Inferno Anthology (91 page)

There was something different about him since the last time we were together five days ago. It wasn’t a physical change in appearance. It was something else. Maybe it was just my perception of him, but he appeared more… commanding.
Way
more sexy, if that were possible. I wanted to jump on top of him and make love to him right on the marble floor, but he wasn’t even looking at me. He only had eyes for Drew.

“Chase,” I called to him as I descended the last few steps, but he continued to glare at Drew. “Honey, look at me.”

Chase turned to me and his eyes softened. I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him hard. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled my body against his as he returned my kiss with more passion than I had ever felt from him before. I wanted to rip his clothes off right here, but he soon pulled away.

“What’s this?” he asked, as he looked over my shoulder at my back. “Your dress is unzipped.”

“Is it? Oh, geez, I guess I was having trouble reaching it.”

“I offered to zip it up for her, but she refused my help.”

Chase glared at Drew and I latched onto his arm then twirled around so my back was to him. “I wanted you to do it,” I said. “Please zip me up.”

My skin prickled as his fingers grazed my bare back. He pulled the zipper up and laid a soft kiss on my neck, as if he were trying to send Drew a message that I was his. Something about that idea made me nervous and I turned around to face him.

“Come upstairs with me,” I whispered, putting on my best come-hither expression.

He kissed my forehead before he stepped away. “You go ahead and I’ll be up in a few minutes.”

I panicked as he strode toward Drew and beckoned him into the dining room. If he fired Drew it would be my fault. I had to go after him.

“Wait!” I called out, as I chased after them.

I entered the dining room and Chase glared at me as if I was intruding. Drew stared at the floor like a child waiting to be chastised.

“Larissa, can I please have a moment alone with Drew? I’ll be up in just a moment.”

“No, I can’t wait. I need you upstairs
now
.”

I didn’t blink as Chase narrowed his eyes at me. “Fine,” he finally relented before he turned to Drew. “We’ll talk later.”

I held out my hand to him and he brought it to his lips. “I can’t resist the princess who convinced the nation to elect me, can I?”

“You’re not getting off that easily,” I replied. “You and I have some things to discuss.”

He smiled as he followed me out of the dining room then up to the bedroom. He closed the door behind him and we stared at each other in silence. I didn’t know what he was thinking, but I was thinking about the next three to four months.

“Why do I have to stay here if you’ve already won the election? I feel like a fucking pris—”

“You don’t.”

“I don’t—? What?”

“You don’t have to stay here anymore, at least, not for three or four months as we had originally planned.”

My mouth dropped wide open. “What? Are you going to tell me now I only have to stay for two months? Ugh! You make me so mad sometimes! Why are you laughing? This isn’t funny!” He grabbed my hand as he attempted to stifle his laughter, but I yanked my hand back. “I can’t do this anymore, Chase. I don’t want to be here. Do you understand me? You can’t keep me here. I swear to you I will find a way to escape.”

He finally composed himself, though he was still smiling. “Larissa, I’m not leaving you here for two months. I’m not even leaving you here for two days. I have a plane coming to pick you up tomorrow morning to fly you back to L.A.”

Suddenly, the walls began to pulsate as I realized he was finally through with me. He was sending me back where I came from and he was going off to Washington D.C. to find someone better; someone who wasn’t tainted by this scandal.

“So that’s it? You got what you wanted; now I’m getting tossed aside like yesterday’s news? Is that what’s going on here?”

“What? No, that’s not what’s going on here.”

He stepped toward me and I stepped backward until the back of my legs bumped into the side of the bed, but he kept coming at me.

“Then what’s going on here? Huh? Why did you fly all the way out here to tell Drew to back off if you were just planning to dump me in L.A.?”

He stopped in front of me so our noses were inches apart. “I’m here to tell you that I’m quitting.”

“You’re… quitting? Quitting what?”

“I have a meeting with the Speaker of the House tomorrow to discuss my resignation as president-elect. I’m quitting politics… for you.”

“You can’t do that. You’ve worked too hard for this. What are you
thinking
?”

He placed his strong hands on either side of my waist and pulled my body against his. “I’m thinking a spring wedding in L.A.”

“What? You’re talking crazy. Have you even slept?”

