Consumed (13 page)

“Yes, and I would forgive you even if you stayed with him. Will you forgive me for taking so long to do it?”

Aggie’s eyes dart to mine and crowd with tears. Arms go around my chest and back, and she squeezes hard.

“Of course, you’re my twin. I love you and have missed my partner in crime.”

Her ex, Jordan, has a brother named Josh, who was screwing my girlfriend, Kelly, when I was in Afghanistan. Kelly and Agatha were friends, and Agatha didn’t tell me. I came back to Jersey unexpectedly and found the four of them hanging out together right here in this house.

Their awkward behavior and the guilty look my sister and Kelly were wearing that day gave it away in mere seconds.

Still furious over my father’s death, I wanted someone to blame, so I took out my anger on Aggie for not telling me when I was away and for staying with the asshole’s brother.

She was my twin. I felt her loyalty was to me before any of them, but she said she didn’t tell to protect me while I was at war.

She also explained back then why she wasn’t mad at Kelly. Apparently, after Dad died, I wasn’t boyfriend material, completely checking out mentally from my relationship.

Even though we had made all these future plans for a life together, I was obsessed with getting back at the terrorists, so I left Kelly to join the military with no warning.

She was my first love, and falling for Victoria has opened my eyes to recognizing why it was so easy to leave Kelly. In a short amount of time, the love I feel for Victoria is stronger than anything I’ve ever felt.

I stroke my sister’s hair as she holds onto me tightly.

“I’m sorry, Aggie. I’m sorry for everything.”

***

I’m checked into my hotel room, and being alone here feels too much like before I met Victoria. Mom and Agatha tried to get me to stay at the house, but I have work to do tonight from my computer, and the idea of staying in my childhood bedroom seemed odd.

Now that I’m here alone, I somewhat regret that decision. After I have breakfast with them tomorrow, I will fly back to Las Vegas. I somehow have to tell Victoria about the illegal activity at Submission.

Knowing that fact is why being in this suite alone is difficult. I’m terrified she will leave me, and my life will return to the way it was, except for it wouldn’t be only mundane like before. Living without Victoria would be a slow death of nothingness.

I cover my heart with my hand. It hurts thinking about it. Pulling out my phone, I give her a call.

“Hi, Juice Box.”

“Hi, handsome.”

“I miss you.”

“I miss you, too. Did it go OK?”

“It went well. Mom is pretty good this trip. The bad news is she refused the chemotherapy, and we’re not going to make her receive it. I hope it’s the right decision.”

“I’m sorry, Adrian. And your sister?”

“We worked things out, and I feel I owe that to you.”

“Me? I didn’t do anything.”

“You’ve made me remember what is important. I had lost sight of that before you came along.”

“All I’ve done is love you, and you make that easy. I’m the difficult one.”

God, if she only knew how difficult I’m about to make her life. “I love you. I’ll see you tomorrow evening.”

Sadie

My palms are sweating as I ride in the front passenger seat of Simon’s black Nissan GT-R. I see why he’s not impressed with my car.

“Um, so you don’t drive the Escalade you kidnapped me in?”

“No, that’s my friend Kruse’s ride. Listen, could you humor me and say you were on loan that evening?”

Looking over, he flashes me a grin that makes my stomach flutter. He winks next, and shit, I think my panties are damp.

“Uh, OK. You saved my ass at the strip club, so I guess we can call it even.”

He glances over and winks again, his smile only widening. “Thank you, doll.”

Entering a garage at Submission, he pulls up to the valet. He’s out promptly as I unbuckle, and I see him give a look, warning the guys working it to back off.

He opens the door for me, so I hold the flowing skirt of my chiffon dress to my thighs and carefully step out in my white, strappy heels.

I admire the mint green color of my dress as I straighten it. It’s the classiest one I own, with its sleeveless style and mixture of pleats and ruffles, yet it was still inexpensive.

We walk through the wide hallway until it opens into a massive lobby. My eyes go straight to the floor, where squares with swirls of slate and black alternate with those of a white marble that give off an iridescent appearance.

Some sections of walls are painted a deep purple, and the extensive space is splashed with accents of red, grey and black.

Outside of it, I would imagine this color scheme to be tacky, but it’s pieced together magnificently and is seductive as hell, drawing my eyes to every inch of it.

