair. His business dealings, his Council activities, his vulnerabilities. Anything I can use for leverage to get him to pay.”
“I can’t do that.”
Dane is far too intelligent and observant for me to be able to spy on him. Harrison has to fucking know that.
“Figure it out. Because if you don’t, your secret is no longer safe.
” He pauses. “They will not execute you quickly, Whitney. The Council will want to make an example of a widow who poisoned her husband. They will make it slow. They will make it public. They will invite every Raven to watch you suffer. And then where would that leave Sloane? Do you think your husband will still protect her if the Ravens tell him to marry her off? To me, perhaps?”
I scan the area to see if there is some sort of knife nearby. I could just slit Harrison’s throat right now and be done with it. But how would I explain attacking him? Fuck.
“And do you think your pussy is good enough that Dane Sinclair will go against an order from the Council?”
Dane chose to follow orders over me before. Fuck these men in my life.
“I believe you understand the gravity of your situation now.” Harrison straightens his jacket. “So you will spy on your husband, Whitney. You will report everything to me. And if you do a good job, maybe you and your daughter can come out of this unscathed.”
He walks away and leaves me in the alcove with every inch of my body trembling with the desire to tackle him and use one of the expensive metal planters to bash his skull in.
I take several deep breaths and then force myself to return to the table. The women are all staring at me expectantly.
“What did Harrison want?” Caroline asks.
“Nothing important.” I pick up my wine glass and drain it.
“He looked intense,” Margo says.
My phone buzzes. I go to unlock it and realize that my hand is shaking.
Dane: I’m outside whenever you are ready.
I lock my phone. “I have to go. Dane is here to pick me up.”
“Lucky bitch,” Liz says, smirking behind her glass.
I leave the table without saying anything else. I don’t know what to think or how to face Dane. But I can’t subject myself to any more of their questions.