“When you told me Drew had a crush on you I realized that this façade I’m asking you to put on has put me in danger of losing you, and that’s when I realized I’d rather lose the presidency than live the rest of my life without you. It’s just as simple as that.”

“Oh, my god. You’re serious.”

“As a fucking heart attack. I’ve never met anyone as fiercely loyal and trusting and beautiful as you, Larissa. I want the world to know not just that I love you but that you love me, because that’s what makes me the luckiest bastard in the world.”

“After what happened on Tuesday, I think everyone already knows that.”

He smiled as he scooped me up in his arms and laid me on the bed. He gazed at me for a moment, taking in the curve of my breasts and hips, before he lay next to me. He traced his finger over the bridge of my nose, over my lips, into the hollow of my neck, and between my breasts. I sighed as his fingers lightly caressed my belly. I had been craving his touch and here he was, giving me everything I craved and more.

His lips fell on mine tasting like the sweetest candy. His tongue explored my mouth the way it had explored my body so many times before. I felt as if I was falling into the bed, sinking deeper and deeper into this dream that wasn’t a dream.

I reached down to undo his belt and he pushed my hand away.

“That will have to wait,” he said, as he sat up. “I have a plane to catch if I want to make that meeting tomorrow.”

“That’s it?” I muttered, unable to hide the disappointment of my unfulfilled need. I wanted him inside me. I wanted to feel the weight of him on top of me.

He chuckled as he rose from the bed. “That is definitely not
it
. I have big plans for you when we get back to L.A. I already had your old roommate deliver your things to my house in Pacific Palisades. We’re going to have plenty of time to execute those plans once I join you there tomorrow evening.” He planted a soft kiss on my lips then made for the door. “I take it I can leave Drew to his schoolboy fantasies. I don’t have anything to worry about there, do I?”

“Of course not, but what about all the people who threatened to lynch me back home?”

“I already hired a private security team. You have nothing to fear. I’ll see you tomorrow. Oh—wear that pink dress you wore to the AMA benefit.”

As he left the room, I collapsed onto the bed and stared at the vaulted ceiling above me. My crotch throbbed with unfulfilled desire. I slid the hem of my dress up a few inches then stopped. I could wait until tomorrow night.

The plane landed in Los Angeles at five p.m. local time. As soon as I debarked, a helicopter was already on standby outside Chase’s private hangar. Drew carried my luggage across the tarmac and heaved it into the helicopter where two enormous fellows in crisp black suits, my private guards, awaited me.

“I guess you won’t be needing my services anymore,” he shouted over the thumping of the rotors.

“Thanks for not treating me like a prisoner,” I shouted back before we hugged.

He held on longer than I would have allowed him to otherwise, but I had to cut the guy some slack after the wrath I almost unleashed on him yesterday. He finally let go and I climbed inside the helicopter. As the chopper lifted off then banked toward the ocean, I breathed a deep sigh of relief to finally be home. The skyscrapers and the smog were my security blanket and these months on the road had taken their toll on me. I was exhausted. All I wanted was to get home, to my new home with Chase, and fall asleep in his arms.

The helicopter approached the hills of Pacific Palisades and one of the burly bodyguards turned to me. “Miss Jacobs, can you please put this on? Boss’s orders.”

He handed me a black satin blindfold. “What is this for?” I asked, as I took it from his hand.

“I’m sorry. Mr. Underwood didn’t share that information with me. Please put it on.”

I slipped the blindfold over my head and an anxious feeling settled into the pit of my belly as I felt the helicopter descend. The chopper soon landed and I unbuckled my seatbelt.

“I’m going to take your arm to help you get out,” the guard said, as he grasped the crook of my arm and guided me out of the helicopter onto what felt like cool sand.

He led me forward and I listened for sounds of humans, but all I heard was the sound of waves crashing on my left. I trudged through the sand, trying to ignore the grittiness of the sand in my heels. We walked a few more yards before he stopped.

“Are we here?” I asked, but no one answered. “Can I take this off now?”

I heard the distinct sound of sand crunching as someone approached on my right side. I turned my head instinctively, but couldn’t see anything. I flinched slightly as someone’s hands touched my head and slipped off my blindfold.