I hear a laugh and look to Simon. I’ve come to a complete stop as I stare at our surroundings.

“This lobby is breathtaking and … sexy.”

One corner of his mouth tilts upward before he looks around, too. “Yeah, I guess it is. I’m guilty of overlooking the details since I see it every day.”

His raven eyes that are like mirrors in the lighting fall back on me as he slides a hand onto my waist. “You, Sadie, are different and seem to have quite a hold on my attention.”

“Then I guess we need to be sure you don’t see me every day. I would hate for you to ever overlook me.”

He takes a step closer, and the back of his hand grazes my cheek. I swallow, allowing my eyes to stray to see if we’re as noticeable as I feel, standing in the center of this lobby.

“Look at me, Sadie Hart. Birthdate September 24
th
, 1989. iPhone password temporarily unknown.” My eyes flit back to his, and I smile bashfully.

“I imagine someone blind and deaf could still sense your magnetizing presence. It would be impossible to overlook you, sweetheart.”

My face is searing, like it’s suddenly under a broiler, and my panties feel as if they’ve taken a dip in the pool.

“I’ve been overlooked plenty, but thank you. You’re smooth, Simon Cassano.”

He furrows his brow and brings his other hand up to cup my face with both hands. “I’m not trying to feed you a line, Sadie. I meant every word.”

“OK,” I say between shallow breaths.

“God, I won’t be able to focus on the scientific data leaving these ruby lips if I don’t have a taste of them beforehand.”

Simon

My hands on her hot cheeks feel the trembling of her head, and when our lips connect, I recognize the way hers quiver. I notice every little thing about the sexy scientist. 

Her obvious lack of experience and innocence turn me on, and fuck, now it’s going to be harder than ever to concentrate through dinner.

I was going to keep our exchange short, but her arms slip around my waist, and when I hear her whimper over the noisy, crowded hotel lobby, I pull her even closer and deepen our kiss.

Holy hell
, this woman’s hand is on my ass, and I’m about to say “fuck dinner.”

“Dammit, get a room, bro. We got hundreds of them,” Zev says before he swats the back of my head with some papers.

Sadie pulls away and snickers. I knew this chick had a daring side. She wouldn’t have braved entering the strip club without one. Now, we need to find the time for her to give me the full-on presentation of her wild ways.

“Shut up, man. Sadie, this is my older brother, Zev. Zev, Sadie.”

“Nice to officially meet you, Sadie.” He looks to me, his smile disappearing. “Is this why D/s is opening late?”

“Uh, yeah, but only an hour. It’s all good.”

He barely shakes his head at me before he strolls away, but I know exactly what he’s thinking. He wants to ask me where I misplaced my balls and if Sadie has some magical pussy. Hell, there’s probably something extra special about it.

I grab her hand. “Let’s eat.”

We stroll into the back entrance of Club D/s, which is inside Hotel Submission and Casino. I walk Sadie down the hallway past my office and a storage room.

We step into the club, and her eyes roam the space.

“We’re having dinner here?”

“Yep.” We pass by the bar, where my head bartender is getting things ready for the night. I nod at him, and he knows that means to call for our private waiter.

No, I haven’t done this for a woman before. I’m discovering Sadie is the exception to a lot of things. A table and chairs is set up in the middle of the dance floor, and the spotlight is dimly lit above. I lead her to it and pull out a chair for her.

“Thank you,” she says as she takes a seat. Sadie’s been carrying a yellow document envelope since I picked her up, and she sets it on the white linen next to her plate, along with her small white purse. “I’ve never had dinner on a dance floor. Thank you for this first.”

“You’re welcome. Our waiter will be here shortly. He’s from one of the restaurants in the hotel. We’ll order from them.”

Sadie smiles nervously and pulls out the envelope from under her purse. “I brought what you requested. I feel I was overpaid, but thank you for the job. I’m paying my own way to graduate school, so every bit helps.”

“Where else do you work?”

“At the University, for a professor, but I don’t make much. One of my friend’s convinced me to try the stripping, swearing I would make a lot of dough for only hours of work.” Sadie looks to her lap.

“It was foolish of me to think I could ever go through with it, but I tried since I have little free time once I go to class, study and work.”

Our waiter arrives, and I order wine. He says the chef’s choices for this evening, and Sadie becomes even more nervous. We both decide on the bacon-wrapped filet.

