The Billionaire's Secret Wife (The Pryce Family Book 3) (Volume 3) (3 page)

There was a long, agonizing moment, and she wondered which way it was going to go. “No, it’s okay,” he finally said. “We can talk in my car.”

“Where are we goi—?”

“Where else? To my place.”

Chapter Two

It didn’t take much time for them to reach his penthouse. Justin’s driver maneuvered the black Bentley through the wintry streets of Chicago, while Justin settled next to her. She started to raise her hand to reach for him, then stopped. He sat with his back unnaturally straight and stiff, his eyes contemplating the glittering city. His usually neat, dark hair was mussed like he’d just rolled out of bed, and it brought back memories of their times together.

Vanessa looked down at her expertly manicured hands. She still didn’t know why she’d gotten on that flight to O’Hare. She and Justin had ended things. No…he’d ended it because he’d been furious with her. She’d never seen him so angry before, and she knew she’d ceased to be a part of his life since November.

And yet here they were.

When the elevator door opened on the top floor, Vanessa peeked at the place she’d made sure never to visit. She’d also ensured he never came over to her places either. They’d done everything at hotels, resorts…once or twice out in nature on camping trips. It wasn’t that difficult to arrange a clandestine hook-up. After all, she’d learned from watching the best—her parents.

Justin’s home was surprisingly inviting, with comfortable-looking couches and earth-toned furniture in sharp green and silver accents. Given how immaculate everything was—not even a speck of dust—he probably had housekeeping.

Justin brought her inside and gestured at a seat. As soon as she took it, he poured himself a finger of whiskey from his bar and downed it in one near-violent tilt of his head.

“Have you eaten?” he asked.

“No,” she said, surprised at the realization that she hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast.

“No wonder you look so pale. Chinese or pizza?”

“I’m not hungry, but I can use some liquor if you have any.”

“You’re not touching a drop of alcohol until you have some food.”

The hardness of his tone penetrated her misery and confusion. He was still furious with her. Why was he doing this then? “Justin, I don’t… This was a bad idea. I’ll check into a hotel.” She got up and blinked as dots swam in her vision.

Cursing, he caught her. “Sit down and don’t even think about it.” He dialed a number and ordered two dinner specials.

She covered her face in her hands and breathed in Justin’s scent on the coat. It was still around her, its presence comforting. She should take it off—it was quite warm in Justin’s penthouse, but she loathed to give it up. Why was she even there? She knew how bad this thing with Justin was. When he’d finally ended it, made it clear how much he hated her, she should’ve left it at that.

“If you eat, I’ll let you have a Mouton ’45,” Justin said finally. The couch dipped under his weight.

“Thanks,” she said without looking at him. She must look awful for him to offer one of his prized Moutons.

“So. Is it really true? Your parents are divorcing?”

She nodded. “Dane told me.”

Justin let out a long sigh. “All the brothers you have, and it had to be him.”

Her mouth twisted. “I thought he might have been kidding, but when I spoke with Mom, she told me she’d hired Samantha Jones.” Vanessa clenched her hands and blinked away tears. “And if that wasn’t bad enough, Dad said it wasn’t up for discussion.”
Doesn’t concern you
,
Vanessa
.
You aren’t my attorney
.

No. She was just their daughter. Two of her brothers—Iain and Mark—had been confused about the news, Dane as usual had nothing illuminating to add, and Shane…she didn’t even know where Shane was.

Justin leaned back. “Who would’ve thought? The Eternal Couple.”

“Guess nobody’s going to be saying that anymore.”

“I’m sorry. But maybe this is better for them.”

“But how can they?” She finally turned to look at Justin. “I can’t believe it. No matter how miserable they made each other, no matter what people said, they always stayed together. Why are they doing this now? If they wanted to divorce, they should’ve done it years ago while they still had time to start fresh. What’s the point?”

“Who knows what they’re thinking? Maybe they were waiting until you guys were all grown. Maybe they decided it’s better to live freely now than never.”

