Chapter Twenty
ENZO
In my room, when I know Lyndall is already asleep in her room on the floor below, I still lock the door to my suite.
Lyndall is not one to need midnight talks or wander around the house late, at least, she never used to be. Who knows what boarding school has done to her?
Besides, I don't want to get caught red-handed.
Christ, I have already been back down to the basement to make sure it is aired out and clean—the last thing I need tomorrow is shit from Cade. Best buddy or not, who wants the ribbing?
The thing is, normally I'm happy to share whichever woman is after me, whichever female I'm into. I would be the first to joke about it.
There is something about Lola...
Probably, I tell myself, the fact that I have known her for a long time. That, and I'm pretending to be some fucker named Alex.
It is not that Cade wouldn't understand.
It is the fact that he would. Too well.
And he just might jump to conclusions that aren't there.
But in my bedroom suite, I can do what the fuck I want.
And tonight?
I got another video of her, just like that night at the pool.
And this time, she knew I was watching.
Any morals that might accompany that act?
Fuck, I sweep them away.
This is for me and no one else.
I will kill someone if they watch it. And now I've got her system wrapped up tight, and the only camera stream coming to me now mollifies.
Whoever watched before is cut off. And if they manage to bypass the firewalls and security measures we have up, then as Cade says, we can trace it back. But, and this is important, they will only get the camera facing the door.
I haven't found them, but I'm not giving up.
Costa and Rebecci are different ends of the same spectrum. There is a possibility Costa is somehow involved with trying to track Lourdes Mancini down. But if someone is out to get her, then Rebecci is number one on my list.
But I can't do a thing until I know more.
War needs facts and reasons.
A wave of tiredness washes over me. Probably from doing two jobs at once. The Syndicate work with hacking and building, bringing down security systems, and helping implement programs for various clients to either steal, protect, or hide things should make being CEO a breeze.
I have already got most of the information secure, and any dirty business is so hidden that no one other than Cade or Silas can find it.
But it is not just that.
Sure, it runs itself in a way, but there are meetings, and there are a lot of interactions that go on which I find pointless.
I need to unwind, and I know just the thing.
Ever since the session downstairs. Ever since her turn in the shower, I'm burning up.
A fever that can only be relieved by sex. Or, by masturbation.
Shit, I'm already hard thinking about her.
So, I strip down and watch the video of her masturbating in the shower all over again, slowly stroking myself, and somehow, it is even hotter than the first time.
This is new.
Not horny after coming, that has happened before.
Watching a woman on demand.
I don't have a collection of spank bank videos of women I know. If I want visual stimulation for jacking off, I put on porn like any other self-respecting guy.
Women? I fuck them.
Lola...
Lola, I want to watch and do all the things I have thought of doing ever since I started sexting and flirting with her...rather, ever since Alex did.
She brings out the kinky side I have known is there but never really thought about.
What the fuck is she thinking about as she works over herself, tugging and circling her nipples, dipping low to part the lips of her pretty cunt she has waxed or whatever it is women do now?
I like her all hairless because I can see her tight lips, see the pink as she parts herself, watch how her fingers thrust into her tunnel, and her clit when she toys with it.
I'm tugging harder now, the precum a slight lubricant as I work my hand on my shaft.
Fuck, I'm like steel, and my balls are so freaking tight.
Everything is buzzing, and the urge to come is almost painful. With my free hand, I grab the towel and come with a teeth-gritted grunt into it, convulsing.
The pleasure soars, sweeping me violently up into a storm of bliss.
When I come back down, I'm half hard.
I press replay.
Water hitting her upturned face, her washing her hair, her body, her getting off. Fuck.
Again. I watch it again.
I'm so fucking hard yet again.
What is she thinking about? Me? Alex? Both?
I think she likes the control aspect as do I. More than that, I like the idea of taking deprivation further. She has no visual of me, or so she thinks, just Enzo. And she doesn't have a voice in her ear talking her through it.
I jack my cock. I have come twice, and I want to come again. I want to fucking beat it until it can't get hard. I want to push myself until the obsession and need are gone from me tonight. I want to just fucking cum and cum until I'm finally satiated.
Later, everything aching, a good, tired ache, I clean up, dump the towel in the garbage in the bathroom, and tie up the bag, leaving it so I can throw it out in the morning.
No way am I putting it in the washing machine or leaving it for the cleaner to find when she comes in tomorrow afternoon. And no fucking way am I leaving anything for Lyndall to find when she probably snoops.
Instead, I shower and then pull on sweats and get into bed, locking the video away in another part of the computer and clearing out my history.
I do have a problem, though, with Lola.
A big one.
I can't think straight when we are in the same room.
Maybe if I hadn't started anything as Alex, or just kept it friendly, it wouldn't be like this. But it is, and yeah...
I find myself thinking about what it would be like to fuck her. Me. Enzo.
Shit, I would take fucking her as Alex, but that would take me down a twisted path of kinks and deception that I'm not sure I'm ready for.
Yet.
As it is, I'm a man who needs to keep his head on straight, not let it get consumed with a pretty pussy and a prettier face.