“This is too much, Simon. You’ve already paid me for the research I know you don’t really need.”

“I wanted to do this for you, Sadie, and maybe I’m interested in learning more about what you do.”

“Seriously?” Her eyes are bright with excitement. “OK, I will summarize it for you.” She yanks the papers from the envelope, and I get a glimpse of the first page. It’s typed like a report.

She begins speaking rapidly, only stopping when the waiter returns to pour her wine. I struggle to follow her as she explains her findings.

She’s using terms I don’t understand, talking about chemistry and shit. Sadie is smart. Really smart. Now, I’m the one nervous.

My foot is tapping, and I chug my first glass of wine. She continues as I pull the bottle from the ice bucket and pour another.

“Wow, you’re thorough,” I say as she stops to get a breath and take a drink.

“That’s sort of the point to being a scientist.” She giggles, and it’s a fucking glorious sound, especially since it makes her seem normal again. It’s like I’m having dinner with Einstein as she talks about phenylalanine and God knows what else.

“I thought I felt bad for kidna–I mean
borrowing
you, but now that I know what you think about aspartame, I think I was the biggest asshole when I handed you that diet soda.”

She’s giggling loudly as she places the papers back into the envelope. Holding it across the table, she grins at me.

“For you, sir.”

The top of her hand is tilted over, the envelope swaying left to right from her fingers. I imagine the way her hips moved above me only days ago and can’t help but take hold of her soft hand to kiss it.

She’s too good for me. She’s sweet and intelligent, somewhat innocent and naïve. I think of my drug buys from Noah and the terrorists we’re combating, and I have to acknowledge that her world is nothing like mine. I would only tarnish her. I envision her sobs when she thought I was going to kill her.

“Simon,” she says. I’m holding her hand, staring at her when she tilts her head, signaling me to look over at our waiter. I completely missed him wheeling in a cart. He’s waiting to set my plate in front of me.

“Oh, sorry.” I release her hand and think about how I should let her go, too. I don’t like how that makes me feel at all.

Sadie

Dinner is superb, but the entertainment from my host has fizzled. Simon has tapped his foot nonstop since our food came. He’s barely touched his meal and has instead opted for gum.

I have a feeling it’s not the regular kind, so we might need to have a meeting on nicotine next. “You’re different.”

“I’m fine.” He barely smiles and pushes his plate forward.

“Have I said or done something wrong?”

“No, Sadie, everything is more than right about you.”

I dissect his comment as I fiddle with my food. His demeanor changed once I shared the research with him.

“God, you really didn’t care to hear about aspartame. I’m always naïve. You wanted to take me out for a good time, and I showed what an unbelievable nerd I am on a date.” I pick up my second glass of wine and bypass flavor for effect.

Simon grabs my hand across the table. “Sadie, that’s not it at all. I’ll be honest. I couldn’t understand every word you said during that presentation, but I sure as hell got the gist of it. I love that you’re intelligent.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

He stares at me for a few seconds.

“Are you finished?”

“Yes.”

“We need to move to a different area. The club is about to open.”

“Is what your brother said true? Did you open late to have dinner with me?”

“Yes, but it’s not a big deal. We’re not busy this early.”

“It’s a big deal to me. A guy has never treated me to a date like this.”

He sighs. “Come on.” Holding my hand, he leads me up a flight of stairs to their most exclusive VIP section, which he says is usually reserved by celebrities only. There’s a black leather sofa, white leather chairs and two glass tables. 

A dim, blue light shines on us, and small, white ones coming out of the floor give off a little light from each corner of the room.

There is a railing to the left, and when I take a seat on the sofa, I can see the dance floor. Two men and a woman are busy clearing away our dinner.

“Do they work for you?”

“Yes.”

“I’m impressed. You really oversee this whole club?”

He laughs and shakes his head as he takes the spot next to me. “Yes, and one of our poker lounges, but what you do is so significant. I can’t believe you’re even the slightest bit impressed by this.”

A woman clears her throat, drawing our attention to the doorway. She’s wearing a short, black skirt and fishnet stockings. Simon motions with his hand for her to enter.

Her royal blue, sequin top is strapless and plunging, giving us a show of her mammoth breasts as she sets a tray of drinks on the table.