Chase stood before me in a black tux with no tie and a crazy grin on his face. On my left, rows and rows of white chairs were filled with sharply dressed people with their backs toward me. Candles and rose petals lined the aisle between the rows of chairs. Then someone waved at me from the altar. Even backlit by the gorgeous sunset, I still recognized the ravishing gentleman in the tux: Shane, my ex-roommate, was standing on the bride’s side. Teddy stood on the groom’s side wearing a knowing smile.

“What is this?”

Chase took my hands in his and looked me in the eye. “This, my love, is for you. I know we can’t legally get married until the divorce is final, and I promise to give you a huge wedding when that happens, but I wanted to show you that I’m serious by declaring my love to you in front of all the people who matter the most to us. So… do you still want to marry me, even after everything I’ve put you through?”

I looked back and forth between the altar and Chase’s anxious face. “I’m not dressed to get married,” I whispered, referring to my sand-filled heels and the pink A-line tank dress he asked me to wear today.

“What are you talking about? You look radiant as ever. Do I have to get on my knees again?”

He started to kneel and I grabbed his arm to stop him. “No! You’ll ruin your tux.”

“Is that a yes?”

I bit my lip as I nodded.

“Woo-hoo!” he shouted, as he lifted me and spun me around.

I didn’t know it was possible to feel this deliriously happy. All I had known for the past two years was hundreds of rejections and low-paying jobs that eventually led to the mountain of debt and my job at the escort service. I thought back to the night before my first day as an escort. I had lain in bed and contemplated the wreck my life had become and how my parents were right all along. I wished they were here now to see this.

Chase put me down and grinned as he gazed into my eyes.

“What are you grinning at?”

“You’ll see,” he said. “Stay right here.”

He set off down the aisle, I presumed to take his place on the altar. When he reached the front row of seats, he bent over to speak to someone. An older gentleman in a gray suit stood up and turned around. My father’s face beamed as he caught sight of me.

I bit my lip so hard I drew blood as I tried to hold back the tears, but it was no use. He made his way toward me and I saw that he also was having trouble holding himself together. I raced to him and threw my arms around him.

“Dad!”

“Sweetheart. You look so beautiful,” he said, his voice thick with the pain of two years absence. “I’m so proud of you. You really let Diane Sawyer have it.”

I chuckled as I wiped away my tears. “Is Mom here?”

My father nodded as he held out his arm for me. “She’s right up front. Are you ready?”

I grasped his arm as a harpist began to play “The Very Thought of You.” I kicked off my heels and my feet sank into the cool sand. We began our walk down the aisle and I couldn’t believe how many familiar faces I found in the seats: Shane’s boyfriend Jackson Kim; my old boss at the escort service, Jessica Broom (whose business was rumored to have doubled since the scandal broke); Chase’s campaign statician, Isa, and his new wife, Nina; politicians I had met during the campaign. Drew winked at me from his seat. We reached the front row and I was surprised to see Katherine Underwood sitting next to my mother and wearing what appeared to be a genuine smile.

The look on my mother’s face, a mixture of sadness and pride, made my heart ache as she blew me a kiss. We reached the altar and my father kissed my cheek before he took his seat. Shane winked at me and I knew in his head he was screaming,
“Jackpot!”

Chase held out his arm and an uncontrollable grin stretched across my face as I latched onto him. He kissed my forehead then leaned over and whispered in my ear, “So worth it.”

Our bedroom in the house on the edge of the cliff had the most gorgeous view of the moon over the ocean.

“I can’t believe you live here,” I said, as I walked through the master suite.

I ran my fingers over the smooth wood of the four-poster bed as I made my way toward the terrace. Chase followed me outside and wrapped his arms around my waist.

“I can’t believe
you
live here,” he said, as he nuzzled my neck and kissed my ear.

I turned around and all the desire I had been suppressing these past few days poured out of me as I kissed him. He kissed me back hungrily and I realized he had been waiting for this moment, too. Without warning, he scooped me into his arms and carried me toward a wooden staircase leading down from the terrace to the beach. I kissed his neck and tasted the salt-spray that had battered us during the ceremony. We reached the bottom of the staircase where he placed me down in the sand and quickly unzipped the back of my dress as I unbuckled his belt.