The Sunday Arrangement (22 page)

The original plan
meant he’d be gone by Sunday. Now, all that had changed. He’d be here Sunday
night. I knew he would want to have dinner and talk about the new baby and
different things going on in our lives. Aware that I didn’t have much of a
social life, I knew he’d be suspicious of any “plans” I might have on the
calendar. If I told him I just wanted to be home, he’d invite himself over to
watch a movie. If I told him I was hanging out with friends that night, he
wouldn’t believe me. I needed to figure something out if I wanted another
sexual fantasy.

~*~*~*~

 “He can come with
us,” Pierce said when I told him Toby’s plans.

I crossed my arms
over my chest. “I’d really rather not have him there for various reasons.”

He held up his hands.
“My plan is to distract him with something or someone else, and we can sneak
off. We’ll be back before he notices anything is different.”

“How do I explain to
him that I’m willingly hanging out with you? He’ll hardly buy it, especially
after how
charming
you were last time.”

“Tell him we are
scouting the club because it’s one of the hottest in Las Vegas.”

“Fine, but if he
figures out what’s going on, I’ll hold you personally responsible.”

He shrugged his
shoulders. “That’s fair enough, I suppose.”

“What’s fair?” April
asked as she entered the conference room. She had a cardboard carrier with
three grandé-sized cups in her hands.

“That we all get a
raise for dealing with this tiresome project,” I said.

“Well, I brought us
coffee, if that helps. Caffeine makes everything better, right?” She passed us
each a warm cup.

“You’re wise beyond
your years, April,” Pierce said before taking a sip. “Lucas should be by later.
He’s going to start bringing in lunches up here for the three of us.”

A tingle of delight warmed
my heart at his words. I wasn’t sure why, but something about Pierce’s personal
chef was incredibly attractive. I wouldn’t mind seeing his handsome face a
little more.

Shaking Lucas from my
mind, I asked April, “Did you finish the expenditure report I sent you?” Coffee
runs were nice, sure, but I needed this assistant to actually assist, for once.

Her face fell. “No,
sorry. Not yet. I’ll get to work on it straightaway.”

“Make sure you send
those to me first,” Pierce piped up. “I want to go over the finalized version
before we talk to the investors about our new budget plan.”

My ears suddenly
perked up. “Wait, what? New budget plan? Did I miss your memo or something?”

“No, it’s something I
decided last week. Fantasy needs a bigger budget if we’re going to make her as
grand as we want. We need to pitch to more investors.” He took another sip of
coffee. “I’m going to see how much more Maverick and Company can lend, and you
need to talk to your dad.”

Little did he know, I
was completely sick of talking to my dad—a thought I had never had before
during my twenty-seven years with an absentee father.

~*~*~*~

Saturday came faster
than I expected. Between doing my own work and doubling back over Pierce’s to be
sure nothing suspicious stood out, I had been exceptionally busy. I was nervous
about seeing Toby, even though Pierce assured me it would all play out fine. I wished
I had his confidence.

I picked my brother
up in the evening. He had the air of a proud father about him, showing me
picture after picture of his new baby girl, Arianna.

“She’s beautiful,
Toby! Who knew you could make such beautiful kids?”

He laughed. “I know,
right? It’s all Margret though.”

“How is she doing
anyway? Recovering okay?”

“She’s all right.
She’s a little pissed that I’m here actually. But ya know, the bills aren’t
going to pay themselves.”

I nodded. “Might be a
nice break for you. I’m sure a newborn is a real delight to live with around
three a.m.”

“You have no idea.”

We ended up having
dinner at the restaurant inside his hotel. My fettuccini alfredo was divine,
and the cabernet was exquisite, but our conversation waned. Toby seemed
distracted, but I chalked it up to fatigue from taking care of a newborn and
the flight out to Las Vegas. I was glad for this because I didn’t really have
anything to say. Desperately, I wanted to tell him about Dad’s scandal and
Maverick’s blackmail. If I couldn’t confide in Toby about it, who could I
confide in? But something deep within me told me to hold back. I didn’t want to
involve him more than was absolutely necessary. He clearly had enough on his
plate.

On Sunday, Toby
showed Pierce the 3D computer model of the casino mock-up. Pierce, however,
wanted several adjustments and tweaks, most of which I agreed with. I was
surprised. Normally, Toby took a lot of pride in his designs, but this one
looked really sub-par for him. I felt bad for him—my brother would essentially have
to go back to the drawing board.

That night, as I had predicted,
Toby wanted to hang out and do something. I made up the excuse that Pierce and I
were scouting a popular club, and he was welcome to join us. After the brutal
meeting and the hashing out of the new plan, I wasn’t sure if he’d take me up
on the offer. The club scene had never been his type of hangout anyway. When he
agreed to come, I was terrified but excited at the same time. I was praying
Pierce’s plan would work and that Toby wouldn’t find out about us.

Before today, Toby
had never seen me in the type of dress I chose to wear. He seemed a little
shocked that I’d go out looking the way I did. Pierce wore a causal suit, and
Toby donned a button-down dress shirt and a pair of jeans. We were an
odd-looking group, but at least there weren’t any paparazzi at the club
entrance; there was no reason for us to hide our faces.

The club was small
compared to other clubs, but it was packed. The line out front wrapped around
nearly half the building. Pierce had purchased VIP passes beforehand, however,
so we didn’t have to wait. As we entered the popular club, techno music blared
from the DJ booth. There were cage dancers, strobe lights, and VIP booth
tables. The lighting was dim and the place was flooded with men and women, all
on the prowl.

Pierce chose a table
and we all sat down. Toby ordered the drinks, and we watched the people around
us dance in the neon lights.