My eyes trail from her killer black pumps up her long legs. Although I think I have a decent figure, my legs are shorter, and my breasts are about three times smaller than this woman’s. Damn, Simon gets to look at attractive women every night.

“Thank you, Rachel.”

“My pleasure, Mr. Cassano.” Her eyes never meet mine. No, they’re glued on sexy man here.

“I don’t want anyone up here tonight. If I need anything else, I’ll call.”

Her smile fades. “Of course, sir.”

Ha, mammoth breasts. God, where is this jealousy coming from?

“Would you like another drink?” Simon asks before he pulls out a bottle of wine from the ice bucket.

“Sure. Is that what your change in mood was about? You think we’re too different?”

“I know we’re different. It’s the ‘too’ part I’m on the fence about.” He hands me my wine and picks up a glass tumbler already made for him. I can’t fathom having people serve me this way every day.

“There is nothing wrong with that.”

“There is if it could impact you negatively. I’m not at liberty to explain in detail, but let me say I don’t always have the best people around me.”

“I don’t care. I like you.” My fingers move the long section of hair from his eyes. “You’re exciting, Simon.”

“That excitement could get you into trouble and jeopardize all you’re working toward with your schooling and career. I can’t be responsible for that.” He slams his glass down on the table and swipes mine from me. “Let me take you home.”

“No, and I don’t believe that’s what you want at all.”

He exhales a loud breath of air. Music begins to play, so I glance over the railing. A handful of people have come in, and the DJ is playing.

I don’t want him to take me home. I force his torso back and straddle his lap. Leaning his head against the leather cushion, his hands hug my thighs.

“If you find you can
overlook
me after tonight, I will leave you alone.”

“You’re playing dirty.”

“I don’t have experience in ‘dirty,’ but I imagine you could teach me a few things.”

His hands glide along my legs, pushing my dress upward. “Shit, Sadie, could I ever. You have no clue how much I think about that, too.”

Gripping his shapely biceps, I lean in and kiss him. He’s beyond handsome tonight with his black dress pants and snug white shirt. He’s wearing a grey vest over it, but his rolled up sleeves give it a casual look.

He lets my tongue inside, and it swirls with his. His hands slide up my hips and waist until their right at my breasts.

Please, touch them. 

I move my fingers into his hair and kiss him harder, giving him the green light. His thumbs begin to circle my nipples over my dress, and I whimper into his mouth. Rubbing against his erection beneath me, I notice we’re moving in time with the sensual music playing.

I feel in perfect sync with Simon Cassano. He brings out a restless side in me I’m curious to explore with only him. His hands grab my face and pull me back.

“Fuck, you can’t keep rubbing me like that, chick.”

“Then let’s go somewhere more private.”

He loops a finger around one of my long curls and smiles. “I think the wine is encouraging you.”

“I had two glasses. You swiped my third before I could take a sip.”

Stretching his body over to where he can see the dance floor, Simon grins. He holds my hips and moves us to the very end of the sofa. “Do you like to people watch?”

“Oh, yes. Dancing people especially.”

“So do I, and we get the most hilarious dancers in here when it’s early. They’re usually tourists, who don’t get out to clubs much. Watch with me.”

How the hell could Simon have anything bad associated with him? He’s too damn sweet. I do as he says and spy at the people on the dance floor. There are maybe thirty right now, and they’re cracking us up.

Simon laughing is a wondrous sight. He seems relaxed and happy, unlike the cranky man he was the night he
borrowed
me.

We talk and laugh for a couple of hours. Sometimes the music gets loud, and we have to lean in and speak into each other’s ears. My body shivers with every heated breath to my skin or touch from his hand.

His wide smile could light up the universe, and jet eyes steal the remainder of my night as I stare at him in awe and move a long piece of hair away from them.

“God, Sadie, you’re something special. How is it possible one of those grad geeks haven’t snatched you up?”

“They’re self-absorbed.”

He stares at me for a several seconds, and I want to know his thoughts. “Listen, I’m sorry, but I need to take you home. It’s going to get busy here, and I will have to be back to wrap things up in the poker lounge.”

“Oh, OK. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were working tonight.” I climb off of him and smooth out my dress.

“I work throughout the night normally.”

Taking my hand, he leads me downstairs. I don’t want to believe it, but I have a feeling he’s blowing me off.