She turned away and wiped away a tear. Justin handed her a box of tissues. “They still should’ve done it years ago.” Before the whole family lived through decades of misery. Before she found all those letters in the vanity drawer in her mother’s bedroom.

Justin silently put a hand on her shoulder. When the delivery guy came with the food, he paid and came over to spread the Chinese all over the low coffee table. He served the beef and broccoli and Peking duck—her favorite. She didn’t think it was a coincidence given how much he disliked broccoli.

She tilted her head, trying to figure him out. There was something matter-of-fact about the way he moved and talked, like everything that had happened between them in November didn’t even exist. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

A beat of silence, then Justin answered, “Iain asked me.” He pushed a plate her way and handed her a pair of chopsticks. “Eat.”

She pushed the food around, then finally nibbled on a broccoli floret when Justin gave her a cool, steady stare. It tasted great, and she realized she was actually quite hungry. “He called?”

Justin nodded and started eating. There was something very methodical and driven about the way he ate. He didn’t shovel his food down like some men she knew, but he didn’t take his time either. It reminded her of somebody trying to eat an entire elephant without making himself sick—one bite at a time, chew, swallow, repeat at a steady speed until he was finished.

They ate in a silence that wasn’t too awkward. “You should’ve told him you were too busy,” she said after the final piece of duck.

He poured two glasses of claret and pushed one her way, and she let herself smile a bit while rolling the stem. This was so like him—keeping his promise without her having to prompt him. She breathed in the wine—the luscious black currant scent—and took a small sip, unable to wait.

“The real question is: why did you come to Chicago? You don’t have any friends here.”

The priceless vintage turned bitter in her mouth, and she forced herself to swallow. “Would you believe me if I told you the flight to Chicago happened to be the earliest one out of L.A.?”

He snorted, swirling the wine in his glass. “Are you really a successful attorney? Hard to imagine, when you lie so poorly.”

They’d dated on and off for over ten years. Somehow he seemed to know everything about her, while her family seemed clueless about what she was up to half the time.

Vanessa finished her wine. She didn’t know what made her keep coming back to him. They should’ve quit each other after she’d finished law school. She’d told him so. Even broken up with him. But then that wasn’t how it’d happened. They’d kept calling, kept seeing each other, kept having sex.

And that wasn’t like her. She’d never once clung to a guy she’d decided to break up with, but with Justin she was unable to control herself.

“I came to Chicago because I had nobody else to turn to.” She drank more of the wine and laughed a sad laugh. “That didn’t sound as pathetic when I thought it in my head.”

Placing his empty glass on the table, Justin leaned forward. “It doesn’t sound pathetic. It actually sounds lonely.”

Vanessa bit her lower lip. This was what made him so difficult to ignore…and impossible to be with. He could see through all the smiles and outer shells and artifices. Nobody understood her the way he did, and he made her want things that would only bring her misery in the end.

She drained her glass. She no longer felt cold, but she kept his coat around her anyway.

“You’re so contradictory and unpredictable,” he said. “If I didn’t know you so well, I would’ve thought you were playing games.”

Her face heated. “I’m not…” She cringed as the argument from November flashed through her mind. “I’m sorry about all this.” She waved her hand vaguely. “I know you’re angry with me.”

“Angry isn’t quite the right word.”

She winced. Most assuredly not. More like furious…maybe even murderous. She doubted any other man would have come pick her up at the airport, even as a favor to one of his closest friends.

Tilting her chin up with an index finger, Justin lowered his head until their breaths mingled. “‘Angry’ is simple. One dimensional. What I’m feeling right now is a little more complicated than that.”

Her mouth dried, and her heart beat harder and faster against her ribcage. Justin smelled amazing, like pine forest and man, and his dark eyes seemed to suck her right into him.

She didn’t know why she wasn’t pulling back from him. If nothing else, pride and self-preservation should’ve made her get the hell out of Justin’s condo. Hadn’t she been glad when he’d broken things off? She’d told herself he was being unreasonable and melodramatic, and that she wasn’t going to go to him first.

But right now she wanted to be close to him. All through her adult life, Justin had been an anchor that never changed. If she clung to him, nothing would be able to sweep her away.