Christ, what if I slip up? I'm pretending to be two different people. And if she works out Alex is really me...
I have to watch myself so I don't slip up.
The shit hitting the fan isn't a scenario I need.
I pick up my phone and read through the texts. The last one to her, stating that one day we might meet up, was less than stellar.
We can't meet, not unless she is into the total deprivation thing that turns me on.
I fucking love the idea. Touch only. Voice only. Text only.
And we are cheating with that one.
Of course, for it to truly work, she would need to know I'm watching but directing through text. And voice? She knows what I sound like. It wouldn't take her long to put the voices together as being me.
I type in a password and pull down the live feed to her tiny apartment.
Right now, she is naked, pulling on her T-shirt.
She looks at her phone and half-reaches for it, then snatches her hand back.
Lola wants me to text.
Wants Alex to text.
And I guess I fucking left her hanging with the sweet dreams and talk tomorrow.
Still...I don't text.
I shouldn't.
Maybe I could screw with her and come up with a bogus deadline. Throw her some work I don't need done.
Man, there is probably a shit ton that needs doing. Louie Bradley was always chaotic with work in some ways. Comes from being born loaded.
But the startup is on the back of Louie's other business, which he doesn't need to run from that office. That business is fine, but it is also tied to his family.
It is why he was in knots over his startup and the mess he got himself into. His father can never know he got involved with the mafia.
So, there are remnants of business shit I have to untangle still. Nothing exciting. None of it is exciting to me. But I could use that with a deadline to warrant the late hour.
Then I glance at my watch.
"Fuck me."
I can't be that boss. I know she is awake, but I shouldn't know that. Besides, texting an employee this late is something I don't agree with. Not with nine-to-five crap. I know people do it. But I don't want to do it.
I want to tell her, though, how amazing she is. Have that be the last thing I say to her tonight.
"And where Enzo can't go, Alex can." I type a message and hit send.
Me
You are truly amazing to watch.
She reads it.
I watch her read it, and her eyes grow big.
It is not the reaction I expected. Not the stiffness to her, or the horror.
Then my phone lights up.
Lola
Excuse me?
Excuse...? I look at my phone.
"Fuck." Then I stare some more, heat burning along my neck and down my spine. "Fuck."
I didn't send it from Alex's number that is in my phone. I sent it from mine.
"Fuck," I say again, for good measure.
Panic starts to beat its wings.
"Enzo, you moron, what did you do?"
I jinxed myself. That is what I did.
I drag in a deep and jagged breath.
Me
Watching you work.
Okay, that is just creepy. Like I spend all day watching her. And fine, I would, but I'm not about to tell her that.
Me
I mean, when I see you. I think you working is amazing.
What fucking year is this? Now I sound like some kind of backward misogynist. Is there any progressive misogynist? I have no fucking idea.
Me
You enjoy it.
I frown.
Weird. That is what that was. Weird.
Me
You seem to enjoy it.
I knew I was right to give you that promotion.
She is just standing there. Staring.
Fuck.
Me
I have been hard on you and pushing you, but only because I can see what you're capable of.
I get up and pick up the bottle of whiskey on the coffee table in my suite. I was working late up here the other night and had a drink. I take off the top and chug.
It is expensive. Right now, it tastes like paint thinner.
Fuck... Still no response.
And I don't think she has actually moved.
I'm not texting her again.
Me
I just want you to reach your potential.
You work fucking hard and well.
What the actual fuck am I even saying? It is like I'm just vomiting words.
"Put the phone down. Just put it down. Christ."
But I can't.
She is looking at her phone like she is about to call the cops and slap me with a restraining order, and I wouldn't even blame her.
Me
Anyway, I just wanted you to know that. Shit.
She slowly smiles.
Lola
Are you drunk?
Me
Not yet.
Lola
Do you want me to do extra work, or did you have a bad date?
Oh, shit, I think she bought it. I take another deep swallow.
Me
I know I come off as the big bad wolf sometimes, but it's just because I'm sorting out Louie's mess. And yeah, maybe both.
Lola
You can't let them know your personality on the first date. J/k.
Me
I am your boss.
Lola
You texted me late, not the other way around. And what's this job?
Fuck, I'm going to have to come up with something.
Me
It's not big, I just need it done tomorrow by five.
Lola
Okay. I will look out for it in the morning.
Me
Get some sleep. Sorry to bug you.
Lola
No problem.
This time, I put my phone down and turn it off, and then I close the window and make sure no one but me can access it. I won't be leaving my laptop tomorrow. This thing is pretty much always with me, but I'm not about to risk it.
I take another deep swallow and put down the bottle, then lie down, breathing out in relief.
I think she bought it.
More than that, I think that was the most open conversation we have had. Well, the end part, where some mild banter crept in. Probably, she thinks I'm insane, but...it went better than it might have.
Suddenly, that truth sinks in.
Sure, it went okay, but everything could have blown up in my face, just like Cade predicted.
I know one thing, though... I need to make sure something like this never happens again.