“This place is pretty
cool!” Toby shouted. He was five inches away from me, but I could barely him
over the music. He slammed his shot of whiskey down and I watched him head to
the bar for something else.

 “Looks like this is
gonna be easier than I thought,” Pierce whispered in my ear.

I watched as Pierce continued
to feed Toby drinks. The music got louder, the place got more crowded, and
despite everything that had happened that week, I was incredibly horny. It
didn’t take long before my brother was drunk, talking about his wife and how
much he loved her. Pierce’s hand went to my thigh, and I almost jumped out of
my skin. His hand tightened its grip as he looked at my brother. “You should
give her a call. We need to go speak to the DJ about his services.”

My brother nodded his
head and slowly stumbled from our private booth. “I’ll step outside and call
her, see how she is.”

I cringed slightly. Margret
would tear him apart for getting drunk, especially since she was stuck at home
taking care of two little ones. I couldn’t blame Toby though—we all needed our
releases. Toby left with a slight sway to his step.

Pierce stood from the
table and pulled me behind him.

“Where are we going?
I thought we were—”

“I’d rather not get
arrested. The point is that it’s in a public place where we have a greater risk
of being caught, but not actually getting caught.”

I was slightly relieved.
He led me back to a darkish corner with a small loveseat, sat down, and pulled
me into his lap. I leaned into his chest, ready for a release of my own. He
kissed my shoulder, and I whimpered at his subtle touch. There was the thought
that we could be caught at any moment, which added to my slowly building
arousal. His arm was around my waist, and I could feel the familiar start of
his erection. I broke the kiss and looked around. The other people sharing the
club level we were on were in their own worlds, not paying attention to the couple
making out in the corner.

Pierce drew me back
into a kiss. His tongue made it easy to forget the others who were there.
Pierce had a way of quieting everything else. He practically forced me to focus
on him and the sexual animal raging within me. I ground my ass against his
crotch. He let out a small moan in my ear, and his arm tightened around my
waist, pulling me closer to him. He started to rock against me, back and forth.
Back and forth. I couldn’t believe how incredibly hot this was.

He reached into his
inner jacket pocket and pulled out a condom. In a series of awkward movements that
involved me keeping watch to make sure no one was looking, he got the condom on
and I lifted my dress slightly. I was thankful now I had decided to forgo panties.
I sank down onto him and bit my lip to keep myself from moaning; this was one
of the hottest things I had ever done.

 He made small
thrusts into me, and I rocked my hips. We didn’t have a lot of time; I knew
Toby would be back and looking for us soon. I picked up my pace and reached behind
me, placing my hand in his pubic hair. He let out a small groan. I leaned my
head back on his shoulder and whispered in his ear, “Someone could see us together
any second.” I then licked his earlobe and blew on it, smiling as he tensed underneath
me. The fact that I made him come so easily
—
just my words and a
simple touch
—
turned
me on. A small orgasm overtook me, and I relished the fact that all this had
been done in a public place. I stood and fixed my dress. He also adjusted himself,
and the two of us were back downstairs, acting as if nothing happened.

I looked around to
see if Toby had returned and didn’t see him. “I’m going to go see if Toby is still
outside.”

Pierce nodded and
surprised me when he followed me out of the club. Toby was sitting on the curb,
and it looked like he had thrown up a little. I went over to him and placed my
hand on his shoulder.

“Are you okay?” I
asked.

He looked up at me
with glassy eyes. “No . . . she’s mad at me.”

I knew she would be.
I couldn’t help but feel a tad guilty for letting Pierce talk him into calling
her while drunk. My brother hardly ever drank to get drunk, so when he did, it
never ended well.

Pierce lifted Toby
off the ground. “Come on. Let’s go get you cleaned up.”

“I’ll stay here. I
need some fresh air,” I said.

The two of them went back
into the club, and I waited outside for them. A few minutes passed and suddenly
my phone rang—it was Toby.
They probably want me to go back into the club
.

“Hello?” I answered.

I heard the sound of
fabric moving against the phone. Toby had obviously pocket-called me. I was about
to hang up when something caught my attention.

“I thought about the
proposal you presented me with the last time I was here, Maverick. I want in.
I’ll help you take them down. It’s been a long time coming.”

Pierce said something
in return, but I couldn’t make it out. I continued to try and hear what they
were saying, but the words became jumbled. I jumped in surprise when the two of
them greeted me outside. Quickly I hung up my phone.

“Were you talking to Margret?”
Toby asked. He swayed slightly on his feet and threw an arm around my shoulder.
“Did you tell her I’m sorry? You’re such a good sister!”

I helped him to the
car, but didn’t say a word about what I had heard. I knew I’d need to stay
quiet about it, for now. A feeling of dread entered my stomach. If only I had
known then what it would all lead to.

The next day at work,
I forced myself to focus and forget about the accidental butt dial from Toby
the night before. If those boys thought they could pull the wool over my eyes,
they’d clearly underestimated me. I didn’t get where I was today by sitting on
the sidelines and letting people walk all over me. Though I wasn’t thoroughly
convinced I had any reason to panic, I made a mental note to consider
everything that was said with unforgiving scrutiny. After all, there was no
need to alert Dad until I was absolutely certain that my lover, Pierce, and my
own brother were plotting against Hart Corp. I wasn’t going to raise the red
flag just yet.

“Pierce, what’s your ETA
on the projected expense reports? And Toby, where are you with 3D model?” I
barked with more tenacity than I had shown in the office in a while. It felt
good to back in the driver’s seat.

Pierce stared me
down, questioningly. Clearly, he didn’t approve of my tone. “April is working
on them. They should be in your hands by tomorrow evening, Friday at the latest.”

“I can’t continue
with the budget until I have them. See that she gets them to me immediately.”