She closed the distance between them. His lips were firm under hers, unresponsive. She pulled him closer, both hands on the back of his head, and opened up, tracing her tongue over the flat line of his mouth.

The longer he remained passive, the more aggressive she became, channeling her pain into the desperate act of kissing him. She didn’t want him to remain angry with her. She wanted him to know how sorry she was for being unfair to him and how much she appreciated his support. Just being there for her was huge. Her parents’ divorce was really unsettling, and she couldn’t even say why. She felt like one of those helpless kids she represented pro bono.

She rested her palm over his heart and felt its movement, like a fish caught in a net.
Forgive me
,
Justin
.
Forgive me
…

Finally some of the tension went out of him, and his hands traveled up her sides as he began to kiss her back. Relief and exhilaration flooded her. She shed his coat, let it glide over her and pool by the couch.

He pulled her into his lap and dug a hand into her hair, ruining the way she’d set it. She deepened the kiss, adjusting herself so she was seated with her sex flush against his erection.

He licked the small mole on her neck. “I don’t know why I can’t say no to you.” His breath was hot against her skin. “It should be easy to say no.”

“I’m glad you can’t. Because I can’t say no to you either.”

Chapter Three

Justin cursed under his breath. When Vanessa was like this, it was like all the hurtful words had never been spoken. He went weak for her even though he knew how bad she was. If any of his friends had had the kind of relationship he had with Vanessa, he would’ve advised them to get the hell out.

But none of that mattered when she was in front of him like this.

He pulled the flimsy blouse out of her skirt and unbuttoned it. She unhooked her bra and tossed it on the floor. Need thrummed deep inside his belly at the sight of her. He wanted to tell himself it was only because he hadn’t had sex since they’d broken up, but that would be a lie. Even if he’d had a dozen orgasms the night before, he’d still be hot for her.

“Justin…”

He undressed her the rest of the way, then carried her to the bedroom and placed her on his bed. Her crimson hair spread around her like fire. The sight of her there stroked a deep, primal urge in him. For the first time, she was in
his
bed. Hotel beds had their appeal, but this was more.

His fingers moved on auto-pilot. His shirt buttons came undone, cuff links dropped into a small crystal bowl in the closet. Shoes and socks disappeared, and his slacks and underwear vanished.

Vanessa’s eyes never left his body as he undressed. A deep flush tinted her cheeks, and her pupils grew impossibly wide and dark.

He moved over her, tracing the smooth curves of her calves and thighs. Her breath hitched as his fingers traveled upward, then he stopped, blowing gently at the black curls between her legs. She was already wet.

He dropped a soft kiss on her belly. “You look perfect.”

“So do you.”

With a little smile, he kissed and licked along her legs. They were lean and trim from daily jogging, and he loved their shape and strength.

He gently ran a finger along the seam at the juncture of her thighs. She was scorching hot and wet. He put her juices on his tongue and groaned at the pure honeyed taste.

Propping her legs on his shoulders, he feasted on her. Her back arched at the feel of his tongue, and he hummed with satisfaction at how responsive she was. Maybe her firm had kept her so busy since November that she hadn’t had a free moment to think about another man, much less actually get laid.

Jealousy spiked, but he kicked it down. This wasn’t the time. Vanessa was in his bed, moaning under his mouth.

He swirled his tongue over her clit and pushed his finger into her. Her inner muscles clutched at him, and he groaned at how responsive she was as he moved it in and out of her in that erratic rhythm she liked so much.

As much as he wanted to draw the moment out, he couldn’t wait much longer. His cock throbbed with the need to be inside her, and he wanted her limp and pliable from a powerful orgasm before he entered her.

Her hands twisted the sheet, and her breathing took on a staccatoed, panicked tone, like she was afraid he’d abandon her now when she was so close. He didn’t understand why; he’d never left her unsatisfied.

“Justin!” His name on her lips was the sweetest sound ever. He kept up the pressure as she rode wave after wave of the first of many orgasms he planned to give her that night. She was so beautiful, abandoning herself to the pleasure.